Chiefs, Hurricanes draw in Super Rugby thriller

Cape Town - The Chiefs and Hurricanes ground out a 23-23 draw in Hamilton on Friday, leaving the home side still winless after five rounds.

Both sides scored two converted tries and two penalties in a New Zealand derby overshadowed by the mosque attacks in Christchurch in which at least 49 people died.

Players from both sides formed a circle in the centre of the pitch and linked arms as they bowed heads and observed a minute's silence for the victims.

The Chiefs led 20-13 at half time and Damian McKenzie missed a 67th minute penalty that could have sealed the win.

Captain Brodie Retallick said he was pleased to finally get points on the board after four losses in the opening rounds but wanted a victory.

"I'm slightly happier than I was in the last few weeks," he said.

"We hung in the fight for 80 minutes, in previous weeks we might have gone in our shells a little bit and had points put on us," he added

"We dictated terms a bit more, which is pleasing, but we can't be happy with a draw and we're still searching for that first win." 

Hurricanes centre Matt Proctor was also disappointed but always knew they would face a tough task against their North Island rivals.

"It was a flipping hard game, both teams played well," he said.

"It feels like a loss, we came her to get four points and we didn't quite achieve that."

The result means that the Hurricanes stay second in the New Zealand conference while the Chiefs stay bottom. 

In next weekend's action, the Chiefs travel to South Africa to face the Bulls in Pretoria (Saturday, March 23), while the Hurricanes host the Stormers in Wellington (Saturday, March 23).

Scorers:

Chiefs

Tries: Anton Lienert-Brown, Damian McKenzie

Conversions: Damian McKenzie (2)

Penalties: McKenzie (3)

Hurricanes

Tries: Matt Proctor, Wes Goosen

Conversions: Beauden Barrett (2)

Penalties: Barrett (2), Jordie Barrett

Teams:

Chiefs