'It's a 23 man game now': Chiefs head coach credits bench impact in victory over the Brumbies

It’s three from three for the Chiefs in Super Rugby Pacific 2025 after they beat the ACT Brumbies on a sunny afternoon in Hamilton.

Fans at FMG Stadium Waikato were treated to another high-scoring contest, where their home team were able to get over the line once again, topping the Super Rugby Pacific table after three rounds.

Chiefs head coach Clayton McMillan announced this week that the 2025 season will be his last in New Zealand for the time being, as he’s named as the new Munster head coach for 2026.

There’s still work to be done if McMillan’s final season in New Zealand wants to end as a success, but the 50-year-old told media after the game that his side’s bench impact on Saturday afternoon was pleasing once again.

“It’s a 23-man game now, and we need our bench to come on and help pivot the game in your favour, they did a good job today, but it was we score a try, they score a try, we score a try, they score a try, and I don’t like those games too much.

McMillan was relieved with the win, saying that it wasn’t the most impressive performance of the season so far.

“Happy to come away with the win, but it was pretty scrappy.

“Give credit to the Brumbies they really came to play and made us work for everything, it’s easy for us to be critical, but we just got to respect the fact that the Brumbies came to play and we aren’t always gonna get our own way.

“So it was good in the end that we found a way.”

The departing Chiefs head coach credited the Brumbies work at the breakdown, explaining that he felt like his team lost some of the momentum.

“I think was a bit of what we brought to the table, and they came with a plan to come hard at the breakdown, so we weren’t on our own terms there and they sort of disrupted our flow.

“We didn’t really get any momentum in the game.

“I thought we were just a bit flat, we didn’t have the same leg speed that we’ve had over the last couple of weeks, which could mean many different things.”

The Chiefs travel to play the Fijian Drua next weekend in Lautoka, where McMillan may look to rest some players after three physical encounters to start the new 2025 campaign.

The Hamilton-based side can only take 27 players over to Lautoka, but McMillan will be waiting to hear about some of the injuries sustained in Hamilton on Saturday afternoon, where All Blacks playmaker Damian McKenzie left the field with eight minutes to go.

“We will get through our medical clinic tomorrow and then get together as coaches and select the side that we think will go over there and do a job.

“Everyone knows how challenging it is over there, so it’s probably more important for us that we get our week right.”