It’s bright and early this afternoon at Sky Stadium in Wellington when the march was supposed to be held at night as usual, but then the lights needed more time to repair in order to meet the criteria FIFA needed ahead of the Women’s Soccer World Cup later this year. But the centre of attention is the top of the table clash today between the Hurricanes & Chiefs where we saw really good play by both teams from the start, with Chiefs fired off early while the Canes answered well with a nine-point lead ahead of the half-time break at 17-8. Then the 2nd half belongs to the runaway leaders by the Chiefs where they were so dominant to come back from behind, while regaining & increasing the lead on the run home with a comfortable win over in Wellington, 17-33.
Commiserations to the Canes at home who were just the last 40 away towards ending the Chiefs unbeaten start to their 2023 campaign, but then they’ve let it slipped away on the run home without a 2nd half score at all with the loss. As said, the Canes replied well to the with two tries & a three-point penalty goal on the board through a nine-point advantage ahead of half-time. However, the momentum just wasn’t the same when not only ill-discipline restricted their ball opportunities, but it also let their defense being poor while the attack was isolated in which was really game over before it reaches FT. They need to be really mindful when facing the stronger teams as the Brumbies is their next test in two Fridays time with a bye in between now next week.
And the Chiefs unbeaten run continues after seven matches of 14 regular season games so far following a well earned bye during Easter last week. They were the first team to register these big points before the Chiefs were outclassed for most of the opening half by the Canes thanks to some poor discipline, which left them some catch up to do going into the final 40 of the afternoon. But the Chiefs never gave up when they scored a bunch of 2nd tries before the away were too good in the end, even though some ill-discipline remains an issue with only a few minutes to go. Great comeback there as the Chiefs keep moving forward with two huge games ahead at home in Waikato – one is Fijian Drua on Friday night followed by Crusaders again on Sat 29th April.
