Chiefs receive big boost with Shaun Stevenson available for Super Rugby Pacific final
Monday, 16 June 2025
The Chiefs have received a big boost for Saturday night’s Super Rugby Pacific final against the Crusaders in Christchurch, with star fullback Shaun Stevenson cleared to play after passing concussion tests.
The 28-year-old was in doubt for the decider after clashing heads with team-mate Cortez Ratima when attempting to stop Corey Toole’s second try in the 44th minute of the 37-17 semifinal win over the Brumbies in Hamilton last Saturday night.
Stevenson duly failed his head injury assessment (HIA), which ruled him out of the rest of the match, and also brought about the prospect of a sorry end to his career with the franchise.
The one-test All Black, who has played 109 matches for the Chiefs since 2016, is off after this season to join Japanese club Kubota, who he had also undertaken a mini-stint with during the early part of the Super season.
But coach Clayton McMillan on Monday had good news to deliver, as his side go in search of their first championship since 2013, and ending what is the longest-current title drought of any Kiwi side.
“All players that left the field for an HIA have all passed HIA 2 [within three hours] and 3 [after two sleeps] so are cleared to play,” he said, also in reference to Ratima, who had passed his initial test on the night and briefly returned to the field.
It should make for a straightforward selection task then, when the Chiefs name their team internally on Tuesday, and publicly at 4pm Wednesday, albeit with one question mark still hanging over Josh Lord.
The seven-test All Blacks lock was ruled out of the semifinal after suffering his own concussion seven days prior in the qualifying final defeat to the Blues.
“He’s one that we’re still just taking a cautious approach with,” McMillan said.
“So he’s not ruled out, but he’d need to pass some contact training tomorrow to be an option, so we’ll see how he gets through that.”
In what will also be McMillan’s last game at the helm before leaving to coach Irish club Munster, the Chiefs will be aiming to make it third-time-lucky after successive runner-up finishes − a 41-10 thrashing at the hands of the Blues in the decider in Auckland last year, and a 25-20 heartbreaker against the Crusaders in Hamilton in the 2023 finale.
They have beaten the red and blacks in both their matchups this year (as they had also done in 2023) − 49-24 in Hamilton in round two (a record for both points scored and margin), before a 35-19 come-from-behind victory in Christchurch in round 13.
McMillan has three wins from seven in the Garden City, and it should count for something as his side go in search of being the ones to break the formidable 31-0 winning run the Crusaders have stitched together in home playoff games.
“Vern [Cotter, the Blues coach] said the same thing last week, it’s true, records don’t last forever,” McMillan said. “We’ve had losing records, and that eventually got broken for the positive.
“So, look, it’s a number. You respect the fact that they’ve made it a real fortress down there, and it’s something they’re fiercely proud of, and rightly so.
“But, it doesn’t have any bearing on what unfolds on the day. It’s just which team turn up with the right mindset, the right plan, and execute for however long it takes to get the job done.”