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

Scottish-born scrum-half scores as Lions coach’s side suffer seventh straight loss

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

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.

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.

The match, played in front of more than 33,000 fans at Auckland’s Eden Park, started promisingly for the Blues with early tries by Matt Duffie and Patrick Tuipuloto.

The Chiefs kept their hopes alive when Lachlan Boshier scored in the 20th minute and they managed to grab the lead with an early second-half try by Solomon Alaimalo and a penalty to Damian McKenzie. But the Blues replied with Christie’s converted try and held on for 25 minutes for a win that moved them into second place in the table.

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