The Chiefs secured a vital bonus-point win as they took down the Fijian Drua 42–22 to conclude Super Round, with Ilaisa Droasese’s extraordinary in-goal blunder blowing the game open after the visitors had kept the competition leaders honest for the best part of 35 minutes.
Key moments
3 mins – TRY FIJIAN DRUA: The Drua race out of the blocks with 17 patient phases of pick-and-drive rugby, battering their way to the five-metre line. The Chiefs cannot handle the physicality and Mesake Doge rolls his way over from close range. Isaiah Armstrong-Ravula converts. (Chiefs 0–7 Fijian Drua)
5 mins – TRY DISALLOWED CHIEFS: Daniel Sinkinson appears to score in the right corner after a slick backline move, but the TMO spots a knock-on from Simon Parker in the build-up. Scrum to the Drua.
13 mins – TRY CHIEFS: Wallace Sititi claims a high restart and the Chiefs set up a rolling maul. Brodie McAlister controls the ball at the back and rumbles over. Damian McKenzie converts. (Chiefs 7–7 Fijian Drua)
16 mins – TRY CHIEFS: Off the top of the lineout, McKenzie feeds Daniel Sinkinson on the inside and he strides into the 22. He finds Quinn Tupaea backing up on the inside, who strolls in under the posts. McKenzie converts. (Chiefs 14–7 Fijian Drua)
19 mins – PENALTY FIJIAN DRUA: Temo Mayanavanua claims the lineout and the Drua drive, winning a penalty after Brodie McAlister collapses the maul. Frank Lomani knocks on from the resulting advantage, so the Drua take the shot. Armstrong-Ravula slots from in front. (Chiefs 14–10 Fijian Drua)
23 mins – LOMANI INTERCEPT DENIED: Frank Lomani picks off a Cortez Ratima pass and races away for the right corner, but slips his foot into touch and loses the ball forward as he dives under Isaac Hutchinson’s tackle. Five-metre lineout to the Chiefs.
26 mins – McALISTER INJURY: Brodie McAlister limps off with a calf complaint. Tyrone Thompson replaces him.
30 mins – HUTCHINSON TRY-SAVER: McKenzie works flat to debutant Isaac Hutchinson, who launches over the five-metre line and reaches out, but Armstrong-Ravula punches the ball clear with a superb try-saving tackle.
36 mins – TRY CHIEFS: One of the most bizarre tries in Super Rugby history. Under advantage, Hutchinson rolls a kick in behind. Ilaisa Droasese gathers in his own in-goal but opts to grubber for himself rather than force it dead. The ball goes straight to Jared Proffit, who dives on it and plants it with his forearm. McKenzie converts. (Chiefs 21–10 Fijian Drua)
38 mins – TRY CHIEFS: The game opens right up. Off the restart, the Chiefs slip it left with slick hands. Leroy Carter cuts through and links with Cortez Ratima, who runs the perfect halfback line to stroll in under the posts. McKenzie converts. (Chiefs 28–10 Fijian Drua)
Half-time: Chiefs 28–10 Fijian Drua. The Drua were competitive for the best part of 35 minutes, keeping the Chiefs honest at 14–10. But Droasese’s extraordinary in-goal blunder turned the game on its head, and the Chiefs scored twice in three minutes either side of the incident to blow the lead out to 18 points. Isaac Hutchinson impressed on debut, while McKenzie kept things ticking over. The Chiefs lost McAlister to a calf injury.
45 mins – TRY CHIEFS: Droasese makes another error on his own goal-line, losing the ball after planting it down, gifting the Chiefs a five-metre scrum. Wallace Sititi bounces left for Ratima, who rips it back to the short side for McKenzie, who frees Daniel Sinkinson to stroll in down the right. McKenzie converts. (Chiefs 35–10 Fijian Drua)
55 mins – TRY FIJIAN DRUA: Replacement hooker Kavaia Tagivetaua hits a short line and breaks through Wallace Sititi’s tackle attempt, showing a clean pair of heels to streak 30 metres and score under the posts. Armstrong-Ravula converts. (Chiefs 35–17 Fijian Drua)
56 mins – CARTER INJURY: Leroy Carter limps off with what appears to be a serious hamstring injury. Tepaea Cook-Savage replaces him.
66 mins – TRY FIJIAN DRUA: The Drua drive from the lineout, with the ball spitting out the back for Simione Kuruvoli. He slices away to the short side and leaps over down the right edge. Armstrong-Ravula’s conversion misses. (Chiefs 35–22 Fijian Drua)
70 mins – TRY CHIEFS: With three Drua players down with cramp, the Chiefs go edge to edge. Kyle Brown strides away down the right and works back inside for Tepaea Cook-Savage, who runs in behind the posts on debut. McKenzie converts. (Chiefs 42–22 Fijian Drua)
80 mins – DROASESE INTERCEPT DENIED: Droasese picks out an intercept and races away, but runs out of gas and kicks ahead. McKenzie gets back to hold on his own five-metre line. The bonus point survives.
Full-time: Chiefs 42–22 Fijian Drua
Match report
It goes without saying that the Chiefs do not need any help from generous opponents. So what on earth was Fijian Drua fullback Ilaisa Droasese thinking when he produced arguably one of the most bone-headed plays in Super Rugby history, turning a competitive contest into a rout that concluded Super Round with a fifth straight New Zealand victory?
The Chiefs ran out 42–22 winners in the final match of the weekend at One NZ Stadium, securing a bonus-point victory that moved them level on points with the Hurricanes at the top of the ladder. But for 35 minutes the Drua had them sweating, and it took Droasese’s extraordinary in-goal blunder to blow the game apart.
The Drua struck first and struck hard. Mesake Doge finished a superb 17-phase raid inside the opening three minutes, the forwards battering their way upfield with a series of breathtaking offloads and smash-mouth carries. The Chiefs responded through the set piece — McAlister was driven over from the rolling maul in the 13th minute — before a training-ground move sent Sinkinson through a hole on the inside, with Tupaea backing up to score under the posts and make it 14–7.
Armstrong-Ravula’s penalty pulled the Drua back to 14–10, and they might have been level had Lomani not slipped his foot into touch after picking off a Ratima pass and racing for the corner. Hutchinson’s desperation tackle completed the try-saving act, the debutant proving his worth moments after being denied at the other end by Armstrong-Ravula’s brilliant punch dislodge.
Then came the moment that decided the match. With the Chiefs under advantage, Hutchinson rolled a kick in behind. Droasese gathered in his own in-goal but, inexplicably, opted to grubber for himself rather than force the ball dead. The kick went straight to Proffit, who dived on it and planted it with his forearm. Long-time commentator and former All Black Justin Marshall called it “mind boggling”, while fellow commentator Jeff Wilson said: “This was bizarre … we’ll probably never see this again.”
The Chiefs compounded the error within two minutes. Carter cut through off the restart and linked with Ratima, who ran the perfect halfback line to stroll in untouched. From 14–10, it was suddenly 28–10, and the contest was effectively over.
Sinkinson’s try early in the second half — another Droasese error on his own goal-line gifting the Chiefs a five-metre scrum — pushed the lead to 25 points and the bonus point looked safe. But the Drua refused to go quietly. Replacement hooker Tagivetaua broke Sititi’s tackle and showed a clean pair of heels to streak 30 metres for a memorable try, before Kuruvoli darted through on the short side to make it 35–22 with 14 minutes remaining.
For a few nervous minutes, the Chiefs’ bonus point was under threat, with three Drua players down with cramp as the match entered its final stages. But Cook-Savage, on for the injured Carter, ran in behind the posts after Brown had exploited the gaps left by the stricken defenders.
The win came at a cost. McAlister limped off with a calf complaint before the half-hour mark, while Carter’s hamstring injury in the second half could rule him out for the remainder of the campaign. Hutchinson, though, was a revelation on debut — the 22-year-old, who tore his ACL, MCL and both menisci playing club rugby in Christchurch last year, showed tremendous composure under the high ball and went close to scoring himself.
For the Drua, there was plenty to admire beyond the scoreline. Etonia Waqa was outstanding on the edge, Kitione Salawa worked tirelessly at the breakdown, and Tagivetaua’s try will live long in the memory. But Droasese’s errors were ultimately the difference between a competitive loss and a heavy one.
The result completes a perfect Super Round for the New Zealand franchises — five wins from five against their Australian and Pacific opponents across three days at One NZ Stadium. The Chiefs head into their bye week level on points with the Hurricanes at the top of the ladder, setting up a grandstand race for the top seed over the final five rounds.
Match details
Chiefs 42 (Tries: Brodie McAlister 13′, Quinn Tupaea 16′, Jared Proffit 36′, Cortez Ratima 38′, Daniel Sinkinson 45′, Tepaea Cook-Savage 70′; Conversions: Damian McKenzie 6/6)
Fijian Drua 22 (Tries: Mesake Doge 3′, Kavaia Tagivetaua 55′, Simione Kuruvoli 66′; Conversions: Isaiah Armstrong-Ravula 2/3; Penalties: Isaiah Armstrong-Ravula 1/1)
Half-time: 28–10
Venue: One NZ Stadium, Christchurch
Referee: Jordan Way
Assistant Referees: Angus Gardner, Ben O’Keeffe
TMO: Brett Cronan
Milestones
- Isaac Hutchinson (Chiefs) — Super Rugby debut at fullback
- Maika Tuitubou (Fijian Drua) — Super Rugby debut at outside centre
Teams
Chiefs: 15 Isaac Hutchinson, 14 Leroy Carter, 13 Kyle Brown, 12 Quinn Tupaea, 11 Daniel Sinkinson, 10 Damian McKenzie, 9 Cortez Ratima, 8 Wallace Sititi, 7 Jahrome Brown, 6 Simon Parker, 5 Tupou Vaa’i (c), 4 Josh Lord, 3 George Dyer, 2 Brodie McAlister, 1 Jared Proffit.
Replacements: 16 Tyrone Thompson, 17 Ollie Norris, 18 Benét Kumeroa, 19 Seuseu Naitoa Ah Kuoi, 20 Michael Loft, 21 Xavier Roe, 22 Tepaea Cook-Savage, 23 Lalakai Foketi.
Fijian Drua: 15 Ilaisa Droasese, 14 Taniela Rakuro, 13 Maika Tuitubou, 12 Virimi Vakatawa, 11 Manasa Mataele, 10 Isaiah Armstrong-Ravula, 9 Frank Lomani (co-c), 8 Isoa Tuwai, 7 Kitione Salawa, 6 Etonia Waqa, 5 Temo Mayanavanua (co-c), 4 Mesake Vocevoce, 3 Mesake Doge, 2 Zuriel Togiatama, 1 Haereiti Hetet.
Replacements: 16 Kavaia Tagivetaua, 17 Emosi Tuqiri, 18 Peni Ravai, 19 Isoa Nasilasila, 20 Elia Canakaivata, 21 Simione Kuruvoli, 22 Kemu Valetini, 23 Inia Tabuavou.
What’s next
The Chiefs have the bye in Round 12. The Fijian Drua return home to face the Highlanders at HFC Bank Stadium in Suva.
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