Rugby: Chiefs come of age

From the Ministry of Moral Victories comes this news-flash: the all-All Black front row of Corey Flynn and the Franks brothers was last night bent like a paperclip by a Chiefs front row including boom 20-year-old prop Ben Tameifuna.

More importantly, from the Department of Cold, Hard Facts: the Chiefs won just their fifth game in 18 attempts against the Crusaders.

Even accounting for a typically hairy second half, the Chiefs were good for their win, giving credence to the belief the franchise has turned that imaginary corner.

Right from the start, they looked ready for anything the vaunted Crusaders could throw at them.

Sonny Bill Williams might still take the odd option that takes coaches' blood-pressure levels into the heart-attack zone, but when he is given front-foot ball to run on to, nobody enjoys tackling him.

Twice he carved out big holes in the defensive line he graced last year and it was more by good luck than good management that the Crusaders turned at halftime just 10 points down.

However, the Chiefs team that returned at the start of the second half bore no resemblance to the earlier one.

It was sloppy, it was passive and very quickly it was gathered behind the posts after Robbie Fruean had capitalised on a Kieran Read charge and offload.

Even Sona Taumalolo's try seemed like an anomaly as the Chiefs started to buckle under the Crusaders' pressure.

Like last week against the Blues, discipline was an issue for the Chiefs and Bleyendaal was able to keep chipping away at the lead in threes.

More crucially, Cruden appeared to lose confidence off the tee at a crucial time.

Still, Cruden has nothing if not a huge ticker. Clinging to a two-point lead, he nudged one over from 40m and then - like 14 other Chiefs - clung on for dear life.

 

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