Chiefs like the 'winning habit'
The Chiefs recovered from a strong opening salvo by the Waratahs to run away with a comprehensive 30-13 win in their Super Rugby clash on Saturday.
The Waratahs enjoyed most of the first-half possession and the Chiefs were forced to make most of the tackles, but after the turn the Chiefs outscored the Waratahs 17-3 in the final 40 minutes.
After the match Chiefs coach Dave Rennie said he was pleased the team were able to come away with the four points and maintain their form as they head to Perth and a game against a vastly-improved Western Force team next week.
“It’s important to keep winning – it becomes a bit of a habit,” Rennie said.
“When you travel it’s always tough, so meeting the Force next week on their home turf will present different challenges, but were certainly happy to bank some more points and get on the road as a group,” the coach added.
Chiefs flyhalf Aaron Cruden said afterwards the team were looking forward to the upcoming tour – which will see them take on the Force in Perth, the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein and Sharks in Durban before returning home.
However, he stressed the importance of continuing to work hard.
“We’re in a really good head space right now… were going to have to continue to work hard cause there’s no easy games in this competition.
“We got three weeks on the road now. There’s always talk that trips like these make a team’s bond tighter so we’re really looking forward to that and can’t wait to hit the road,” Cruden said.
Captain Craig Clarke gave credit to his forwards and the way they overcame initial rustiness after a bye last week.
“Our set piece was a little bit messy in the first half and our initial ruck ball we weren’t getting quick ball so we were getting caught all the time and we addressed that and got some good go-forward ball,” Clarke said.
As the Chiefs forwards grew in confidence, Waratahs skipper Benn Robinson was left to rue the way his pack went off the boil especially after the way they beat the Sharks last week.
“It was a very disappointing second half, too many stupid mistakes and silly errors. For us to be up and down over the past two weeks is really disappointing,” said Robinson.
Despite numerous line breaks creating plenty of chances for the Tahs, too many were wasted through poor execution.
“There were a number of times in the first half that we put them under pressure, forcing them to work hard and creating a try for Tom Kingston. But there were a couple of opportunities that we failed to take and that caught up with us in the second half,” said coach Michael Foley after the match.
“Although we had opportunities in the second 40, we were impatient in their 22. We did all the hard work to get in the right place but we couldn’t get it over the line.
“In contrast I thought they [the Chiefs] controlled possession more effectively and as the game went on, they were impressive coming off the bye.”
