Chiefs player ratings: All Blacks snubs shine as Wallace Sititi returns in dominant Bomb Squad-esque showing to hammer Western Force
Chiefs star Emoni Narawa and an inset of All Blacks forward Wallace Sititi.
Following the Chiefs’ 56-22 victory over the Western Force, here’s how we rated Clayton McMillan’s charges in the Super Rugby Pacific win.
Chiefs player ratings v Western Force
15 Shaun Stevenson: Finished the game with two try assists after setting up Narawa with a delicious chip over the top. The Chiefs‘ best-attacking passages involved the overlooked All Black while he also pitched in with a solid defensive performance, including an intervention at the end to deny the Force. 8
14 Emoni Narawa: Brilliantly crossed for the Chiefs’ first try of the match and would set up another in what was an all-action display on the wing and in the centres. He was unfortunate with his booming 50:22 attempt but the Chiefs made good use of his cannon boot. With Mark Tele’a off to Japan, Narawa is staking a strong claim to be a more regular member of the All Blacks squad. 7
13 Anton Lienert-Brown: One of the injuries that forced forwards to fill in the backs with the All Blacks centre departing shortly after the break. 5
12 Quinn Tupaea: Showed no fear at the breakdown despite fronting up against Darcy Swain, who thuggishly injured him in 2022, as he claimed two excellent turnovers and consistently threatened in that facet of the match. Otherwise, it was a solid 70 minutes from the midfielder who is not getting the plaudits for his current form. 7
11 Daniel Rona: Grabbed a score after sustaining what looked like a painful shoulder injury which was just reward for his efforts. He did well defensively when he shifted into the midfield to cover for the injuries. He got his hands on the ball plenty too. 8
10 Josh Jacomb: A controlled showing in the absence of Damian McKenzie. The Chiefs did lack some flair in attack today but their dominance up front made up for it and Jacomb did a good job of making sure they played in the right areas of the pitch. 7
9 Cortez Ratima: A sharp, sharp game from the livewire number nine who scored in both halves doing so at half-back in the first and on the wing in the second. Smartly didn’t snatch at Samipeni Finau’s horrid pass from the lineout leading to a try and added an assist to his tally. 8
Harry Potter uses ‘invisibility cloak’ to brilliantly ‘slither in’ for a rare try from a restart
All Blacks forwards star
8 Luke Jacobson (c): The All Blacks’ back-row stocks are in rude health, and Jacobson is leading the charge for the men from Waikato with another sterling outing. Brilliant with ball in hand, grabbing a try off the back of a dominant scrum, while he was no slouch on defence or at the breakdown. An all-round talent. 8
7 Kaylum Boshier: Finished the match on the wing, where he did not look wildly out of place. One of the busy tacklers once again and grabbed a try. 8
6 Samipeni Finau: His gaffe at the lineout luckily led to a try thanks to the quick thinking of Ratima, while he got stuck into the breakdown and made some good shots on defence. 6
5 Tupou Vaa’i: Like his second-row partner, he won’t be happy with how things went at lineout time, but was up to his usual standard around the park in another tidy performance. 7
4 Josh Lord: The less-heralded returning All Black, but the second-rower did make his presence felt during his 54 minutes. He will be annoyed at how much pressure Swain was able to put him under in the lineouts. 6
3 George Dyer: Had the upper hand in the scrums and was rather busy around the park. 6
2 Samisoni Taukei’aho: Raised the bat today and celebrated the milestone with a win and a try, but he won’t be pleased with the misfirings at lineout time. 6
1 Aidan Ross: Forced off with a head knock early on and did not return. 5
Replacements: Ollie Norris had nothing short of a blinder coming off the bench early in the first half. He dominated the scrums, scored a try and set one up. His early introduction set the tone for the Chiefs ‘Bomb Squad’, who all followed suit and put in strong shifts to steer the side to victory. Meanwhile, All Blacks breakout star Wallace Sititi enjoyed a strong return to action, a sight that will please Scott Robertson. 8
