A Quinn Tupaea hat-trick has powered the Chiefs to a 54-21 win over the Western Force in their Super Rugby Pacific clash at FMG Stadium.
But there are concerns for captain Sam Cane after the All Black went off with a knee injury in the opening quarter of the fixture.
There was plenty of feeling out early on, with both sides happy to clear their lines and force the opposition into errors, but it was the Chiefs who saw the dividends of that early through a series of strong scrums.
The Force were lucky to not be a man down after back-to-back deliberate knock-ons, but the Chiefs made the visitors pay with their penalty advantages, scoring first through Tupaea.
The rampaging midfielder ran a great inside line after another strong shove at the scrum by the Chiefs, collecting the ball from Bryn Gatland to crash over for the game's opening try.
It didn't all go to plan for the Chiefs however, as they lost Cane in the first 20 minutes after he took a knock to the knee in an attempted ruck cleanout. The loose forward tried to carry on but was quickly replaced by Mitch Brown.
Shortly after, halfback Brad Weber almost went over after a brilliant break from the back of the scrum, but shanked his chip kick into touch. But it wouldn't matter as more set-piece dominance allowed prop Aidan Ross to crash over for the try after being confirmed by the TMO.
Tupaea grabbed his second try after powering his way through a couple of would-be–tacklers, with Chase Tiatia providing some support from behind to push him over.
The Force did finish the half the stronger of the sides, with former Chief Toni Pulu grabbing a try after a brilliant cross-field kick.
Tupaea quickly picked up from where he left off in the second half, completing his hat-trick after fending off a couple of defenders for the score. Kaleb Trask and Tupou Vaa'i would also grab a try a piece to give the Chiefs a commanding lead.
The Force would hit back through their Kiwi connection, as former Hurricanes lock Jeremy Thrush crashed over after Waikato favourite Richard Kahui went close to scoring.
Replacement hooker Samisoni Taukei'aho grabbed a quick-fire double off the back off more dominant set-piece play from the Chiefs, with the visitors only crossing once more.
Chiefs 54 (Quinn Tupaea 3x Aidan Ross, Kaleb Trask, Tupou Vaa’i try 57min, Samisoni Taukei’aho 2x tries; Bryn Gatland 6 con, Kaleb Trask con)
Force 21 (Toni Pulu, Jeremy Thrush, Michael McDonald tries; Jake McIntyre 2 con, Ian Prior con)
