Classy Chiefs crush Crusaders

2008-04-18 11:19

Cape Town - Flyhalf Stephen Donald passed 100 points for the season as the Chiefs beat the Crusaders 18-5 in their Super 14 rugby match on Friday, ending the first-place Crusaders' eight-match unbeaten streak.

Donald kicked two penalties and a conversion and had a hand in the two tries that gave the Chiefs an 18-0 lead at halftime.

He then helped implement an astute kicking game which kept the Crusaders pinned down and limited to a single try throughout the second half.

The Chiefs played and beat the Crusaders at its own game in the first half, creating turnovers, maintaining continuity and splitting the defence with quickly won ruck ball.

Donald handled twice in the movement which led to the Chiefs' first try, scored by All Blacks winger Sitiveni Sivivatu in the 14th minute.

He carried the ball forward in the initial break then ranged around the breakdown to quickly transmit the ball on the short side to Sivivatu who only had to step through the last tackle to score.

Conversion

In the 30th minute, Donald retrieved his own kick and passed to prop Simms Davison who fended off one tackler and sprinted 25 meters to score the Chiefs' second try.

Donald's conversion, added to his second-minute penalty, completed the Chiefs scoring and carried him past 100 points for the season.

The Chiefs slipped from fourth to eighth on the championship table when they had a bye in last week's ninth round, but their win on Friday restored their claim to a top-four place.

"I'm really proud of my boys. To beat a team which hasn't been beaten until this game is very pleasing," Chiefs captain Mils Muliaina said. "We've leaked a few tries this season but this week we focused on our defence and it showed out there tonight."

Chiefs, urged on by a capacity crowd of 25 000, made several of its most significant breaks around the fringes of breakdowns where All Blacks captain Richie McCaw and the Crusaders' other loose forwards were off their games.

"We made mistakes, they capitalized and played at the right end of the field," McCaw said. "At the breakdowns, everywhere really, they had more intensity than we did."

- Sport24