Super Rugby Round 1 Review
Disbelief enveloped Orangetheory stadium as the Chiefs opened the new Super Rugby season in historic fashion, stunning the Crusaders 31-10 to hand them their fifth-biggest home loss in tournament history.
The hosts started brightest, initially jumping out to a ten-point lead with Richie Mo’unga’s drop goal, for the first points of the season, preceding David Havili’s patiently-built try less than ten minutes later.
However, from that point onwards, it was all Chiefs.
A rare Brodie Retallick try before the half jumpstarted the comeback as second-half scores from Sam Cane, Alex Nankivell, and Cortez Ratima rounded off 31 straight points for Clayton McMillan’s side, making it just the second ever time the Crusaders have shipped that many unanswered points.
As the sun set on the Crusaders’ nightmare, it secured the Chiefs’ second biggest win against their kiwi rivals and became the first time since 2016 the 11-time champions were restricted to ten points or fewer in a game.
Chiefs captain Cane said: “I thought we hung in there really well in the first half when we put ourselves under a bit of pressure.
“I thought in the second half we got a lot of that right.
“A lot of belief in this team. We feel like we’ve been building for a couple of years so it’s a good start to our season.”
Across the ditch, the Brumbies followed the Chiefs footsteps in the second game of the season, taking down a highly-anticipated Waratahs side 31-25 for the tenth straight time in an eventful Australian derby.
As newly-appointed Wallabies head coach Eddie Jones earnestly watched on from the stands, Ryan Lonergan’s 16 points were accompanied by scores from Andy Muirhead and rookie winger Corey Toole to spoil the Tahs’ party in Sydney.
One player certainly in Jones’ World Cup plans is last season’s Super Rugby Player of the Year, Rob Valetini, who displayed a barnstorming performance after recently committing his future with Australian rugby, signing a four-year extension with the Brumbies in the week.
Despite the frustrating loss, the silver lining for the Waratahs was the unearthing of 18-year-old winger, Max Jorgensen, as the rookie sensation became the second youngest Waratah of all time and crossed for a double on debut.
Winning captain Allan Alaalatoa said: “There was a lot of attention on the Tahs this week and we knew that we would just do our thing in Canberra, stay low and then come here and to put on a performance like that was unreal.”
Elsewhere, the Fijian Drua grabbed a late win to open their season, taking their first lead of the game with three minutes to go as they beat Moana Pasifika 36-34 in a fever dream of chaotic, offload-heavy rugby that was typical of the all-familiar Pacific Island style.
Moana Pasifika side dominated the physical contest throughout with front row pairing Abraham Pole and Chris Apoua scoring three tries between them.
However, it ended in bliss for the Drua as substitute Taniela Rakuro, who only signed a full-time contract on Wednesday, stopped, dropped and rolled over the line to finish off a chaotic sequence of outrageous offloads to complete the comeback. Eleven tries, seventy points, and barely a moment to catch your breath.
The Blues began their title pursuit in ruthless fashion, showcasing liquid attacking flair as they thumped an error-ridden Highlanders outfit for a record 60-20 win in Dunedin.
After falling behind 31-6 inside half an hour, the Highlanders could not quell their most damaging traits and allowed the Blues to add four tries in the second half with the visitors benefiting from some optional defence from the hosts at times.
All Black pairing Rieko Ioane and Mark Telea both scored doubles in the onslaught, helping the Blues record their highest ever points total against the Landers.
In Townsville, the Hurricanes took care of business emphatically in the first Trans-Tasman clash of the season behind a world-class outing from Ardie Savea, as they thrashed a sloppy Reds side 47-13.
Jason Holland’s side took a slender lead into the half, but the switch flipped from there as they scored 31 straight points, started by Cam Roigard and a penalty try whilst the Reds had separate men sin binned.
And in typical fashion, the kiwis killed the game off in the final ten minutes, adding three tries through Jamie Booth, Julian Savea and Tyrel Lomax for the bonus-point victory.
Out West, the Force turned around an 11-point half-time deficit to beat the Melbourne Rebels 34-27 for the only home win of round one.
The bench impact was fruitful for the Force as replacement hooker Dave Horton crossed twice before Jeremy Thrush’s 72nd minute score completed the comeback and capped off a pulsating opening round of Super Rugby.