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, 11:42 am
wow… very cool haka by the chiefs…!!
4 Aug 2012, 11:43 am
Now thats’s a Haka
4 Aug 2012, 11:43 am
@whatever-349:
lol
4 Aug 2012, 11:43 am
As an observer who always thought the sharks would lose this game regardless….the chiefs got away with plenty of niggle from the ref. hell, he even overturned a penalty after jannie got an elbow in the throat and then pushed the oke.
4 Aug 2012, 11:43 am
Sharks v Stormers in 2012 – played 3 won 2. if its a bigdick fest then we know which SA team comes out tops this year.
4 Aug 2012, 11:44 am
Well done to the Chiefs team and tough luck to the Sharks. Time for HeavenShame Fern Predawn WoodenSpoon SharksLover Kaksieok Dusky and the other bigmouthed unsporting and uncouth fans who have brought heavens of shame to your proud team time to suck it up you pathetic bunch of onanistic inbreds
BOOM!
4 Aug 2012, 11:44 am
@stormerforlife1-347:
There’s an old saying in sport, “you’re only as good as your last game”. Where does that leave the Sharks and the Stormers?
4 Aug 2012, 11:45 am
@Hurricane-346: Or 16-52 (Loftus)
4 Aug 2012, 11:45 am
Look let’s call a spade a spade here, we all know who the best team was – u don’t believe me? Look no further than the reaction of Bismarck falling to his knees at tge end of beating the stormers – the sharks and tge best player in sa knee himself they were outmatched and it needed a gargantuan effort well above themselves – stormers thought they could do it in 2nd gear with injuries and kickchase horsemanure gameplan – and so it was – chiefs didn’t even break into a sweat…
4 Aug 2012, 11:46 am
seriously…
not the time or place harriet…
4 Aug 2012, 11:46 am
@Dirty Harry-356: Pure class pal. We expect nothing less.
4 Aug 2012, 11:47 am
@Dusky-334: Sharkies kings in flattering to deceive
We Stormers are but the crown princes. We learn from the very best,the Springbok 10 ball best.
Travel had fuckall to do with you lot losing your nerve after 22 minutes. (Not travel or Walsh’s fault Lambie was kak, or that your big names went AWOL when you actually HAD some advantage…nah my friend, that is called choking in the big games)
4 Aug 2012, 11:47 am
just confirms how important it is to top the log to ensure a home final and also just confirms the magnitude of the Stormers choke this year. if there was ever a year for the Stormers to do it it was this year. the Sharks only have themselves to blame for coming out of the blocks so slowly at the start of this season but still for them to have made another final in the circumstances they did, beating the ozzie and SA conference winners away, was an incredible achievement. the Sharks have a proud Super history, it’s only a matter of time before they win this competition.
4 Aug 2012, 11:47 am
@cab-359: You’re a joke – and we’re all laughing.
4 Aug 2012, 11:48 am
Or bulls vs reds 92-7 or 50 odd this season
4 Aug 2012, 11:48 am
@ufo-351: i agree…enjoyed it too.
4 Aug 2012, 11:48 am
@ufo-351:
There are alot of excellent Hakas around UFO.
When done properly of course
4 Aug 2012, 11:49 am
I wasted my time this morning, I should have gone to the ballet!
4 Aug 2012, 11:49 am
@Dirty Harry-356: but you have no bragging rights here as the Sharks dumped your team out last weekend. the Stormers can’t even win home semifinals, they’ve lost 3 now. chokers.
4 Aug 2012, 11:50 am
@ufo-360: Why is that? Many Sharkies are still hammering on about the Stormers, when their team has just been fisted with barbed wire…..
4 Aug 2012, 11:50 am
I am glad that the best team in super rugby won today.Commiserations to Sharks and Bulls fans for the valiant effort of their team in today’s final.
4 Aug 2012, 11:50 am
time for nonshark south african rugby fans to show a little more class guys…
sheesh…
outta here… before this gets way too ugly…
congrats chiefs…
commiserations sharks…
4 Aug 2012, 11:51 am
hehehehe the Stormers fans are loving this! hehehehehe.
4 Aug 2012, 11:51 am
@Wing Commander Raymond-369: You have now lost 5 Super rugby FINALS. FIVE. That’s a lot of Bronchitis right there:)
4 Aug 2012, 11:52 am
hey wing commander look at the scoreboard you doos!
4 Aug 2012, 11:52 am
Stormers fans showing their true class. well done to ufo for extricating himself from the rabble.
4 Aug 2012, 11:53 am
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged by Mad Eye Productions.-370:
because kicking fans when they’re down has never been my style…
but you do what you must do pedigree… we each define ourselves…
4 Aug 2012, 12:01 pm
@ufo, right on, some ouk’s are raised well, others raise the eyebrows, time to do some chores, let the gloaters troll the thread in the meantime…
4 Aug 2012, 12:01 pm
Ok the Chiefs deserved the win, Sharks never arrived. I just want to know, from a pure technical point of view, if the first try was not from an obstruction, and the second try (or was that the third try?) from a Chiefs knock on off a Sharks pass?
4 Aug 2012, 12:02 pm
@Wing Commander Raymond-376:
Why are you so concerned about the Stormers and their fans?
They did not play today.
Your team played and got thrashed.
Deal with it.
4 Aug 2012, 12:03 pm
As a SAFFA and Stormers supporter I think this was an absolutely fantastic effort by the Sharks for getting this far against all odds.
The bulk of their squad also played in the Incoming Tour.
I think it’s in bad taste to kick their supporters (trolls or not) while they are on the ground.
4 Aug 2012, 12:04 pm
wing comandoos, a liitle rich talking about class now bud…..what about you guppy wa nkers last week??
boooom?? no boet a big fat fizzle, it was not even a game, you got poked up the naught by 25 odd points
hahhhahahahahaha
4 Aug 2012, 12:06 pm
Super 15 over….
What now?
4 Aug 2012, 12:06 pm
Sharks supporters should be extremely careful using the word ‘chokers’ on this forum!Four defeats in four finals???
4 Aug 2012, 12:08 pm
hehehehe the Stormers fans going crazy with delight! hehehehe one would even think their team won today hehehehe well done in your victory hehehehehe! played 3 won 2 for the Sharks against the Stormers this year hehehehehe we know who is baaaaaaas!
4 Aug 2012, 12:08 pm
exactly ……….a little quite from the normaly vocal tw ats, hg, fern, and the great white hunter……
4 Aug 2012, 12:10 pm
hey commander, lets just remind you …….you came second….go to bed ………..your boyfriend is calling…..
4 Aug 2012, 12:10 pm
364 kaksoeker – maybe, but clearly u don’t regard my opinion as such if u taking tge time to read and respond.
4 Aug 2012, 12:12 pm
Sharkies still harping on about the stormers??? Wtf after the p@esklap they got in the final. As Robzim says – deal with it..
4 Aug 2012, 12:12 pm
the Sharks are a team with real Super rugby pedigree. it is only a matter of time before they win the tournament. well done to the team in making the final and proving without doubt they are the best in SA this year. your fans are proud of you, now lets take it one step further and win the thing next year! what is quite alarming is that 3 NZ teams have now won it and every one of their teams has at least made the final. we need to get the Cheetahs and Lions more successful.
4 Aug 2012, 12:13 pm
Kaksoek was the biggest doos on keo leading up to the Stormers game but now wants to put on a Mother Theresa outfit.Take your medicine like a man Kaksoek.
4 Aug 2012, 12:14 pm
Janee what a gdam joke that was – whose the joke on now?
Where all the pransende perde from last week?
4 Aug 2012, 12:15 pm
Bad luck Sharks fans, so near yet so far……
Nearer than us Bulls fans got this time!!
4 Aug 2012, 12:15 pm
hehehehe the Stormers are loving this result! hehehehe! and being sanctimonious about it too hehehehehe!
4 Aug 2012, 12:15 pm
@carol-383:
What now?
Well………………………….. with Keo as our guiding light and mentor……………………………………………………..sexx, drugs and rock and roll.
(P.S. London doing a fabulous Games).
4 Aug 2012, 12:16 pm
maybe the Stormers will make the final next year?
4 Aug 2012, 12:17 pm
Wing commander – WTF happened out there today ou perd?
4 Aug 2012, 12:19 pm
It’s all over.
But, I’m told,
Sharkies got a CC game in a week.
This a tough. too tough.
4 Aug 2012, 12:19 pm
@cab-397: easy answer. Chiefs were the best team in the whole competition. I think they would have beaten any team today, anywhere in the world. congratulations to them! deserved winners! the Sharks will have to console themselves with yet another finals appearance, one day soon they will make it count.
4 Aug 2012, 12:21 pm
@cane-395:
What now…….
Get more medals than the Kiwi’s at the Olympic’s and win the Rugby Championship…..
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