Chiefs' season of what ifs

Chiefs 31 Highlanders 8

Well aware of how cruel a mistress fate can be, the Chiefs went on a mercy mission last night to prevent the Highlanders having to endure an agonising wait for the result from Pretoria.

By the time referee Lyndon Bray called time, it was a trifle absurd that it was the Highlanders and not the Chiefs who began the game with genuine hopes of making it through to the semifinals.

For the first 50 minutes the home side were so rampant, so wonderful to watch that it was tempting to curse them for leaving such a sublime performance until the last game of the campaign.

The real irritation was that it left everyone asking the horrid 'what if' question. What if the Chiefs had beaten the decidedly ordinary Reds back in early April?

What if they had played like this against the Waratahs and Crusaders in their opening fixtures?

It's all academic now but finishing the season as arguably the form team in the whole competition creates the kind of frustration that could drive coach Ian Foster into the clutches of the men with white coats.

Given the Chiefs' patchy history, though, a late charge is far more preferable to the traditional non-charge and Foster should still be considered as one of the most promising coaches in New Zealand.

The support running of the Chiefs was so good, their basic skills so precise and their passion for the contest so intense, that it's hard to believe they were only playing with 15 men.

Arguably they did in fact have 16, as Sitiveni Sivivatu probably has to count as two.

You could slather an eel in soap and olive oil and it would not be as slippery as the Fijian-born 23-year-old.

No wonder the New Zealand Rugby Union has snarled at the queue of suitors who have dangled the carrot of obscene cash to lure Sivivatu overseas.

He has his eyes fixed on a black jersey and after his hat-trick last night, will surely be rewarded with one at some stage in the near future. Like Rupeni Caucaunibuca, he appears as if he is ambling with no intent but to shimmy his hips, dance on a sixpence and leave defenders wondering whether he left a forwarding address.

There is real competition for the All Black wing berths and those who are unconvinced by Sivivatu should ask whether Joe Rokocoko, Doug Howlett or Rico Gear would have matched the achievements of the Chiefs wing last night.

His third try saw him twice step brilliantly off his left foot leaving both Hayden Pedersen and Glen Horton doing a bit of cartoon clutching at thin air.

Both Jono Gibbes, who took some majestic one-handed takes at the lineout, and Sione Lauaki also served late reminders they are hungry for test football.

Lauaki carried the ball strongly, scored a cheeky try on the back of a clever dummy and then tried to help the Highlanders cut their travel costs by using his right shoulder to knock Seilala Mapusua back to Dunedin.

His physicality was also seen in the first half when one rampaging run saw him fling aside the giant Highlander and All Black prop Carl Hayman as if he was a piece of shortbread.

Kevin Senio, too, played with enough accuracy at halfback to suggest there was substance to the rumour last year that he was being lined up for the end-of-season tour until injury struck.

It all meant the Highlanders didn't really stand a chance and carried an air of defeat the instant Sivivatu slipped over the chalk after just five minutes of the match.

That the Highlanders flopped to their knees having managed only one defiant swing of their handbag should have come as no surprise.

They have been ravaged by injury in the last couple of weeks and the absence of Anton Oliver was all too obvious.

A few choice words from Oliver when the Highlanders went 19-3 down in the first quarter might have steadied the ship.

Oliver probably would have also provided Gibbes with a more physical riposte when he clearly caught Craig Newby in the chops at the tail of the lineout early in the first half.

No mother wants to read this but at this level players can't be intimidated which means the law sometimes has to be taken out of the referee's hands.

But even with Oliver this always looked like it would have been a game too far for the Highlanders.

The wheels started coming off a couple of weeks ago when the Waratahs confirmed what everyone suspected - that the Highlanders are vulnerable if you can attack them down the flanks.

That's exactly what the Chiefs did, after the forwards delivered quick ball. They lost momentum in the second half and didn't really play with the same clinical edge.

That often happens when games are won in the first half, as this one was.

Other Chief points of interest were the pace and vision of Sosene Anesi at fullback and it may be no coincidence that the Chiefs' revival came after they shifted David Hill to second five-eighths, where he has become a very solid citizen indeed.

Some astute judges are also interested in the progress of first five-eighths Stephen Donald and it looks as if the Chiefs might have a very interesting Super 12 next year.

The Highlanders did a lot better up front in the second half and the Mooloo faithful were hopeful of more tries but only witnessed Newby's late touchdown.

Chiefs 31 (S. Sivivatu 3, S. Anesi, S. Lauaki tries; D. Hill 3 cons).

Highlanders 8 (C. Newby try; N. Evans pen).

- HERALD ON SUNDAY