Having never made the Super Rugby finals, the fifth-placed Western Force went across the ditch hoping to make a statement against one of the competition favourites six weeks out from the finals.
But despite going toe-to-toe with the Chiefs in the first half and some magic from Harry Potter, the wheels fell off in the second half as the home side recorded a 56-22 win.
The turning point in the match came late in the first half as Kaylum Boshier was awarded a try in bizarre circumstances in the 34th minute to help the Chiefs take a 25-15 lead into half-time.
Indeed, referee James Doleman initially ruled the loose-forward lost the ball on the tryline, which allowed the Force to counter and pump the ball long into the opposition territory, before TMO Glenn Newman interjected and it concluded with the Chiefs posting a converted try.
Samisoni Taukeiaho scored in his 100th match for the Chiefs during their big win over the Force at Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui on April 25, 2025, . (Photo by Michael Bradley/Getty Images)
Needing to score first in the second half, the Chiefs went bang-bang in the minutes after half time to blow open the score.
While Potter scored a well-taken second try, it was the last bit of good news for the Force as the Chiefs scored three more tries to pile in the pain.
“Ruthless efficiency from the Chiefs,” described former Wallaby Morgan Turinui as Daniel Rona crossed next to the posts in the 78th minute.
Chiefs captain Luke Jacobson, who was everywhere in attack, highlighted their try before half-time as a key moment in the match.
“Oh it was great, we went from being down on our 22 to scoring a try,” he said.
“It was good to see the right call was made, it was obviously a try.”
Acting Force skipper Sam Carter, who was drafted in late for Jeremy Williams, said his side fired plenty of shots but simply couldn’t keep up with the ladder-leading Chiefs.
“We wanted to come over and hunt together,” the former Wallabies lock said.
“And we saw some really good moments, some brilliance in attack and some good defence, but when you come up against a good team like the Chiefs, you’ve got to put it together for 80 minutes.
“I think we had good moments, particularly in the first half, a couple in the second half, but the 50-50s and the spark from the Chiefs, they’re very dangerous when they get a little bit of loose ball and it’s hard to defend.”
While the Force gave away a penalty from the opening whistle to allow Josh Jacomb to get the Chiefs on the scoreboard early, the visitors lead after four minutes when Bayley Kuenzle crossed out wide after crossing out wide from a first-phase attacking movement off a lineou.
But their lead didn’t last long as livewire winger Emoni Nawara scored after nine minutes to give the home side a 10-7 lead.
Then came Potter’s first bit of magic, with the winger scoring off the kick restart as Ben Donaldson caught the home side napping and the two-Test Wallaby dived over seconds later.
The Force’s hopes of turning the screws on the Chiefs were hurt when centre Sio Tomkinson hit Jacomb high from a kick chase and was shown a yellow card after Newman once again interjected.
The impact was immediate as the Chiefs scored through Test hooker Samisoni Taukeiaho, who stormed over in his 100th match.
A Ben Donaldson penalty in the 30th minute levelled the scores at 15-15, before Jacomb banged over a penalty of his own and Boshier was awarded his try after several replays.
The Chiefs then flexed their muscle in the second half as the impressive Ollie Norris scored in the 43rd minute, before Cortez Ratima crossed for his first of two second half tries. In-between Potter grabbed his own second try after a clever short kick that the winger pounced on.
With the Force feeling the pinch, the Chiefs brought on fit-again loose forward Wallace Sititi and the home side flexed their muscle.
While the Force will likely remain in fifth place, Simon Cron’s men will need to respond against the Blues next week at Eden Park.
“You’ve seen it right across Super Rugby this year, every game’s crucial, and there’s a lot of good teams out there,” Carter said.
“We’ll take some lessons out of that and we’ve got to be better next week against the Blues.”
The Chiefs, meanwhile, ensured they will finish round 11 on top of the Super Rugby standings by securing the bonus point win.
