Chiefs maintain winning start with 17-43 victory over Sunwolves

Sunwolves 17-43 Chiefs, Prince Chichibu Memorial Stadium
Scorecard

The Chiefs maintained their perfect start to the Super Rugby season as they defeated Sunwolves 17-43 at Prince Chichibu Memorial Stadium on Saturday.

This is Chiefs' third win from as many games as they occupy the top position in New Zealand Conference while Sunwolves are at third place in Australian group.

Garth April started the proceedings with a seventh minute try for which he also added the conversion as Sunwolves raced to a seven point lead. The response from Chiefs were strong as they scored three tries in the next 15 minutes with Solomon Alaimalo (11'), Shaun Stevenson (15') and Brad Weber (24') as they increased their lead to 7-17.

Damian McKenzie made impact in the 35th minute as he sped past three defenders of Sunwolves to dot down but as the half-time was approaching, Chiefs were reduced to 14-men temporarily with Tyler Ardron yellow-carded and the home side made an impact straightaway with Jaba Bregvadze going over the line making the scoreline 12-24 at the end of the first half.

Despite being down on one player, Chiefs made a strong start to the second half with a try from Lachlan Boshier making the scoreline 12-31.

With six minutes left in the game, Shogo Nakano's try gave Sunwolves some hope but further tries from Quinn Tupaea and Kaleb Trask at the stroke of full time sealed a 26 point win for Chiefs.