Ngatai show demolishes the Force

The Force were well in the match for 60 minutes but the Chiefs turned on the style to score seven tries in the final 40 minutes to hand the Force another defeat.

The Force began the match with plenty of enthusiasm as they dominated possession in the opening exchanges. The Chiefs were forced to defend with all their might and did so brilliantly as they kept the Force at bay.

The Chiefs finally got their hands on the ball in the 12th minute when sharp work at the breakdown saw the ball reach Damian McKenzie, who launched the counter-attack from inside his 22. Neat interplay between the Chiefs' backline saw them make their way up-field. Key to this phase of play was the support runners who were always there to collect the offloads.

The Chiefs went coast-to-coast with their attack which saw McKenzie dot down for the opening points of the match. He failed to add the extras as the Chiefs led 5-0.

The Force remained full of confidence with ball in hand and were camping inside the Chiefs' half of the field. They were plugging away for a gap but once again, the Chiefs stood firm in defence. An infringement at the breakdown in front of the posts saw the Chiefs' lead reduced to two points when Peter Grant slotted an easy penalty. 5-3 after 23 minutes.

Three minutes later and the Force took the lead. The Chiefs were caught in possession inside their 22 and the Force counter-rucked to regain possession. Scrumhalf Alby Mathewson when on a sniping run from the back of the ruck and centre Ben Tapuai was on hand to receive the offload and grab the score under the posts. Grant popped over the conversion to hand the Force a 10-5 lead after 26 minutes.

This sparked the Chiefs into life and they started seeing more of the ball. A stabbing kick from inside the Force's half was chased by wing James Lowe but Brynard Stander was on hand to snuff the attack. Although, he conceded a five metre scrum for taking the ball into his try area.

From the resulting scrum, Chiefs No.8 Michael Leitch broke off the back and spotted a gap. He went full tilt at it to grab the Chiefs' second try of the game. McKenzie finally found his range to hand the Chiefs a 12-10 lead after 35 minutes.

That's how it would remain until the half-time interval.

It was one way traffic in the second half and it started as soon as the 45th minute when Ngatai got himself over the line for his first try of the match, following excellent work at the breakdown by his forwards. McKenzie made no mistake with the extras to stretch the home side's lead to 19-10.

The Chiefs began to turn the screw and the Force were really up against it in the 56th minute when No.8 Angus Cottrell was sent to the bin for a tip tackle. The Chiefs took full advantage of the extra man as their backline showed their class to setup replacement wing Toni Pulu. McKenzie got the ball from a Ngatai inside pass before sending it wide to Cruden, who picked up the ball from his ankles before handing a basketball pass to Pulu.

There was no stopping the Chiefs from this point as two tries in three minutes saw Ngatai grab another and Lowe getting his name on the scoresheet. McKenzie could only manage one conversion though but the writing was on the wall.

Seven minutes later, the Chiefs were over the line once again, this time replacement flyhalf Stephen Donald with a wrap around set-play to find McKenzie on the left touchline and the fullback bagged his brace in the 73rd minute.

The final seven minutes brought a further two tries for the Chiefs, both going to Ngatai to round off his four scores. Donald slotted one of his two attempts as the Chiefs claimed maximum points from the encounter.

Man of the match: The Force were industrious in the opening half with wing Semisi Masirewa being their standout player. His pace and power gave the Chiefs plenty of headaches when he possession of the ball. Michael Leitch was a menace at the breakdown and on the attack for the Chiefs while Aaron Cruden showed glimpses of his former self with a commanding performance. Damian McKenzie is loving life at the moment and simply ran the show but his kicking off the tee cost hi the perfect game. Our award goes to someone who has just broken down the door to claim the All Blacks No.12 jersey. It is not often that someone bags four tries on a match and for that, Charles Ngatai gets the nod.

Scorers:

For the Chiefs:

Tries: McKenzie 2, Leitch, Ngatai 4, Pulu, Lowe

Cons: McKenzie 3, Donald

For the Western Force:

Try: Tapuai

Con: Grant

Pen: Grant

Yellow card: Angus Cottrell (Force; dangerous play – tip tackle; 56)

Teams:

Chiefs: 15 Damian McKenzie, 14 Sam McNicol, 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 Tom Sanders, 5 Taleni Seu, 4 Michael Allardice, 3 Siate Tokolahi, 2 Hika Elliot, 1 Mitchell Graham.  

Replacements: 16 Rhys Marshall, 17 Atu Moli, 18 Siegfried Fisi'ihoi, 19 James Tucker, 20 Sam Henwood, 21 Kayne Hammington, 22 Stephen Donald, 23 Toni Pulu.

Western Force: 15 Dane Haylett-Petty, 14 Marcel Brache, 13 Ben Tapuai, 12 Junior Rasolea, 11 Semisi Masirewa, 10 Peter Grant, 9 Alby Mathewson, 8 Angus Cottrell, 7 Matt Hodgson (captain), 6 Brynard Stander, 5 Adam Coleman, 4 Ross Haylett-Petty, 3 Tetera Faulkner, 2 Heath Tessmann, 1 Pekahou Cowan.

Replacements: 16 Chris Heiberg, 17 Nathan Charles, 18 Jermaine Ainsley, 19 Sitiveni Mafi, 20 Ben McCalman, 21 Ryan Louwrens, 22 Ian Prior, 23 Albert Nikoro.

Referee: Mike Fraser