Chiefs rout crownless Kings
Outscoring them by seven tries to two, the Chiefs secured a 58-24 bonus-point win in Port Elizabeth on Saturday.
The Kings had their moments in the first half, but they were ruthlessly punished by a Chiefs team that is among the best in turning opposition mistakes into points.
The visitors rammed home the point in a five-minute blitzkrieg just round the half-hour mark, when tries by Damian McKenzie and Taleni Seu, along with a McKenzie penalty, took the score from 12-10 in favour of the Kings to 27-12 in favour of the Chiefs.
After that it was a matter of by how much the visitors would win.
McKenzie, the 20-year-old New Zealander with a painstakingly slow goal-kicking method, became the highest individual scorer in a Super Rugby match this season with 28 points.
McKenzie surpassed the 23 points of Robert du Preez for the Stormers against Bulls in a South African derby two weekends ago.
His flawless show, which also included a try, took him to 57 points three matches into the season – 14 points more than second-place Christian Leali'ifano of the Brumbies.
McKenzie was the star of a workmanlike Chiefs' performance that brought a bonus point, with a couple of early second-half tries significantly stretching a 27-17 half-time advantage.
The Kings have the unwanted distinction of being the first of the 18 contenders in the expanded competition to concede more than 100 points.
As was the case against fellow South Africans the Sharks two weeks ago, the Kings began promisingly only to fade after the break with unforced errors severely punished.
The Chiefs got back on the winning trail after a shock home loss to another South African team, the Lions, in Hamilton last weekend.
Both teams led twice in the opening 30 minutes of a match played before a small crowd.
Then, a McKenzie try close to the posts, after quickly recycled ball when giant Glen Fisiiahi was floored by 73-kilogram fellow wing Malcolm Jaer, left the visitors 20-12 ahead.
That eight-point gap increased by 10 by half-time and when centre Charlie Ngatai and fly-half Aaron Cruden crossed the try-line soon after the interval, the outcome was obvious.
Errors crept into Kings' game, including missed tackles, knock-ons and over-long throws to line-outs, and the clinical Chiefs took advantage.
Success for the Kiwi outfit took them to the top of the New Zealand conference, one point ahead of defending champions Highlanders.
Kings, tipped by many pundits to be one of the Super Rugby whipping boys this season, are pointless and bottom of the Africa Two table.
Both teams face long journeys ahead of Round Four matches next weekend with Chiefs playing Jaguares in Buenos Aires and Kings tackling the Crusaders in Christchurch.
Man of the match: Chris Cloete was the most productive and effective of the Kings players, while Thembelani Bholi and Edgar Marutlulle had their moments. While the Chiefs set pieces were put under pressure at times, it is in the backline where they dominated and outclassed the opposition – with Damian McKenzie, Charlie Ngatai, Aaron Cruden and Brad Weber causing havoc for the haphazard Kings defence. Our award goes to Chiefs fullback Damian McKenzie, who – apart from the constant threat he posed with ball in hand – contributed 28 points with a flawless kicking performance (seven conversions and three penalties) as well as scoring one of his team's seven tries.
The scorers:
For the Southern Kings:
Tries: Marutlulle 2
Con: Fouche
Pens: Fouche 4
For the Chiefs:
Tries: Cane 2, McKenzie, Seu, Ngatai, Cruden, Fisiiahi
Cons: McKenzie 7
Pens: McKenzie 3
Yellow card: Martin Bezuidenhout (Kings, 68 – professional foul, illegally killing the ball)
Teams:
Southern Kings: 15 Jurgen Visser, 14 Luzuko Vulindlu, 13 Stefan Watermeyer, 12 Shane Gates, 11 Malcolm Jaer, 10 Louis Fouche, 9 Ntando Kebe, 8 Jacques Engelbrecht, 7 Thembelani Bholi, 6 Chris Cloete, 5 John-Charles Astle, 4 Steven Sykes (captain), 3 Jacobie Adriaanse, 2 Edgar Marutlulle, 1 Schalk Ferreira.
Replacements: 16 Sithembiso Sithole, 17 Martin Bezuidenhout, 18 Tom Botha, 19 Schalk Oelofse, 20 Cyril-John Velleman, 21 Kevin Luiters, 22 Elgar Watts, 23 Jaco van Tonder.
Chiefs: 15 Damian McKenzie, 14 Glen Fisiiahi, 13 Seta Tamanivalu, 12 Charlie Ngatai, 11 James Lowe, 10 Aaron Cruden (co-captain), 9 Brad Weber, 8 Michael Leitch, 7 Sam Cane (co-captain), 6 Taleni Seu, 5 Johan Bardoul, 4 Michael Allardice, 3 Siate Tokolahi, 2 Nathan Harris, 1 Mitchell Graham.
Replacements: 16 Rhys Marshall, 17 Pauliasi Manu, 18 Atu Moli, 19 James Tucker, 20 Maama Vaipulu, 21 Tawera Kerr-Barlow, 22 Anton Lienert-Brown, 23 Sam McNicol.
Referee: Jaco van Heerden (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Jaco Peyper (South Africa), Rodney Bonaparte (South Africa)
TMO: Johan Greeff (South Africa)
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