Chiefs hold off fiery Blues

Chiefs wing Asaeli Tikoirotuma ran in four tries as the Chiefs edged the Blues out 41-34 in their thrilling derby in Auckland on Saturday.

The Blues showed plenty of determination and fought back a few times to stretch the Chiefs and take a deserved two log points from the hard-fought battle.

The match was always going to be a fascinating contrast of styles with the more controlled and measured Chiefs up against their struggling hosts who play like a team near the bottom of the table without much to lose.

The table-topping Chiefs have built their campaign this year on a solid base laid by their disciplined forward pack, and that is exactly how they started the match – driving directly into the Blues 22 and coming away with three early points when Aaron Cruden knocked over a penalty.

The Blues do not play with as much structure and looked to chuck it around a lot more in an attempt to expose the Chiefs defence out wide, and they were rewarded when outside centre Francis Saili got over for the opening try.

The Blues were showing commitment and winning quick ball, and once fullback Rudi Wulf had got them on the front foot by finding a gap out on the right the ball was worked back infield and Saili did well to round Cruden and slide over the whitewash.

The Chiefs flyhalf responded straight away by engineering a try for his team with a well-weighted grubber which sat up perfectly for Asaeli Tikoirotuma who had got in behind the Blues defensive line.

The left wing dotted down neatly and when Cruden added the conversion the Chiefs were back in front at 10-7.

One of the key match-ups was at inside centre between All Blacks incumbent Ma'a Nonu and the on-form Sonny Bill Williams.

The Chiefs man made the first move by cutting the defensive line with an incisive run, and although he could not find his support with the offload Nonu strayed offside soon afterwards and Cruden duly slotted another penalty.

The Blues hit back with a penalty of their own from Lachie Munro, but the Chiefs managed to stretch their advantage further thanks to  a moment of magic from Williams who used his impressive reach to wriggle through a few defenders and somehow dot the ball down on the line.

The match was reduced to 14-a-side when both teams lost a player to the sin bin due to dangerous tackles. Blues flank Steven Luatua was the first to see a yellow and white card, and Chiefs wing Maritino Nemani was shown the same combination almost immediately afterwards.

The home side seemed to take this as their cue to hit top gear and Munro was able to score ten points in a matter of minutes to send the teams into the half-time break deadlocked at 20-20.

First of all Chiefs tighthead Ben Afeaki gave away a penalty which the right wing slotted and then left wing Rene Ranger managed to break the line out wide thanks to the gap left by the absent Nemani and once in space behind the Chiefs defence he was able to get it away to Munro who slid over in the corner and then nailed the touchline conversion to level the scores.

The visitors got their noses in front again early in the second half when the familiar pattern of powerful driving play from their forwards getting their backs in position to strike paid off again.

Once the Blues defenders had been forced to commit in the 22 some neat offloads from Cruden and Williams put Liam Messam in some space on the left and the Chiefs skipper was able to draw a defender to put Tikoirotuma over for his second try.

The Blues were determined to stay in the game and worked their way deep into the Chiefs 22, but when Ranger lost the ball forward in the left corner the visitors launched a devastating counter-attack which resulted in a hat-trick try for Tikoirotuma and a bonus point for his team.

The ball was spun to the left in front of the tryline and some great interplay between Williams and Cruden opened things up again, with Tikoirotuma on hand to sprint away for the try which stretched the Chiefs' lead to 34-20.

Just when it seemed as though the Blues were being shut out, a rush of blood to the head from Michael Fitzgerald saw the match take another turn.

The Chiefs lock was sent to the sin bin with 20 minutes to go for swinging wildly at the opposition after trying to detach himself from a maul, and the Blues took advantage straight away when a clever inside ball from Saili put fullback Rudi Wulf over for the try which reduced the gap to seven points.

They were not done there and the scores were level again with just 14 minutes left thanks to another piece of individual brilliance from Ranger who picked the ball up at the base of the ruck and raced away before stepping past a few defenders to go over for a sensational try that earned his side a bonus point and levelled things up at 34-34.

However, the drama was far from over and the Chiefs struck back through that man Tikoirotuma who left Wulf for dead in their foot race to a rolling grubber to dot down for his fourth five-pointer.

That cued a frantic ending to the game and the Blues had another great opportunity to level things up at the death when Peter Saili burst away, but the replacement loose forward's pass to Ranger was a poor one and the Chiefs managed to hold on for a hard-fought victory.

Man of the match: there were oustanding performances from backline aces Aaron Cruden, Sonny Bill Williams, Rene Ranger and Lachie Munro but for man of the match you cannot look past the four-try hero Asaeli Tikoirotuma.

The scorers:

For the Blues:

Tries: F. Saili, Munro, Wulf, Ranger

Cons: Munro 4

Pens: Munro 2

For the Chiefs:

Tries: Tikoirotuma 4, Williams

Cons: Cruden 5

Pens: Cruden 2

Yellow cards: Steven Luatua (33 mins – dangerous tackle) Maritino Nemani (34 mins – dangerous tackle) Michael Fitzgerald (60 mins – foul play)

Teams:

Blues: 15 Rudi Wulf, 14 Lachie Munro, 13 Francis Saili, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Rene Ranger, 10 Michael Hobbs, 9 Alby Mathewson, 8 Luke Braid (captain), 7 Daniel Braid, 6 Steven Luatua, 5 Ali Williams, 4 Liaki Moli, 3 Tevita Mailau, 2 James Parsons, 1 Tony Woodcock.

Replacements: 16 Tom McCartney, 17 Angus Ta'avao, 18 Filo Paulo, 19 Peter Saili, 20 Piri Weepu, 21 Hadleigh Parkes, 22 David Raikuna.

Chiefs: 15 Andrew Horrell, 14 Maritino Nemani, 13 Jackson Willison, 12 Sonny Bill Williams, 11 Asaeli Tikoirotuma, 10 Aaron Cruden, 9 Tawera Kerr-Barlow, 8 Kane Thompson, 7 Sam Cane, 6 Liam Messam (captain), 5 Brodie Retallick, 4 Michael Fitzgerald (captain), 3 Ben Afeaki, 2 Mahonri Schwalger, 1 Arizona Taumalolo.

Replacement: 16 Hika Elliot, 17 Ben Tameifuna, 18 Romana Graham, 19 Scott Waldrom, 20 Brendon Leonard, 21 Robbie Robinson, 22 Lelia Masaga.

Referee: Chris Pollock (New Zealand)