“It’s exciting. It was a heck of a match out there today. In the first half, we battled to get our hands on the ball, but we defended really well. We were able to take some good chances in the second half and convert on some good points,” Chiefs captain Luke Jacobson told Sky Sport.
“Credit to the Brumbies. They came out and they tested us. It was a good match all the way to the 80 minutes.”
Next week, they’ll travel to Christchurch looking to end the Crusaders’ 31-game home-playoff winning streak as the top two teams in the competition clash.
The Chiefs were slow starters against the Brumbies – twice. In both halves, the visitors were able to assert a level of dominance to score early tries.
But the Chiefs showed why they have been tough to beat this season. It wasn’t the best performance you’ll see from this outfit, who were clunky at times and were pressured at the breakdown by the powerful Brumbies pack.
The hosts did, however, flash their abilities with ball in hand, while first five-eighths Damian McKenzie was near-perfect from the tee – making the Brumbies pay for moments of ill-discipline with six penalty goals – in a strong individual performance.
Right wing Emoni Narawa had some good moments, scoring two tries. Lock Naitoa Ah Kuoi proved to be a pest at the lineout as he pinched a couple of opposition throws, while the scrum was formidable.
There were a few jittery moments from the hosts early on, and things were against them when lock Tupou Vaa’i was shown a yellow card for a high shot on Brumbies hooker Billy Pollard.
With Vaa’i off the pitch, the Brumbies were able to get the scoring going, with Pollard scoring from the back of a lineout drive in the 16th minute. Less than five minutes later, Emoni Narawa caught the Brumbies napping around the breakdown and scored from a pick-and-go about 5m out.
The Brumbies lost their starting first five Noah Lolesio midway through the first half after he failed a head injury assessment, while a couple of McKenzie penalties extended the lead.
Lolesio’s replacement Jack Debreczeni set up the next try, with a cross-field kick for left wing Corey Toole to track down.
Two more McKenzie penalties before halftime saw them hold a seven-point lead at the break, but that was closed when Toole scored his second soon after the restart.
But from there, the Chiefs kicked into gear.
Their patience paid off when Narawa crossed for his second, and another couple of McKenzie penalties pushed the lead out further, before Josh Jacomb’s 64th-minute try gave the side a nice buffer.
That was where the scoring stopped, with the Chiefs now having the opportunity to send Munster-bound coach Clayton McMillan out on a high next weekend.
Chiefs 37 (Emoni Narawa 2, Josh Jacomb tries; Damian McKenzie 2 cons, 6 pens)
Brumbies 17 (Corey Toole 2, Billy Pollard tries; Ryan Lonergan con)
HT: 19-12
