Cape Town - “Rugby can be a pretty simple game if it’s done well.” Those were the words of Chiefs captain Aaron Cruden in describing the way his team picked the Stormers apart at Newlands on Saturday.
The eight tries that the Kiwis scored in a 60-21 demolition job was done with surgical precision as they outworked the Stormers defence with outstanding offloads in the tackle, greater urgency, and sometimes just old straightforward passing down the line.
Of course, the underrated pack of forwards did the hard yards as well as they sped up their lineouts, stood strong in the scrums (and even scored from a tighthead) and won the breakdown battle that allowed the all-powering backline – marshalled by Cruden and backed up by fullback Damian McKenzie and wing James Lowe – to run rings around the Stormers.
“I suppose it’s potentially a combination of both (execution and Stormers defensive lapses). But in saying that, it’s something we haven’t done very well offensively in the last couple of weeks, and it was a bit of a focus area for us – just doing the obvious, letting the ball beat the man,” Cruden remarked.
“Rugby can be a pretty simple game if it’s done well, and I thought we really executed the basics pretty well. Our forwards did well to give us good set-piece ball, and they carried very well and generated some quick ball, and we were able to find a little bit of space on the edges.
“We wanted to play at a tempo to move the Stormers around because we know that they are big, physical men. And our boys did that very well.”
While the Stormers have tried to add some width to their game and make greater use of their possession, the players still tend to seek contact more often than not instead of running into gaps and protecting the ball from being ripped, or passing to a teammate in a better position.
Chiefs coach Dave Rennie, who masterminded their back-to-back titles in 2012 and 2013, believes that it all comes down to the mentality of the team and working hard at those basic skills.
“It’s a mindset. You’ve got to want to play positive footy, and with our boys, they love it and are prepared to have a crack from a 100 (metres out), play what’s in front (of them). We’ve got a pretty good balance to our game and we still kick a bit, but most of them are attacking-type kicks where we can put a bit of pressure on and win the ball back,” the 52-year-old said.
“We train it and do a hell of a lot of work on our decision-making and our skill-set, which allows us to play that way. All the New Zealand sides are pretty similar in that attitude, we’re all pretty positive mindset-wise.
“It’s got to be driven, it’s got to be encouraged. If you start abusing your players every time they make a mistake when it was on to attack, then they’ll stop attacking. We were really sharp in that area, we played what was in front of us.”
Both Cruden and Rennie will hope that the Chiefs can continue with the momentum against the Hurricanes in next Saturday’s semi-final in Wellington, where they will hope to emulate their 28-27 victory at the same Westpac Stadium in April.
“They’re a pretty good team on counter-attack and turnover ball, and you saw against the Sharks when the weather conditions weren’t great, they still moved the ball and backed their skill-set,” Cruden said.
“We have to make sure we limit their opportunities and play at the right end of the field. But we expect that they will chance their arm from anywhere, even deep from within their own half.”
Rennie added: “We’ve been knocked out at this stage over the last couple of years, so it’s good to still be in the race. We will still look at the game, but I thought our support play was sensational (against the Stormers). It has been a strength throughout the year – we created a lot of opportunities last week, but we didn’t complete it as we just didn’t get the ball to the right people.
“But tonight, just some outstanding decision-making and support play, and we will need plenty of that next week against the Hurricanes.”
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Independent Media