Chiefs bookend big win over Fijian Drua with flurry of tries

The Chiefs have added another scalp to their undefeated season to date with a 50-17 win over the Fijian Drua in wet conditions in Hamilton.

The hosts piled on the points in the opening quarter of the match and were equally as dominant at the finish while the visiting Drua put up a decent challenge in between.

Despite testing conditions underfoot, both sides came with the intention to attack but it was the Chiefs - led once again by another fine Damian McKenzie performance albeit in the No.15 jersey tonight - that made the less errors and got the benefit of it.

Cortez Ratima opened the scoring in just the third minute before Shaun Stevenson doubled the lead with less than 10 minutes on the clock.

The Drua managed a response soon after but it was immediately undone by Kaylum Boshier, giving the Chiefs a 19-7 lead with little over 20 minutes on the clock.

McKenzie was then awarded a try of his own for his fine attacking efforts, making the most of a numbers advantage from a previous yellow card to Apisalome Vota to get outside his man and score in the left corner.

After an electric opening though, the Chiefs were forced to show off their defence for a solid block as the Drua camped out inside their 22 looking to strike back.

The Chiefs' wall, as it has in this impressive 2023 campaign, was up to the task though and twice denied the Drua going for the line before they were given an added challenge as Etene Nanai-Seturo headed to the bench for his own sin binning.

With the Drua back at full strength and the Chiefs now down a man, they managed a response with four minutes left in the half but Samisoni Taukei'aho was the one to have the last laugh, pouncing on a failed restart from the fading Drua and barging his way towards the line to score a try that would no doubt delight All Blacks coach Ian Foster.

The Drua struck first after the break with a piece of play that would simply be best described as Fijian Rugby at its best but another yellow card shortly after flatlined their momentum and the errors started to pile up as the fatigue settled in.

That allowed the Chiefs to seal the match in style with Brodie Retallick, who had a strong evening in a physical clash with the Drua's big pack, Tupou Vaa'i and Nanai-Seturo all scoring in the final 10 minutes of the match.

The Drua will be frustrated with the blowout scoreline given how competitive they were in the thick of the match but a slow start and tired finish are simply too costly when facing a side who have truly asserted themselves as the tournament frontrunners this year.

The Crusaders will do well to add that to their notes while looking over game footage in Melbourne with a rematch coming up next week in Hamilton as well.

Chiefs 50 [Cortez Ratima, Shaun Stevenson, Kaylum Boshier, Damian McKenzie, Samisoni Taukei'aho, Brodie Retallick, Tupou Vaa'i, Etene Nanai-Seturo tries; Damian McKenzie 5 con]

Fijian Drua 17 [Elia Canakaivata, Michael Naitokani, Ilaisa Droasese tries; Teti Tela 1 con]

HT: 31-12