Following a 60-5 humbling at the hands of the Hurricanes in the Super Rugby Pacific final at Hnry Stadium on Saturday, here are the player ratings for the Chiefs.
15 Liam Coombes-Fabling: Made a few metres with ball in hand but also had a couple of errors. Couldn’t do much considering the outside backs were on the back foot all the time. 4
14 Leroy Carter: Like Coombes-Fabling, there were mistakes but he had a couple of surges that at least gave something for the Chiefs fans to cheer. Good to see him back but he will be battling to make the All Blacks squad after missing seven tackles as he was constantly exposed on the wing. 3
13 Kyle Brown: Anonymous on both sides of the ball but at least he remained somewhat error-free. The visitors were cut open defensively and Brown has to take his share of the blame for that. 4
12 Quinn Tupaea: The Chiefs are stacked with All Blacks but a lot of them had absolute nightmares, including Tupaea, who was surprisingly shown up defensively on a couple of occasions. Did improve later on in the match but the Hurricanes were in cruise control in the final quarter. 3
11 Kyren Taumoefolau: Also missed a few tackles but was a threat on occasion and is probably one of the few to end with credit. 5
Horrific half-backs
10 Damian McKenzie: To be honest, we might even be being kind here as it really was a horror show from the All Blacks playmaker, who comprehensively lost the battle to Ruben Love. In the first half alone, McKenzie had two kicks charged down, botched three restarts and threw an intercept pass, while a knock-on led to one of the Hurricanes’ many tries. The fly-half wasn’t too much better in the second period either, although at least he created a couple of openings that stopped him from registering above a zero, but the game by that point was well and truly over. 1
9 Cortez Ratima: The half-backs just gave them no direction and handled the wing terribly. Like his playmaking partner, Ratima was a rabbit caught in the headlights and provided nothing for his forwards or outside backs to work with. Fewer obvious mistakes than McKenzie but still utterly abysmal. 2
8 Simon Parker: Usually when teams are hammered, their forwards are completely overwhelmed, but in truth the Chiefs pack were by and large manful. McKenzie and Ratima gave them no territory so their impact was limited, but Parker was one of the players to try his absolute best to turn it around, making 19 tackles in a big defensive shift. 6
7 Luke Jacobson (c): Wasn’t as effective as his other loose forwards, despite making 11 tackles and a few decent carries. Also conceded a couple of penalties. 5
6 Samipeni Finau: Made some big impacts in the first half, including a superb line that finally got his side into Hurricanes territory, but he faded in the second period before being replaced. Can hold his head high, however. 6
Workhorses
5 Tupou Vaa’i: Another to do his utmost before his match was ended early due to a head injury. His 10 tackles in 45 minutes showed his work ethic while Vaa’i also claimed a turnover. 6
4 Josh Lord: Finished with a game-high 20 tackles as the lock put his body on the line. Didn’t have too much chance to carry but Lord put in a mammoth shift. 6
3 Sione Ahio: Won a breakdown turnover and held his own in the set-piece, even if the hosts did have the edge, before he had to leave the game after 20-odd minutes due to injury. 5
2 Samisoni Taukei’aho: There were a couple of barrelling runs and the set-piece was generally solid. Didn’t get through too much work in defence but Taukei’aho was pretty effective elsewhere despite the disappointing result. 6
1 Ollie Norris: Similar to Ahio, the scrum was not a massive factor in the contest and Norris was a presence around the field, making 14 tackles without missing any. The responsibility for this shocker very much rests with the backline as they gave the pack no hope. 6
Replacements: There was not a whole lot they could do, although the playmakers Xavier Roe and Josh Jacomb followed the pattern of the starters by making error after error. Naitoa Ah Kuoi has his moments and Brodie McAlister went about his work impressively enough, but the game had already been lost by the time the majority of them came on. 5