Chiefs 46-31 Waratahs: James Lowe hat-trick saves Chiefs meltdown

Chiefs winger James Lowe made sure they saw off a Waratahs fightback with a hat-trick

A James Lowe hat-trick saved the Chiefs as they survived a second-half fightback by the Waratahs to win their Super Rugby clash 46-31 in Hamilton on Saturday.

The Chiefs looked to have the game sewn up with a 32-3 lead early in the second half, only for a resurgent Waratahs to close the gap to 39-31 before Lowe scored for the third time just before full-time to put victory beyond doubt.

The Waratahs' four-try spurt, while ultimately unsuccessful, denied the Chiefs a bonus point which could prove crucial in the tightly packed New Zealand conference.

"It would have been even better if we had been able to get a bonus point out of that. In patches we played pretty well but again the consistency in performance is letting us down," co-captain Aaron Cruden said.

Lowe's late try finally secured the victory

The Chiefs play the Hurricanes next weekend in a match which could decide who finishes second in the New Zealand group, with the reward of a likely quarter-final in Australia rather than a long trip to South Africa at stake.

New Zealand sides, led by the unbeaten Crusaders, have already wrapped up the Australasian wildcards for the play-offs, while the Waratahs' only hope of making the final eight is to win the Australian conference led by the Brumbies.

But despite the second-half revival against the Chiefs, the Waratahs remain nine points behind the Brumbies who have three games to play while the Waratahs have only two left.

The Waratahs, who were behind 32-3, scored four tries to come back to 39-31 at the Waikato Stadium

While Lowe, who joins Irish province Leinster at the end of the season, was setting the ground alight with his ability to find the line, full-back Damian McKenzie was sending a reminder to the All Blacks selectors of his potential.

McKenzie, who leads the competition for carries and metres gained, was on top of his game with a hand in four of the Chiefs' six tries, landed 16 points off the boot and was a constant thorn in the Waratahs defence with his ability to create space.

All Blacks coach Steve Hansen is already sweating on the fitness of full-back Ben Smith who failed a concussion test when Smith's Highlanders lost a 25-22 nail-biter against the Crusaders earlier on Saturday.

Full-back Damian McKenzie was another to impress for the Chiefs

However, McKenzie did not help his cause with a wild pass that was intercepted by Rob Horne for the Waratahs first try.

The diminutive McKenzie was then unable to bring down giant prop Sekope Kepu who galloped 60 metres for the Waratahs fourth and final try.

Tawera Kerr-Barlow scored twice for the Chiefs and Mitchell Brown also touched down while Will Skelton and Cameron Clark also scored for the Waratahs with Bernard Foley kicking four conversions and a penalty.