'It's Our Year' is a saying synonymous with the Warriors, but down the road in Hamilton it might be a bit more realistic in 2025. Clayton McMillan's Chiefs side know all about making finals but nothing about winning them lately, but on the evidence of Friday night's 49-24 demolition of the Crusaders, that might be about to change.
For now though, they might have to do it without their skipper, with Luke Jacobson forced to leave the field early in the game due to a head collision involving Crusaders hooker Ioane Moananu. The incident left Jacobson with a badly broken nose and a failed head injury assessment. McMillan was coy with his own general assessment but hinted that the judiciary should probably take a look at it but stopped short of criticising the on ground officials.
"I think the referees have been doing a great job keeping the tempo of the game. The guy on the side-line saw it as a glancing tackle with mitigation so we'll live with that and move on," he said.
Luke Jacobson leaves the field after a head clash. Photo: Jeremy Ward/Photosport
The win was built on a very strong second half, which was the second consecutive time that's happened. While the win last weekend at Eden Park was more of a grind, the Crusaders felt the full wrath of a very talented home team really clicking into gear.
"It was a good start, a bit untidy in the middle…got some possession in the right part of the field and got our game going," was McMillan's brief summation of what was a record victory for the Chiefs over the Crusaders - not that he was particularly interested in the achievement.
"Not much…the only number that matters to me at the end of the day is on the scoreboard. That was pleasing, we scored some beautiful tries."
Again, McMillan was more than justified in his selections, that included starting Xavier Roe and Simon Parker ahead of their All Black teammates Cortez Ratima and Samipeni Finau. Roe scored a try and Parker was arguably the Chiefs' best player, the flanker setting up two more tries with some stunning pace and slick passing. However, McMillan made four changes at once after the break, who all played big roles in the eventual result. In particular, Quinn Tupaea scored two memorable tries in what was his 50th appearance for the Chiefs.
Quinn Tupaea of the Chiefs scores. Photo: Jeremy Ward/Photosport
"There's no magic potion," McMillan said of the thought process around his bench.
"We've got a squad with some depth and some hungry men that want to make the most of their opportunity…but also, it was set up well by the blokes that started."
Crusaders coach Rob Penney was disappointed with the result after their good opening win over the Hurricanes in Christchurch and said that his side was "a wee bit off."
"We were right in the game at 17-all with half an hour to go, but once the momentum shifted, it shifted in a big way," he said.
"Towards the back end, once we got exposed at scrum time…that didn't allow us to dictate terms into the breeze. We made a couple of errors, and it cost us."
Quinn Tupaea of the Chiefs scores. Photo: Jeremy Ward/Photosport
His captain David Havili acknowledged that the Chiefs' two tries after 50 minutes, to Leroy Carter and Samipeni Finau, was a big turning point.
"I think what they did was show us how to play an 80 minute game. You have to be on all the time with them, they can take a lot of opportunities. They went bang bang and we were down by two tries…the Chiefs played a good kicking game and forced us to play out of our 22," said Havili, who also noted the Chiefs' ability to slow down the Crusaders' ball.
The Crusaders head into a bye week, something that Penney wasn't sure was a good or bad thing after their contrasting results. Meanwhile, the Chiefs are back in Hamilton next Saturday afternoon to face the Brumbies.
