Brodie Retallick's work rate was high in the match in Perth. Photo by www.sportpix.co.nz
Brodie Retallick's work rate was high in the match in Perth. Photo by www.sportpix.co.nz
Every team has now been beaten in the Investec Super Rugby competition after another weekend of epic battles which saw the Chiefs narrowly loose their first match of the year to the Western Force 18-15 in Perth at midnight on Saturday.
The match was an intense encounter with plenty ofniggles and was played in front of over 16,000 fans which included many Chiefs supporters in the Western Australia mining region.
The Chiefs currently sit on top of the New Zealand Conference and third on the overall ladder after picking up a bonus point for finishing the match within seven points of the opposition.
The Chiefs points came from the accurate boot of Aaron Cruden who slotted three penalties and Gareth Anscombe who showed his long range radar was working with a kick from around 50 metres out. The visitors were reduced to 14 men when the referee penalized Jamie Mackintosh for entering a ruck from the side.
Chiefs Coach Dave Rennie gave his standard honest assessment of the match. "It was pretty simple, we lacked intensity and made far too many errors and couldn't build pressure for long enough. It was a pretty disappointing performance."
Western Force halfback Alby Mathewson was cited for alleged foul play during the match at the weekend for stamping on Sam Cane in the third minute of the match and received a one week suspension.
After the match, the Chiefs went straight to the airport to catch a flight to Johannesburg where they will play the Bulls on Sunday morning 2am New Zealand time in Pretoria.
