Plenty to ponder as Chiefs plot next moves after Blues Super Rugby Pacific victory
Monday, 16 February 2026
First-year Chiefs coach Jono Gibbes has confirmed there are external “conversations” to be had around the return timeline of his quartet of All Blacks who sat out Saturday’s confidence-boosting season-opening Super Rugby Pacific victory over the Blues at Eden Park.
The Chiefs shrugged off the absence of such influential internationals as Damian McKenzie, Wallace Sititi, Simon Parker and Emoni Narawa to hang in a tight contest they trailed for much of the second half, and scrape out a 19-15 victory that owed a lot to the game-changing abilities of Cortez Ratima and Samipeni Finau off the bench.
It was a match the competition runnersup for the last three years could easily have lost. The Blues had more ball, more clear-cut opportunities, forced the Chiefs to make 46 more tackles and certainly had their chances to avoid a second straight opening-round defeat to their closest rivals.
But when push came to shove, in the last 10 minutes, it was the Chiefs who held their nerve the better and the visitors who struck with a withering, match-winning score orchestrated by a Finau break and completed by a blistering Ratima finish.
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“It was a serious arm-wrestle,” reflected Gibbes of a night when his squad appeared to escape any serious injury. “The smallest of margins. We absorbed a hell of a lot of pressure in that second half. What it took was us staying in that moment, we worked our way up the middle of the field, had one opportunity and were able to convert.
“We came out on the right side of the ledger in a really small-margin game probably because the boys just hung tight, stayed in it under a lot of pressure, dealt with what was in front of them and got ourselves an opportunity to win the game.”
Asked if it was extra satisfying to scrape out a result like that with McKenzie absent due to the birth of a child, and the other trio clearly being managed with national interests in mind, Gibbes was quick to emphasise the squad depth he has at his disposal. He still got big-time efforts out of the likes of Samisoni Taukei’aho and Tupou Vaa’i up front, and Quinn Tupaea in midfield.
“It’s credit to the boys who played tonight and went through a hell of a battle. They did the whole squad really proud with what they put out there. It wasn’t always pretty, it wasn’t always on our terms, but we found a way to stay in it. I’m stoked for this 23.”
The Chiefs back up with a Saturday night visit to the equally impressive Highlanders, who upset the defending champion Crusaders on Friday night in Dunedin, and the coach indicated the availability of his high-profile quartet remained a work in progress.
“There are a few conversations going on,” he said. “There are other people involved in those conversations outside our organisation, and a few things to work through. We’ll see how we pitch up tomorrow and make a plan for Dunedin.”
Gibbes was then asked to clarify his comments. Were there external people part of picking his teams?
“That’s not what I meant,” he shot back. “We have conversations with other people. We’ve got many players that are part of the national programme as well, and there are considerations, and discussions. Sorry if it [came across] that they get to choose the team. I certainly didn’t mean that.”
Truth is the Chiefs squad is deeper than Voltaire, and can handle any massaging of workloads from on high. Though quite who is calling the shots for an All Blacks programme without a coaching group remains a question for another time.
No D-Mac? No problem. Josh Jacomb slots in and does a pretty acceptable job. No Sititi and Parker? No worries. Kaylum Boshier, Jahrome Brown and Finau have got this. No Narawa? No harm done, as Liam Coombes-Fabling, Etene Nanai-Seturo and new chum Kyren Taumoefolau pick up the slack.
Gibbes said Jacomb, who has signed with the Highlanders for next season, “met expectations” with a largely poised effort under pressure, and shrugged off a suggestion he was sharpening him for the southerners. “My goal is to make him regret his decision every day,” added the coach with a smile
And the wisdom of holding such influential types as Ratima and Finau back for their late-game magic?
“It was great – fresh legs, that energy boost, that extra bounce – because we were close to 150 tackles in that first period, and the guys who had been on since the start, it took a lot of physical investment from those guys.“
Of course, the Chiefs remain a long, long way from anything resembling the finished product. A truncated pre-season with the full squad guarantees that, conceded the coach.
“We never talked about turning up and being perfect,” added GIbbes. “We knew there were things we’ll have to keep building on and keep developing. This is round one, we’ve got a big assignment next week and the objective is to keep growing our game. More time together and more experiences like tonight will help that.”