Chiefs claim victory over Highlanders in Hamilton

As injuries mount around the competition, the Chiefs have been buoyed by the reintegration of two of their All Blacks.

While a 28-21 win over the Highlanders in the rain in Hamilton on Saturday evening showed glimpses of their strengths across the park, the workloads of Josh Lord and Emoni Narawa have seen them take another step in the right direction.

Lord made his return to play from an ankle injury in a 17-minute stint from the bench last weekend, and the young lock got through 46 minutes in a starting role against the Highlanders. Winger Narawa was injected from the game with 24 minutes left in the contest, playing his first minutes since a back injury ruled him out of the All Blacks’ World Cup campaign last year.

With Anton Lienert-Brown missing the contest after suffering a nasty head knock last weekend and Samisoni Taukei’aho out due to the All Blacks’ load management protocol, things are moving along nicely for the Chiefs.

What will be of concern for Clayton McMillan, however, is how his team closed the game out. For 60 minutes, they were solid. But when Timoci Tavatavanawai scored for the Highlanders, who were without All Blacks prop Ethan de Groot, with 20 minutes to play and the southerners’ tails went up.

Tries to Jacob Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens and Nikora Broughton followed, seeing the visitors close what was a blowout scoreline to just seven points and time on their side. They weren’t able to find that game-tying try, but it will be a positive for coach Clarke Dermody to take away from a game where handling errors and discipline added to the side’s issues.

The Highlanders saw both Tavatavanawai and Tanielu Tele’a spend time in the sin bin in the first half, with Tele’a’s yellow card for a high contact on Quinn Tupaea upgraded to a red after the break.

Two of the Chiefs’ four tries in the game came as a direct result of those two instances, with Bradley Slater pushing the lead out following the Tavatavanawai 12th-minute yellow card, after Daniel Rona kicked things off with a lovely finish in the corner. Rameka Poihipi crossed moments after Tele’a had been sent off just before halftime.

The Highlanders largely dominated things on attack, with more than 60 per cent of the ball and almost 100 carries more than the Chiefs. But as they have done so often in recent seasons, the hosts stood up defensively.

The Chiefs had 12 players make double-digit tackles, including reserve flanker Wallace Sititi in just 20 minutes off the bench.

While they ran home strong and earned a bonus point, the Highlanders have now lost 18 straight against New Zealand opponents.

Chiefs 28 (Daniel Rona, Bradley Slater, Rameka Poihipi, Cortez Ratima tries; Damian McKenzie 4 cons)

Highlanders 21 (Timoci Tavatavanawai, Jacob Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens, Nikora Broughton tries; Sam Gilbert 3 cons)

HT: 21-0

By Christopher Reive