Saturday 23 February 2019 22:13, UK
The Brumbies were the big winners of the day in Super Rugby, as they beat the Chiefs 54-17.
The Brumbies ended Australian fears of another long losing streak to New Zealand sides in Super Rugby with a stunning eight-try demolition of the Chiefs in Canberra on Saturday.
Edged by the Melbourne Rebels at home in week one, the Brumbies were marshalled brilliantly by fly-half captain Christian Lealiifano and mixed backline flair with their usual forward muscle.
Tevita Kuridrani and Chance Peni each scored try doubles, with Tom Banks, Lachlan McCaffrey, Josh Mann-Rea and Folau Fainga'a also crossing for the home side who led 33-10 at half-time.
Ataata Moeakiola and Samisoni Taukei'aho scored the Chiefs' two tries, with captain Brodie Retallick left with little to celebrate in his milestone 100th Super Rugby match.
Three unanswered tries in the first half set the foundation for a second win of the season for Sharks as they took full advantage of the hot conditions in Durban to beat their New Zealand visitors.
A try on his home debut at King's Park for full-back Aphelele Fassi in the seventh minute was followed by scores from Akker van der Merwe and Robert du Preez, both at the end of driving mauls, for a 19-0 half-time lead.
It took the Blues just over an hour to get their try, as debutant Tanielu Tele'a went over with his first opportunity after coming on as a replacement.
But as the Auckland side looked to finish strongly, Sharks back Curwin Bosch picked up a loose ball to run almost the length of the field for the Sharks' fourth and bonus point try just before the final whistle.
The Crusaders condemned the Hurricanes to another miserable trip to Christchurch on Saturday with a clinical thrashing that secured their second win of the season.
Having survived a big scare away to the Auckland Blues in their season-opener, the double defending champions were back to their marauding best at home where they belted the Hurricanes in last year's semi-finals.
Lock Scott Barrett and fly-half Richie Mo'unga both scored a brace of tries, with Jordan Taufua and George Bridge also crossing.
Winger Ben Lam scored two tries for the Hurricanes, with Wes Goosen and TJ Perenara also grabbing a consolation try in the second half after the visitors went to the break 24-0 down.
The Waratahs survived a huge scare to claim their first win of the season in a scrappy match against the Sunwolves at Prince Chichibu Memorial Stadium.
Sunwolves winger Gerhard van den Heever scored two tries, with his second in the 70th minute raising the Tokyo-based team's hopes of snatching an unlikely win.
Fly-half Hayden Parker slotted the conversion into the teeth of a fierce breeze to trim the Sunwolves' lead to a point but missed a drop-goal attempt in the dying minutes, allowing the Sydney-based Waratahs to hang on for an unconvincing win.
Wallabies full-back Israel Folau scored two first-half tries but the Waratahs may take little else from their error-strewn display.