Rugby: Chiefs fight back falls short

Brumbies Matt Giteau gets outside Chiefs Brendon Leonard in Canberra last night. Photo / Getty Images

Brumbies 28
Chiefs 20

They were missing some quality players but there were enough signs in their first game to suggest that the Chiefs final season with coach Ian Foster could be a troubled one.

Most pundits were prepared only to affix a question mark next to pre-season assessments of the Brumbies hopes of Super Rugby glory. The Canberra mob without George Smith is a bit like a milkshake without milk but they took their chances better in a match of mixed fortunes and mixed last night.

The Chiefs were already without Hika Elliot, Isaac Ross, Colin Bourke, Mike Delany and Richard Kahui and, unfortunately, they were also without prop Nathan White when he was sin-binned early.

The Brumbies made the most of it. First five-eighths Matt Giteau posted an early couple of penalties and, when some ferocious defence from flanker Julian Salvi turned defence into offence, rookie second five Robbie Coleman picked up and darted off through the traffic like a startled cat.

He'd have trouble ordering a beer at a high bar but there's nothing wrong with Coleman's sidestepping gear. As he beat player after player, he almost sidestepped backwards at one stage before scoring under the bar.

Thirteen minutes gone, 13 points on the board and the Chiefs were looking sick; the Brumbies slick. Their continuity was good; confidence high.

The Chiefs had to hit back - and they did. Only problem was, they didn't score. They butchered three tries in quick, almost unbelievable, succession. Winger Tim Nanai-Williams flung a scoring pass a little behind fullback Mils Muliaina, who put it down.

Then the two Chiefs locks - Craig Clarke and Romana Graham - lumbered a little through a try-scoring exchange. The scoring pass again went astray when it was delayed a little too long and a defender's hand got in the way.

After working a fine break, Nanai-Williams was haring over the line to score when he inexplicably dropped the ball (although another defending hand might have intervened). All this with White still off the field.

There was a strong feeling it was not to be the Chiefs' night. It became even more pronounced when the Brumbies worked a simple blindside move and the Chiefs defence opened obligingly for winger Francis Fainifo to score.

At 18-3 at halftime, it looked a bit bleak for the Chiefs. Right at the start of the second half, Muliaina fielded a kick, flung a long pass to rookie No 8 Fritz Lee, who let the ball bounce past him and then butchered the pick-up. It was that sort of night - the Chiefs all too often looked pale and hesitant.

Clarke was pulled, so too Tana Umaga and halfback Brendon Leonard as Foster sought to reinvigorate his charges. It worked. Some tough defensive pressure saw the Brumbies spill ball and, after some sustained pressure, good passing by Stephen Donald and Nanai-Williams saw a rather bulky-looking Sitiveni Sivivatu score in the corner.

Then replacement halfback Tawera Kerr-Barlow underlined his promise with a chip and chase that saw him steal a try under the noses of four Brumbies defenders. Supposedly dead and buried, the Chiefs had somehow clambered out of the grave like so many zombies realising that they weren't quite deceased yet.

The Brumbies were now making errors and looking a bit insipid and Chiefs will point to their second half as proof that they have the talent to succeed in later games; that their passes will stick another night.

But the way they lost this match calls that into question. After controlling an attacking Brumbies kick, a Chiefs boot somehow scraped the ball out of the ruck. The Brumbies pounced on it near the line and substitute prop Silesi Mafu drove over for the try.

After all that good work, the Chiefs dropped their bundle. Still, that's the Chiefs - a conundrum, wrapped in a puzzle; a 15-man riddle, shrouded in mystery.

Brumbies 28 (R. Coleman, F. Fainifo, S.Mafu tries; M. Giteau 2 con, 3 pen), Chiefs 20 (S. Sivivatu, Tawera Kerr-Barlow, L. Masaga tries; S. Donald, con, pen). HT: 18-3.