Rugby: That's hardly entertainment!

By Chris Ratuue

It was hard to locate David Moffett's "sexy, one-stop entertainment shop" in Hamilton.

Surely none of the 9000 crowd who witnessed the Queensland Reds' 19-17 Super 12 win over the Chiefs at Rugby Park on Saturday night would have had sympathy with Moffett's pre-season interpretation of a poll of Super 12 watchers.

Those poll victims may have used words like sexy, but this match was hardly the entertainment shop that Moffett, the New Zealand Rugby Union chief executive, has promised.

The heavy rain in Hamilton certainly contributed to a messy match, full of stoppages. At this time of year, with the ground still hard, the players undoubtedly feel they can still try their tricks of the trade.

But it was really a night for hard graft, and the Reds did it far better than a Chiefs outfit who are on the back foot after two rounds.

The Chiefs' scrum is still a wobbly unit. Moments of success were surrounded by inevitable retreats which left No 8 Deon Muir having to clean up, which he did very well for the most part.

Even with one of the great lineout forwards in the game, Ian Jones, the Chiefs lost three of their own throw-ins and were often put under pressure.

The trouble was, the Reds knew where the Chiefs' hookers were going to send their throws.

Reds coach John Connolly said: "We thought Jones would be their 80 per cent man and we directed a bit of attention to him. And their hooker [John Akurangi] was new as well.

"When your scrum struggles it affects you psychologically. I guess it's going to be a problem for them throughout the tournament.

"It already looks as though the Brumbies, who we play next week, will struggle to make the semis and it may be the same for the Chiefs."

A fair assessment all round.

Had it not been a woeful goalkicking display from the Reds they would have won in a canter as they scored three tries to one.

Their No 1 kicker, Nathan Spooner, who was recruited by King Country last year, had a shocker and his replacement, Nathan Williams, managed to miss a handy shot as well. With the Reds landing just two from eight attempts, missing a conversion and all five of their penalty shots, they allowed the Chiefs to stay in the hunt.

In contrast, Matthew Cooper kicked four from five. The first came after the Chiefs had spent the entire first quarter on defence, during which time Spooner had missed three penalties.

After the Chiefs' first breakout, Cooper was given his chance from 40m and snuck it over despite slipping.

Rhys Duggan then produced a fine intercept, typical of his opportunist abilities, when he latched on to a laboured pass from his opposite, Sam Cordingley, and sprinted 42m for a try.

The Chiefs managed to hang on to the lead until right on halftime, when Reds loose forward Mark Connors, who had a superb match, scored following creative lead-up work from Tim Horan for a 12-11 scoreline.

The Reds also had the better of the second half, but continued to miss goalkicks and fell behind to Cooper's kicking before regaining the lead in the 69th minute, with Connors' charge setting up a Warwick Waugh try, for the lead and win, 19-17.

The Chiefs saved their best until last. There was a moment's silence before the match for the late Aaron Hopa, and maybe that inspired a strong finish.

"The blokes tried very hard for Aaron," said coach Ross Cooper.

But it takes more than motivation to win matches at this level.

Captain Michael Collins pinpointed his side's basic faults as being in the scrums, a failure to get enough driving support behind the lineout jumpers, and some poor first-up tackling out wide.

Jonah Lomu and Royce Willis are expected to return when the Chiefs play what should be a rampant Waratahs side in Sydney on Saturday night. On this form, these Chiefs will be heavy underdogs.

Pictured: The Reds' Tim Horan had a top match for the Reds against the Chiefs and played a prominent part in the lead-up to their first try. HERALD PICTURE / BRENDON O'HAGAN