Chiefs punish poor Reds
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The Chiefs booked a place in the Super Rugby play-offs with a convincing 24-3 victory against the Reds in Brisbane.
The visitors scored three unanswered tries in a dominant performance against a Reds team that has failed to inspire this season.
It was an emotional victory for the Chiefs with skipper Liam Messam dedicating the win to former All Black Collins who was killed in a car crash with his partner Alana Madill on Friday in southern France.
The Chiefs were magnificent in defence, preventing the Reds from scoring a try in the final home game for Wallabies James Horwill and Will Genia before they take up playing offers overseas.
"We talked a lot about Jerry Collins as an All Black and what he brought to the field in his toughness and he was measured on his defence," Messam said.
"We tried to honour him in the way we tackled tonight."
The Chiefs bounced back from losing three of their previous four games to reassert themselves ahead of the play-offs and they finish off the regular season against the tearaway leaders Hurricanes next week.
It was a deflating final home match for Queensland veterans, former Wallaby captain Horwill and scrumhalf Genia, who played their part but once again the Reds' shoddy handling let them down.
Star flyhalf Quade Cooper, who was well contained by the Chiefs, kicked the opening points but it was to prove the only points the Reds could muster even with a greater share of possession and territory than the Kiwis.
Wing Bryce Heem scored for the Chiefs off a long pass from scrumhalf Augustine Pulu and Messam stormed over without being touched minutes later off another Pulu pass to give Waikato a 14-3 lead at half-time.
The Chiefs went on with the job in the second half with a penalty goal from centre Andrew Horrell and a converted try by centre partner Charlie Ngatai 11 minutes from the end.
The visitors looked as if they would finish with a bonus-point fourth try to Ngatai after the full-time siren only for it to be called back by the referee for a slight knock-on well downfield in the leadup play.
It was another wretched result for the Reds, who have only four wins from 15 games this season and the future of coach Richard Graham very much up in the air.
Man of the match: Not many stood out for the Reds in what was the last home game for stalwarts James Horwill and Will Genia but the Chiefs had a number of candidates. Charlie Ngatai ased questions in midfield and Same Cane was a constant threat at the breakdown but the key was skipper Liam Messam who truly led from the front.
The scorers:
For the Reds:
Pen: Cooper
For the Chiefs:
Tries: Heem, Messam, Ngatai
Cons: Horrell 3
Pen: Horrell
Yellow card: Michael Leitch (Chiefs, 38 – Repeated breakdown infringements)
Teams:
Reds: 15 James O'Connor, 14 Chris Feauai-Sautia, 13 Karmichael Hunt, 12 Samu Kerevi, 11 Lachie Turner, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Will Genia, 8 Jake Schatz, 7 Liam Gill, 6 Adam Thomson, 5 James Horwill, 4 Rob Simmons, 3 Greg Holmes, 2 James Hanson, 1 James Slipper (captain).
Replacements: 16 Saia Fainga'a, 17 Pettowa Paraka, 18 Sam Talakai, 19 Ed O'Donoghue, 20 Beau Robinson, 21 Hendrik Tui, 22 Nick Frisby, 23 Ben Tapuai, 24 Jake McIntyre.
Chiefs: 15 Tom Marshall, 14 Bryce Heem, 13 Charlie Ngatai, 12 Andrew Horrell, 11 Tim Nanai-Williams, 10 Marty McKenzie, 9 Augustine Pulu, 8 Michael Leitch, 7 Sam Cane, 6 Liam Messam (captain), 5 Brodie Retallick, 4 Michael Fitzgerald, 3 Siate Tokolahi, 2 Hika Elliot, 1 Mitchell Graham.
Replacements: 16 Quentin MacDonald, 17 Pauliasi Manu, 18 Jarrod Firth, 19 Matt Symons, 20 Maama Vaipulu, 21 Brad Weber, 22 Damian McKenzie, 23 Anton Lienert-Brown.
Referee: Mike Fraser
Assistant referees: Rohan Hoffmann, Andrew Lees
TMO: George Ayoub
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