The Chiefs have kept their slim Super Rugby Trans-Tasman grand final hopes alive with a tight 36-26 victory over Melbourne Rebels at Sydney's Leichardt Oval.
The encounter was originally scheduled for Hamilton, but was transferred to Sydney, when Victoria imposed a state COVID-19 lockdown.
The Chiefs were looking to bounce back from their shock defeat to Queensland Reds and did so without a trio of All Blacks, who were rested for a crucial encounter that saw Luke Jacobson take over the captaincy.
They dominated the opening 15 minutes, with six visits to the Rebels 22, and finally got their reward, when Bryn Gatland chipped the ball to Shaun Stevenson, who lobbed a pass to Kaleb Trask to stroll over.
Trask's try seemed to open the floodgates, with the Waikato side playing some brilliant free-flowing rugby.
Just three minutes later, the Chiefs had another disallowed, when Bailyn Sullivan put a foot in touch.
That didn't stop them, with All Blacks midfielder Anton Lienert-Brown crossing for a two-minute double to open up a 19-0 lead.
The Chiefs had dominated at scrum time for the opening 25 minutes, but the Rebels flipped the script, when they produced a huge shove.
Referee Graham Cooper looked like awarding a penalty try, but No.8 Isi Naisarani grounded the ball to grab the five points.
The Rebels continued their fightback, when Carter Gordon ran onto his own chip-kick and flicked the ball inside to Stacey Ili to reduce the deficit to just seven points five minutes before the break.
Melbourne finished the half with their third try in 12 minutes, when Naisarani barged his way over for his second to level the scores 19-19 at halftime.
The Chiefs stormed out in the second half, with replacement Chase Tiatia running onto a long pass from Gatland to open up a seven-point lead four minutes after the restart.
Trask grabbed his second for the afternoon, when he finished a brilliant backline move that saw Lienert-Brown and Stevenson show great hands to put their fullback over in the corner.
That didn't deter the Rebels, who hit straight back two minutes later, when replacement back Andrew Kellaway crossed to reduce the margin to just five points.
The 'home' side grabbed their sixth try of the afternoon 15 minutes from time, when Trask tiptoed down the sideline, before finding Tiatia inside.
The Chiefs pressed in added time, as they hunted for the crucial bonus point, but after five extra minutes, they had to settle for just the victory.
Chiefs 36 (Trask 2, Tiatia 2 & Lienert-Brown 2 tries; Gatland 3 conversions) Rebels 26 (Naisarani 2, Kellaway & Ili tries; To'omua 3 conversions)
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