They pumped Tonga A by 50 points in the Pukekohe deluge last week, so the Fiji Warriors in pristine conditions in Mt Maunganui should have been a walkover, right?
Wrong.
In a game with all the appeal of a one-way ticket to Libya, the Chiefs development side plumbed fresh depths of ineptitude
yesterday, scraping past Fiji A 25-10 at Blake Park.
Few spectators turned up for the midweek mistake-fest and even fewer stuck it out to the end in a game. The bright spots could be tallied on one hand, with a couple of digits left unused in the calculations.
Fresh from last week's 50-13 demolition of Tonga, yesterday promised plenty.
New livewire Bay of Plenty signing Jarek Goebel crossed for two first-half tries as the Chiefs took a 17-10 lead into the break, with fullback James Semple also offering rare sparkle in his forays forward.
But a tortuous second 40 was buried under an avalanche of blunders from both sides, with Fiji beset by poor option-taking and the Chiefs just poor right across the park. Any move that looked remotely promising broke down, simply because they couldn't hold the ball. Replacement halfback Malcolm Barnes did jink over for a late try for the Chiefs.
Scorers:
Chiefs development 25 (Jarek Goebel 2, Malcolm Barnes tries; Daniel Waenga 2 cons, 2 pens) Fiji Warriors 10 (Jonetani Ralulu try; Ralulu pen, con) Halftime: 17-10.
