Chiefs crush Crusaders 31-10 in Super Rugby Pacific opener in Christchurch

At Orangetheory Stadium, Christchurch: Chiefs 31 (Brodie Retallick try 33min, Sam Cane try 49min, Alex Nankivell try 59min, Cortez Ratima try 69min; Damian McKenzie 4 con, pen) Crusaders 10 (David Havili try 20min; Richie Mo’unga con, drop goal). HT: 7-10.

Yellow cards: Sam Cane (Chiefs) 19min, Ethan Blackadder (Crusaders) 59min

The Crusaders have tasted defeat in a season-opener for the first time in Scott Robertson’s reign, upset 31-10 on home turf by the Chiefs on Friday night.

The last time the red and blacks dropped a round-one game? The last time they failed to clinch the title. In 2016, also at home, to those Chiefs

This, on a cool, slippery night in Christchurch, was far from a pretty way to start Robertson’s farewell campaign, as a fired-up visiting side held the perennial champs scoreless over the final hour in their four-tries-to-one bonus-point boilover.

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Both teams will hope they haven’t lost All Blacks to injury, with Cullen Grace leaving the park in the ninth minute due to a left shoulder problem – having suffered a fractured collarbone on that side in the NPC in August last year – while Anton Lienert-Brown limped off in the 48th with a left ankle issue, which had troubled him earlier in the piece.

Trailing 10-7 at the break, the Chiefs absolutely bossed the second stanza at Orangetheory Stadium, their All Black-heavy pack rumbling forward, while returning playmaker Damian McKenzie drove dangerously from No 10, with Shaun Stevenson particularly electric out the back.

In the end, the numbers were stunning – 626 metres to 402, 49 defenders beaten to 16, and 12 clean breaks to one, as the Chiefs followed up their regular-season win in the Garden City from last year.

After Sam Cane went over early in the second spell for the go-ahead points, his side never looked back as Josh Ioane showed his class when introduced in the second half at first-five.

An Ethan Blackadder yellow card for a high shot on Samipeni Finau paved the way for more points as a Luke Jacobson pass to ground was skilfully back-flicked on by Ioane for Alex Nankivell to gather, step the cover and score.

Then after McKenzie nailed a 67th minute penalty and Richie Mo’unga sent the restart out on the full, Ioane’s magic from the midfield scrum – dummying, stepping and offloading – resulted in Cortez Ratima running away to seal the deal.

It hadn’t started in such great fashion for the victors, conceding a penalty off their opening scrum feed, botching multiple chances through handling errors and Ben O’Keeffe’s whistle, while also having Cane sin-binned for a cynical offside ball-pick-up in front of his sticks.

That saw David Havili strike with the first try of the night, and it appeared the Crusaders, at 10-0 to the good, smelt blood.

The Chiefs hung tough, though. Just before Cane’s return, Fletcher Newwell burst over but saving the day was winger Liam Coombes-Fabling – only taking the park after Etene Nanai-Seturo was a late scratching – who, in a complete different weight class, somehow held the All Black prop up.

Then, after two missed McKenzie shots at goal, they got themselves on the board in the 33rd minute when Brodie Retallick stormed over, and after Codie Taylor slipped and illegally re-joined a tryscoring maul, the Chiefs went to the sheds still right in it at 10-7.

And there was only one team ever in it from there on.

The big moment

Damian McKenzie’s 48th minute 50-22 kick. With the Chiefs having been unable to nail a couple of chances prior, their mercurial No 10 executed a pinpoint nudge to the corner which gave them the throw to the lineout and then led to Cane’s go-ahead try.

Match rating

8/10: If this is what the Super season has in store, then buckle up. The new law variations to speed the game up looked to have an immediate impact, and it was breathtaking stuff, with hardly a scrum in sight.

MVP

The Chiefs’ Shaun Stevenson. You can see why master league coach Wayne Bennett was interested in luring him to the Dolphins. His hot late 2022 form continued with several sizzling attacks to spark his side, playing the first half at fullback before being forced to left wing for the second. In the end he racked up whopping game-high numbers for metres (149) and defenders beaten (nine), as well as being equal-top for clean breaks (three).

The big picture

Both teams now get set to head to Melbourne next week for the ‘Super Round’, with the Crusaders facing southern rivals, the Highlanders, on Friday, and the Chiefs taking on Moana Pasifika on Saturday.