The Chiefs stayed in contention for a place in the Super 14 semi-finals after surviving an outstanding Sharks fightback in a 35-27 victory in Hamilton yesterday.
Three first-half tries from Lelia Masaga and Tasesa Lavea (2) put the Chiefs in the driving seat and into a 35-3 lead in the second half but the Sharks reeled off four tries to give the hosts a scare and secure a bonus point of their own.
The Chiefs reclaimed fourth place in the table after they were temporarily usurped by the Brumbies on Friday while the Sharks stayed in third place in the standings.
After an early Stephen Donald penalty gave the Chiefs a 3-0 lead, Masaga's touchdown on nine minutes was adjudged to be legal by the video referee.
Donald converted and nine minutes later a charged down kick from Sharks flyhalf Francois Steyn was collected by Lavea and he touched down unchallenged.
Lavea added his second just before the break when a chip forward rebounded off a post leaving the Chiefs with a 25-3 lead at the interval.
Brendon Leonard added a fourth try and bonus point after a fine break from Liam Messam before tries from Bobby Skinstad and Deon Carstens gave the South Africans a glimmer of hope at 32-13.
Donald added another penalty before the gap was reduced to 35-20 when Sione Lauki's kick out of a scrum 5m from the Chiefs line resulted in a penalty try which was converted by Steyn.
Mark Du Plessis's pushover try secured the bonus point for the visitors and despite a frantic finale they were unable complete the comeback.
In Brisbane, the Queensland Reds recorded only their second win of a miserable season when they beat the Central Cheetahs of South Africa 23-13 in their Super 14 rugby clash yesterday.
The Reds had not won since they beat the Wellington Hurricanes in the opening round of the Super 14.
But once they got in front, the Reds showed plenty of passion and won convincingly in the end.
They scored two tries to one, with fullback Clinton Schifcofske kicking two goals and three penalties to give Queensland some hope of avoiding the Super 14 wooden spoon.
The Reds, playing more expansively than at any time this season, found themselves in the unusual position of leading at halftime when they went into the break 14-3 ahead.
The Cheetahs opened the scoring with a Meyer Bosman penalty after 13 minutes. But the Reds hit back three minutes later when lock James Horwill crashed over following a neat interchange of passes with flanker Mitchell Chapman and hooker Stephen Moore.
Schifcofske converted from out wide to put Queensland ahead 7-3 and they went further in front on the 30-minute mark when former Wallaby Ben Tune, playing his last ever match on Australian soil, took an intercept and raced 60m to touch down under the posts.
The Cheetahs hit back immediately after halftime when No.8 Kabamba Floors crashed over at the back of a rolling maul and got to within four points on two occasions.
But the steady kicking of Schifcofske always gave the Reds some breathing space and they never really looked like losing throughout the second half.
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