'Horror movie' for Stormers as Chiefs run riot in Super Rugby quarter-finals
A scintillating eight-try show from New Zealand visitors Waikato Chiefs delivered a 60-21 Super Rugby quarter-final rout of South African outfit Western Stormers in cold Cape Town Saturday.
"That was a horror movie," confessed veteran Stormers skipper and loose forward Schalk Burger, playing his last game at Newlands stadium before joining English club Saracens.
Trailing by four points after prop Vincent Koch barged over for an early try, Chiefs responded with two tries within four minutes en route to a 34-14 half-time lead.
Any hopes of a comeback by the hosts were dashed just six minutes into the second half when full-back and official man of the match Damian McKenzie scored a fifth try for the Kiwis.
A try by replacement loose forward Nizaam Carr narrowed the gap to 18 points seven minutes from time only for the New Zealanders to cross the try-line three more times.
Chiefs return home to face Hurricanes in Wellington next Saturday in the semi-finals while compatriots, title-holders Otago Highlanders, face Golden Lions in Johannesburg the same day.
The last-four pairings raise the possibility of a second successive Hurricanes-Highlanders Super Rugby decider in Wellington.
Highlanders edged ACT Brumbies 15-9 in Australia Friday and Hurricanes thrashed South African visitors Coastal Sharks of South Africa 41-0 Saturday.
Lions restored some South African pride with a 42-25 victory over record seven-time champions Canterbury Crusaders from New Zealand in Johannesburg.
If 25-point McKenzie was the outstanding individual for twice former champions Chiefs, skipper and fly-half Aaron Cruden emphasised the team effort.
"This was an exceptional team effort," stressed the All Black. "A really good performance after coming all the way from Dunedin to play here.
"Those two tries that built an early lead set the tone and we never slackened. Our boys put their bodies on the line to prevent the Stormers scoring for much of the second half.
"We have a young team who enjoy the game and play with passion. That was very evident here tonight.
"The boys prepared well and now we must do so again before facing the Hurricanes. All I can promise is that we will give our all."
Burger said: "Let us give credit to Chiefs for blowing us out of the water. It seemed like the harder we tried the worse it got.
"I feel sorry for our wonderful supporters -- some harsh lessons were learnt out there tonight," added the 2007 Rugby World Cup winner with the Springboks.
Sam McNicol, Brad Weber, Tom Sanders, James Lowe, McKenzie, Hikawera Elliot, Tevita Koloamatangi and Tawera Kerr-Barlow scored tries for Chiefs.
McKenzie kicked seven conversions and two penalties from 10 shots at goal to lie second on the leading scorers' chart, just three points behind Hurricanes' Beauden Barrett.
Vincent Koch scored two tries and Nizaam Carr one for Stormers and Robert du Preez kicked two conversions and Brandon Thomson one.