Round 10 of 15 in the 2024 Super Rugby Season during the Anzac weekend saw all 12 teams back in full swing after taking their respective byes over the last three weeks and fortunately, I was able to see it on-site tonight at Allianz Stadium (awesome modern venue btw) in Moore Park where the NSW Waratahs welcome last year’s runner-up team the Chiefs from Waikato, NZ.
The first half saw the Waratahs off to a flying start following the Chiefs early ill-disciplines that saw two of their players having to sit out on the naughty chair (yellow card) for a while. Despite this, the Chiefs were able to move on and level the scoreboard with the Waratahs going into half-time at 12-12. Then the Chiefs were able to extend their lead with another set of tries while the Waratahs began to fall behind. Yes, the Waratahs might have not lost all of hope just yet when a successful penalty conversion and a 3rd TRY might have spark a bit of an outside revival. However, as the clock ticks away towards full-time, the Chiefs proved too strong for them whilst having the last laugh with one more TRY to close it out for the win once again 22-38.
Emoni Narawa has been lightning quick on the Chiefs right wing, having been blessed with the support needed to get things done on the counter-attack that made him so great. He can make things so difficult with his trickery pace for the opposition defenders to try and stop him in his tracks where he punished them not once but twice that puts his side in cruise control.
Here’s another experienced young talent Kaylum Boshier on the Chiefs openside back row at 7 after he kept a good eye on the Waratahs at his own end, so he can turn the ball over, muscle it up & cash it in on return as the rewards have paid off. He’s a multi-talented player with a background in both rugby and cricket who’s got tremendous mobility that reflects his natural game-changing abilities and that is how Kaylum made the Waratahs suffer towards the end with a big win away from home.
Both of them may not had much International experience but they can certainly compete v the best of the rest and that includes the unbeaten Hurricanes in the hope they can translate success in all fronts of New Zealand Rugby. The road to go one better continues as they will be back at home (FMG Stadium in Waikato) next Saturday night v Perth’s Western Force.
And Julian Heaven has converted a couple of the line-in throws into tries for the Waratahs tonight including one for himself thanks to these winning penalties. He’s still young at 23 who might not have gone through the traditional route but his hard work handed his side a huge early headstart off the back of the Chiefs ill-discipline that saw two players sat 10 minutes at each time on the naughty chair. But what’s even naughty is the way his side failed to get the job done at times through open play despite having good possession as the Chiefs explosive counter attack really punished them in the end that handed them yet another loss. It doesn’t look any good from here with the Hurricanes next up & it’s even going to be a long trip to get to Wellington in NZ for next Friday on what is going to be a really tough run-in to finish off this term.