Chiefs coach Dave Rennie has taken little comfort in the knowledge that the Chiefs remain up near the pointy end of Super Rugby after his side scrapped through to beat a much lower ranked Sunwolves 27-20 in Hamilton.
The veteran rugby coach was clearly disappointed in missing out on a bonus point, but given the situation of having two extra players on the field; Rennie appeared to be stung even more by how things transpired.
“We made pretty hard work of it out there in what turned out to be a very frustrating night”
The Sunwolves were handed a yellow and a red card in the dying minutes; ruining was what a strong performance until that point. With two extra men, the Chiefs failed to score a fifth try and secure a bonus point.
Just how crucial that lost bonus point will be moving forward remains to be seen, but you’d imagine it could be costly come finals time. The Chiefs should have scored with not one, but two extra men on the field,
The Chiefs came into the game tied for second place with the Hurricanes on the New Zealand conference, and sixth in the overall standings. A scrappy three-week tour to South Africa and Australia didn’t impress many Chiefs fans, and although winning two of those games, the manner in which the side played was average.
A win was expected against a side like the Sunwolves, and a big one at that. The Highlanders and the Crusaders managed to take easy care of the Sunwolves; winning those games 40-15 and 50-3 respectively.
Many expected the Chiefs to put on just as many points, if not more, so the result in Hamilton really went against the grain, and it stuck in the craw of Rennie more than anyone.
“We had some really high expectations around the quality of our performance, we wanted to put on a performance worth being proud of, and we fell well short of that”
Chiefs Beat Sunwolves But Leave A Lot To Be Desired
Four tries to two was the reading, but the Chiefs were far from ideal in the encounter.
The Chiefs chose to keep their big leaders in the starting lineup; and three tries in the First Half came from two of those men (Hika Elliot, Damian McKenzie).
Meanwhile, the Sunwolves were as positive in their style of rugby again, and the penalty count was highly in their favor as well. A try was their reward for that, and they hung in contention for a long time in the match. But they weren’t done at one, the Sunwolves scored a second late in the piece thanks to finding a hole in the Chiefs defense and finishing it off with pace on the outside.
FT | The ball is held up to deny a bonus-point! @ChiefsRugby still take a 27 – 20 win over the @sunwolves. #CHIvSUN pic.twitter.com/Mb4frLFQEa
— Super Rugby (@SuperRugbyNZ) April 29, 2017
McKenzie bagged himself a double as the Chiefs maintained control in persistent drizzle, but the home side were still seeking the bonus point.
In overtime, thanks to a yellow, and red card, to two different Sunwolves defenders. Despite the two man advantage, the Chiefs were still denied the bonus point and will look back at what might’ve been. 27-20 winners were the Chiefs.
“Main photo credit”
