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'Flat' Chiefs notch third win to top Super Rugby standings / Photo: © AFP
'Flat' Chiefs notch third win to top Super Rugby standings
Coach Clayton McMillan says his Waikato Chiefs were "a bit flat" before dismantling the ACT Brumbies in dynamic style, firing a warning to the rest of their Super Rugby rivals.
The Chiefs are the only team with three wins from three to open a four-point lead on the table, impressing again with their heady mixture of power and pace to run away from the Brumbies 49-34 in Hamilton on Saturday.
The scores were 15-15 at the interval before the home side uncorked four second-half tries, boosting their season tally to 16.
However, McMillan believed his players lacked the polish shown in earlier wins over New Zealand rivals the Auckland Blues and Canterbury Crusaders.
"We've just got to respect the fact that the Brumbies came into play and we aren't always going to get our own way," McMillan said.
"They sort of disrupted our flow, we didn't really have any momentum in the game, and I just thought we were a bit flat.
"We've played some big games over the last couple of weeks that have sucked out the petrol a little bit but we found a way to win, so that's really, really positive."
McMillan announced this week he will finish with the Chiefs at the end of the season to take up a three-year deal at Irish club Munster.
The 50-year-old said his desire to capture a Super Rugby title had heightened, but he believed it would be no easy task given the number of close-fought matches to date.
"The competition this year is tight, the margins are small," McMillan said.
"The race to the top six is going to heat up, it's going to be brutal, but that's what we want. We want jeopardy in the game, we want high stakes."
McMillan was awaiting a medical update for star playmaker Damian McKenzie, who limped out of the match with a knee complaint.
McKenzie, the first-choice All Blacks fly-half for most of 2024, has been electric at fullback for the Chiefs, leading the competition with 23 defenders beaten -- nine more than any player.
The Chiefs face the Fijian Drua in Lautoka next week, the first of two trips to the Pacific in the space of three rounds.
They will play Moana Pasifika in Nuku'alofa, Tonga on March 21.
F. Burkhard--BTZ
