Waikato Chiefs thump Moana Pasifika to go third on Super Rugby table
The Chiefs dominated by scoring seven tries to one at Auckland's Mount Smart Stadium against a makeshift Moana Pasifika side forced by injuries into making late changes.
An emphatic second-half display sealed their win, which lifted the Chiefs above the ACT Brumbies into third place behind leaders the Wellington Hurricanes and the Auckland Blues, who meet at Eden Park on Saturday in a top-of-the-table clash.
Centre Quinn Tupaea found his way through some dogged defending early on to claim the Chiefs' opening try midway through the first half.
Moana were briefly down to 13 men soon when forward Irie Papuni and then scrum-half Aisea Halo were sent to the sin bin in quick succession for foul play.
Chiefs fly-half Josh Jacomb touched down in their absence and converted his first Super Rugby try on his fourth appearance, making it 12-0 at half-time.
The Chiefs turned the screw after the break with five more tries, starting when back Etene Nanai-Seturo chipped over the defence for a quick try.
Lienert-Brown brushed off would-be tacklers to crash over under the posts before flanker Simon Parker took a short pass to power over, both tries coming inside six minutes.
The hosts briefly broke the Chiefs' momentum when winger Anzelo Tuitavuki showed the defence a clean pair of heels out wide to claim Moana's consolation try with 10 minutes left.
However, the Chiefs bagged two late tries to complete the rout.
Captain Luke Jacobson was rewarded for an industrious performance when the flanker was driven over as the Moana defence was breached again.
The visitors then moved the ball quickly across the backs from a scrum to send winger Liam Coombes-Fabling over in the corner just before the whistle.
The defeat leaves Moana Pasifika ninth on the table, three points outside the play-off berths for the top eight teams.