Chiefs still top of the pops
The Chiefs cemented their place as New Zealand's leading franchise with a deserved 32-20 win over the Blues in New Plymouth on Friday.
Outscoring the Blues by four tries to two and overcoming an early blitz by the visitors, the Chiefs also moved into second place – ahead of the Brumbies – on the global table.
They have the same log points as the Sharks (35), but trail on points difference -0 with the Brumbies hosting the Sharks on Saturday.
For the Blues it was another miserable match away from home.
Not only do their remain winless on the road this season, but it is 14 consecutive matches – going back to February last year for the last time they won on the road.
It was the Chiefs' home match in New Plymouth, after the Taranaki Rugby Union moved from the Hurricanes franchise to the Hamilton-based Chiefs.
Man mountain Ben Tameifuna scored a try in each half, while Tim Nanai-Williams (first half) and Tom Marshall (second half) got the home team's other five-pointers.
The hulking tighthead prop, Tameifuna, touched down after 10 minutes and barged over from the back of a ruck two minutes after the break – as the Chiefs grabbed four tries and a bonus point to tighten their grip on the New Zealand conference.
Wing Lolagi Visinia scored an early try as the Blues raced into a 7-0 lead, before the Chiefs kicked into gear.
Centre George Moala added a late consolation for the Blues, who remained mired at the bottom of the New Zealand conference.
The result extends the Chiefs' winning streak against the Blues to six matches going back to 2011.
The Blues' woes were compounded by injury to fullback Charles Piutau, who left the field midway through the opening spell.
With All Black coach Steve Hansen looking on, the 10-cap international went down with a knee injury after falling awkwardly in a tackle.
The Blues had the better of the opening exchanges with tactical kicking seeing them camped in Chiefs territory before a backline raid finished with Ma'a Nonu delivering the last pass for left wing Lolagi Visinia to touch down in the corner for the first try of the match.
The Chiefs quickly put their sluggish start behind them when a Nonu handling error put them hot on attack, several phases stretching the Blues defence, before prop Ben Tameifuna barged over just inside the left touchline.
Anscombe's sideline conversion matched the earlier effort of his Blues' opposite Simon Hickey, leaving both sides locked up at 7-7 after 10 minutes.
With the Blues fullback, Piutau, prone on the turf, and the Chiefs capitalised on his absence in the defensive line when Sam Cane, Tim Nanai-Williams, and Dwayne Sweeney broke free down the right touchline, before Nanai-Williams backed up to score their second five-pointer at the end of the first quarter.
Anscombe added the extras and then kicked an angled penalty in the 28th minute to extend their lead to 10, but Hickey replied with a 40-metre shot on the half-hour to keep the visitors in touch.
Piutau's injury forced the Blues backline into an awkward reshuffle that put Visinia into fullback, and saw George Moala shift out to the wing, while replacement Pita Ahki came on at outside centre.
Hickey then added another three points to the Blues' tally when the Chiefs were pinged for not rolling away, but Anscombe replied with another beauty from near touch, after the Blues were caught going off their feet, to give them a 20-13 lead at the break.
The Chiefs made a statement early in the second-half when Brodie Retallick spoiled the Blues ball at a ruck, the turnover resulting in Tameifuna's second try after four phases of forward play.
They continued to dominate the Blues up the middle, but it was out wide where Bundee Aki and Nanai-Williams combined to send fullback Tom Marshall over for their bonus-point try, while Anscombe's sideline conversion pushed them out to a comfortable 32-13 lead with half an hour to play.
Handling mistakes continued to hurt the Blues' effort and they failed to match the commitment and aggression of the Chiefs forwards, who were counter-rucking and tackling with venom.
The Chiefs momentum was slowed when Nanai-Williams was sin-binned for repeated infringements and the Blues capitalised from the penalty, with Moala crossing out wide after sustained pressure. Blues replacement back Ihaia West slotted the sideline conversion to leave the Blues adrift 32-20 heading into the last 10 minutes.
Impeccable goal line defence from the Chiefs thwarted the Blues' search for a third try and the possibility of a bonus point.
Both sides have a bye next week.
Man of the match: Ma'a Nonu certainly put his hand up in an impressive first-half showing, but then faded badly after the break. Ben Tameifuna was quite active when they got close to the tryline, getting one of his two tries on the 'wing'. Sam Cane was powerful with ball in hand and made a bucketload of tackles. However, our award goes to fellow Chiefs flank Tanerau Latimer – for a outstanding all-round performance – maybe not as carries as Cane, but making more tackles and also featuring in the line-outs.
The scorers:
For the Chiefs:
Tries: Tameifuna 2, Nanai-Williams, Marshall
Cons: Anscombe 3
Pens: Anscombe 2
For the Blues:
Tries: Visinia, Moala
Cons: Hickey, West
Pens: Hickey 2
Yellow card: Tim Nanai-Williams (Chiefs, 65 – repeated infringements, collapsing a maul)
Teams:
Chiefs: 15 Tom Marshall, 14 Dwayne Sweeney, 13 Tim Nanai-Williams, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 James Lowe, 10 Gareth Anscombe, 9 Tawera Kerr-Barlow, 8 Liam Messam (captain), 7 Sam Cane, 6 Tanerau Latimer, 5 Brodie Retallick, 4 Michael Fitzgerald, 3 Ben Tameifuna, 2 Nathan Harris, 1 Pauliasi Manu.
Replacements: 16 Mahonri Schwalger, 17 Jamie Mackintosh, 18 Josh Hohneck, 19 Matt Symons, 20 Liam Squire, 21 Brad Weber, 22 Andrew Horrell, 23 Anton Lienert-Brown.
Blues: 15 Charles Piutau, 14 Frank Halai, 13 George Moala, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Lolagi Visinia, 10 Simon Hickey, 9 Bryn Hall, 8 Jerome Kaino, 7 Brendon O'Connor, 6 Peter Saili, 5 Tom Donnelly, 4 Patrick Tuipulotu, 3 Charlie Faumuina, 2 Keven Mealamu (captain), 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements: 16 James Parsons, 17 Sam Prattley, 18 Angus Ta'avao, 19 Hayden Triggs, 20 Steven Luatua, 21 Piri Weepu, 22 Ihaia West, 23 Pita Ahki.
Referee: Mike Fraser (New Zealand)
Assistant referees: Nick Briant (New Zealand), Shane McDermott (New Zealand)
TMO: Glenn Newman (New Zealand)
