{"id":429749,"date":"2026-05-15T23:50:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T23:50:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/429749\/"},"modified":"2026-05-15T23:50:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T23:50:13","slug":"highlanders-playoff-hopes-crushed-in-chiefs-drubbing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/429749\/","title":{"rendered":"Highlanders’ playoff hopes crushed in Chiefs drubbing"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Highlanders head back to Dunedin with their Super Rugby Pacific playoff hopes shattered.<\/p>\n

By Jonty Dine of RNZ<\/a><\/p>\n

Entering the final rounds on a prayer, the rugby gods stayed silent, as the Chiefs eased to a 42-12 win at Hamilton’s FMG Stadium to end all hope.<\/p>\n

However, the win came at a cost for the Chiefs, with fullback Damian McKenzie copping a stray boot to the head as he attempted to make a tackle, leaving the field in a bloodied state.<\/p>\n

\"Chiefs'<\/p>\n

Chiefs’ Damian McKenzie picks up an injury during the Chiefs vs Highlanders, Super Rugby Pacific match at FMG Stadium, Hamilton, New Zealand on Friday 15 May 2026. (Source: Photosport)<\/p>\n

The visitors were off to a positive start, opening the scoring try, courtesy of a powerful surge off the back of the scrum by flanker Lucas Casey.<\/p>\n

The mountain of their task became too tall when the Chiefs ran in three unanswered to effectively end things before the break.<\/p>\n

A deft inside pass by lock Naitoa Ah Kuoi to Wallace Sititi sent the No.8 over and the floodgate swung open,<\/p>\n

A late replacement for Josh Lord, Ah Kuoi went from provider to scorer to put the hosts ahead just after the 30-minute mark, as the pressure proved too much on the Highlanders line.<\/p>\n

Appearing to butcher a golden chance, after making a scything break, McKenzie’s work would not go unrewarded, as Ah Kuoi bagging a second try with a close-range strike.<\/p>\n

\"Chiefs'<\/p>\n

Chiefs’ Josh Jacomb during the Chiefs vs Highlanders, Super Rugby Pacific match at FMG Stadium, Hamilton, New Zealand on Friday 15 May 2026. (Source: Photosport)<\/p>\n

Xavier Roe put things to bed 15 minutes after oranges, with the halfback spying a gap at the ruck and waltzing right through.<\/p>\n

A quick tap sparked some late hope for the Highlanders, as halfback Adam Lennox bolted up the park and fullback Jacob Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens finishing things off in the corner.<\/p>\n

Replacement hooker Brodie McAlister rumbled his way over from a rolling maul to really drive the nail in.<\/p>\n

With the siren sounding, the Highlanders hammered away, but the turnover would eventually come, Kyle Brown capping the counter to bring curtains on clinical performance.<\/p>\n

The loss leaves the ‘Landers languishing in seventh, with both the Reds and Brumbies able to kick further clear in the top six.<\/p>\n

More than 10 years since their one and only title, the wait goes on for the southerners.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Highlanders head back to Dunedin with their Super Rugby Pacific playoff hopes shattered. By Jonty Dine of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":429750,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[17909,52362,111,139,69,213],"class_list":["post-429749","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-chiefs","tag-highlanders","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/429749","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=429749"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/429749\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/429750"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=429749"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=429749"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=429749"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}