On Saturday, 2 June, the Chiefs took on the Blues in round
15 of the Super Rugby competition. On paper, the match looked to be an even
affair despite the teams’ positions on the overall standings. And on the night,
the match did not fail to deliver. It was close game but in a very entertaining
way. The scoring was tit-for-tat and the Blues almost matched everything that
the Chiefs threw at them. For the Blues, Lachlan Munro and Peter Saili’I stood
out in the midfield and matched the much-lauded Chiefs centres with gusto.
However, the sheer size and class of Sonny Bill Williams made sure that Jackson
Willison’s first start was one to remember.
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| Tiko scores the first of four |
The evening belonged to
one certain individual who shone for
the winners. Asaeli Tikoirotuma or ‘Tiko’
was a masterclass for the Chiefs. He has been having a stellar season and last
Saturday he scored
four tries, equaling the record set by Sitiveni Sivivatu
back in the day. You see, the Waikato region loves it’s Fijians. And the faith
put on Tikoirotuma was paid back in spades as the young man barged, chased and
sprinted his way in the hearts of the Chiefs’ faithful. The wonderful thing
about Tiko is that he has pledged his intention to wear
the white jersey of
Fiji rather than follow the dream of donning the black jersey of New Zealand. He
has been outstanding for Waikato last year and the Chiefs this year and he can
only fly higher;
When I prepare for my matches, I visualise the thousands of rugby fans around Fiji following the
Super Rugby competition. I thank the many fans that support the Chiefs. And I'm ready to play for Fiji. It has always been my ambition.
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| Nemani gets 10 minutes rest |
This writer’s cousin, Maritino Nemani, played on the other wing
for the Chiefs. That was his first start all season but it will be remembered
for the wrong reason. Apart from being solid in the set-pieces and in the drift defence, Nemani had a brain
explosion when he tipped opposite number Rene Ranger head-over-heels. He is
believed to have
contravened Law 10.4 (j) lifting a player from the ground and
either dropping or driving that player's head and/or upper body into the ground
whilst the player's feet are off the ground. After appearing in front of the
judiciary after the match, Nemani received a
three-week suspension that will
see him sit out their next home match against the Crusaders from Christchurch.
The Hamilton-based franchise are topping the overall
standings which is in contrast to the situation faced by the Auckland boys. The
Blues are currently bottom on the table and are not in playoff contention
at all whilst the Chiefs have won 11 of 13 and are at the top as of today. The
competition is really starting to heat up now and the positions at the are
being sought out more than ever and players have been training well in time for
that. Something exciting to see is how the elite players can handle playing for
the Super Rugby franchises and play for their countries in the same week. This
is due to the beginning of the June Test fixtures and players could face severe
burnout soon rather than later.
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| Asaeli Tikoirotuma carving up defences in 2012. |
