Chiefs coach Clayton McMillan says he detected a collective "gasp" when star All Black Wallace Sititi made a dynamic first appearance this year for the Super Rugby leaders.
Loose forward Sititi produced a compelling cameo off the reserves bench as the Chiefs ran away from the Western Force 56-22 in Mount Maunganui on Friday to notch an eighth win from 10 games.
The 22-year-old shone for New Zealand in his rookie test season last year and was named World Rugby's breakthrough player of the year.
However, after undergoing pre-season knee surgery, Sititi was only given a moderate chance of returning to play in time for the Super Rugby play-offs in early June.
McMillan marvelled at the speed of Sititi's recovery and his immediate impact against the Force, including a 40m clean break with his second touch of the ball.
"Yeah, I think everybody took a little bit of a gasp when they saw him burst through that little gap," McMillan told journalists.
"It's great to see him back out there, he's done a huge amount of work to accelerate his return to the field.
"He got on there and he had a couple of really nice touches that reminded everyone of his quality, so great to be getting him back."
McMillan welcomed a handful of others back from injury, including seven-test All Blacks lock Josh Lord.
WALLACE SITITI BACK LIKE HE NEVER LEFT#Allblack #Rugby #Legend #Chiefs #SuperRugbyPacific pic.twitter.com/1pbKVEG3AA
— Audrin Van Schoor (@audas_vanschoor) April 25, 2025
However, he was concerned by injuries to two other All Blacks – prop Aidan Ross (head knock) and veteran midfield back Anton Lienert-Brown (arm) – who are both set to be sidelined for indefinite periods.
Scrum-half Cortez Ratima scored two of their eight tries while another five-pointer was registered by fellow-All Black Samisoni Taukei'aho, in the hooker's 100th match for the Chiefs.
McMillan's team are averaging more than 37 points scored per game and, on current form, are favoured to be top qualifiers for the finals.
"It's a young team that's been together for a number of years now and a lot of work has been done behind the scenes to build that," McMillan said.