His youthful Chiefs moved back into the playoff picture courtesy of first-half tries from Greg Fisilau, Zack Wimbush, Scott Sio and Rus Tuima.
They were the highlights in a contest which failed to hit the ground running after the much-anticipated return to top-flight action.
There was plenty of huff and puff on offer from both sides, but in a game littered with penalties – 27 in total – it will be the Chiefs who take more for what promises to be a lively run-in to the end of the season.
“I am impressed with the lads, they could have got a lot wrong today, but instead they got a lot right,” said Chiefs DoR Baxter.
“We didn’t start well, we got a couple of things wrong defensively and we were seven points down. But we slowly worked our way back into the game, we scored our tries to get the bonus point.”
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