Former Wales coach Warren Gatland yesterday celebrated his Super Rugby debut with a telling victory by his Waikato Chiefs as the Brumbies won their Australian derby with the Queensland Reds.
The Chiefs fought back with four second-half tries to beat the Auckland Blues 37-29, while in bushfire-threatened Canberra in stifling summer heat, the Brumbies edged the Reds 27-24.
Aaron Cruden, back in New Zealand after three years with Montpellier, was a key difference when he came off the bench after the break to turn the Chiefs’ fortunes around in the season-opener of the southern-hemisphere club championship at Eden Park.
After a revitalized Blues controlled the first half, leading 19-5 at the turn, it was Cruden’s ability to get the Chiefs’ backline moving — with Anton Lienert-Brown also coming off the bench to add punch — that saw the visitors climb back into the game.
“They threw everything at us in the first half and we were just hanging in there, then our bench came on and made an impact in that second half,” captain Sam Cane said, adding that they received a clear message from Gatland at halftime.
“It was about eliminating a few errors and getting down the right end of the park. To our credit, every time we got into their 22, we looked like we were going to score points, and I’m stoked the way we pulled it off,” Cane said.
The Blues have been last in the New Zealand conference for the past six seasons, but looked like a changed unit in the first half when they outmuscled the Chiefs and showed enterprise with three tries.
The first, by Tony Lamborn, came from a one-handed overhead pass by T.J. Faiane, while slick passing between Jonathan Ruru and Stephen Perofeta opened up the Chiefs defense for Rieko Ioane to score the second, and Ioane scored the third by crashing through three tacklers.
Chiefs hooker Samisoni Taukei’aho, who scored their sole first-half try, bagged a second soon after halftime and was followed over the line by Pita Sowakula, as the visitors wiped out the deficit within 10 minutes of the break.
Rival props Karl Tu’inukuafe and Aidan Ross traded tries to keep the scores level at 26-26, before Cruden put Solomon Alaimalo over for the Chiefs’ fifth try, and added a drop goal and penalty.
The Blues’ only response in the dying stages was a penalty by Harry Plummer.
The Brumbies held off a late Reds rally to open their season with an enterprising win in Canberra, where temperatures nudged 39°C and bushfires threatened the capital’s southern outskirts.
The Brumbies — playing without the experience of retired David Pocock, Christian Lealiifano, Rory Arnold and Sam Carter — trailed 17-7 at halftime, but scored 20 unanswered points before a late converted try set up a thrilling finish after the siren.
The new-look Reds trailed to a fifth-minute try by Irae Simone, before tries to former Brumbies winger Henry Speight and Bryce Hegarty gave the visitors their halftime advantage.
The Brumbies came out fired up for the second half, and tries from Tom Wright, Folau Fainga’a and Tom Banks seemingly had secured victory before No. 8 Harry Wilson crashed over near the posts for the Reds to set up an exciting finish.
“Some of the new guys stepped up on debut tonight, and I’m proud of their effort and how they handled the pressure — and they can only get better from here,” Brumbies skipper Allan Alaalatoa said.
Last year, the Brumbies were the most successful Australian side, forcing their way into the semi-finals before going down to the Jaguares in Buenos Aires.
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