Chiefs coach Colin Cooper has praised his troops for their efforts in his sides come-from-behind win over the Blues at Eden Park on Friday night.
Trailing 14-10 at the break, the Hamilton franchise fought back to win 27-21 - their 13th straight win over the Blues dating back to 2011.
It was a strong showing by the injury-ravaged Chiefs after last week's disappointing 45-23 defeat against the Crusaders.
Speaking to reporters after the match, Cooper was delighted with how his players fought back to secure their first win of the season.
"I was just proud of the effort again," he said. "Against the Crusaders we weren't smart enough and weren't good enough. But we really toughed it out tonight, and that's what made me proud."
The Chiefs headed into the match missing 15 players due to injury, and that list grew to 17 before kick-off when lock Brodie Rettalick and fullback Shaun Stevenson were ruled out with eye and leg injuries respectively.
The injuries saw Mitchell Brown start at lock while Damian McKenzie moved to fullback, and Tiaan Falcon started at first-five.
Cooper was impressed with how Falcon handled himself on his Super Rugby debut.
"We had a lot of trust in Tiaan and that's why we made the change.
"We could have left Damian at 10 and put Solo [Alaimalo] back, but that was too many changes. So it was just backing the kid.
"I thought he had an excellent game for being such a young man."
The Chiefs have a much-needed bye next week ahead of their first home match of the season against the Bulls on March 16.
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