Chiefs storm to Super title win
4 Aug 2012
JON CARDINELLI watched the Chiefs deliver a masterclass in power and composure to crush the Sharks 37-6 in Saturday’s Super Rugby final.
Some will list travel fatigue as decisive. Some will complain that referee Steve Walsh was too lenient on the hosts. Some might say the clamour of cowbells and the driving rain made for a perfect storm of pressure that squeezed the fight out of the Sharks.
But the external factors were never decisive.
The Chiefs rocked up in rampant mood. Their forwards absorbed the early pressure, and their inside backs played outstanding finals football. They ran away with the game in the second half, but the result was secured in the first.
The Sharks needed to bank early points if they were ever going to win this final. Their forwards clattered into the collisions during a bruising first quarter and their line speed on defence kept the Chiefs on the back foot.
But a three-point return during that period was never going to be enough. They coughed up too much possession on attack, and it was a series of missed opportunities early in the piece that they were made to regret.
The Chiefs’ performance in that first half highlighted the tactical nous of the coaching staff, as well as the efficiency of the team’s key decision makers. They played for territory but they also kept the Sharks’ defence guessing with a series of grubbers and chip kicks.
It was a deft nudge by Aaron Cruden that sparked the Chiefs’ first try. Sharks fullback Pat Lambie was caught in two minds, and in the end he made the wrong decision in allowing Cruden’s chip kick to bounce.
The Chiefs, as they have done all season and managed to do on several occasions during this final, chased well and forced the breakdown turnover. From here, the Sharks’ defence was compromised, and centre Sonny Bill Williams took full advantage, breaking two tackles to take play up to the opposition 22.
From there the ball flew out to the left where it was Chiefs backs versus Sharks forwards. Tim Nanai-Williams obliged with a score that spelled trouble for the Sharks, even at that early stage.
For all the talk of fatigue, the Sharks’ intensity at the collisions never seemed to flag. And yet, they struggled to adapt to Walsh’s calls at the breakdown.
Their defensive work was outstanding for the most part, but they made some poor decisions with ball in hand and failed to stretch the Chiefs’ defence.
Their set piece was expected to rattle that of the Chiefs, but the hosts overcame some early lineout wobbles to compete strongly and force several turnovers of their own.
The Sharks also struggled to win set-piece possession in the Chiefs half, and were completely outplayed in the battle for territory. The Chiefs peppered the Sharks in the first half, and the pressure told.
Cruden, who would miss a couple of goal kicks later in the game, was accurate in front of poles during those first 40 minutes. It allowed the Chiefs to build a commanding lead, and before the Sharks knew it, they were 13-3 down.
It was a massive deficit considering the conditions. It was a gap they were never going to close with the Chiefs dominating the collisions and winning the kicking game.
The Sharks suffered a further setback when Kane Thompson crashed over from a five-metre scrum early in the second half. At 20-3, the visitors were dead and buried.
They attempted to play more expansively in an effort to close the gap but, as the final scoreline suggests, this only played into the Chiefs’ hands. The Waikato outfit fed off the Sharks’ errors and scored two more tries.
The performance was emphatic, and the victory well deserved. The Chiefs have played some brilliant rugby at times this season, but they have also shown themselves to be one of the best defensive teams.
The tactical excellence of their halfback pairing hasn’t received enough credit, and Cruden and Tawera Kerr-Barlow certainly played a decisive role in winning this final.
It’s an embarrassing end for the Sharks, who have also produced some encouraging and balanced performances in 2012. In the end, they will lament the early season failures that forced them to travel so extensively in the play-offs.
The Chiefs are the Super Rugby champions for the first time in the competition’s history. They are worthy of the title. They won the New Zealand conference. They won the right to host a semi-final and, thanks to the Stormers’ home defeat, a final.
Their consistency allowed them to do so, and it was also a consistent performance that allowed them to beat the Sharks in the decider.
603 Comments
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4 Aug 2012, 11:02 am
@JL1-245:
Oh what a shame that you dont live in NZ.
Then you could be part of the best rugby teams ever.
Suppose its a feeling you dont know anything about, sad a$$
4 Aug 2012, 11:02 am
The rest of todays post in a nutshell……..
“okay we played kak today because of travel fatigue but we farked you up last week……”
4 Aug 2012, 11:02 am
No point blaming the ref if u getting drilled by a cricket score with 25% possessie – just not good enough.
Best team sitting under the mountain nursing their pride – would’ve taken the chiefs.
4 Aug 2012, 11:02 am
Sharks are getting a whipping.
Tough times.
The bonus airmiles isn’t going to make the pain feel any better tonight
4 Aug 2012, 11:03 am
@Hurricane-199: Hurricane seriously if u think this is the same sharks team that played the last 4 weeks u are dilusional.. Go put a poster of Cruden& SBW on a wall and have a toss well done!
4 Aug 2012, 11:03 am
Bambie kakkest
Jannie dup 2nd kakkest
Deysel 3rd kakkest
Michelak 4th kakkest
Kankakski 5th kakkest………………….
4 Aug 2012, 11:03 am
cab – they had to get the final first…and they were not good enough.
1 from 3 against Sharks in 2012, and 2 of those games at home. Stormers are weak
4 Aug 2012, 11:04 am
What a pity for the Sharks and for all Rugby lovers. The team just can’t compete. The final is disappointing….yet another one. Apart from the KAK refereeing, the Chiefs have been beautiful to watch, and the Sharks haven’t played the way so many of us believed they could. KEO’s article regarding the way the draw is set up is a brilliant one. The Sharks at the very least (or any team in their position) should have been given a week off to prepare. The only point which I disagree with KEO on is that the final should be played on a neutral ground. Unfortunately that only works with the Champions and Uefa League’s because of the short distances fans must travel. The Chiefs should have hosted the final as is, but perhaps the Sharks should have been allowed a break. And as for the REDS claiming third place…what a joke! Today the Chiefs are the winners, but Rugby in terms of the Super 15 competition was a big loser. Horrible game, and most likely the Sharks beaten by fatigue rather than a brilliant Chiefs side.
4 Aug 2012, 11:04 am
@sharks_lover-60: no i want the score board
4 Aug 2012, 11:05 am
@munkiboi-226: Reality is Stormers weren’t good enough to win a semi at home, they need to show more than just defence to win a Super rugby trophy, it’s a very attacking competition. When the Bulls won they had a great attack, last year the Reds and now Chiefs. Back to the drawing board for Coetzee.
A bridge too far for the Sharks today, in addition to the travel the conditions threw their tactics. They went for kick-chase instead of keeping it in hand. Reffing poor but not biased. Chiefs deserved winners.
4 Aug 2012, 11:05 am
Canberra 2001
36-6
Will the Chiefs be able to better that score?…
4 Aug 2012, 11:05 am
sbw leaves union with a world cup medal & super rugby one…
4 Aug 2012, 11:06 am
Chiefs want a bonus point?
4 Aug 2012, 11:06 am
Too bad Sharks. Congrats Chiefs ! Title probably went to the right team this year.
4 Aug 2012, 11:06 am
While Chiefs are running away with this the Sharks deserve to be there.
4 Aug 2012, 11:07 am
Chiefs deserve to be where they are and well done to them. Its just pathetic how its no real contest between the final two teams standing its 1 team well rested and another team physically drained to the bone before the game even started.
4 Aug 2012, 11:07 am
Chiefs in a different class today.
4 Aug 2012, 11:07 am
Three of the five NZ franchises have won the Super rugby championship now. Only the Canes and the Landers need to break their duck,
4 Aug 2012, 11:08 am
@Guns-255:
No one likes a sore loser.
I dont understand how you got all fired up over post #199
What i said was tghe Chiefs out playing the Sharks at the moment and look at
your reply. lol
Settle down and have a drink dude.
4 Aug 2012, 11:08 am
Byeeeeeeee dont need to watch more, will have more fun supervising the hub trying to build m*nkey sleeping boxes in the sanctuary(he stopped watching at halftime) he hates me supervising lol.
4 Aug 2012, 11:08 am
Well played Chiefs. Better luck next time lads, there will be plenty more, Sharks win the wooden spoon again! Sharks started with a burst, but Chiefs took their chances.
4 Aug 2012, 11:09 am
@Hurricane-251: The drain of the world….an Aussie state, and a poor one at that…
Really not interested, I do not see the appeal to cheat
But hey, do what you want to
4 Aug 2012, 11:09 am
BOOOOM !!!!
4 Aug 2012, 11:10 am
@260.Big Hit
Being from the Bleatingish Isles, you would not know a good ref, unless you paid him.
4 Aug 2012, 11:10 am
@JL1-272:
Thank you and keep crying as well, really suits you.
4 Aug 2012, 11:10 am
Yep, well done to the Waikato folk. Chiefs did everything right this year, and deserve this title.
4 Aug 2012, 11:11 am
@Skabenga-271: ‘Sharks win the wooden spoon again!’
Doesn’t that belong to the Lions?
4 Aug 2012, 11:11 am
SBW!!!!!!!!!!!!
4 Aug 2012, 11:12 am
@Transformation-262: Will someone be writing a poem? Or a Facebook petition? Which way will it go…..
4 Aug 2012, 11:12 am
congrats to the Chiefs fans, rewarded for an outstanding season. this was just one journey too far for the Sharks… if someone had offered me a final at the beginning stages of the tournament i would have accepted with both hands, great resurgence from the Sharks, i’m not exactly upset with them for this loss…
4 Aug 2012, 11:12 am
Well done Chiefs, played well
…..the synical play in the first half was not needed, Walsh did nothing anyway
4 Aug 2012, 11:13 am
meyer bosman
4 Aug 2012, 11:13 am
@Big Hit, lol true, ok then the bridesmaids better?
4 Aug 2012, 11:13 am
@AiDoc-274: Name the last 3 great Kiwi refs in the last 3 years?
4 Aug 2012, 11:14 am
SBW Boom!
4 Aug 2012, 11:14 am
You have to give it to the Sharks! This could have been a 50 pointer if the defence wasn’t good.
Well done Chiefs worthy champions and tough luck Sharks but no one really gave them a chance with the way they had to do it.
4 Aug 2012, 11:14 am
@AiDoc-274: NZ and Oz don’t produce good refs and the preening Walsh is no exception.
4 Aug 2012, 11:15 am
@JL1-284: Billy Bowden?
4 Aug 2012, 11:15 am
Bullett – stormers a far better team which is why they came top and sharks did not.
Difference is by tge end if tge season is sharks had their entire compliment fit while stormers did not (their entire backrow and reserves decimated). Play a fit stormers v a fit sharks and it’s no contest.
But bottomline here is that if u an sa or even an chiefs supporter, rather than sharks or stormers, u realise what a horrific fkup occured with tge sharks putting everything into win a nothing-to-lose semi against a depleted stormers outfit who got stage fright cos they knew they were the best and had everything to lose.
4 Aug 2012, 11:16 am
@JL1-284:
Why?
Whatever ref is named you guys have blasted, no matter where they come from.
Is this what you are resorting too now?
lol
Chiefs are the champs and good on them.
4 Aug 2012, 11:16 am
now for a nice Haka to finish things off
4 Aug 2012, 11:17 am
‘grats Chief fans, later all.
4 Aug 2012, 11:17 am
@ 284.JL1
Joubert and Walsh would be two. Lol
4 Aug 2012, 11:17 am
Worthy champions… Well done to all the NZ bloggers.
No excuses the Chiefs were magnificent!
4 Aug 2012, 11:18 am
Well done Chiefs – deserved winners. Shame about the ref and the commentators.
4 Aug 2012, 11:18 am
Tough luck Sharky fans
Sharks played well in the last 4 games but just could not get up for this one.
So well done for getting there.
Chiefs the best in 2012.
4 Aug 2012, 11:18 am
AS a chiefs supporter all I can say is about bloody time and congrats Sharks for fronting even though you had a mountain to climb
May I add this site has only 2 sheep of Ram..
4 Aug 2012, 11:19 am
Congrats to the Kiwis and Chiefs fans, the Haka is well deserved, banana smoothies for the Sharks efforts, well played you buggas enjoy the Waikato Draughts
4 Aug 2012, 11:19 am
Shorks captain shows some class. Well done son.
4 Aug 2012, 11:19 am
@cab-289: Ummmm…the Stormers did not come out top – they stayed at home while the Sharks played in the final. If there were awards for second and third, the competition ended – 1. Chiefs, 2. Sharks and the Stormers and Crusaders would have had to playoff for 3rd.
And stop the excuses – Stormers lost to a Sharks team at Newlands just after the Sharks had travelled back from Australia.
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