The Chiefs have proven once again why they’re the favourites to win this year’s Super Rugby Pacific title, scoring their 12th win of the season over the ACT Brumbies.
With a 31-21 triumph in Canberra, the Chiefs ensured they cannot be dethroned from the top of the table with one round remaining in the regular season.
The Brumbies, meanwhile, stay fourth and risk losing out on a home quarter-final if they fail to defeat the Melbourne Rebels at home in round 15.
Watch the 2023 Super Rugby Pacific season on the home of rugby, Stan Sport. All matches streaming ad free, live and on demand
The Chiefs are yet to lose an away game this season and face the Western Force in Perth.
Ultimately, defence paid dividends for the Chiefs as the Brumbies’ attempts to score were often thwarted.
“It was a very tough game, I think, particularly in that first half,” Chiefs captain Sam Cane said.
“I felt like we made a mountain of tackles and I felt like we were just hanging on there.
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“Defence has been something that we’ve been really proud of all season and it fronted up again tonight.
“I thought our maul there was very good. Man, the Brumbies threw everything at us and it was a really tough game.”
Brumbies head coach Stephen Larkham said he was disappointed with the result but optimistic heading towards the finals.
The silver lining in the loss, he said, was how the team handled itself.
“They were good defensively, once we got inside that a-zone – yeah, very impressed with how they defended and held us out,” Larkham said.
“They spoiled our line-out as well so we didn’t have that launch. There were some really good elements to our game though. There’s a lot to take away from that game. I think defensively we stepped up.
“We let in three soft tries from the first phase – a pick through the ruck, an intercept, and then that scrum down the left edge there, so that’s 21 points they took off us without really fighting for us.
“When we got in the battle with them I thought we competing pretty well but they were too good tonight.”
Intercept try extends Chiefs lead over Brumbies
It was a bruising encounter for the Brumbies who lost Allan Alaalatoa to a calf injury. Earlier in the match, he was sent off for a high shot on Brodie Retallick.
Ryan Lonergan bemoaned missed chances.
“We had plenty of opportunity there in a-zone, we just couldn’t convert it into points,” he said.
“The Chiefs defended outstandingly the whole game, particularly in their d-zone there. Pretty disappointed with our a-zone conversion.”
Luke Jacobson opened the scoring just three minutes in, making it 7-0 with Damien McKenzie’s conversion.
The Brumbies responded courtesy of Len Ikitau, who drove over the line under the posts in the 11th minute.
Opportunities were forthcoming for the Brumbies to score in the first half, but the Chiefs held out time after time to lead 17-7 at the break.
Josh Ioane scored in the 31st minute and that was backed up by Cortez Ratima and Shaun Steventon in the 54th and 59th minute respectively.
Coorey Toole clawed the margin back slightly in the 71st minute but it was easy to see by the look on the players’ faces that it was little consolation with the game out of reach by then.
Pete Samu capped off the contest with a try as the hooter sounded, making the scorecard look a little less grim at 31-21.
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