Finlay Christie try piles pain on Warren Gatland as Blues beat Chiefs

By GARETH BLACK
Published 26th Jul 2020, 16:58 BST
Comment
Finlay Christie of the Blues puts in a kick during the Super Rugby Aotearoa match against the Chiefs at Eden Park. Picture: Anthony Au-Yeung/Getty ImagesFinlay Christie of the Blues puts in a kick during the Super Rugby Aotearoa match against the Chiefs at Eden Park. Picture: Anthony Au-Yeung/Getty Images
Finlay Christie of the Blues puts in a kick during the Super Rugby Aotearoa match against the Chiefs at Eden Park. Picture: Anthony Au-Yeung/Getty Images
Scottish-born scrum-half scores as Lions coach’s side suffer seventh straight loss

Warren Gatland’s Chiefs slumped to a franchise-record seventh straight loss on Sunday, going down 21-17 in Super Rugby Aotearoa to the Blues who revived their title chances thanks to a second-half try by Scottish-born scrum-half Finlay Christie.

Gatland, the former Wales coach who is due to lead the British and Irish Lions to South Africa next year, has made a horror start to his four-year contract with the Hamilton-based Chiefs. Their losing streak now embraces the last two matches of the full Super Rugby tournament, suspended in March, and all five games in the New Zealand-based tournament.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The Chiefs trailed 14-0 after as many minutes, rallied to lead 17-14 at the 50-minute mark, then fell behind again to a 54th-minute try by Blues’ No 9 Christie.

The Chiefs threw everything at the last few minutes helped by a series of penalties, one of which resulted in a yellow card for Blues’ replacement Harry Plummer. But the Blues’ outstanding defence kept them out and a late defensive penalty allowed the home team to hang on to their narrow lead.