Waratahs hopes of a semi-finals berth were given a bonus point boost with a 46–19 win over a lacklustre Chiefs team at Hamilton's Waikato Stadium on Saturday.
The seven tries to three win by the Australian side set it up for a fascinating last round contest with the Hurricanes in Sydney next weekend.
The loss left the Chiefs winless on their home ground, a prospect that didn't seem likely after a three-win tour to South Africa at the start of the season. But it rarely looked competitive against a highly-efficient Waratahs combination on Saturday.
Livewire wing Drew Mitchell, who set a splendid example throughout, made an impressive early start for the Waratahs when a misplaced kick from No.8 Colin Bourke came his way and he cut back to the near side and raced through the meagre defence, kicked ahead and regained the ball to touch down for the first try after three minutes.
In the initial stages the Chiefs were guilty of not protecting the ball with fullback Tim Nanai-William and Craig Clarke guilty of allowing turnovers for the visitors. And when some frenetic ball movement resulted in 22 phases before a penalty brought some respite, a second try seemed inevitable as the Waratahs ground the Chiefs defence down. But a knock on by halfback Luke Burgess allowed the Chiefs to attempt to clear their line.
While the Chiefs managed to settle the tempo by getting some ball at last, they were unable to get close enough to build scoring opportunities and when the Waratahs mounted more of their phase play, they ground down the defenders and gained an opening when rangy No.8 Ben Mowen stepped a defender and raced in beneath the posts with first five-eighths Berrick Barnes adding the conversion.
More controlled lineout drives resulted from a penalty awarded against prop Nathan White for punching opposite number Benn Robinson. The Waratahs unleashed two rolling mauls and in the 28th minute hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau rumbled over to touch down.
The lead was extended to 20-0 three minutes from the halftime break after replacement prop Ben Afeaki was penalised for collapsing the scrum.
Any hopes of a second half revival for the Chiefs evaporated almost immediately as they attempted to run the ball from the re-start only for Barnes to race up to complete an interception and run away to score.
Into the final quarter, some impressive work by the Chiefs replacements, wing Save Tokula, lock Callum Retallick and halfback Brendon Leonard created the chance for the ball to be moved wide to allow fullback Tim Nanai-Williams to get the Chiefs on the board.
But from the restart Barnes placed a perfect kick in behind the Chiefs defence and fullback Kurtley Beale raced in to touch down.
Beale complemented the work of Mitchell on attack with some penetrating runs from fullback and then showed his set-up skills when picking up a dropped ball in a tackle and then kicked to the corner for Lachlan Turner to win the race to score.
Some good work by No.8 Bourke opened up another chance for the Chiefs which was completed with second five-eighths Jackson Willison driving across in the tackle. Four minutes later ball retention and a strong finish from Willison saw him over for his second try after 76 minutes.
While the midfield pairing of second five-eighths Tom Carter and centre Rob Horne was