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Dunner Stunner: Desperate Chiefs hold resurgent Highlanders to scintillating draw in Dunedin

Josh McKay bursts through the Chiefs' defence. (Photo by Dianne Manson/Getty Images)

It’s no coincidence that New Zealand derbies played under the roof of Forsyth Barr Stadium are often the most brutal, compelling and exciting fixtures to watch in Super Rugby.

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That was certainly the case again on Saturday night, as the Chiefs held the Highlanders to a 31-31 draw in an enthralling encounter in Dunedin.

It’s a result that not only stunts the Highlanders’ mid-season comeback following a five-match winless run, but it also may just provide some hope for the Chiefs, whose campaign was on life support as they headed into this clash, languishing in 14th spot overall.

The derby quickly burst into life in the third minute thanks to a piercing run through the Chiefs’ defensive line by second-five Tei Walden.

His hard work was seemingly undone though, thanks to a shoddy offload by midfield partner Rob Thompson, which allowed Anton Lienert-Brown to hack the ball downfield along the turf in what looked to be a stunning 60 metre solo effort.

However, a brief check with the TMO showed that the All Blacks midfielder had swatted the ball free of Thompson’s grasp, initiating the knock on himself.

The Highlanders swiftly made the 24-year-old pay for his error just moments after the ensuing scrum on the Chiefs’ 10 metre mark.

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A penalty from the ensuing scrum allowed Josh Ioane to put the Chiefs under pressure via his touch-finding boot, and he fully capitalised on the opportunity by drawing in and skinning McKenzie and Tumua Manu with some quality ball-playing from a close range lineout.

He converted his own try, but that didn’t stop the Chiefs from waving the white flag early on.

A deft inside ball from Michael Allardice to the barnstorming Tyler Ardron just inside the Chiefs’ own half allowed the Canadian utility forward to tear away into enemy territory after his teammates steered their way out from deep inside their own 22.

Brad Weber en route to scoring for the Chiefs. (Photo by Dianne Manson/Getty Images)

From there, a wonderful pass out to livewire halfback Brad Weber was enough for him to scoot over the tryline from 30 metres out to level the scoreline after just nine minutes of play.

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The opening quarter of helter-skelter football didn’t stop there.

Tom Franklin was held up over the line after a long passage of sustained pressure by the Highlanders, but another extended sequence of play saw the hosts cross the tryline again not long afterwards.

This time it was co-captain Ben Smith, who instigated the attack back on his own 10 metre mark about 15 phases beforehand, that crashed over from the base of a ruck to score near the posts, putting a big dent in the Chiefs’ spirits in doing so.

It was a sublime display of continuity and persistence, and one that portrayed the Highlanders’ ability to sustain prolonged onslaughts of attack against Kiwi rivals, balancing out the opportunistic tries they picked up against the Blues in Dunedin two weeks ago.

Injuries in the Chiefs’ forward pack to Allardice and Lachlan Boshier could have derailed the Chiefs’ plans for a first half fight back, but the pure strength and determination of blindside flanker Luke Jacobson enough to get the away side back within touching distance.

A superb offload from Lienert-Brown found the hands of Manu, who bolted deep into the Highlanders’ half, but after Etene Nanai-Seturo was mowed down by Ben Smith just metres shy of the host’s tryline, Jacobson broke through a flurry of tackle attempts to dot down in the corner.

While it was the Chiefs who ended the first half strongly, it was the Highlanders who hit back right from the start of the second half.

Parked up inside the opposition’s 22 for the first five minutes of the second stanza, a few set pieces were repelled by the men in white.

They couldn’t fight off the brilliant interlinking play of Aaron and Ben Smith off the back of a five metre scrum though, which was enough to send wing Matt Faddes flying over out wide for his second try of the season.

For the first time in the match, the Highlanders crossed over for back-to-back five-pointers, with openside flanker James Lentjes cashing in on the breathtaking line break made by Ioane and the wicked long range passing of Aaron Smith to score in the left-hand corner.

Matt Faddes scores for the Highlanders. (Photo by Rob Jefferies/Getty Images)

Ill-discipline cost the southerners not long after, with an Elliot Dixon infringement at the breakdown laying the platform for the Chiefs to strike from a lineout 20 metres out, which they did.

Brilliant option-taking and interchanging of possession between All Blacks front rowers Nathan Harris and Angus Ta’avao silenced the 14,802-strong crowd, with the latter bringing the game back in the balance with a try.

Some sloppiness began to creep into the Highlanders’ performance as head coach Aaron Mauger started to ring the changes, and that much was evident as the Chiefs ran in their fourth try.

Spectacular offloading between Jacobson, Lienert-Brown and Solomon Alaimalo created a severe mismatch on the blindside from about 40 metres out, and Ardron had an easy time of running in a converted try, which cut the deficit to just four points.

However, as the intensity of the contest escalated inside the final 10 minutes, Ardron began to feel it, as he gave away a penalty with just a handful of minutes to play for incorrectly joining a ruck, which was duly punished by Ioane’s boot.

Some desperation from the re-start by Luke Jacobson kickstarted one final hurl at the Highlanders’ tryline, and the Chiefs were rewarded for their perseverance with a rare brace of tries for Ta’avao right under the sticks.

A quick conversion by McKenzie gave both sides enough time to clinch a winning score with the score locked up at 31-all, but despite a lightning breakaway from replacement outside back Josh McKay, a miscued pass by Tevita Li to the supporting Jackson Hemopo brought the match to an end as the ball found the sideline.

The rapid encounter didn’t come without its casualties though, with Ben Smith coming from the field in obvious pain due to a hamstring strain sustained in a brutal collision with the ever-present Jacobson.

“He’s also got a laceration on his chin, so he’s just getting stitched up at the moment,” a disappointed Mauger told RugbyPass.

“We’ll know a bit more in the next couple of days.”

While it is unknown how significant the injury will be for both the Highlanders and the All Blacks, Mauger confirmed the availability of loose forward Liam Squire, who is yet to feature this year due to long-term knee and hip issues, for next week’s match against the Jaguares.

Chiefs head coach Colin Cooper was much more satisfied with his side’s come-from-behind draw, reserving special praise for Jacobson’s efforts.

“He’s outstanding, isn’t he?” he said post-match.

“He just typifies the hard work, and obviously his leadership is going to come. He’s got a big future as a Chief, and higher up.”

The result the Highlanders in fifth-place heading into their Jaguares clash, but could be overtaken by any one of the Brumbies, Blues, Waratahs, Stormers, Jaguares and/or Bulls this weekend, while the Chiefs remain in second-last place with 19 points.

In other news:

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kumar supriya 2 hours ago
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MY NAME IS SUPRIYA KUMAR FROM INDIA PLEASE FIND TIME TO READ THIS CAREFULLY.              AS WE ALL KNOW INDIA IS NUMBER ONE IN THE WORLD IN TERMS OF MAGIC SO DO NOT IGNORE THIS. BE CAREFUL HERE, NOBODY CAN HELP YOU FROM AFRICA OR EVEN SUGGEST HOW YOU CAN GET YOUR EX OR LOVE BACK, ANY TESTIMONIES OF MOST SPELL CASTER FROM AFRICA HERE MUST BE IGNORED, BECAUSE MOST OF THEM ARE SCAM I MEAN REAL SCAM AND FROM AFRICA WHICH I WAS A VICTIM AND I GOT RIPPED OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS BECAUSE I WAS SO ANXIOUS TO GET MY HUSBAND JOHN BACK AFTER HE LEFT ME FOR OVER 2YEARS WITH MY 3YEARS OLD SON JERRY,I HAVE APPLIED TO 7 DIFFERENT SPELL CASTER HERE I MET ON THIS BLOG AND ALL TO NO AVAIL THEY ALL ASK FOR SAME THING SEND YOUR NAME YOUR EX NAME ADDRESS AND PICTURE PHONE NUMBER ETC WHICH I DID OVER AND OVER AGAIN AND MOST OF THEM WERE FROM AFRICA, I WAS SO CONFUSED AND I WAS ALWAYS SICK BECAUSE OF THIS PROBLEM AND I WAS SO DESPERATE TO HAVE JOHN BACK TO ME I LOVE HIM SO MUCH AND COULD DIE FOR HIM. UNTIL A FRIEND TOLD ME ABOUT THE TEMPLE OF DREAMS THE GREATEST SPELL TEMPLE, (templeofdreams1@gmail.com) TEMPLE OF BLACK AND WHITE (GOOD AND EVIL) IN INDIA, AND I DECIDED TO SEND A MAIL TO THE TEMPLE. THE SECRETARY TOLD ME THAT ALL MY PROBLEM ARE OVER SINCE I HAVE DECIDED TO CONTACT INDIA FOR HELP, HE TOLD ME TO EXPLAIN WHAT HAPPENED BETWEEN ME AND MY EX HUSBAND JOHN AND I DID, I TOLD HIM ALL THAT HAPPENED FROM THE BEGINNING. AND HE SAID TO ME MY CHILD WHAT YOU JUST EXPLAINED TO ME NOW IS A LITTLE PROBLEM TO HANDLE COMPARE TO SERIOUS PROBLEMS THE TEMPLE HAS HANDLED, I WAS SO SHOCKED AND I SAID TO MY SELF WHAT PROBLEM COULD BE MORE SERIOUS THAN THIS. HE TOLD ME WHAT I NEEDED TO DO AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, BUT WHAT HE SAID LOOK SIMILAR TO WHAT I HAVE HEARD IN THE PAST(THAT I WAS TO PAY FOR THE ITEMS NEEDED), I WAS HAVING DOUBT ABOUT IT BECAUSE OF PAST EXPERIENCE, BUT I DECIDED TO TRY SINCE THE TEMPLE IS LOCATED IN INDIA (ASIA) AND NOT AFRICA (NIGERIA AND SOUTH AFRICA) THEY COULD BE REAL AND DIFFERENT. SO I GAVE THEM 50% OF MY TRUST. THIS WAS LIKE A MAGIC AND DREAM COME TRUE TO ME, AFTER TWO DAYS WHEN THE SPELL HAS BEEN CASTEED, JOHN BEEPED MY PHONE AT ABOUT 9:PM I COULD NOT SLEEP THAT NIGHT BECAUSE I REALLY LOVE JOHN AND WANT HIM BACK. BY 7:AM THE NEXT MORNING HE GAVE ME ANOTHER  MISSED CALL I DECIDED NOT TO CALL BACK AS I WAS STILL ON SHOCK,   AT ABOUT 10:AM THAT MORNING HE CALLED AND I PICKED HE SAID CAN WE SEE AFTER WORK TODAY I SAID YES SO HE ENDED THE CALL IMMEDIATELY I GOT OFF WORK HE CALLED ME AND TOLD ME WERE TO MEET HIM, I WAS STILL ON SHOCK, BEHOLD WHEN I GOT THERE I SAW JOHN CRYING WITH TEARS ALL OVER HIS EYES, AND HE SAID TO ME MY WIFE, I AM SO SORRY IMMEDIATELY I HUGGED HIM AND KISSED HIM WHICH I HAVE MISSED ALL THIS YEARS. ALL THANK TO TEMPLE OF DREAMS. IF YOU ARE A MAN OR A WOMAN READING THIS AND YOU ARE PASSING THROUGH SIMILAR PROBLEMS LIKE MINE, DO NOT FAIL TO CONTACT THIS GREAT TEMPLE. HE IS REALLY INDEED A REAL SPELL CASTER.           THE WORST OF ALL IS THAT I DON’T KNOW THE PARTICULAR DOCTOR THAT HELPED ME AS I WAS TOLD THAT THERE ARE MORE THAN 300 SPELL CASTERS WORKING IN THE TEMPLE, UNLIKE THE SINGLE SCAM DOCTORS IN AFRICA. I AM NO LONGER AFRAID OF THE SPELL CASTERS IN AFRICA BECAUSE THE TEMPLE OF DREAMS ASSURED AND GAVE ME HUNDRED PERCENT PROTECTION AND ALSO HELPED ME RECOVER 50% OF MY MONEY THAT I PAYED TO SCAMS FROM AFRICA SOME SERVICES RENDERED IN THE TEMPLE OF DREAMS (1) If you want your ex back. (2) To cure HIV/AID or related illness (3) You want to be promoted in your office. (4) You want women/men to run after you. (5) If you want a child. (6) Are you a contractor and you want to win contract (7) You want to tie your husband/wife to be yours forever. (8) If you need help spiritually. (9) How you been scammed and you want to recover you lost money.     (10)Stop Divorce (11)Invoking of Money Ritual (12)To verify if your online lover is real (13)To verify if your online loan is real (14)To be very brilliant (15)If you are looking for a good job (16)If you are old and want to look young (17) If you want to be free from threats of spell caster in AFRICA And many more.. Email... templeofdreams1@gmail.com  

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