Waikato captain Mils Muliaina scored a decisive second-half try to lift the Chiefs to a 14-10 win over the Wellington Hurricanes on Friday and into a Super 14 rugby final for the first time in their 14-year history.
The All Blacks fullback started and finished a brilliant counter-attack in the 53rd minute, scoring under the posts to make the conversion a formality, lifting the Chiefs to a 14-7 lead after the teams had been locked 7-7 at halftime.
Muliaina then played a critical role in marshalling the Chiefs’ unyielding defence, allowing the Hurricanes only a penalty in the last 27 minutes of a bitterly fought match that left both teams with a long list of injuries.
In the final seconds of the match, at a ruck on the Chiefs’ goal line and with the Waikato Stadium blanketed with thick fog that made the players virtually invisible to spectators, the Hurricanes turned the ball over, ensuring the Chiefs would advance to the final.
Waikato, who were playing in a semifinal for only the second time, will play the winner of Saturday’s second semifinal in Pretoria between the Bulls, the 2007 champions, and the Canterbury Crusaders, the reigning titleholders.
The Bulls will host if they win, otherwise the final will be in Hamilton.
”The heart and dedication that went into those last 15 minutes and produced defence of that quality were just incredible,” Muliaina said. ”You can’t train for that. You just have to have that tightness and that togetherness as a group and we’ve had that all season.”
In a game in which both teams kicked excessively, Waikato gained a vital advantage in the way its back three — Muliaina, Sitiveni Sivivatu and Lelia Masaga — fielded and returned kicks.
Muliaina’s try came when he fielded a misdirected kick from Wellington flyhalf Willie Ripia. He flicked the ball quickly to Sivivatu, who laid open the Wellington defence and linked with halfback Toby Morland, who gave the final pass to Muliaina. Stephen Donald converted.
All Blacks flyhalf Donald implemented Waikato’s kicking game with skill and accuracy while Ripia had a poor game for Wellington and was replaced early in the second half.
Earlier, Wellington centre Ma’a Nonu became the leading try scorer in this year’s competition with nine when he scored the opening try of the match, against the run of play, in the 19th minute. Flanker Victor Vito broke the defence, running off a short pass from Ripia and handed the ball near the tryline to the unmarked Nonu.
Hurricanes halfback Piri Weepu, who took over the goalkicking duties from Ripia, slotted an angled conversion.
Wellington were reduced to 14 men in the 26th minute when prop John Schwalger was sin-binned for a professional foul near a ruck at Wellington’s goalline. Waikato capitalised on its numerical advantage in the 31st minute with a try to number eight Sione Lauaki.
Scores:
Waikato 14 (Sione Lauaki, Mils Muliaina tries; Stephen Donald 2 conversions)
Wellington 10 (Ma’a Nonu try; Piri Weepu conversion, penalty). — Sapa-AP