The Chiefs succumbed to their third home-loss in four outings as they were outplayed by a clinical Brumbies side 38-28 on Saturday night.
The Hamilton-based team looked far from their best, making several basic errors on attack and defence that allowed a ruthless Brumbies side to attack their line and dominate the scoreboard.
Captain Sam Cane felt that his side was “always chasing” throughout the match and that their inability to convert possession into points let the Brumbies pull away.
“We got what we expected from the Brumbies,” Cane said post-match.
“They’ve been setting the benchmarks in some ways throughout the comp and we knew we’d be in for a massive battle here tonight.
“We were always chasing it. It sucks quite frankly.”
While Moana Pasifika also suffered a 26-20 defeat on Saturday afternoon against the Waratahs, the Crusaders appeared to be back to their best as they pummelled the Western Force 53-15.
Fullback Will Jordan and winger Leicester Fainga’anuku both dotted down for hat-tricks in their dominant win, putting the side back on track as they move to their next clash against the Brumbies in Canberra next weekend.
The win sets the Christchurch-based side up for top two contention, as victory against the Brumbies would push them to second position behind the competition frontrunner Blues.
With just three fixtures remaining before playoffs, the Blues, Crusaders, Brumbies and Chiefs compose the top four, and will look to maintain their positions to give them an edge in the upcoming quarter-finals.