Publications
Partners
Cape Town - Chiefs
co-captain Aaron Cruden believes his charges will come back stronger
next season after they lost 25-9 to the Hurricanes on Saturday.
It was a frustrating day at the office for the two-time champions and Cruden was clearly disappointed with how they lost in Wellington.
"We came down here confident after last week's performance," he told Sky Sports after a defeat which ends their Super Rugby campaign.
"Unfortunately we just didn't front in enough areas but we have got to give credit to the Hurricanes, who defended really well and applied a lot of pressure. At crucial moments they were just a little sharper than we were."
The Chiefs dominated a large chunk of the first-half but could not turn pressure into points, with 11 errors in the 22m-area making for tough reading.
"That is the story (of the game)," Cruden added.
"A couple of bounces didn't go our way, we dropped balls we'd been catching all season and weren't able to score points when we needed to. We'll go back and look at the footage at some point.
"We're extremely disappointed but pretty proud of getting to the semi-finals and the boys can hold their heads up.
"This young group of guys have had our highs and lows this season but we've always stayed connected and we'll be better for this experience."
