Chiefs 2017
Results
| Year | Date | Versus | Venue | Result | F | A | |
| 2017 | 24 Feb | Highlanders | Dunedin | W | 24 | 15 | |
| 2017 | 3 Mar | Blues | Hamilton | W | 41 | 26 | |
| 2017 | 10 Mar | Hurricanes | Hamilton | W | 26 | 18 | |
| 2017 | 17 Mar | Rebels | Melbourne | W | 27 | 14 | |
| 2017 | 1 Apr | Bulls | Hamilton | W | 28 | 12 | |
| 2017 | 8 Apr | Stormers | Cape Town | L | 26 | 34 | |
| 2017 | 15 Apr | Cheetahs | Bloemfontein | W | 41 | 27 | |
| 2017 | 22 Apr | Force | Perth | W | 16 | 7 | |
| 2017 | 29 Apr | Sunwolves | Hamilton | W | 27 | 20 | |
| 2017 | 6 May | Reds | New Plymouth | W | 46 | 17 | |
| 2017 | 19 May | Crusaders | Suva | L | 24 | 31 | |
| 2017 | 26 May | Blues | Auckland | D | 16 | 16 | |
| 2017 | 3 Jun | Waratahs | Hamilton | W | 46 | 31 | |
| 2017 | 9 Jun | Hurricanes | Wellington | W | 17 | 14 | |
| 2017 | 20 Jun | B&I LIONS | Hamilton | L | 6 | 34 | |
| 2017 | 15 Jul | Brumbies | Hamilton | W | 28 | 10 | |
| 2017 | 22 Jul | Stormers (qf) | Cape Town | W | 17 | 11 | |
| 2017 | 29 Jul | Crusaders (sf) | Christchurch | L | 13 | 27 |
Overall results
Played 18, won 13, drew 1, lost 4
Points for 469, against 364
Chiefs finished 6th out of 18 teams, won a quarter-final away from home and then lost a semi-final. They also lost to British & Irish Lions in a tour game.
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.
The New Zealand section had the maximum four qualifiers, only the Blues missing out. The Australian conference, in contrast, was abysmally weak with the Brumbies and their 6-9 record (inferior to all the New Zealand sides) topping the section and getting a home quarter-final.
The Chiefs had only two losses in pool play, their best record to date. Only the eventual finalists, Lions and Crusaders, with one each had fewer.
Despite enjoying an extremely successful season, the Chiefs never really put sides away and only had one 20-point margin. That said, they only conceded two consolation points to opponents for finishing within seven – and one of those was a very surprising result against the Sunwolves. Eight matches were won by between eight and 16 points, one by 18 and the quarter-final, where no consolation points applied, by six.
Match scorers
| Versus | Tries | Con | PG | DG |
| Highlanders | Lowe (2), Elliot | Cruden (3) | Cruden | |
| Blues | Messam, McKenzie, Elliot, Boshier, Lowe, Lienert-Brown | Cruden (4) | Cruden | |
| Hurricanes | Retallick, Pulu | McKenzie (2) | McKenzie (4) | |
| Rebels | Bird, Retallick, Cane, Stevenson | McKenzie (2) | McKenzie | |
| Bulls | Stevenson, McKenzie, Moli | Cruden (2) | Cruden (3) | |
| Stormers | Pulu (2), Lowe | Cruden | Cruden (2), McKenzie | |
| Cheetahs | Pulu (2), Kerr-Barlow, Lowe, Stevenson, Elliot | Cruden (4) | Cruden | |
| Force | Messam | Cruden | Cruden (3) | |
| Sunwolves | McKenzie (2), Elliot, Alaimalo | McKenzie (2) | McKenzie | |
| Reds | Donald (2), Hames, Ngatai, Bird, Lowe | McKenzie (5) | McKenzie (2) | |
| Crusaders | Nanai-Williams, Lowe, Hames, Cruden | Cruden, McKenzie | ||
| Blues | McKenzie, Fa'auli | McKenzie, Cruden | ||
| Waratahs | Lowe (3), Kerr-Barlow (2), Brown | McKenzie (5) | McKenzie (2) | |
| Hurricanes | Cruden, Lowe | McKenzie (2) | McKenzie | |
| B&I LIONS | Donald (2) | |||
| Brumbies | McKenzie, Alaimalo, Leitch | McKenzie (2) | McKenzie (3) | |
| Stormers (qf) | Stevenson | McKenzie (4) | ||
| Crusaders (sf) | Retallick | McKenzie | McKenzie (2) |
The Chiefs posted four scores of 40 but nothing else above 30, so few notable individual scoring performances occurred.
From this season penalty tries no longer had to be converted; instead they counted seven points automatically.
Season scoring
| Player | T | C | P | D | Pts |
| McKenzie, Damian | 6 | 22 | 22 | 140 | |
| Cruden, Aaron | 2 | 16 | 12 | 78 | |
| Lowe, James | 11 | 55 | |||
| Pulu, Toni | 5 | 25 | |||
| Elliot, Hikawera | 4 | 20 | |||
| Stevenson, Shaun | 4 | 20 | |||
| Donald, Stephen | 2 | 2 | 16 | ||
| Kerr-Barlow, Tawera | 3 | 15 | |||
| Retallick, Brodie | 3 | 15 | |||
| Alaimalo, Solomon | 2 | 10 | |||
| Bird, Dominic | 2 | 10 | |||
| Hames, Kane | 2 | 10 | |||
| Messam, Liam | 2 | 10 | |||
| Boshier, Lachlan | 1 | 5 | |||
| Brown, Mitchell | 1 | 5 | |||
| Cane, Sam | 1 | 5 | |||
| Fa'auli, Johnny | 1 | 5 | |||
| Leitch, Michael | 1 | 5 | |||
| Lienert-Brown, Anton | 1 | 5 | |||
| Moli, Atu | 1 | 5 | |||
| Nanai-Williams, Tim | 1 | 5 | |||
| Ngatai, Charlie | 1 | 5 | |||
| TOTALS | 57 | 38 | 36 | 0 | 469 |
James Lowe, with 11 tries, fell one short of equalling Roger Randle’s 2002 Chiefs record.
Appearances
| Player | Hig | Blu | Hur | Reb | Bul | Sto | Che | For | Sun | Red | Cru | Blu | War | Hur | B&IL | Bru | Sto | Cru | Ttl | Repl |
| Alaimalo, Solomon | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 3 | |||||||||
| Allardice, Michael | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| Bird, Dominic | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 17 | 3 | |
| Boshier, Lachlan | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 7 | |||||||
| Brown, Mitchell | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 15 | 4 | |||
| Cane, Sam | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 13 | ||||||
| Christie, Finlay | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 8 | |||||||||
| Cruden, Aaron | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 16 | 1 | ||
| Donald, Stephen | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 6 | |||||
| Elliot, Hikawera | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 6 | |||||
| Fa'auli, Johnny | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 1 | ||||||||||||
| Fisi'ihoi, Ziggy | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 14 | 11 | ||||
| Hames, Kane | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 16 | 1 | ||
| Harris, Nathan | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 1 | ||||||||||
| Karpik, Mitchell | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 4 | |||||||||||
| Kautai, Sosefo | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | ||||||||||||||
| Kerr-Barlow, Tawera | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 16 | |||
| Laulala, Luteru | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| Laulala, Nepo | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 15 | ||||
| Leitch, Michael | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 11 | ||||||||
| Lienert-Brown, Anton | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 16 | |||
| Lowe, James | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 16 | 1 | ||
| 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 | 6 | 2 | ||||||||||||
| Messam, Liam | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 16 | 5 | ||
| Mitchell, Rhys | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 3 | |||||||||||||
| Moli, Atu | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 17 | 14 | |
| Player | Hig | Blu | Hur | Reb | Bul | Sto | Che | For | Sun | Red | Cru | Blu | War | Hur | B&IL | Bru | Sto | Cru | Ttl | Repl |
| Nanai-Williams, Tim | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 2 | ||||||||||
| Nankivell, Alex | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | ||||||||||||||
| Ngatai, Charlie | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | |||||||||||||||
| Polwart, Sean | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 5 | ||||||||||||
| Pulu, Toni | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 1 | |||||||||
| Retallick, Brodie | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 14 | |||||
| Ross, Aidan | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 6 | ||||||||||||
| Sanders, Tom | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 3 | ||||||||||||
| Seu, Taleni | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 8 | |||||||
| Siataga, Seb | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
| Stevenson, Shaun | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 18 | 14 |
| Taukei'aho, Samisoni | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
| Taumateine, Jonathan | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 6 | |||||||||||
| Tiatia, Chase | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| Tucker, James | 1 | 1 | 1 |
The Chiefs used 42 players in 2017, equalling the record of the year before.
Two players – Luteru Laulala and Chase Tiatia – only appeared against the British and Irish Lions.
Stephen Donald became the fourth Chiefs centurion when he started against the Waratahs.
Both Atu Moli and Shaun Stevenson made 14 appearances off the bench in 2017, breaking the old Chiefs record of 12 which was shared by four players.
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: 162 by Liam Messam 2006-17
