If the Chiefs were hoping to silence the hometown crowd in Wellington, they went the best possible way about it as they shot out to a 14-0 lead inside the opening 10 minutes.
Despite yellow cards to Samipeni Finau for head-to-head contact against T.J. Perenara and Jacobson for a late, dominant tackle on Jordie Barrett, the Chiefs played a strong game on both sides of the ball and took their chances when they were on offer.
Had they not got the win, the decision not to review a face-to-face challenge by Perenara on Wallace Sititi might have become more of a talking point; Clayton McMillan not hiding his frustration at the decision in the coaches’ box.
The Chiefs have uncovered a star this season in No 8 Sititi, who again was up for the big moment in a massive performance. He was a constant threat with ball in hand, charging off the back of the scrum, making some heads-up plays including an intercept that led to a late try, and he was busy defensively.
He was among a number of standouts for the Chiefs, who have found a new gear since the knockout phase of the competition started. Emoni Narawa did his stocks no harm as he danced around Hurricanes defenders before putting Finau in for the first try of the game, Damian McKenzie was in fine form, and Tupou Vaa’i was among a host of Chiefs who stood up in the contact areas.
They had to close out the game with midfielder Rameka Poihipi throwing their lineouts, with Samisoni Taukei’aho off injured after 22 minutes and Bradley Slater following suit in the 69th minute. Fullback Shaun Stevenson was also a late withdrawal from the side, with Etene Nanai-Seturo moving to fullback and Daniel Rona manning the wing.
For the Hurricanes, it was a case of missed opportunities. A number of times they worked promising attacks only to have them fizzle out through forward passes and handling errors. They were also missing too many first-up tackles, which allowed the Chiefs to get some momentum in their play.
Peter Lakai, Billy Proctor and Ruben Love had some strong moments, the latter appearing to have a rib injury late in the piece, and Jordie Barrett was an ever-present fixture.
It will be a case of what could have been for the Hurricanes, who were far from at their best in the biggest game of the season. For the Chiefs, they earned a spot in their third final under McMillan – falling to the Crusaders in Super Rugby Aotearoa in 2021 and last year’s Super Rugby Pacific final.
After an early game of force back to kick-off proceedings, the Chiefs struck on the back of some elusive work from Narawa. Moments later, a Nanai-Seturo kick just inside the Chiefs’ half was charged down and scooped up by the Hurricanes, but the ensuing offload fell fortuitously into the hands of Sititi, who charged up the field before linking with Jacobson, who then put Cortez Ratiam in for the second try of the game.
The Hurricanes eventually struck through Peter Lakai in the 20th minute, but a McKenzie penalty pushed the lead back out the 10 points at the break.
When Jacobson was sin-binned in the 49th minute, it opened the door for the Hurricanes again, and they struck through Brett Cameron. The Chiefs, however, crossed less than 10 minutes later through Rona after Sititi picked off a pass and took off with room to move.
Another penalty to McKenzie pushed the lead out and while the Hurricanes got back on the board through Proctor, they weren’t able to capitalise on some late possession.
Chiefs 30 (Samipeni Finau, Cortez Ratima, Daniel Rona tries; Damian McKenzie 3 cons, 3 pens)
Hurricanes 19 (Peter Lakai, Brett Cameron, Billy Proctor; Cameron 2 cons)
HT: 17-7
Christopher Reive joined the Herald sports team in 2017, bringing the same versatility to his coverage as he does to his sports viewing habits.
