NPC: Canterbury hold on to controversial victory after Waikato miss late conversion stuff.co.nz - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from stuff.co.nz Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Chiefs comeback falls short against Reds after McKenzie red card Newshub 5 hrs ago
App users please click here
Fulltime - Reds 40 Chiefs 34
Wrap - Wow. What a crazy game. The Reds were flawless in the first spell and led 12-3 when McKenzie was sent off. The piled on three more tries and the game looked dead.
Trailing 40-8 with a 17 minutes to go, the Chiefs were electric, opening up the Reds at will in the closing stages and almost pulled off a deadset miracle.
The Reds hung on - just - and the Aussies have their first win of Super Rugby Trans-Tasman.
It may not only be the Highlanders who end up playing the Melbourne side on neutral turf, as Chiefs management look into other options for next weekend.
Saturday night, in his 182nd outing for the club, will mark his first start for the Chiefs in 1037 days, dating back to the 2018 quarterfinal defeat to the Hurricanes in Wellington – Messam’s last match in New Zealand before leaving for French club Toulon. A week earlier he had played his final game in Hamilton (off the bench against the Hurricanes), while his last start on home turf was another week before that, when he lined up at No 8 against, coincidentally, the Brumbies. “It is a surreal feel, it’s quite buzzy,” Messam admitted ahead of running back out on FMG Stadium Waikato again, in that blindside flanker role he had made his name so prominently in.