Chiefs edge Brumbies 27-22 to win Super Rugby championship

THE Brumbies will take just seven days off after their crushing defeat to the Chiefs before starting training again to claim the 2014 title.

THE Brumbies will take just seven days off after their crushing grand final defeat to the Chiefs before starting training again to claim the premiership in 2014.

The Brumbies fell short of a fairytale victory after being steamrolled late by the Chiefs, who became just the fourth franchise to defend their Super Rugby championship.

The Chiefs scored 15 points in the last 15 minutes to claim a remarkable 27-22 comeback victory after the Brumbies had led for the previous 65 minutes.

None of the Brumbies used their exhausting 31,000km month-long travel schedule as an excuse for their late slide after the match, instead blaming poor execution and decision-making in the final quarter.

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Coach Jake White will give his players just one week's rest before they begin training again for an assault on next year's title, and after missing the playoffs with a loss to the Blues in the final round of 2012, he sees further progression in his third year in charge.

"This time last year we were sitting in a conference saying to you we should have got one point from the Blues, and this team took another step up and got to the final," White said.

"I have no doubt, a week off and we'll start again, we'll start reflecting on what could have, what should have, what may have, and then we'll move on.

"There's no doubt, you saw the last 20 (minutes), the home ground and the crowd and all the hype behind them carried them.

"I didn't for one minute think that it wasn't possible, I didn't for one minute think that if we travelled back from Pretoria we weren't going to get a win here.

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"But it starts again from nought. We've got to make sure whatever's happened this year, it's irrelevant when we get back to pre-season and start again."

Skipper Ben Mowen said the travel from Canberra to Perth and back, before heading to Pretoria, back to Sydney then Canberra, then to Sydney and Hamilton within the space of four weeks did not tire them on Saturday night at Waikato Stadium.

"The guys are conditioned really well, so we had heaps of running in us," Mowen said.

"It certainly wasn't anything to do with fitness that cost us the game, in the end it was just decision-making in those big moments.

"That's just experience, and that will come for this group."

Hooker Stephen Moore added: "We played how we wanted to for 50-odd minutes, we let them back in it."

The Brumbies had led 22-12 until the 65th minute, but ran out of puff as a classy Chiefs outfit stormed home in front of a raucous sell-out crowd.

It appeared the Brumbies had done enough to set a solid base for victory with their 10-point lead in the final quarter - with centre Christian Leali'ifano scoring all 22 of their points - but by the 68th the Chiefs went ahead for the first time in the game after successive tries to Liam Messam and Robbie Robinson.

Chiefs coach Dave Rennie said his side had addressed the Brumbies' travel before the game.

"We talked about it as a group, that if we had to travel from Africa back to New Zealand, we would back ourselves to come up with a big 80 minutes," Rennie said.

The Chiefs had not been able to get across the line until there was just 15 minutes remaining, when backrower Messam barged over from the back of a scrum five metres out.

That try had the Brumbies leading 22-17, but a long break by Bundee Aki and Asaeli Tikoirotuma out wide saw the Chiefs spread the ball back inside.

Replacement fullback Robinson, with his first touch, cut back inside Tevita Kuridrani and raced 30 metres to the tryline, sending the crowd delirious.

An additional penalty goal by Aaron Cruden was the final scoring play of the match, despite the Brumbies pressing with the ball in the final seconds.

The Brumbies' only try came courtesy of an intercept just before half-time.

They used a relentless rush defence all game and it paid huge dividends when Chiefs halfback Tawera Kerr-Barlow, pressured at the back of a ruck on halfway, threw a speculative wide pass.

Leali'ifano raced in and scooped the ball with one hand just before it hit the ground, then outsprinted Cruden for 50 metres to score and give his side a 16-9 lead at the break.

But the home side was relentless in pursuit of another crown, and produced the championship plays when it mattered in the second half.

A turnover after the full-time siren gave the Chiefs a deserved win after they had finished top of the table in the regular rounds.

Only the Crusaders, Blues and Bulls before them had won back-to-back titles.

"A lot of people outside the Chiefs circle weren't sure if we were going to be able to do it," Cruden said.

CHIEFS 27 (Liam Messam, Robbie Robinson tries Aaron Cruden con 5 pens) bt BRUMBIES 22 (Christian Leali'ifano try con 5 pens) at Waikato Stadium. Referee: Craig Joubert.

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