In a weekend where four clashes between Australian and New Zealand sides took place in Super Rugby, the gap between the two nations franchises only grew.
A 150-64 tally in the Kiwi sides favour, with three of the four winners claiming try bonus points will put even more pressure on SANZAAR to look at how many teams the Australian's deserve going forward.
It was also a weekend for milestones, with Liam Messam turning out for his 150th Chiefs game, while Crusaders prop Wyatt Crockett equalled the all-time Super Rugby appearance record of Keven Mealamu on 175.
Kiwis go five from five, with Aussies all suffering defeat
In the round six opener on Friday, the Highlanders eased past the Rebels, defeating the struggling Australian outfit 51-12.
In a dominant performance at Forsyth Barr, the Highlanders scored two tries in the opening quarter of the game through Malakai Fekitoa and Luke Whitelock, with ten points added from the kicking tee by Marty Banks to extend the lead to 20-0 at the break.
Tom English trimmed the deficit with a well-taken score, but that only kick-started the Highlanders back into action with Richard Buckman, Gareth Evans and Fekitoa also crossing for tries. Reece Hodge then scored a late consolation try for the visitors before replacement hooker Greg Pleasants-Tate crossed for the Highlanders sixth five-pointer of the game to take them past the half-century and assure them of the bonus point.
On Saturday, the Blues made it back-to-back wins for the first time this season, after they beat the Force 24-15 at Eden Park.
It was the Force who made the best of the early running and took a deserved lead thanks to Richie Arnold’s first try for the franchise, yet they found themselves behind at the break following quick-fire tries from Akira Ioane and Matt Duffie in the final moments of the opening half.
The Blues then took control of the game following a sensational try from Rieko Ioane and when Michael Collins crossed five minutes from time it looked like they would secure the bonus point win before Dane Haylett-Petty broke from his own half to score late on in defeat for the Force.
The Chiefs went one better than the Blues, securing five match points following a 28-12 win at home to the Bulls.
Three first half penalties from Handre Pollard gave the South African’s a deserved 9-3 lead at the break, but in the second half it started to click for the Chiefs, and they scored three unanswered tries to continue their perfect start to the campaign. Shaun Stevenson was first to touch down, showing sublime balance, pace and skill to collect his own chip before scoring, with Damian McKenzie and Atu Moli joining him on the scoresheet in the final ten minutes.
The Hurricanes survived having three tries ruled out to defeat the Reds 34-15 at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane.
Coming off a bye, the Hurricanes looked sharp early on and took the lead through Julian Savea, before TJ Perenara intercepted a pass and then raced clear from 80 metres out to double the advantage to 14 points inside 20 minutes. A yellow card to Ngani Laumape stalled the Canes’, and the Reds took advantage, scoring twice during his ten minute spell on the sideline through Chris Kuridrani and Scott Higginbotham to trail by just two at the break.
Ardie Savea, who later left the field with a calf injury, started to take over in the second half and it was his break which set up the competition’s leading try scorer Vince Aso to cross for the Canes’ third score of the game.
After the Kiwi side went close to extending their lead on a number of occasions, they finally had their fourth try in the 72nd minute when Jordie Barrett finished off a breakaway try to all but condemn the Reds to their fifth straight loss. Jordie’s brother Beauden Barrett completed the scoring with a try two minutes from time to secure the defending champions fourth bonus point victory of the season.
On Sunday, the Crusaders completed a perfect weekend for the New Zealand franchise with a 41-22 defeat of the Waratahs in Sydney.
Poor kicking and disastrous defence from the home side helped the Crusaders build a 26-10 lead just after half-time, with George Bridge and David Havili both crossing before Tim Bateman's first ever try double.
The Tahs then had a purple patch in attack and were well and truly back in the game when Jake Gordon and the rampaging Taqele Naiyaravoro both crossed for tries in a three-minute spell to leave Daryl Gibson's charges just four points behind.
The Aussies were unable to push on in the final quarter however, and a stunning try finished off by Bryn Hall put the Crusaders up by 12 before replacement hooker Ben Funnell scored for the third straight weekend to confirm the bonus point win.
Lions beat Sharks in thriller, while Stormers trounce Cheetahs in South African derbies
In the game of the round, Jaco Kriel’s try five minutes from time helped the Lions storm back to defeat the Sharks 34-29 in Johannesburg.
Playing on the road in one of the toughest atmosphere’s, the Sharks were sublime in the opening 39 minutes of the first half, and found themselves leading 16-6 thanks to a try from Coenie Oosthuizen and 11 points from the boot of mercurial fly-half Curwin Bosch. All their hard work was undone in the moments leading up to half-time however, with Etienne Oosthuizen’s yellow card for two neck rolls followed moments later by a pushover try finished off by Malcolm Marx to leave the Lions just three behind at the half.
With Oosthuizen still serving his time on the sideline, the Lions took their first lead of the game in the opening moments of the second half with winger Courtnall Skosan stretching over to score.
The Sharks managed to find a second wave, and after returning to 15 men they levelled things up with Kobus van Wyk touching down in the corner before the kickers took over with Bosch and Elton Jantjies both nailing tough penalty goals to leave the game tied at 29-all with five minutes left on the clock.
It was last year’s beaten finalists who managed to score the game’s final points, with Kriel released down the right-hand side to grab the win which extends their lead atop the Africa 2 conference.
Over in the Africa 1 conference, the Stormers are now 13 points clear of their nearest challengers following a one-sided 53-10 trouncing of the Cheetahs at Newlands.
Number eight Sikhumbuzo Notshe grabbed a hat-trick of tries for Robbie Fleck’s side, with Siya Kolisi, Robert du Preez, Dillyn Leyds and Daniel du Plessis also crossing for the hosts in a dominant performance which once again showcased the talents of full-back SP Marais who has flourished since joining from the Bulls in 2016.