VIDEO: Chiefs thump Sunwolves in Japan
The Chiefs ran in nine tries with both Damian McKenzie and Solomon Alaimalo dotting down twice.
McKenzie contributed 26 points in his first start in the No.10 jersey to lead his side to a convincing victory.
Canadian lock Tyler Ardron – making his first Super Rugby start – opened the scoring, getting over the line after just three minutes.
The industrious 26-year-old finished with two clean breaks and 107 run metres from his seven carries.
Tries to Brodie Retallick, Nathan Harris and Solomon Alaimalo saw the Chiefs race out to a 28-0 lead after just 20 minutes.
The home side hit back with a try through late call up Semisi Masirewa to take a 28-5 deficit into the sheds.
The Sunwolves got their second spell off to the perfect start, with barnstorming wing Hosea Saumaki picking up the first points of the half after a devastating 50-metre gallop in the 41st minute.
Unfortunately for Jamie Joseph’s Sunwolves, that would be all of their scoring for the afternoon.
The Chiefs didn’t let up, running in five second half tries to push the scoreline well out of reach.
Next week the Chiefs will be tested by the Highlanders at FMG Stadium Waikato, their third New Zealand derby of the season.
For the Sunwolves, they will be looking to regroup as they prepare for Daryl Gibson’s Waratahs in week seven.
The scorers:
For Sunwolves:
Tries: Masirewa, Saumaki
For CHiefs:
Tries: Ardron, Retallick, Harris, Alaimalo 2, McKenzie 2, Polwart, Wainui.
Cons: McKenzie 8
Teams:
Sunwolves: 15 Ryuji Noguchi, 14 Kotaro Matsushima, 13 Timothy Lafaele, 12 Michael Little, 11 Hosea Saumaki, 10 Yu Tamura, 9 Fumiaki Tanaka, 8 Willem Britz (captain), 7 Edward Quirk, 6 Michael Leitch, 5 Uwe Helu, 4 Kazuki Himeno, 3 Hencus van Wyk, 2 Shota Horie, 1 Keita Inagaki.
Replacements: 16 Yusuke Niwai, 17 Craig Millar, 18 Jiwon Koo, 19 Wimpie van der Walt, 20 Yoshitaka Tokunaga, 21 Yutaka Nagare, 22 Robbie Robinson, 23 William Tupou.
Chiefs: 15 Marty McKenzie, 14 Toni Pulu, 13 Anton Lienert-Brown, 12 Johnny Fa'auli, 11 Solomon Alaimalo, 10 Damian McKenzie, 9 Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi, 8 Taleni Seu, 7 Sam Cane (captain), 6 Lachlan Boshier, 5 Tyler Ardron, 4 Brodie Retallick, 3 Angus Ta'avao, 2 Nathan Harris, 1 Aidan Ross.
Replacements: 16 Liam Polwart, 17 Karl Tu'inukaufe, 18 Jeff Thwaites, 19 Michael Allardice, 20 Mitchell Karpik, 21 Brad Weber, 22 Sean Wainui, 23 Bailyn Sullivan.
Referee: William Houston (Australia)
Assistant referees: Aki Aso (Japan), Tasuku Kawahara (Japan)
TMO: Minoru Fuji (Japan)
Rugbypass
