The Hurricanes will head into their second bye week on top of the New Zealand conference after they beat the Chiefs 25-13 in a brutal Investec Super Rugby derby at Westpac Stadium on Friday night.

The win, the Hurricanes sixth in a row, was built around moments of absolute quality mixed with dogged determination at times as they made it three from three against New Zealand opposition in 2018.

There was little between the two sides in the opening quarter of the match and it took another example of Ben Lam's finishing ability to draw the first try out.

Lam, who crossed for the ninth time this season, reminded the crowd of close to 20,000 just how dangerous he can be from distance as he left the defence behind before bursting through three attempted tackles to score.

Both sides had their chances for the remainder of the half but could not quite finish them off, although it looked like the Hurricanes would take a decent advantage into the break when Jordie Barrett sped away to score under the posts only to be called back for another player being ruled offside.

What could have been 17-3 instead turned into 10-6 lead at half-time but the Hurricanes increased the margin when Beauden Barrett scooped up the ball on the run before kicking through and just beating Brodie Retallick to the ball to score.

A superb team try, finished off by Ngani Laumpae from a Beauden Barrett cross-kick, extended the lead but the Chiefs showed the character they have all season to fight back and reduce the margin to nine before Jordie Barrett topped it off for the home side on the hooter to give them the win.

Hurricanes head coach Chris Boyd was not entirely happy with the performance, believing they kicked away a little too much possession, but he was delighted with the result knowing how important it was to win the New Zealand conference matches at home.

He praised the players  for the way they applied themselves at key moments of the match and believed they would continue to improve after they return from the bye.
 

Hurricanes 25 (Ben Lam, Beauden Barrett, Ngani Laumape tries; Jordie Barrett 2 con, 2 pen) Chiefs 13 (Lachlan Boshier try; Damian McKenzie 2 pen, con). HT: 10-6.