Listless Chiefs cop a beating

When the Chiefs look at the tape of last night's 20-6 loss at Waikato Stadium it should be done with eyes peeking out between the fingers.

They were unrecognisable from the side who put up a rousing display in beating the Blues a week earlier.

The Reds, winless in the first three rounds, were well worth the victory - their first in New Zealand since 1999 - growing in confidence and tenacious in defence as they realised the error-riddled Chiefs were ripe for the taking.

Odd things happened last night, like Marty Holah missing tackles.

The Chiefs treated the ball like a hot potato too often and with Nathan Sharpe leading the pack and lively Josh Valentine and steady Julian Huxley organising the backs, the Reds weren't about to squander the night.

The Chiefs tried desperately, but the clock was not their friend.

Frustrations mounted, demonstrated most clearly eight minutes from the end when, having been awarded a penalty on the Reds line, had it reversed when captain Jono Gibbes banged a Red head at the ruck.

The Chiefs will look back on the first half and wonder what went wrong after getting off to a flier.

The possession and territory numbers were overwhelmingly with the hosts in the first 20 minutes, but somehow they lost the plot.

They failed to treasure possession and had problems at the lineouts, where the Reds' Hugh McMenamin proved the decisive figure.

Two David Hill penalties should have settled any early nerves, but someone flipped a switch in the Reds' minds and they turned the game on its head with a fine try after 20 minutes.

Valentine slipped through three tackles, and when the ball went left, Huxley's perfectly weighted grubber kick gave winger Drew Mitchell an easy try.

Apart from the odd Sione Lauaki charge and one slashing break when Adrian Cashmore surged through but Loki Crichton could not hold the pass, there was little for the Chiefs to savour.

They appeared listless, unsure which route to take, and the Reds, who visibly grew in belief as the half progressed, bagged a second try six minutes from the break, young prop Greg Holmes barging across after good work from Mitchell and Valentine.

The Chiefs lost Crichton, stretchered off after copping a double tackle from Nick Stiles and David Croft before halftime.

They perked up for a time in the second half but Lauaki's horror decision to take a tackle with a two-man overlap cost seven points.

Replacement Keith Lowen had a try turned down three minutes from the end after being tackled beside a post.

It summed up the Chiefs' night.

Reds: D. Mitchell, G. Holmes tries; J. Huxley 2 pen, 2 con. Chiefs: D. Hill 2 pen. HT: 17-6