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Chiefs pile on the points in bonus point win over Moana Pasifika
By Finn Morton
The Chiefs have kept their hopes of a top-two finish alive with an emphatic 43-7 win over Moana Pasifika at Auckland’s MT Smart Stadium on Friday evening.
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They may have been without Damian McKenzie but Taranaki-first five Josh Jacomb stepped up in the NO 10 jersey in the All Black’s absence, and captain Luke Jacobson was also solid.
Moana Pasifika fought valiantly but it wasn’t too close in the end as the Hamilton-based side rallied from a slow start to pile on the points.
By securing the bonus point, the Chiefs have stayed within touching distance of the top two. With the Hurricanes playing the Blues this weekend, this was a result they desperately needed.
The first passage of the match somewhat set the tone for the next 30 minutes. All Blacks and Chiefs lock Tupou Vaa’i dropped the ball off the kick-off which gave Moana Pasifika the first opportunity to play with the ball.
Moana Pasifika seemed to throw everything at their more-favoured opponents, but the Chiefs’ defence stood tall in defence. For the most part, Moana were going backwards in attack for two minutes before eventually knocking the ball on.
Looking to break the deadlock relatively early, the Chiefs took the ball down the other end of the field and looked to make their mark.
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From a lineout, Samisoni Taukei’aho found Tupou Vaa’i, with the hooker then looping around to bind at the back of the maul. The Chiefs came close, very close, but Taukei’aho was pulled down nothing more than a metre or two short of the try line.
The Chiefs spread the ball wide right, and then back to the left, as they continued to test the Moana defensive line. But the Chiefs, who had been playing with a penalty advantage, were ultimately held up in the in-goal.
Then, after opting to take the scrum, NO 8 Wallace Sititi dropped the ball cold.
Another opportunity missed for the Chiefs.
It was a bit of back-and-forth for both teams from there. Moana Pasifika enjoyed a period where they looked the more threatening of the two before the Chiefs regained some composure and momentum in the contest.
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Quinn Tupaea would end up scoring the opening point of the night in the 23rd minute after beating one defender with an inside step, running over another, and then beating another two covering tacklers with a reach for the try line.
With the scores still close, Moana were dealt a couple of significant blows with Irie Papuni and Aisea Halo both sent to the sin bin within a seven minute period.
Chiefs playmaker Jacomb made the most of the visitor’s one-player advantage. Jacomb beat one defender with a right-foot step before then slicing through the defensive line.
The Chiefs led 12-nil with about 35 minutes up on the clock.
Moana had their best opportunity to strike late in the half with Kyren Taumoefolau going for an ambitious one-handed dive into the corner. But unfortunately for the hosts, the fullback couldn’t quite hang onto the ball.
The Chiefs seemed to have scored one more about two minutes later only for the TMO to rule the try out. But still, they had the lead and were playing with confidence as the two teams made their way into the sheds.
But what happened next was not only a statement – it was quite stunning.
Fullback Etene Nanai-Seturo regathered his own chip-and-chase before dotting the ball down just 32 seconds into the half.
Chiefs’ added another two tries to their advantage soon after with centre Anton Lienert-Brown and flanker Simon Parker scoring within a six minute period.
Almost suddenly, an error-riddled opening 30 minutes felt like a long time ago. The Chiefs had raced out to a 31-nil lead but Moana refused to give up as they offered some promising attacking phases of their own in response.
Moana were rewarded for their efforts with Anzelo Tuitavuki scoring his team’s first points of the night in the 71st minute. Tuitavuki danced around Tyrone Thompson to run in untouched for the hard-earned score.
The Chiefs did hit back, though, with captain Jacobson burrowing his way over with five minutes left before winger Liam Coombes-Fabling ran in untouched to have the final say of the night.
