At AAMI Park, Melbourne: Chiefs 33 (Luke Jacobson try 25min, Chase Tiatia try 31min, Samisoni Taukei’aho try 55min, Emoni Narawa try 63min, Ollie Norris try 80min; Josh Ioane 4 con) Rebels 30 (Carter Gordon try 39min, Andrew Kellaway try 47min, Reece Hodge try 66min; Reece Hodge 3 con, 3 pen). HT: 12-10.
Yellow cards: Pone Fa'amausili (Rebels) 37min, Luke Jacobson (Chiefs) 75min
Ollie Norris has spared the Chiefs’ blushes, scoring a stunning 80th minute match-winning try against the Rebels in Melbourne on Sunday.
With his side down by four points, the reserve prop got the ball around 10 metres out from the hosts’ line and showed a sensational mix of speed, power and poise to burst his way over and give the visitors to AAMI Park a thrilling 33-30 Super Rugby Pacific victory.
The Chiefs looked set to be on the wrong end of a massive upset, the lowly Rebels of course coming off that 71-28 shellacking at the hands of the Blues at Eden Park the weekend prior, and coach Clayton McMillan must have been wondering what to make of his mix and match selection strategy as things unfolded before him.
But in the end there were sighs of relief all round as young loosehead Norris chose no better time to dot down for a maiden five-pointer, which in all its glory pushed the Chiefs back up to fourth place on the ladder, keeping them on track to host a home quarterfinal.
Co-captain Brad Weber and Josh Ioane returned from injury and while they endured some mixed moments, Ioane came into his own later in the piece, a huge part of a visitors attack which eventually bagged five tries to three, while lock Naitoa Ah Kuoi was immense in his 58 minutes, stealing three lineouts and evasive with ball in hand.
The Rebels dominated the early stages, yet only had a 3-0 scoreline to show for it by the quarter mark, and finally with some ball down the other end the Chiefs struck twice through Luke Jacobson and Chase Tiatia, who was a late inclusion on the left wing for Etene Nanai-Seturo.
But just as it looked like the visitors were going to twist the knife on the stroke of halftime, with hulking Rebels prop Pone Fa'amausili sin binned for taking Josh Lord off the ball following his massive shot on Naitoa Ah Kuoi, Carter Gordon kept his side in it.
The Rebels No 10 picked off a Ioane pass and coasted 70 metres for one of those 14-point swing tries which meant the hosts were behind just 12-10 at the break.
The Chiefs couldn’t cash in on their one-man advantage, guilty of a couple of spills early in the second stanza, and in fact it was the short-handed Rebels who struck, taking the lead when Ioane’s pass went to ground and Andrew Kellaway swooped, the Wallabies winger hacking ahead and chasing through, and all of a sudden the Rebels were up 17-12.
Their lead was short-lived, though. Just as the Chiefs looked to be stalling, Ioane came up with a piece of brilliance in slicing up the middle, and a few phases later Samisoni Taukei’aho monstered his way over, then soon after the hour Narawa scored from a brilliant individual effort, leaving Rebels scattered everywhere as he danced his way to the line.
But at 26-17 the Chiefs invited the Rebels straight back in, with their back-field making an absolute mess of collecting a Gordon high kick, and instead it was Hodge who raced through to collect and surge his way over.
The fullback then banged over two penalties, and with Luke Jacobson yellow carded for high contact, the Chiefs had to come up with something special.
They most certainly did that.
The big moment
Nothing goes past Ollie Norris’ 80th minute match-winner. The young loosehead is a talent on the rise, but not usually because of plays like that.
Match rating
10/10: An unexpectedly closely-fought contest, played in beautiful afternoon conditions, made for a superb spectacle. The Rebels never went away, constantly striking against the run of play, before the Chiefs got out of jail.
The big picture
The Chiefs jump two places to a fourth spot they occupied going into the weekend, though they have now opened up a three-point lead over the Hurricanes and Waratahs, ahead of hosting the Force next Saturday. The Rebels remain ninth but can now virtually kiss their quarterfinal chances goodbye, sitting seven points behind the Highlanders.
MVP
Chiefs first five-eighth Josh Ioane takes the spoils. Returning from a rib injury, the one-test AB had a couple of dusty moments but created plenty, including a good charge ahead of the match-winner, ending with game-high numbers for metres (110, from 13 carries) and defenders beaten (six), and being equal-top for clean breaks (two).
Credit: Stuff.co.nz
