Chiefs down Force 31-13 in Hamilton

Missed tackles and handling errors cost the Western Force dearly as the Chiefs ran
in four tries to one to post a thumping 31-13 triumph at Waikato Stadium in Hamilton
on Friday.
The Chiefs, winless in the opening three rounds, set up the win with a blistering
first-half as Lelia Masaga, Brendon Leonard and Richard Kahui all registered tries
after shaking off weak tackles from their Force opponents.
Substitute Colin Burke earned the Chiefs a well deserved bonus point in the 82nd
minute when he barged over the line to notch the home side's fourth try of the
match.
But the Chiefs' first win of the season could come at a cost, with fullback Sosene
Anesi suffering an injury to his right shoulder midway through the second half.
The Force, sensational in their 25-16 bonus-point win over the Brumbies last week,
simply had no answers to the Chiefs' explosive backline in a match played at a
frenetic pace.
It took the Chiefs just 45 seconds to notch the opening try of the match, with
winger Masaga shaking off tackles from Cameron Shepherd, Matt Giteau and Drew
Mitchell to cross over.
Penalties from Giteau and Shepherd closed the gap to 7-6 as the Force slowly worked
their way back into the contest but their good work was undone in the final 10
minutes of the first half as the Chiefs crossed for another two tries.
Halfback Leonard crossed in the 33rd minute after a great break by flyhalf Stephen
Donald, who sliced through the Force defence to set up his teammate for the easiest
of tries.
And five minutes later, winger Sitiveni Sivivatu escaped the clutches of a diving
Ryan Cross to set up centre Kahui, with Donald's third conversion of the match
making it 21-6 at half-time.
The Force closed the gap to 21-13 in the 55th minute when the Chiefs spilled Josh
Valentine's high bomb and flanker Tamaiti Horua scooped on the loose ball and ran
20m to score the visitors' first try.
Donald's 58th-minute penalty gave the Chiefs some breathing space at 24-13 but the
Chiefs were put on the back foot for the next 10 minutes as the Force, led by
Giteau, tested the home side's defence.
But it was the Chiefs who struck the final blow, with Burke exposing a tired Force
defence to barge over under the post.
"You can't give away tries like that to the Chiefs," Force skipper Nathan Sharpe
told Fox Sports after the match.
"We knew they were going to attack us out wide like they did, they had good success
with that.
"We just didn't play well tonight and credit to them, they played very well and just
disrupted everything we tried to do.
"There's no doubt about our courage but you don't want to get into those positions
where you have to exercise that courage, you want to be in it from the start and
it's something we didn't do from the start."
Chiefs stand-in skipper Liam Messam praised his charges after the impressive win.
"The boys certainly stepped up tonight, we wanted to do it for ourselves and our
fans," Messam said.
"Tonight it finally clicked.
"It's good to get five points ... and hopefully we can build from this win."