Chiefs pass the depth test
Chiefs
By ExTeddChief
November 11 2013
ExTeddChief gives a personal view on Chiefs and the LV
Chiefs pass the depth test
The LV Cup, let’s face it, is a farce. OK, they let Sandy Park host the final of the competition this year but if I’m honest I’d rather they brought back the old RFU Cup! Still, over the last few years it’s proven a good was for players that haven’t seen much gametime to prove themselves.
So, first up are Harlequins, who by their recent standards seem to have had a relatively weak season so far. So their guys certainly had plenty to prove. And yet, looking at our team-sheet, it was hardly likely that that bunch were just going to roll over, so as I went on to tell my grandfather later “don’t worry, it’ll be a proper match”.
That was other lunch at my grandparents place and after that, we headed out to Sandy Park. Already it was clear that more people were showing up than expected for an LV Cup game. One poppy picked up we headed through the turnstyle, quick look at the team sheet, it was going to be good to see Ceri Sweeney in a Chiefs shirt and then...showtime!
The most obvious threat from this Quins side was Paul Sackey and after an initial Chiefs attack our visitors from the southwest London burbs surged away from us in the SW Comms stand. Soon after the scoreboard ticked over and I wasn’t particularly surprised that is was Sackey that got the credit.
The Chiefs came straight back at the visitors though and sooner or later we were going to get some kind of score. What we got was a penalty. Ceri Sweeney from point blank range? The Quins were nicked. I have to admit it took me a while to clock what the music for our former Welsh international was though. OK...I wasn’t born in the 1970s so it only rang the vaguest of bells!
As the match went on, it seemed that sooner or later we were going to get a try. It was not to be though. What was to be was Quins indiscipline and Sweeney slotted another pen to turn the match round. The Quins continued to surge up the other end and luckily our defence held firm but right at the end we were the attacking team and my grandfather in particular was desperate for the Chiefs to get a try that we’d actually be able to see. No such luck though.
At half time, my grandfather asked for a “pie”. Well I decided to haul myself to the Cheyenne food and drink place but they only did pasties and burgers so a pasty it was, even though they’re massive by grandfather’s standards so we split one.
In the second half it didn’t take long for the Chiefs to surge to the far end at which point it wasn’t easy to work out what was going down. We did manage to get a third pen though which Sweeney slotted.
It was actually a surprise when the former Welsh international missed a kick but he did go on to slot a fourth and Quins showed no sign of making a comeback. Fine by us, the Chiefs kept surging, sooner or later we were going to get a try and it was Sireli that did the business. Our favourite Fijian may not be as lethal as he was a few years back but he can still have his moments and Quins weren’t quite sure how to deal with him. Sweeney converted.
After that, Quins finally woke up and late on it looked inevitable that they would get a try, some stellar defensive work from the Chiefs meant that they would come up empty.
Job done, solid work. Not the greatest Chiefs vs Quins match I’ve seen and with Leicester getting a WBP the previous night, we’ve got a lot of work to do before we can start thinking of a semi final spot. Still, it gave some forgotten players a chance to remind us what they can do!
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