After five-years since his first run-on start, Stephen Donald (pictured) has led the Chiefs Super Rugby team to a dominant 40-7 win over Wales. The expectation was high, but with ‘Beaver’ in fine form, the Chiefs beat Wales in an result only some had predicted.

Over 17,000 strong packed into FMG Stadium, Waikato tonight to witness an historic International Friendly between the Chiefs and Wales in what was a homecoming for kiwi-born Welsh head coach Warren Gatland. Respect was paid by the visitors when a rousing haka was performed by Hikawera Elliot and his brothers. The schedule had pleased many New Zealand (NZ) Rugby fans who had fond memories of incoming sides fielding teams to play provincial teams, and the fans were out in force. Even NBA star Steven Adams was present in the crowd to witness the Chiefs outplay a surprisingly poor Wales side.

With a 21-0 lead at half time, the Chiefs withstood multiple waves of attack by Wales in the final 40 minutes, only allowing the visitors one try to their six scored, playing their brand of exciting rugby that was some of best ‘footy’ seen this season.

Chiefs vs Wales: As It Happened

Getting the ball back from the kick off, Wales went eight phases on attack before conceding a penalty at the breakdown. The Chiefs immediately showed signs of their exciting brand of rugby when Anton Lienert-Brown put on the gas and sprinted downfield thanks to a big gap in the Welsh defence, but Wales escaped danger when their forwards were able to turn the ball over in the breakdown. Wales won the first scrum of the night, but a good spot tackle by the Chiefs saw the Welsh counter attack come to nothing.

Brad Weber put the Chiefs in the lead with the first try of the night, but it was the step of Stephen Donald who set the Chiefs halfback up for the try when he stepped through one Welsh defender and powered up field to allow Weber the time to get in support. Donald converted and the Chiefs had an early 7-0 lead. Wales turned down an easy three-point chance when they were awarded a penalty, but it cost them as the line out went astray and Donald scooped up possession.

The home side din’t have it all their way, Matthew Morgan charged downfield  for Wales thanks to the Chiefs defence coming up too quickly, and in support of Morgan, Rhys Priestland just couldn’t quite finish off with a try. As Chiefs prop Mitchell Graham was forced to leave the field with an injury to his right leg, Welsh winger Eli Walker came within inches of scoring but just couldn’t reach forward enough to touch the ball down fairly on the chalk, seeing the Chiefs escape immense pressure again.

Every time Wales got a penalty, they seemed intent on taking a line-out in the hopes of scoring a try rather than kicking for goal. It was ‘festical rugby’ and that style of play was a positive attitude, but their completion was poor. The big effort from the home team took it’s toll, as there was a long injury-enforced break in play as Chiefs lock Michael Allardice received attention. After carrying on for a few more minutes, he left the field with what looked like an ankle injury.

The Chiefs managed to come up with another seven-points on their second trip into the Welsh red zone, loose-forward Tom Sanders (pictured below) shunting his way over the line to score under the posts, and the Chiefs were out to a 14-0 lead. Cheers from the crowd rang out in approval. Could they continue this great performance against an International side though?

Weber, the ‘quick as a hiccup’ halfback spotted a huge gap in the defence and threw a fine pass out to Donald who charged downfield in a terrific burst. His offload found Siegfried Fisiihoi who powered on for some valuable metres, With that forward momentum, Donald snapped up the ball from the back of the ruck and looked to have powered over the line. After consulting TMO Shane McDermott. Replays showed that there was ‘no conclusive evidence’ of the ball being touched down and the try wasn’t awarded, but the Chiefs then had an attacking five-metre scrum. Big lock Dominic Bird found himself with possession close to the line, and he did a great job to beat four defenders and score the Chiefs third try of the night.

The Chiefs were leading 21-0 following Donald’s conversion, before the halftime whistle blew and the Chiefs went into the sheds with a commanding lead.

Wales attempted to assert some of the power into their maul that had been sorely missing in the first half, but the Chiefs proved to be stronger and gained possession as the Welsh notched their tenth turnover of the night. Needing points and quickly, Toby Faletau was subbed onto the field to help in the line out. With over three-minutes of possession within the Chiefs 22 metre zone, the Welsh just couldn’t break some of the most impressive defence seen this season. For their troubles, they were awarded a penalty. They went for the try but obstruction saw a chance for Wales to score go begging–much to the applause of the home fans.

Captain for this historic occasion, Donald appeared to injure himself during the second half and was limping heavily on his right leg. The injury which looked like serious cramp, took place when Donald kicked the ball downfield, and inhibited his role and after attention from the medics, Donald played on. He was inspiring the men around him and the mana he carries from deeds done in the 2011 Rugby World Cup final continued to inspire the group.

Wales received more penalties near the Chiefs try line, and in the 55th-minute, they finally got some points on the board when Kristian Dacey powered over from the back of the maul to score. Priestland converted, but Wales were still behind 21-7. It would take all of their powers to overcome that score and the Welsh went hot on attack again with a big break made downfield. They found themselves ‘knocking on the door’ of the hosts tryline but a brilliant tackle by James Lowe in the corner kept Walker from scoring.

This continued a strong night for Lowe, playing at fullback instead of his usual position on the left wing. Even there, he continually broke tackles, offloading the ball freely, and finding gaps in the Welsh defence often. Lowe finished this off in style, scoring the Chiefs fourth try of the night, extending the Chiefs lead with precious little time left in the game. Donald heroically converted, putting the Chiefs up 28-7.

After a brilliant game in his first start for the Chiefs in five-years, Donald received a standing ovation as he was substituted from the field. Still hobbling from an earlier injury, he had ‘drawn back the years’ and held his head high with ‘Chiefsmana’ (pride)

With 74-minutes played, Toni Pulu then put the icing on the cake for the the Chiefs, scoring in the corner and presenting a rare shot at goal for Lowe [replacement kicker] who couldn’t convert from the sideline. The fullback got his one filed goal in the end though, after Sam McNicol scored the Chiefs sixth and final try. That ‘slammed the door shut’ on a dominant performance as the Chiefs beat Wales with the home side easy 40-7 winners.

‘Beaver’ Inspires As Chiefs Beat Wales

The touring side will wake tomorrow with a horrible feeling in their stomachs. Being ‘shown up’ by the Chiefs; be it a professional Super Rugby franchise, it is very close to being humiliated by the locals. It will sadly not build on the positive feeling that many had for a traditional midweek match when it was scheduled. Similar to a full rugby tour old old where reserves played the ‘local side’ as the test team rested and played the test series on the weekend–tomorrow the entire Wales squad will feel terrible, instead of looking back with pride.

And well they should. Josh Turnball (pictured) illustrates how the players appeared tonight. Listless, disjointed and put to the sword. The traveling press will have a field day with the result [a strangle alignment here, because the Agricultural Field Days, a 4 day event to market and promote rural business opens Thursday] Even Warren Gatland, a trueblue Waikato man will see the unwanted analogy there.

Full credit goes to Dave Rennie and his group, who valued this match enough to play a full-strength side [missing All Black representatives and Shaun Stevenson to Under-20 duties) but they played with passion and enterprise. It was fantastic to watch.

Such a shame the Welsh thought of it as a public relations event.

Chiefs 40 

Tries: Brad Weber, Tom Sanders, Dominic Bird, James Lowe, Toni Pulu, Sam McNicol. Penalties: nil. Conversions: Stephen Donald (4), James Lowe (1) 

Wales 7 

Tries: Kristian Dacey, Penalties: nil. Conversions: Rhys Priestland (1)

“Main photo credit”