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Chiefs secure upset

Chiefs secure upset

05/14/2011 07:07:53 AM

The Chiefs dug deep to come from a 17-point halftime deficit and gave Mils Muliaina a fitting result in his 100th Super Rugby match with a 30-23 victory over the Stormers at Waikato Stadium.

Impressive second-half performances from Stephen Donald, Liam Messam and Sitiveni Sivivatu led the home side to their fifth win of the season, while consigning the Stormers to consecutive defeats for the first time this season.

The home side, down 3-20 at halftime, came back with their own purple patch to outscore their more fancied opponents 27-3 in the second half.

It secured an unlikely victory if the first half was anything to go by.

The Chiefs seemed able to compete with their much fancied opponents early in the piece and were rewarded with a penalty at the expense of lock Andries Bekker, who had his hands in the ruck.

Chiefs first-five eighths Donald made no mistake and gave the home side the lead in front of a cowbell-toting crowd who sensed an upset.

But the lead lasted no longer than two minutes when the visitors were granted a penalty within Chiefs territory thanks to some awful defending from captain Muliaina's men in a move that sparked the Stormers into action.

They made the most of any errors on show and after Donald's kick restart was too deep, a set piece move saw winger Gio Aplon cut through the defence, sidesteppping Muliaina, Sivivatu and Donald before diving through to score the first try of the match.

The Stormers' maul penetrated the Chiefs to oblivion, and paved the way for Stormers hooker Deon Fourie to make some valuable metres for the visitors. Peter Grant then took his opportunity to nail an offside penalty to take the lead for the first time in the match.

Richard Kahui was penalised for a late shot on Grant, but it did nothing to stall the visitors' momentum. After setting a solid platform through another rolling maul the Stormers scored their second try to Schalk Burger to hand themselves a 20-3 advantage after 20 minutes.

Aplon went from hero to zero at the start of the second half, after he was sinbinned following an obstruction on Kahui. It ended as a double whammy for the visitors after Dickinson awarded the homeside a penalty try as well.

That try sparked the home side and unsettled the Stormers.

The Chiefs continued to make the most of their one-man advantage when they scored their second try in three minutes after a curling kick from Donald was met by a grateful Sivivatu, who rounded Conrad Jantjes to score under the posts.

The home side began to throw the ball at will and began offloading whenever the chance was available, and nabbed their attacking weapon, the maul.

Donald completed the comeback for the hosts when he nailed a penalty that sent the Stormers' alarm bells ringing.

But just as they did in the first half, the home side gave the home side an opportunity of their own, which they converted through Grant.

But the Chiefs began to find their own defensive grit, and held the Stormers to their own half before another piece of Donald brilliance forced Habana to carry the ball over his own line, resulting in a five metre scrum.

They pounded and pounded at the line before Messam, playing on the openside, got the Chiefs back in front.

Their third try was converted

 
Photograph Copyright : Getty Images
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