Chiefs in last-minute draw ... again; Rugby 365

The Chiefs found themselves another draw on teir Super Rugby tour of South Africa. Tim Nanai-Williams scored two minutes after the hooter to deny the Cheetahs what would have been a historic win - the final score in Bloemfontein: 43-all. An inspired first-half display from the Cheetahs - in their game back from a month-long Australasian tour - saw them score a four-try bonus point within 37 minutes. In that time they totally blew away the two-time champions in the first half. But the Chiefs weren't ready to be rolled over, as they fought back hard in the second half to get within one point with 10 minutes remaining and then eventually snatching a second consecutive draw in the Republic. Sarel Pretorius was instrumental in the Cheetahs' first half dominance.

He scored two tries and peovided the spark for the very exciting, ball-playing team.

The Chiefs on the other hand looked decidedly average for the first 60 minutes, far from the dominant force we saw when they were still back in New Zealand.

However, just like last week they turned it around in the last quarter. The Chiefs scored three quick tries late in the second half as well as one after the hooter to push the Cheetahs to an enthralling draw. The Cheetahs got on to the scoreboard first through scrumhalf Sarel Pretorius. A typical sniping run after some patient build up saw Pretorius pick the ball up from the base of the ruck and run it in under the posts.  Goosen was able to get his kicking game on song after some early misses with an easy conversion. The Chiefs got their first three points through the boot of Aaron Cruden from right in front. The Cheetahs were soon back on attack through their super star Willie le Roux who, from broken play, was able to send a bit of a dodgy pass out wide, that was suspected to be forward, to Ryno Benjamin who collected and scored under the posts.  The referee wanted to have a look, but the TMO seemed happy enough to let the try stand; the Cheetahs were off to a flying start with Goosen adding the extra points. The Chief's ill-discipline at the breakdown was once again punished by Goosen - this time he was able to boot a massive penalty from inside his own half really make the visitors worry about any misdemeanors they committed. The Chief's scrumhalf Augustine Pulu was obviously watching his opposite number very closely as the Waikato team's first try was very similar to that of the Cheetahs. Pulu, after the Chief's patient build up, was able to dummy and go over the white-wash from close range. Cruden managed to pop over a tough conversion to keep the visitors in touch. Goosen snatched back some points back from the Chief's soon after their try as he stepped up for another penalty kick, slotting it over easily. More enterprise from Pretorius saw him go over for his second try. A lot of praise should be piled onto the Cheetahs pack who got the scrum penalty right on the Chiefs goalline in the first place, allowing Pretorius to tap quickly while the Chiefs backs were turned and score the try. Goosen kept his good kicking display up with another fantastic kick from out wide. The first half truly belonged to the Cheetahs with the forwards finally deciding to get in on the try scoring. Goosen turned down a kick at goal to set a line out five metres out, a rolling maul was set and Boom Prinsloo was on hand to fall over the line to secure the bonus point before the half-time whistle. Goosen again added more points. The Chiefs comeback began in the second half as finally the Cheetahs defense was broken for Pulu's second try. It was almost a carbon-copy of his first with the scrumhalf receiving quick ball after Jamie Mackintosh crashed it up, Pulu spotted a gap on the fringes and went over for the five pointer. Cruden nailed the conversion in an attempt to drag the Chiefs back into the game. The Chiefs must have been disappointed to hand Goosen another three points from an indiscretion on half way, soon after their try, as the flyhalf struck a long ball over the posts, negating some of the visitors points. Brilliant work from the Chiefs backline saw them claw their way back even closer through a Tim Nanai-Williams try. The wing was able to gather a great chip kick from Cruden and beat Pretorius to the ball in the in-goal area dotting down right in the corner; the angle was too much for Cruden who was unable to add the extras. Just like last week, the Chiefs woke up late in the second half with Tikoirotuma going over untouched in the corner. A massive momentum shift really turned the game around from about the 60 minute mark. Tikoirotuma carried on the Chiefs resurgence as he dotted the ball down in the corner with the ball going through the hands, simple draw and pass defeating the Cheetahs defense. Cruden managed the conversion to make it a one point game with still 10 minutes to go; the Cheetahs really throwing away the game. Goosen looked to make it a four point game with eight minutes to go. The flyhalf held his nerve and slotted the kick; massive pressure on both teams now to get the win. A late scrum effort again from the Cheetahs forwards gave the home team the penalty. Goosen took as much time as he could to slot over another the tree points making the game a seven-pointer with two minutes left. It was heart break for the Cheetahs as Tim Nanai-Williams was able to find himself a gap right under the posts to dot the ball down leaving it for Aaron Cruden to convert for the draw. Cruden was steady in securing the 43 - 43 draw. Man of the Match: A lot of the Chiefs backs put up their hands, the try scorers alone, Pulu, Nanai-Williams, Tikoirotuma each getting two deserve a mention. Brodie Retallick was his usual workman like self but the award goes to Sarel Pretorius for his two tries as well as the impetus he injected into the Cheetahs in the first half.

 Prehaps overlooked was the fact that the Cheetahs forward pack played very well in the loose. Just look at the first half where they were everywhere and supported the fast game of the backs. Of course Pretorius was the linchpin & spark plug & deserved MOM.
Chiefs once again woke up in the second half. They have to stop putting themselves in such tough spots. It is almost asking the  impossible to come back from such deficits. They are top of the NZ conference but go easy on your poor fans g uys, lol

 Cloudy: yes it was another cardiac moment for us Chiefs fans - well almost, lol
Sorry the Blues had such a rough game. I think SJK wrote this game off or at least considered it a low chance of wining so might as well rest Braid & experiment. Impossible to understand his logic.

 JW, his decision making in terms of tactical ploys and preseason team selection and prematch is just bizzare. I would have expected Benji Marshall to come off the bench sooner when there was no hope of winning in Canberra.
Someone needs to make the hard decision in Auckland and cut him loose or at least not extend his contract. There are a couple of great coaches in NZ who are off contract who will head overseas if they are not given a S15 contract next year.

 Yeah, SJK is nice guy with some cool blue sneakers but he is an average coach even with SGH assisting. There is a lot of talent in the Blues & so far we have only seen glimses of it. Might as well see how the whole season goes though because they won't fire him mid season.
I agree on the coaching talent in NZ. We can't afford to keep exporting players & coaches. While  keeping average coaches in NZ. We should have a philosophy of keep the best & export the rest. Hammett is another one that should be stamped "for export only", lol

 I am a big Hammett hater but I must say the Hurricanes are having some sort of revival now and the Highlanders. We wait excitedly and watch - maybe they will all go all the way.

 Hakwa: I agree that the Canes are showing something good now. Bulls are no easy beats even on the road so it was a really good win. Canes forwards held their own & the back kept the pressure on the Bulls. 
The fact that the Canes couldn't convert all that pressure into sufficient points kept this game more exciting that we would have liked, lol But it was a  great game to watch.
Congrats to the Landers fans. They have been better than the results on the scoreboard (cue for Beeno retort, lol) for some time now. I hope they have a good run.

 Hakwa: I agree that the Canes are showing something good now. Bulls are no easy beats even on the road so it was a really good win. Canes forwards held their own & the back kept the pressure on the Bulls. 
The fact that the Canes couldn't convert all that pressure into sufficient points kept this game more exciting that we would have liked, lol But it was a  great game to watch.
Congrats to the Landers fans. They have been better than the results on the scoreboard (cue for Beeno retort, lol) for some time now. I hope they have a good run.

it was gmae of two halves, cheetahs were killer in the first, but the chiefs played like the champions in the second.

chiefs can feel a little hard done by, as the cheetahs second try was bullshit and should never have been allowed.
the saffa TMO deon van blommestein is continuing the trend of uesless TMOs.

when joubert went to the TMO for a possible knock on, van blommestein played only one angle which was inconclusive, he then gave joiubert a ruling saying it wasnt clear who knocked it back.
the second he gives that ruling, a camera angle from in front (showing the the chiefs back and chettahs face clearly shows de jager knocking the ball on.
the cheetahs player who was standing in front of de jager (prince i think) then passes the ball to le roux who is running onto it at top speed.

as if that blunder wasnt bad enough, le rouxs final pass to benjamin was miles forward.
le roux passes the ball when hes about a meter past the 10mtr line (11mtsr in chiefs hhalf), and benjamin catches the ball 2mtrs in front of the cheifs 22 line.
the stupid arguments some might say about it being propelled forward is redundant, as the ball leaves le rouxs hands in a forward motion never once being propelled backwards.
u can hear cruden rightly questioning joubert and pointing that out too, but zero time was given by the TMO to consider it.

while the cheetahs picked up an unstoppable first half momentum on the back of those two first trys, chiefs cant feel like they were robbed, they made plenty of stupid uncharacteristic errors in the first half which only fueld the cheetahs momentum too.
if the chiefs play like that against the sharks or brumbies, i dont think their class will be enough for them to mount a second half come back, as the brumbies and sharks are different kettle of fish, way more dangerous with a more complete all round skill set amongst the squads.

leaving SA with 6 points is not bad though, but IMO they shouldnt consider it a win, the chiefs should have killed the cheetahs period.

 Look who is blaming the ref's now. Twat.

 You simply don't understand the physics Sushi....look where Willie is when the player receives the ball. He is well ahead of Benjamin. Translation, if the ball drifts forward at the pace of the  passer...the ball has to be ahead of the passer when received for it to be forward. This is a confusing rule in rugby, but as long as the drift theory prevails the interpretation was correct. The ruling hat was incorrect was your Bryce Lawrence at the RwC  calling JdV's pass forward.

 moz: go out in your back yard & throw a ball up in the air in a forward manner. If you are fast enough you will be in front of the ball when it lands. Same for passing to a player. Pass it forward but with an arch. He will catch up to the ball and you will be in front of the ball by the time he gets the pass. It is all to do with the speed & arch of the ball and the speed of the passer. That's why the refs try an look at the angle of the hands of the passer.Anyway, the game is over, it was a draw congrats to both teams. But at least for the refs and the fans going forward we should know what is going on.

@shazaaaaaaa,

"Look who is blaming the ref's now. Twat"

i love how u hate me so much,

mow where exactly did i blame the referee???

and what did i blame him for???

was it when i said - "chiefs cant feel like they were robbed, they made plenty of stupid uncharacteristic errors in the first half which only fueld the cheetahs momentum too."

it seems that ur blaming me for accusing the ref for the right outcome, o_O

FYI the TMOs incompetence was at fault, not the ref stupid.

this is where u ignore the facts after getting pwned like a bitch again,

Sushi these explosions make you look a bit hysterical....take a deep breath.  

@ensign in training mozter,

"You simply don't understand the physics Sushi....look where Willie is when the player receives the ball. He is well ahead of Benjamin. Translation, if the ball drifts forward at the pace of the  passer...the ball has to be ahead of the passer when received for it to be forward. This is a confusing rule in rugby, but as long as the drift theory prevails the interpretation was correct."

the physics is easy to understand, as is the IRB interpretation of that law.

but as i said in the post,,,
"the stupid arguments some might say about it being propelled forward is redundant, as the ball leaves le rouxs hands in a forward motion never once being propelled backwards."

the ball was passed forward and never once went backwards hence and considering the drift theory interpretation, the try was incorrect.

FYI that drift theory which is the law as it is is bullshit, not the physics which is IRB cannon law.
but if u pass the ball and teammate cathes it 7 meters in front from where the ball was passed, then its a forward pass period. regardless of how the ball left the hand, whether it was propelled backwards, sideways, upsidedown or moonwalking out of the players hand.
forward is forward.

Keep calm sushi it never went nearly 7 metres forward...nor do you have a clue as to whether it went forward straight out of the hand. You are just seeing what you want to see. Most passing motions follow a semi circle which can send the ball forward or backwards ...whether it is forward out of the hand depends on the instant  of release. We are talking 100 ths of a second here. The only way to judge is the path of the ball.
So go back and watch the incident. It comes laterally out of the hand, and may have been touched by a Chief defender. In any case if you look at the ball you see it drift forward in a curve, going more forward towards the end....clear evidence of touch or drift.
Your bias against Willie is  addling your brain.

 

If a NZ team had scored a decisive try like that against a Saffa team you okes would be choking on your biltong. Clearly that pass was caught close to 7 metres in front of the point where LeRoux passed the ball. Even taking "momentum" into consideration, LeRoux would have to have been running near 50 kph to account for the 6-7 metre "drift".  If you look at the way the field is marked with light and dark vertical stripes (from the viewers perspective) every 5 metres (look how many stripes there are between the half way and the 10 metre line) LeRoux passes the ball 3 metres into the light vertical stripe and Rayno catches it close to the end of the dark vertical stripe. Anyways, it should have all been moot as the whole attack came from a knock on.
 

 Er the amount of drift depends on two variables old chap....read my post and learn.

IRB video on forward pass here

Interesting. The pass backwards over the head went forward three metres. The pass Willie threw went just as high as that, but also travelled laterally more than 15 metres. So it's time in the air was much longer. Longer for forward momentum to act on the ball. So if the over the head pass travelled forward 3 metres, Willie's pass could easily have drifted forward twice as much.

lol!  Look at the hoops you wet pantied Wilie fanboys are prepared to jump through just so you can rest assured that his pass was good.  You okes act as though passes like this happen every week, as though every long pass at speed is required by Newtonian Laws to "drift" forward an unnatural distance to make its mark. Pfffft! 
Anyways, what a do folks think about the 2nd Pretorius try (2:25) where he tapped the ball INSIDE the 5 metre mark and was allowed to score the try? I would have thought the SA'n pedants would have been toyitoying in the streets about this clear violation of the law . Lol! 

 Ha ha Sasuke exposed for the cunt he is yet again. I summed this prick up long ago..All he amounts to is a mouth piece that uses every opportunity to have a go at SA sides or the Boks..Dont know why he cares about us so much..Cant say we feel the same!

 Considering the amount of times sa players have been diving into rucks, using illegal scrumaging tactics etc. sa teams are finally been picked more often, and you sa bloggers hv the audacity to act all innocent oh shucks me? And accusr the wc of being corript, or constantly week after week accuse nz refs of being bent, when if anything the past few weeks have exposed how corrupt sa refs and tmos are. Like its an inside job or something. And Sharkbok the fact your saying that is hy poccritical, seeing yyou take any oppurtunity to accuse nz refs of being bent, or how good sa teams are haha, is also hypocritical 

@ensign in training mozter,

"Keep calm sushi it never went nearly 7 metres forward..."
what makes u think im not calm??? o_O

FACT - le roux passes the ball 11 meters in the chiefs half, and benjamin catches the ball 2 meters short of the cheifs 22.

"nor do you have a clue as to whether it went forward straight out of the hand. You are just seeing what you want to see."
i have watched the replay many many times, IMHO the ball went forward from le rouxs hand.

ur arguments abut me seeing only what i want to see are a two way street, its on the same level as the locals main argument here that saffa teams only lose cos of the ref, but always win on merit.

"Most passing motions follow a semi circle which can send the ball forward or backwards ...whether it is forward out of the hand depends on the instant  of release. We are talking 100 ths of a second here. The only way to judge is the path of the ball."
if it looks forward from the hand, then its forward.
u might not be able to tell, but anyhone with 20/20 vision can.

"So go back and watch the incident. It comes laterally out of the hand, and may have been touched by a Chief defender. In any case if you look at the ball you see it drift forward in a curve, going more forward towards the end....clear evidence of touch or drift."im not doubting that it qualifies for the IRB drift forward rule which initself is BS, cos forward is forward.
but what im saying is that le rouxs pass dosent qualify for the definition of drift, cos it left le rouxs hands forward, and this is ultimatley where u and i disagree.

"Your bias against Willie is  addling your brain."
im only biased against stupid people, and while i dont think ur stupid like 99% of ur countrymen, u are IMO biased, especially with ur man love for le roux.

dont forget, as shit as i think le rouxs all round game is at fullback, i would still have him in my Bok team if i was coach, but out on the wing.
i would even select him ahead of jp pieterson.

one thing ive noticed the saffas have conveniently ignored is, that regardless of who is right in regards to le rouxs pass whether it was forward or not, there was an incident that happened before then.

lappies who passed the ball to le roux did so from an offside position.

he was loitering in front of de jager who clearly knocked the ball forward.

whether u agree about le roux forward pass or not, there can be no doubt that the try shold have been illegal.
its a matter of preservative whether its illegal for one reason or two.

Not sure which was more blatantly obvious, the knock-on or the forward pass but either way, the TMO decision was a shocker. The try could have been disallowed for either infringement.

Anyone even questioning whether that was a forward pass or not is either blind, stupid or both.

Woosh