Chiefs 40-7 Wales: Second-string Welsh side thumped in Hamilton

Chiefs 40-7 Wales: Second-string Wales humbled by Chiefs in Hamilton

  • Super Rugby’s Chiefs scored six tries as they thumped Wales 40-7 in Hamilton
  • The hosts led 21-0 at the break thanks to tries from Brad Weber, Tom Sanders and Dominic Bird
  • Kristian Dacey closed the gap after the restart before James Lowe, Toni Pulu and Sam McNicol touched down to secure the thumping win for the hosts
An essentially second-string Wales side, which included Luke Charteris and Sam Warburton were smashed 40-7 by Super Rugby side the Chiefs, who scored six tries in Hamilton on Tuesday.

The Chiefs contested the match without eight of their All Blacks who were away on national duty while Wales’ preparations for the match were also hampered by injuries but this led to regular captain Sam Warburton starting the match and star No.8 Taulupe Faletau being named on the replacements bench.

Tries from scrumhalf Brad Weber, number eight Tom Sanders and lock Dominic Bird gave the hosts a 21-0 lead at the break with fullback James Lowe, winger Toni Pulu and replacement back Sam McNicol all crossing in the last 10 minutes.

Wales dominated the second-half in terms of territory and possession but they could only manage a try from a driving lineout for replacement hooker Kristian Dacey.

Flyhalf Donald, who famously cut short a fishing trip on the Waikato river to help the All Blacks to their 2011 World Cup triumph, was replaced to a standing ovation after 68 minutes.

Wales now have four days to recover before Saturday’s second Test against the All Blacks in Wellington.

Captain on the night Luke Charteris said after the defeat: “We let ourselves down there. We didn’t match them in the tackle, we didn’t match them with our line speed and that’s a credit to them.

“They gave us a lesson and it’s a tough lesson to take. But we knew what was coming and that was not acceptable.”

The last time Wales lost to a New Zealand club side was back in 1988 against Waikato in a match which the current Wales head coach Warren Gatland scored.

MANOFTHEMATCH
STEPHEN DONALD

LINE UPS

Chiefs: 15 James Lowe, 14 Toni Pulu, 13 Anton Lienert-Brown, 12 Andrew Horrell, 11 Sam Vaka, 10 Stephen Donald (c), 9 Brad Weber, 8 Tom Sanders, 7 Lachlan Boshier, 6 Mitchell Brown, 5 Michael Allardice, 4 Dominic Bird, 3 Hiroshi Yamashita, 2 Rhys Marshall, 1 Mitchell Graham
Replacements: 16 Hika Elliot, 17 Siegfried Fisi’ihoi, 18 Atu Moli, 19 Taleni Seu, 20 Tevita Koloamatangi, 21 Kayne Hammington, 22 Sam McNicol, 23 Latu Vaeno

Wales: 15 Matthew Morgan, 14 Eli Walker, 13 Tyler Morgan, 12 Scott Williams, 11 Tom James, 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 James King, 7 Ellis Jenkins, 6 Josh Turnbull, 5 Luke Charteris (c), 4 Jake Ball, 3 Tomas Francis, 2 Scott Baldwin, 1 Rob Evans
Replacements: 16 Kristian Dacey, 17 Aaron Jarvis, 18 Rhodri Jones, 19 Bradley Davies, 20 Ross Moriarty, 21 Aled Davies, 22 Gareth Anscombe, 23 Rhys Patchell


Date: Tuesday, June 14
Venue: FMG Stadium, Hamilton
Kick-off: 18:35 local (08:35 GMT)