Lock Tupou Vaa'i has scored a try double to help his Chiefs regain their Super Rugby Pacific mojo with a 23-12 victory over the Hurricanes in pouring rain at Hamilton.
With their 10-game unbeaten streak snapped by Queensland Reds last week, the competition leaders have bounced back with a gritty win against their local rivals, holding them scoreless through the opening half.
The result puts them eight points clear of their nearest pursuers - six-time defending champions Crusaders - although ACT Brumbies can still close the gap with victory over Western Force later this weekend.
With All Blacks Sam Cane, Brodie Retallick, Brad Weber and Samisoni Taukei'aho back in their line-up, the Chiefs steamrolled their opponents over the first 40 minutes.
Taukei'aho opened the scoring after six minutes, carried over by a dominant lineout maul. Vaa'i stretched the margin to double figures with his first try, using his long reach to cut the chalk, as the Hamiltonians led 10-0 at halftime.
The Hurricanes made life more difficult for themselves, choosing this fixture to rest All Blacks Ardie Savea, Jordie Barrett and Tyrell Lomax.
Already missing international hookers Dane Coles and Asafo Aumua to injury, they also lost third-string Jacob Devery early, exposing Hame Faiva to impossible conditions for lineout throwers.
The Chiefs won the tactical kicking exchanges through Damian McKenzie and Shaun Stevenson, aided by confusion between Aidan Morgan and Josh Moorby under the high ball.
Soon after the break, Vaa'i had his second try, tunneling under a pile of forwards to score, but at 17-0, the Chiefs took their foot off the pedal somewhat, allowing the Hurricanes two tries that cancelled out any chance of a bonus point.
Moorby broke from his own 22, kicked ahead and won the race for the first of those tries, while No.8 Braydon Iose gratefully accepted a fumble from McKenzie to dash 50 metres for his five-pointer.
Penalties from McKenzie meant the Chiefs victory was never really under threat, but coach Clayton McMillan was clearly not impressed with their defensive lapses.
"Frustration was certainly there, but we did a lot of good stuff," said McMillan. "What frustrated me was we had opportunities to be really ruthless and put the foot on the throat, but we just weren't clinical enough.
"Our decisionmaking, at times, was poor, so we'll go away and review this one hard, because I think there are some good lessons there."
The Chiefs cross the Tasman to take on the Brumbies next Saturday and will close their regular season against Western Force, while the Hurricanes face a daunting run to the playoffs against last year's finalists - the Blues and Crusaders.
Chiefs 23 (Taukei'aho & Vaa'i 2 tries; McKenzie conversion & 2 penalties) Hurricanes 12 (Moorby & Iose tries; Morgan conversion)
