Chiefs v Brumbies: Five takeaways as ‘brilliant’ Damian McKenzie and ‘luckless’ Noah Lolesio endure mixed fortunes in hosts’ triumph
Chiefs playmaker Damian McKenzie and Brumbies counterpart Noah Lolesio.
Following the Chiefs’ 37-17 triumph over the Brumbies in their Super Rugby Pacific semi-final clash at FMG Stadium Waikato in Hamilton on Saturday, Planet Rugby picks out five takeaways from the thrilling action.
The top line
Like the first semi-final, the visitors were fastest out of the blocks in this encounter, and the Brumbies took the lead in the 15th minute when Billy Pollard powered over for the opening try.
Midway through the half, the Chiefs drew level when Emoni Narawa crossed for their first try which was converted by Damian McKenzie, who also added two penalties in quick succession.
The Brumbies replied with a try from Corey Toole in the 35th minute, which narrowed the gap to a single point, but two further three-pointers off the kicking tee from McKenzie gave the home side a 19-12 lead at half-time.
Soon after the restart, Toole went over for his second five-pointer but it was one-way traffic after that as the Chiefs dominated the rest of the match.
Shortly after Toole’s try, Narawa also dotted down again before McKenzie two more penalties which gave the Chiefs a 32-17 lead by the 58th minute.
Although the visitors tried desperately to narrow the gap, it wasn’t to be as the Chiefs held the upper hand for the rest of the match and clinched their spot in the final when Josh Jacomb went over for their third try in the 65th minute.
Damian McKenzie the star of the show
Much has been said and written about the diminutive playmaker over the past 12 months and he showed again in this encounter how important he is to the Chiefs’ cause as he came to the fore with an outstanding all-round display.
McKenzie was his usual brilliant self off the kicking tee as he finished with a 22-point contribution after succeeding with six penalties and two conversions.
Apart from his goal-kicking, the 30-year-old was a constant threat on attack as he kept the Brumbies defence on their toes throughout and eventually gained a team-high 111 metres on attack after making 14 runs which included one clean break and four defenders beaten.
Despite all his brilliance with ball in hand, McKenzie also made a big impact on defence late in the second half.
In the 66th minute, the Brumbies’ full-back Tom Wright brilliantly plucked the ball out of the air from a restart and made a terrific line break before diving over in the left-hand corner. However, McKenzie saved the day for the Chiefs with a brilliant cover tackle and managed to slip his hand under the ball and, in doing so, he prevented a certain try from being scored.
Noah Lolesio’s early exit a big loss for Brumbies
The Wallabies star is a vital cog in the Brumbies machine and they needed him to be firing on all cylinders if they wanted to get the better of the Chiefs in this fixture.
It wasn’t to be, however, as the 25-year-old was only on the field for 10 minutes before he went down under a big tackle from the home side’s skipper Luke Jacobson.
The luckless playmaker stayed down under after the challenge and after receiving medical attention before he was forced off the field with Jack Debreczeni coming on as his replacement.
Although Debreczeni was solid in the execution of his core duties, he could not provide the spark which the Brumbies so desperately needed, especially when they were chasing the game.
Lolesio‘s departure was a hammer blow for the Canberra-based outfit and they will be wondering what could’ve been if he had stayed on the field.
Brumbies flyer puts his hand up for Wallabies selection
With the British and Irish Lions tour to Australia looming large on the horizon, several of the Brumbies players had one last chance to impress Wallabies head coach Joe Schmidt before he selects his squad for their three-Test series with the famous touring team.
And one player who certainly took his chance was Brumbies left wing Corey Toole. The former Australia sevens representative provided the Chiefs defenders with headaches as they battled to keep him in check for the full 80 minutes.
Toole was brilliant with ball in hand as he gained 47 metres from nine carries which included two clean breaks, three defenders beaten and he was rewarded with two well-taken tries.
His first score saw him keeping his composure to gather a cross-field kick from Debreczeni before dotting down close to the touchline and his second five-pointer was a brilliant finish in which he beat several defenders on his way over the try-line in the left-hand corner.
The gap between New Zealand and Australian teams still a big one
Although Australian teams have come to the party and certainly been more competitive in Super Rugby Pacific this year, this fixture showed that their New Zealand counterparts still rule the roost in this competition.
While the Brumbies put up a brave fight and were still in this game when the teams changed sides at half-time as well as early during the second half – when Toole crossed for his second try – the Chiefs took control of proceedings soon afterwards and kicked on to book their spot in the final for the third successive year.
New Zealand’s dominance of the competition over their Australian rivals is also illustrated in the fact that for the fourth successive year – since the inaugural tournament in 2022 – the final will be contested between two Kiwi teams.
The Brumbies have been Australia’s flagbearers during Super Rugby Pacific’s knockout rounds as they have competed in the semi-finals in every year since 2022 but they are yet to kick on and reach a final.
