WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — The Hamilton-based Chiefs are keenly aware there are no more second chances as they head in Saturday’s Super Rugby semifinal against the last Australian hope, the ACT Brumbies.
The Chiefs’ top-seeding gave them a second chance when they were beaten 20-19 by the Blues in last weekend’s qualifying playoffs, allowing them to advance to the semifinals as the top-ranked loser.
The Auckland-based Blues, who were seeded sixth and had to beat the Chiefs to keep their title defense alive, scored and converted a try three minutes after the fulltime siren for a dramatic win in Hamilton. That carried them into another tough assignment, a semifinal against the Crusaders in Christchurch on Friday.
The Chiefs had numerous chances to close out last weekend’s match against the Blues. They led 19-6 in the second half and let three clear try-scoring chances slip through their fingers.
“You could say we were probably lucky to get that second chance,” Chiefs’ fullback Shaun Stevenson said. “The beauty of finishing first is that you do get a second life.
“We have to prove to ourselves that we were the best team in the comp consistently and do that for 80 minutes against the Brumbies this week.”
The Brumbies will attempt to become the first Australian team in 20 attempts to win a playoff match in New Zealand. They progressed to the semifinals after a 35-28 win over the Wellington-based Hurricanes in Canberra last weekend.
Brumbies coach Stephen Larkham has named an unchanged match for Saturday’s semifinal in Hamilton with playmaker Jack Debreczeni being retained on the bench.
“We’re in a pretty good space in terms of our routine,” Larkham said. “We’ve got a plan this week in terms of some of the stuff that we’ve been building on through the year and then some specific stuff for the Chiefs.
“We want to get the boys as fresh as possible by the end of the week and get them into the game with as much confidence as possible. Then, focus on the performance as opposed to the outcome.”
Ioane fires pre-match shot
Blues center Rieko Ioane once again has turned to social media to ramp up tension ahead of Friday’s match in Christchurch.
After beating the New South Wales Waratahs in the last round of the regular season to clinch the last place in the playoffs, Ioane posted “you shouldn’t have let us get one.” It was a reference American baseball and basketball teams which won playoff series from 3-0 down.
This week, more theatrically, he posted “should’ve killed me when you had the chance.”
Still, the Blues have the toughest chance in the playoffs against the Crusaders who improved their post their post-season record at home to 30-0 when they beat the Queensland Reds last weekend.
Blues coach Vern Cotter said his team is ready to test that record.
“Nothing lasts forever,” he said. “They are a tough team. We know it is a tough team. One day they will lose down there in a playoff. It could be against us.”
The Crusaders will be without All Blacks loosehead prop Tamaiti Williams who helped make their scrum such a dominant force against the Reds.
“That’s how they accessed their game against the Reds. It was through their scrum and lineout and field position,” Cotter said. “It could be 80 minutes, it could be longer. We're mentally preparing for a rugged sort of evening.”
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AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby
Steve Mcmorran, The Associated Press
