Cruden sparks Chiefs comeback
Coming back from being 10-20 down early in the second half, All Black flyhalf Aaron Cruden showed huge was running into some decent form – sparking the Chiefs to a 29-23 victory in Hamilton on Friday.
Cruden scored a try at a crucial stage, when the Blues seemed to be taking control, and then created another for Seta Tamanivalu that reclaimed the lead.
In the end the Chiefs scored five tries to two, with a Brodie Retallick try three minutes from time sealing the win.
The result takes the Chiefs winning streak to five matches, cementing their place at the top of the table and confirming their status as the form team of this year's competition.
It also extends their dominance over the Blues to 10 straight victories, dating back to June 2011.
While the Tana Umaga-coached Blues have been inconsistent this year, Chiefs skipper Sam Cane said they were always going to lift when facing their North Island rivals.
"If you read the paper you'd think we were going to blow them off the park but we know the history of these Chiefs-versus-Blues clashes and they had a point to prove," he said.
"We knew we'd have to grind it out."
The Chiefs took an early lead when prop Mitchell Graham picked up Brad Weber's speculative pass from the sideline and touched down.
Their second try came when Charlie Ngatai took off from deep in his own half after a line-out steal, dodging two defenders to set up a Shaun Stevenson try.
The Aucklanders created plenty of chances but let themselves down with poor discipline and handling errors, although two Ihaia West penalties meant the gap was only 10-6 at half-time.
Their execution improved with two tries just after the restart, the first a spectacular effort from Melani Nanai, who gathered a kick on half-way and zig-zagged through the Chiefs defence.
Reiko Ioane scored another two minutes later, bouncing off two tacklers to give the Blues a 20-10 lead.
But they could not hold on to the lead as Aaron Cruden clawed back a try for the Chiefs and then set up another for Seta Tamanivalu to put them ahead 22-20.
It was desperate, end-to-end play in the final 10 minutes, but Retallick sealed it when he broke free from a crush of bodies and stretched his lanky frame over the line.
Blues flyhalf West then sent over a penalty with the last kick of the game to narrow the gap to less than seven points, earning the Blues a bonus point.
Man of the match: Rieko Ioane again showed how dangerous he can be with ball in hand, while Steven Luatua and Jerome Kaino did the hard yards. Charlie Ngatai must now be the premier No.12 in New Zealand, while Michael Leitch, Sam Cane and Brodie Retallick were the Chiefs' most productive forwards. However, our award goes to Chiefs flyhalf Aaron Cruden – who was instrumental in the second-half comeback and victory.
The scorers:
For the Chiefs:
Tries: Graham, Stevenson, Cruden, Tamanivalu, Retallick
Cons: McKenzie 2
For the Blues:
Tries: Nanai, R Ioane
Cons: West 2
Pens: West 3
Teams:
Chiefs: 15 Damian McKenzie, 14 Shaun Stevenson, 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 Maama Vaipulu, 5 Brodie Retallick, 4 Dominic Bird, 3 Atu Moli, 2 Hika Elliot, 1 Mitchell Graham.
Replacements: 16 Rhys Marshall, 17 Siate Tokolahi, 18 Siegfried Fisi'ihoi, 19 Taleni Seu, 20 Sam Henwood, 21 Tawera Kerr-Barlow, 22 Stephen Donald, 23 Sam McNicol.
Blues: 15 Melani Nanai Vai, 14 Rieko Ioane, 13 Rene Ranger, 12 Piers Francis, 11 Tevita Li, 10 Ihaia West, 9 Bryn Hall, 8 Steven Luatua, 7 Blake Gibson, 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Josh Bekhuis, 4 Hoani Matenga, 3 Charlie Faumuina, 2 James Parsons (captain), 1 Sam Prattley.
Replacements: 16 Quentin MacDonald, 17 Namatahi Waa, 18 Ofa Tu'ungafasi, 19 Akira Ioane, 20 Kara Pryor, 21 Billy Guyton, 22 Matt McGahan, 23 George Moala.
Referee: Jamie Nutbrown (New Zealand)
Assistant referees: Chris Pollock (New Zealand), Kane McBride (New Zealand)
TMO: Shane McDermott (New Zealand)
