The Chiefs secured a bonus-point 38-22 victory, but they were forced to combine flashes of brilliance with physicality and, well, good old fashioned brutality to get the job done.
Edmed wasn't prepared to give Finau the satisfaction of seeing him flutter the white flag after the massive shot; somehow he lifted anchor to drag himself off the dirt to put himself in harm's way during a clash that had plenty of testy confrontations
Chiefs wing Etene Nanai-Seturo and lock Tupou Vaa'i were shown yellow cards inside the first quarter, the former for a high tackle and the latter for infringing on defence.
Amid all the snorting and pawing of the soil, there was some excellent rugby on display, and it was the Waratahs who rattled on the first two tries to hooker Julian Heaven and halfback Jake Gordon, both off lineouts close to the opposition tryline.
Chiefs fullback Shaun Stevenson scampered 40m after busting a tackle by Edmed, and then a rock solid scrum enabled the visitors to launch, with playmaker Damian McKenzie firing a wide moon-ball to right wing Emoni Narawa.
That was evident early in the second half when Narawa, once again, benefited from an efficient lineout to stroll over for his second five-pointer. It was too easy, really, because good teams shouldn't concede such easy tries off set-pieces.
A sloppy kick downfield from the home side didn't find touch and the Chiefs launched, as McKenzie displayed his mercurial skills like the magician he is, Vaa'i punched into a hole and halfback Cortez Ratima finished the job.
Chiefs No 8 Wallace Sititi imitated a missile when he launched off a 5m scrum to score in the 62nd minute, and skipper and No 7 Lachlan Boshier went over minutes from the end.
In the other game played last night the Crusaders thrashed the Rebels 39-0.
In today’s games, the Swire Shipping Fijian Drua take on Moana Pasifika at 2.05pm, the Brumbies host the Hurricanes at 4.35pm, the Highlanders take on the Force at 7.05pm while the Reds play the Blues at 9.35pm.
Source: Stuff.co
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