THE 43-12 scoreline reflected the control the Chiefs had over the Hurricanes in the pre-season development rugby clash at Wanganui City College yesterday.
To be fair, development rugby matches are not necessarily about the gel between teammates in each side and probably more about individual playmakers and how they are able to display their skill sets.
During the first half possession and territory were pretty even. The difference was the Hurricanes had far too many handling errors and were found guilty of more penalty infringements.
Within minutes the Chiefs were in for a well-controlled pushover try involving the entire forward pack, making it almost impossible to tell who scored. It didn't matter it put the Chiefs five points up after fullback Codey Rei failed to convert.
The Canes were unlucky not to score minutes later from a scrum on halfway; handling errors again let them down. However, not too long after, flanker Namani Waka crossed for the Canes after an intercept and former Wanganui High School player Sam Malcolm made no mistake with the conversion. It gave the Hurricanes a 7-5 lead until the Chiefs bounced back with replacement player Shahn Eru crashing over under the posts. Rei converted to bring the score to 12-7 the Chiefs' way.