highlanders vs chief rundown,,,

really enjoyed this game, fast pace and intense with a lot feeling and effort involved from both teams, appropriate considering what was at stake.
a pity about the ref though, i mean the highlanders were not hard done by any decisions, cos the better team won. but williamson never seemed to stamp his authority on the game, he was the exact opposite of walsh, who often ruins games by imposing his need to be involved with everything.
williamson needs to sharpen up his offside rulings, cos both teams got away with a lot, but the chiefs made the most of what they recieved, at least the ref was consistently poor as opposed to just penalising one team.

very impressed with hosea gear, hes never gone looking for work in the past the way he has done all year this year, i think he feels this is his last shot at being an AB regular, so hes pulling out all the stops. his breakdown work was awesome and his usual duties as a winger was performed at the highest level.
i really loved that little kick behind the chiefs that aaron smith pulled at the ruck by the left outside line and gear was completely clued up and was on it in a flash, love little combos like that and i hope to see more team combos like that.
i think with all games that have been played at this moment, gear would have to be the frontrunner for NZs form winger.

i thought jamie jospeh made poor coaching errors in this game, aaron smith was well marked by the chiefs this game and they hassled him big time and forced him into many poor decisions from start to finish. jospehs failure to realise this when he had experienced veteran jimmy cowan on the bench was frustrating, was even less impressed cos jimmy was the only one not to play for the highlanders. jimmy thrives from being under the pump and he would have loved hustling and bustling his way out of the relentless chiefs pressure.
chiefs really had smiths number in this game and this in turn effected the ball that noakes got, who in turn had a quiet game, but once delaney came on in the 50th minute, he added a much needed energy hit in the highlanders attack and attitude, cos they were more go forward once delaney came on.

i wasnt too impressed with SBW losing the plot either, it was good to see him get back into the game straight away, but the way he carried on would now have him with a big bullseye on him for other teams, especially All Black opponents to target and see if the can make him snap and do something stupid.
considering that was a shoulder charge, im not too sure why he was so fudged off. im sure that afterwards he may not have liked it, but he would have respected the highlanders sticking up for one of their own, band of brothers mentality.

i thought tamati ellison and ben smith had quiet games which was a shame, they showed a few nice things when they got the ball, but those times were far few in between.
b taumafuinas and co need to hit the scrum machine, cos their were a few too many penalties. i do feel sorry for these guys, cos it really is easy to get no grip on these skin tight jerseys. IRB need to address this big time.
cruden had a great game, very consistent and his goal kicking is very efficient. still one of the best attacking players out there too and he mans up on defense, which is good.

all in all, scrappy at some parts, but a good game and a good result. congrats chiefs.