Will this go down as the biggest bombed try of the season?
All Blacks fly-half Beauden Barrett had one of his worst matches for the Blues with muffed goal kicks, handling errors, tactical mistakes and poor general kicking costing his team in a 20-13 Super Rugby Pacific loss to the Chiefs in Hamilton.
But the biggest blooper came in the 14th minute, when the veteran playmaker coasted over for what would have been the second Blues try of the night, only to make a hash of the finish, stepping on the dead-ball line.
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Having not long earlier sent an awful conversion attempt low and wide, it seemed like the shank was still on the No.10’s mind when he burst through close to the line, but tried to run around closer to the sticks.
With Chiefs lock Tupou Vaa’i never giving up in pursuit and diving at his ankles, Barrett will be cursing himself for being a step or two too greedy, as he plonked his boot on the white paint while diving to ground the ball.
While the Blues made up for it in scoring a few minutes later through Caleb Clarke, Barrett’s night didn’t show any signs of getting better when he then sent another awful attempt off the tee, again low and wide.
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Chiefs rock Blues with first minute try
The poor form spread throughout the Blues and many of Barrett’s All Blacks teammates were equally guilty of spilling possession when scoring chances were close.
Winger Emoni Narawa scored two tries for the Chiefs who extended their winning start to six matches.
The Chiefs’ start is a record for the club and after the win over the Blues includes wins over both of last year’s finalists.
Narawa scored his first try only 26 seconds into the match and added his second as the Chiefs took a 17-10 lead to half-time.
The Chiefs then held out the Blues in a second half in which both teams managed only a penalty goal. The Blues were hard on the attack at the end, hoping to score a converted try to take the match to extra time.
But Blues winger Clarke knocked on the ball in the last play of the game and the Chiefs held on to win a match known as the Battle of the Bombays for the range of hills which separates Auckland from Hamilton.
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