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Western Force

Western Force

Free-running Chiefs win again

06th April 2012 12:05

Lelia Masaga scores chiefs Western Force 2012

Try time: Lelia Masaga

The Chiefs extended their winning streak to five consecutive games on Friday with a 20-12 victory over the Western Force at nib Stadium in Perth.

Wingers Lelia Masaga and Tim Nanai-Williams scored either side of half time to help their team to another win which provisionally takes them to the top of the Super Rugby overall standings.

Despite competing well, the Force never really looked like crossing the whitewash and had to rely on the boot of full-back David Harvey - who kicked four penalties - for all their points.

The hosts' fifth loss in seven games leaves them rooted to the bottom of the Australian conference.

While the Chiefs will no doubt be happy to pocket four points before jetting off to South Africa, they won't be entirely satisfied with their performance as a plethora of turnovers and handling errors ensured they did not get the four-try bonus point that should have been on the cards given their domination.

Indeed, the visitors occasionally lost all structure and far too often were guilty of overdoing it on attack when a more patient approach could have yielded a better result.

The visitors led 7-6 at the breaks thanks to Masaga's try on the 15-miute mark. The wing, who was a constant threat, scooted in near the posts after collecting Aaron Cruden's clever pop pass.

The Chiefs' errors and Harvey's boot kept the hosts in touch but the Kiwi side landed the killer blow when Sonny Bill Williams drew five defenders before off-loading basket-ball style inside to his cousin Nanai-Williams on 48 minutes.

The Force kept plugging away but never realistically threatened to snatch victory.

The scorers:

For the Western Force:
Pens: Harvey 4

For the Chiefs:
Tries: Masaga, Nanai-Williams
Cons: Cruden 2
Pens: Cruden 2

Western Force: 15 David Harvey, 14 Samu Wara, 13 Nick Cummins, 12 Winston Stanley, 11 Alfie Mafi, 10 Ben Seymour, 9 Brett Sheehan, 8 Matt Hodgson, 7 David Pocock (c), 6 Richard Brown, 5 Nathan Sharpe, 4 Toby Lynn, 3 Salesi Ma'afu, 2 Nathan Charles, 1 Pek Cowan.
Replacements: 16 Elvis Taione, 17 Kieran Longbottom, 18 Phoenix Battye, 19 Ben McCalman, 20 Josh Homes, 21 Rory Sidey, 22 Patrick Dellit.

Chiefs: 15 Robbie Robinson, 14 Lelia Masaga , 13 Richard Kahui, 12 Sonny Bill Williams, 11 Tim Nanai-Williams, 10 Aaron Cruden, 9 Tawera Kerr-Barlow, 8 Kane Thompson, 7 Tanerau Latimer, 6 Liam Messam, 5 Brodie Retallick , 4 Craig Clarke (c), 3 Ben Tameifuna, 2 Mahonri Schwalger, 1 Arizona Taumalolo.
Replacements: 16 Hika Elliot, 17 Josh Hohneck, 18 Michael Fitzgerald, 19 Sam Cane, 20 Augustine Pulu, 21 Andrew Horrell, 22 Jackson Willison.

Referee: Jonathon White (New Zealand)

Comments

deke says...

I thought the Chiefs were a 30 point better team on the night. What is with these new/young Kiwi refs who want to discriminate against Kiwi sides?? He must have pinged the chiefs front row 10 times, mostly for pushing the Force back on both their own and Force ball. The penalty count must have read about 20-2 in favour of the Force. Ridiculous!!

Posted 06:02 07th April 2012

jonesy2 says...

the hamilton men are best club side in the world right now. go the chiefs. long way to go but they are favs to win this thing

Posted 05:32 07th April 2012

Tweedledee49 says...

Exactly my thoughts islandpower, they will get killed in SA if they make the same amount of handling errors they did last night but nonetheless, im happy with the win...disappointed Taumalolo disnt score though lol

Posted 04:09 07th April 2012

Ramage says...

I agree that the rubbish rugby the Chiefs played against the Force and got away with will need to be eliminated when they come up against the stronger South African sides. Their performance whist not as bad as the Blues was along the same lines. Im sure Wayne Smith will have some strong words with Masaga who ran away from his support on a number of times. Still better to play like that and still win against a weaker side but please get some structure into your game Chiefs. @ tweedledee49 I hope you don't take Kearns seriously he is a disaster of a commentator

Posted 03:32 07th April 2012

kiwilad says...

Tweedledee49, can not read your post, as I have a pencil in my eye.

Posted 23:35 06th April 2012

melkdave says...

A good effort from the Force who continue to show good team sprit and play good rugby.But the Chiefs always looked in control imo and when needed steped up the tempo to secure the win .Good game to watch though

Posted 19:59 06th April 2012

tweedledee49 says...

Good job Chiefs. Great effort by the Force, they couldve/shouldve won it. Kearnsey made this game more interesting...by interesting I mean I wanted to pull my hair out and shove a pencil in my ear

Posted 15:08 06th April 2012

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