Chiefs 2016
Results
| Year | Date | Versus | Venue | Result | F | A | |
| 2016 | 27 Feb | Crusaders | Christchurch | W | 27 | 21 | |
| 2016 | 5 Mar | Lions | Hamilton | L | 32 | 36 | |
| 2016 | 12 Mar | Kings | Port Elizabeth | W | 58 | 24 | |
| 2016 | 19 Mar | Jaguares | Buenos Aires | W | 30 | 26 | |
| 2016 | 26 Mar | Force | Hamilton | W | 53 | 10 | |
| 2016 | 2 Apr | Brumbies | Canberra | W | 48 | 23 | |
| 2016 | 8 Apr | Blues | Hamilton | W | 29 | 23 | |
| 2016 | 23 Apr | Hurricanes | Wellington | W | 28 | 27 | |
| 2016 | 29 Apr | Sharks | New Plymouth | W | 24 | 22 | |
| 2016 | 7 May | Highlanders | Hamilton | L | 13 | 26 | |
| 2016 | 21 May | Rebels | Hamilton | W | 36 | 15 | |
| 2016 | 27 May | Waratahs | Sydney | L | 25 | 45 | |
| 2016 | 14 Jun | WALES | Hamilton | W | 40 | 7 | |
| 2016 | 1 Jul | Crusaders | Suva | W | 23 | 13 | |
| 2016 | 8 Jul | Reds | Brisbane | W | 50 | 5 | |
| 2016 | 16 Jul | Highlanders | Dunedin | L | 15 | 25 | |
| 2016 | 23 Jul | Stormers (qf) | Cape Town | W | 60 | 21 | |
| 2016 | 30 Jul | Hurricanes (sf) | Wellington | L | 9 | 25 |
Overall results
Played 18, won 13, lost 5
Points for 600, against 394
Chiefs finished 6th out of 18 teams, won a quarter-final away from home and then lost a semi-final. They also beat Wales in a tour game.
The format changed with an expansion to 18 teams, although almost everyone felt it unnecessary. Four conferences were created – New Zealand, Australia (each of five teams), Africa 1 and Africa 2 (each of four, and including one of the new teams from Japan and Argentina). The third newcomer was the Kings, a political points-scorer for South Africa but in a terrible mess before the competition kicked off.
The pool stages comprised 15 games. Each Pacific conference team played two others in their own group twice and two once; they played each team the other Pacific conference once and each team in one of the African conferences, missing the other entirely. The African conferences played each team in their own group twice, each team in the other African group once and each team from either New Zealand or Australia once, missing the other group. The playoff composition was determined before a ball was kicked: the four section winners would host a quarter-final, and three of their opponents would come from New Zealand and Australia (determined by log points), with the fourth the best non-winner from the Africa conferences. As it turned out the New Zealand section had the maximum four qualifiers, only the Blues missing out.
The Chiefs set a record by any away team in a Super Rugby playoff when they scored 60 points against the Stormers. The only higher score in a playoff game was by the Bulls – against the Chiefs – with 61 in the 2009 final. The eight tries and seven conversions were both records for visiting teams as well.
The Chiefs set a new team record with 560 points in the season, beating the old mark of 505 which was set in 2013.
For the first time, the Chiefs played a match against a touring team. The home side, without its test players, beat Wales 40-7.
Match scorers
| Versus | Tries | Con | PG | DG |
| Crusaders | Stevenson, Tamanivalu, McKenzie, Cane | McKenzie (2) | McKenzie | |
| Lions | Sanders, McKenzie, Lowe, Weber | McKenzie (3) | McKenzie (2) | |
| Kings | Cane (2), McKenzie, Seu, Ngatai, Cruden, Fisi'iahi | McKenzie (7) | McKenzie (3) | |
| Jaguares | McNicol, McKenzie, Lowe, Weber | McKenzie (2) | McKenzie, Cruden | |
| Force | Ngatai (4), McKenzie (2), Leitch, Pulu, Lowe | McKenzie (3), Donald | ||
| Brumbies | Lowe (2), Pulu, Sanders, Weber, McKenzie | McKenzie (3) | McKenzie (4) | |
| Blues | Graham, Stevenson, Cruden, Tamanivalu, Retallick | McKenzie (2) | ||
| Hurricanes | Tamanivalu (2), Leitch, Seu | McKenzie (4) | ||
| Sharks | Tamanivalu, Leitch | Cruden | Cruden (4) | |
| Highlanders | Cruden, Vaka | Cruden | ||
| Rebels | Tamanivalu, Harris, Pulu, Cruden, Horrell | Cruden (3), McKenzie | Cruden | |
| Waratahs | Tamanivalu, Cruden, Harris, Pulu | McKenzie | McKenzie | |
| WALES | Weber, Sanders, Bird, Lowe, Pulu, McNicol | Donald (4), Lowe | ||
| Crusaders | Lowe, Weber | McKenzie (2) | McKenzie (3) | |
| Reds | Tamanivalu (2), McKenzie (2), Moli, Boshier (penalty), Cane, Harris | McKenzie (5) | ||
| Highlanders | Pulu, Boshier | McKenzie | McKenzie | |
| Stormers (qf) | McNicol, Weber, Sanders, Lowe, McKenzie, Elliot, Koloamatangi, Kerr-Barlow | McKenzie (7) | McKenzie (2) | |
| Hurricanes (sf) | McKenzie (3) |
Chiefs players set several scoring records in 2016:
Damian McKenzie scored 20 points in a match four times, beating the previous season best of three by Glen Jackson (2001) and Gareth Anscombe (2013).
McKenzie scored tries in six consecutive matches, equalling Roger Randle’s feat in 2002.
That McKenzie’s run was in the first six matches of the season was breaking new ground.
His ten tries in the season was second only to Randle’s 12 in 2002.
Charlie Ngatai equalled the team record with four tries against the Force; both other instances (by Sitiveni Sivivatu in 2009 and Asaeli Tikoirotuma in 2012) had been against the Blues.
By scoring nine tries against the Force, the Chiefs equalled the team record for a single match (set three times previously).
Season scoring
| Player | T | C | P | D | Pts |
| McKenzie, Damian | 10 | 43 | 21 | 199 | |
| Cruden, Aaron | 5 | 4 | 7 | 54 | |
| Tamanivalu, Seta | 9 | 45 | |||
| Lowe, James | 8 | 1 | 42 | ||
| Pulu, Toni | 6 | 30 | |||
| Weber, Brad | 6 | 30 | |||
| Ngatai, Charlie | 5 | 25 | |||
| Cane, Sam | 4 | 20 | |||
| Sanders, Tom | 4 | 20 | |||
| Harris, Nathan | 3 | 15 | |||
| Leitch, Michael | 3 | 15 | |||
| McNicol, Sam | 3 | 15 | |||
| Boshier, Lachlan | 2 | 10 | |||
| Donald, Stephen | 5 | 10 | |||
| Seu, Taleni | 2 | 10 | |||
| Stevenson, Shaun | 2 | 10 | |||
| Bird, Dominic | 1 | 5 | |||
| Elliot, Hikawera | 1 | 5 | |||
| Fisi'iahi, Glen | 1 | 5 | |||
| Graham, Mitchell | 1 | 5 | |||
| Horrell, Andrew | 1 | 5 | |||
| Kerr-Barlow, Tawera | 1 | 5 | |||
| Koloamatangi, Tevita | 1 | 5 | |||
| Moli, Atu | 1 | 5 | |||
| Retallick, Brodie | 1 | 5 | |||
| Vaka, Sam | 1 | 5 | |||
| TOTALS | 82 | 53 | 28 | 0 | 600 |
Damian McKenzie, in his first full season as the team kicker, scored 199 points – the first player in Super Rugby to miss a double century by one.
McKenzie’s 43 conversions equalled Aaron Cruden’s 2012 record, when he was the only player to take a kick at goal all season.
A total of 25 players scored points in Super Rugby for the Chiefs in 2016, one fewer than the record number, set in 2014.
The Chiefs easily set a new record for tries in a Super Rugby season; the 76 beat the previous best of 54 in 2013. The old record was beaten by the third try in the Waratahs match, which was the 12th of the season. The other six were scored against Wales.
The team set a new record for conversions in a Super Rugby season (48), beating the 43 registered in 2012. The other five were scored against Wales.
Although unusual, it was not the first time the Chiefs had scored more points via conversions than penalty goals (96 to 84) in Super Rugby. It had happened previously in 2005 (56 to 51) and 2009 (80 to 54).
Appearances
| Player | Cru | Lio | Kin | Jag | For | Bru | Blu | Hur | Sha | Hig | Reb | War | WAL | Cru | Red | Hig | Sto | Hur | Ttl | Repl |
| Allardice, Michael | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 3 | |||||||
| Bardoul, Johan | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | |||||||||||||||
| Bird, Dominic | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 11 | ||||||||
| Boshier, Lachlan | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 6 | ||||||||||
| Brown, Mitchell | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | |||||||||||||||
| Cane, Sam | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 17 | ||
| Cruden, Aaron | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 17 | 1 | |
| Donald, Stephen | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 3 | ||||||||||||
| Elliot, Hikawera | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 16 | 9 | ||
| Fisi'iahi, Glen | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | |||||||||||||||
| Fisi'ihoi, Ziggy | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 11 | |||||||
| Graham, Mitchell | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 15 | 4 | |||
| Hames, Kane | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 4 | |||||||||
| Hammington, Kayne | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 6 | ||||||||||||
| Harris, Nathan | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 5 | |||||||
| Henwood, Sam | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
| Horrell, Andrew | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 4 | ||||||||||||
| Kerr-Barlow, Tawera | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 5 | |||||||
| Koloamatangi, Tevita | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | |||||||||||||||
| Leitch, Michael | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 1 | ||||||||
| Lienert-Brown, Anton | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 15 | 4 | |||
| Lowe, James | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 16 | |||
| Manu, Pauliasi | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 2 | ||||||||||||||
| Marshall, Rhys | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 4 | |||||||||
| McKenzie, Damian | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 17 | ||
| McNicol, Sam | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 6 | ||||||
| Messam, Liam | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
| Player | Cru | Lio | Kin | Jag | For | Bru | Blu | Hur | Sha | Hig | Reb | War | WAL | Cru | Red | Hig | Sto | Hur | Ttl | Repl |
| Moli, Atu | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 5 | |||||||
| Ngatai, Charlie | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | |||||||||||
| Pulu, Toni | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 3 | |||||
| Retallick, Brodie | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 12 | |||||||
| Sanders, Tom | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 14 | 1 | ||||
| Seu, Taleni | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 18 | 6 |
| Stevenson, Shaun | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 4 | ||||||||||||
| Tamanivalu, Seta | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 16 | 2 | ||
| Tokolahi, Siate | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 8 | |||||||
| Tucker, James | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | ||||||||||||||
| Vaeno, Latu | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | |||||||||||||||
| Vaipulu, Ma'ama | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 6 | ||||||||||
| Vaka, Sam | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | ||||||||||||||
| Weber, Brad | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 18 | 6 |
| Yamashita, Hiroshi | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9 |
The Chiefs used 42 players in Super Rugby 2016, the most in any season to date.
Hikawera Elliot made his 100th appearance for the Chiefs when he started against the Crusaders in the second meeting. He was the third player to reach 100 matches for the team.
Ziggy Fisi’ihoi made all 11 of his appearances off the bench, the highest number of appearances in a season by a player who did not make a start. The previous record was nine, set by Scott Couch in 2003. This included one against Wales, and the other ten were in Super Rugby.
At the end of the season the following were Chiefs records:
Highest score: 72 v Lions at Johannesburg 2010
Biggest winning margin: 45 points (50-5) v Reds at Brisbane 2016
Most tries in a match: 4 by Sitiveni Sivivatu v Blues at Hamilton 2009
4 by Asaeli Tikoirotuma v Blues at Albany 2012
4 by Charlie Ngatai v Force 2016
Most conversions in a match: 9 by Stephen Donald v Lions at Johannesburg 2010
Most penalty goals in a match: 6 by Glen Jackson v Reds at Rotorua 2001
6 by Stephen Donald v Crusaders at Christchurch 2007
Most points in a match: 32 by Stephen Donald v Lions at Johannesburg 2010
Most appearances: 146 by Liam Messam 2006-16
