VIDEO: Chiefs and Canes in thrilling draw

SUPER RUGBY REPORT: The Chiefs and Hurricanes played to a thrilling 23-all draw in Hamilton on Saturday.

Once the emotion and disappointment of the result subsides, both teams will be able to sit back and reflect on what was amazing efforts in a physically bruising encounter.

Perhaps a draw is exactly what the game deserves, because neither team deserved to lose.

For the Chiefs the draw might be a bit more disappointing than for the Hurricanes, as it still leaves them without a win in 2019.

Chiefs captain Brodie Retallick said he was pleased to finally get points on the board, after four losses in the opening rounds, but wanted a victory.

“I’m slightly happier than I was in the last few weeks,” he said.

“We hung in the fight for 80 minutes, in previous weeks we might have gone in our shells a little bit and had points put on us,” he added

“We dictated terms a bit more, which is pleasing, but we can’t be happy with a draw and we’re still searching for that first win.”

Hurricanes centre Matt Proctor was also disappointed but always knew they would face a tough task against their North Island rivals.

“It was a flipping hard game, both teams played well,” he said.

“It feels like a loss, we came her to get four points and we didn’t quite achieve that.”

Both sides scored two converted tries and two penalties in a New Zealand derby overshadowed by the mosque attacks in Christchurch in which at least 49 people died.

Players from both sides formed a circle in the centre of the pitch and linked arms as they bowed heads and observed a minute’s silence for the victims.

The Chiefs led 20-13 at half time and Damian McKenzie missed a 67th minute penalty that could have sealed the win.

 

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Neither the Canes nor the Chiefs could top eachother as the tale of two poor performances ended 23-23 🙄

A post shared by Rugby 365 (@rugby365com) on Mar 15, 2019 at 1:26am PDT

Man of the match: Damian McKenzie looked a lot more comfortable at fullback and his goal-kicking wasn’t half bad either. Brodie Retallick and Michael Allardice were the muscle in the Chiefs pack. Chase Tiatia had some key injections into the backline and made plenty of metres – stepping and weaving his way through tacklers. He made some important clearance kicks as well. However, in a very close call our award goes to Hurricanes flyhalf Beauden Barrett – who produced some amazing cover defence to stop what looked like a certain try, made plenty of metres, beating defenders and delivered some amazing clearance kicks.

The scorers:

For the Chiefs:
Tries: Lienert-Brown, D McKenzie
Cons: D McKenzie 2
Pens: D McKenzie 3

For the Hurricanes:
Tries: Proctor, Goosen
Cons: B Barrett 2
Pens: B Barrett 2, J Barrett

Don’t miss this week’s podcast!

SUPER RUGBY LIVE NOW: Chiefs v Hurricanes

 Did you miss any of the action? Recap all the drama here!

Teams:

Chiefs: 15 Damian McKenzie, 14 Sean Wainui, 13 Tumua Manu, 12 Anton Lienert-Brown, 11 Ataata Moeakiola, 10 Marty McKenzie, 9 Brad Weber, 8 Tyler Ardron, 7 Mitchell Karpik, 6 Mitchell Brown, 5 Michael Allardice, 4 Brodie Retallick (captain), 3 Nepo Laulala, 2 Nathan Harris, 1 Aidan Ross.
Replacements: 16 Samisoni Taukei’aho, 17 Ryan Coxon, 18 Angus Ta’avao, 19 Taleni Seu, 20 Luke Jacobson, 21 Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi, 22 Alex Nankivell, 23 Etene Nanai-Seturo.

Hurricanes: 15 Chase Tiatia, 14 Jordie Barrett, 13 Matt Proctor, 12 Ngani Laumape, 11 Wes Goosen, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 Thomas Perenara, 8 Ardie Savea, 7 Du’Plessis Kirifi, 6 Reed Prinsep, 5 Vaea Fifita, 4 James Blackwell, 3 Ben May, 2 Dane Coles (captain), 1 Toby Smith.
Replacements: 16 Asafo Aumua, 17 Fraser Armstrong, 18 Alex Fidow, 19 Liam Mitchell, 20 Heiden Bedwell-Curtis, 21 Finlay Christie, 22 Jackson Garden-Bachop, 23 Salesi Rayasi.

Referee: Mike Fraser (New Zealand)
Assistant referees: Brendon Pickerill (New Zealand), Nick Hogan (New Zealand)
TMO: Shane McDermott (New Zealand)