Coach Clayton McMillan has cut a slightly disappointed figure, after the Chiefs' 20-7 defeat to the Crusaders in their Super Rugby Pacific semi-final at Christchurch - and rightly so.
For the Waikato-based franchise, the result was a case of what might have been at a windswept OrangeTheory Stadium.
Enjoying a staggering 65 percent of possession, the Chiefs squandered golden chances to score, unable to take advantage of the 14-man advantage for 30 minutes, after a yellow card turned to red for Crusaders flanker Pablo Matera.
McMillan lamented his side's inability to turn pressure into points, by his own count, wasting four clearcut tryscoring moments.
"We certainly created enough opportunities to win that game and we weren't clinical enough in the big moments to nail them," said McMillan.
"The Crusaders are street smart - they play the game right to the edge. Sometimes they get away with it, sometimes they don't and we weren't good enough to capitalise on the times they were vulnerable."
McMillan references one particular period in the first half, which he believes was the turning point in the contest, when the Crusaders conceded a string of penalties on their own line, eventually resulting in Matera's yellow card.
The Chiefs failed to cash in and the Crusaders broke clear to score the game's first try through Cullen Grace for a 13-0 advantage.
"There was a 10-15 minute period in the first half that won or lost that game," said McMillan.
"That was a massive momentum swing, which - on another day - might have gone our way, but we weren't good enough when the opportunities arose, and we've got to live with that and grow.
"We talked before the game that finals rugby is about winning the moments and we created the moments, but we didn't finish them."
The Crusaders pushed the limit of the law throughout the match, while the Chiefs could probably have counted themselves hard done-by for the yellow card dished to Quinn Tupaea for a dangerous tackle, where it seemed the midfielder could have done little to prevent it.
McMillan is loathe to get drawn into finger-pointing at the referees, but said a tougher stance needed to be taken regarding cynical play.
"Sometimes common sense has to prevail. I'm not sure that happens at times.
"Some of the penalties I deem as cynical, and people need to be brave to draw a line in the sand and say 'this is where the game needs to be played', but don't take that out of context. We were our own worst enemy today and we have to take that on the chin."
Nevertheless, McMillan says he's "super proud" of his team's effort in difficult conditions on enemy territory, which he said reflected the Chief's overall wider performance through their 2022 campaign
"They put in a mammoth effort out there, despite the opportunities that we lost. No-one can say that we didn't go out there and give it our all.
"We've done that all season - we've had some challenges. I'm just so proud of the way our guys have stuck together in trying times.
"We are still a young team. We're learning lots of lessons along the way and I'm convinced our time is going to come."
Join us at 7pm Saturday for live updates of the Blues v ACT Brumbies Super Rugby Pacific semi-final
