Ruby Tui’s return sparks Chiefs Manawa to hot Super Rugby Aupiki start
Saturday, 2 March 2024
Chiefs Manawa beat Hurricanes Poua 46-24 in Super Rugby Aupiki opener in Hamilton.
Hot-fancied hosts made to work hard by determined visiting side before pulling away for a bonus-point victory.
Ruby Tui scores brilliant try on return to the competition, while Kennedy Simon and Luka Connor nab doubles.
At Waikato Stadium: Chiefs Manawa 46 (Azalleyah Maaka try 11min, Kennedy Simon tries 17min, 28min, Ruby Tui try 51min, Luka Connor tries 67min, 70min, Merania Paraone try 78min; Renee Holmes 4 con, pen) Hurricanes Poua 24 (Elinor-Plum King try 15min, Layla Sae try 40+1 min, Tamia Edwards try 80+1min; Isabella Waterman 3 con, pen). HT: 19-14
Ruby Tui’s return has helped get the Chiefs Manawa Super Rugby Aupiki revenge mission off to a winning start.
The competition’s hot favourites, looking to atone for last year’s heartbreaking home final loss to Matatū, were made to work hard first-up by the Hurricanes Poua in Hamilton on Saturday, but they equally showed just why they should be so hard to beat again in 2024.
Their 46-24 bonus-point victory at Waikato Stadium was highlighted by their eclectic mix of power and pace, strength and skill, and doused with some real touches of class, notably in the form of Tui’s terrific try to open the second-half scoring, and effectively put the game to bed.
Holding a slim 19-14 lead despite their dominance, after the Poua had got them on halftime, the Manawa never looked back after that 51st-minute five-pointer, where Tui took the ball in two hands, rounded centre and good mate Shakira Baker, then sprinted 40 metres to finish.
Having skipped last year’s competition and instead commentated on it for Sky TV while taking a break post-World Cup, the star Black Ferns winger is a massive boost for not only the Manawa but the competition in general. She was full of life on the left edge, showing her renowned toughness and speed, and also utilising her boot to good effect, with vigorous chases.
And she is part of quite the revamped backline for the Chiefs this season, who also had Chelsea Semple back from maternity leave at No 10, as well as recruits from Matatū in Renee Holmes at fullback and Grace Steinmetz at second-five.
In what turned into a largely scrappy second-half affair in the fine conditions, with plenty of errors, and breakdown penalties, the Manawa − who had averaged 46 points a game last season − streaked away, with hooker Luka Connor bagging a late double in the space of three minutes, before they iced it with a brilliant Merania Paraone finish off a pinpoint Holmes cross-kick.
Early on, it was clear the Manawa weren’t going to have things all their own way, with second-five Monica Tagoi proving an absolute inspiration for the Poua, immediately making a brilliant break up the middle of the park, and not long later winning a crucial ruck turnover penalty near her own line, before the hosts then also lost their first scrum feed of the game.
The Canes could have further rattled the home side had they not butchered a try when, on the back of Hannah King’s break, Rhiarna Ferris’ pass landed in the arms of Tui, who surely must have been calling for the ball.
Having withstood a scare or two, it was the Chiefs who opened the scoring via an 11th minute pearler, as Arihiana Marino-Tauhinu sniped brilliantly from a lineout, regathered her pass that had been knocked back, then Mia Anderson burst through and popped the pass for Azalleyah Maaka to finish.
It was the start of a three-tries-in-six-minutes sequence, as the Canes responded with a penalty kick to corner, their forwards getting to work and Elinor-Plum King barging over, before the Chiefs hit straight back with a brilliant score to Kennedy Simon, as Semple chimed in brilliantly on a left-side attack on halfway, drew in two defenders and unleashed her captain down the touchline.
The skipper had a much easier finish for a double 10 minutes later when the Chiefs had a stack of numbers out wide, but their dozen-point buffer disappeared on the stroke of halftime, when the Poua smartly kept the ball alive and Layla Sae surged over under the bar to make it a five-point ball game at the break.