NSW fought hard, however they were well and truly outmatched by their opponents.

The Waratahs entered the sheds with an unlikely lead, the hosts overcoming a stiff southerly and slow start to hold a 14-13 half-time advantage.

That was where the joy would end for NSW, however, with the Chiefs running rampant throughout the second half.

Six tries to zero saw the visitors turn a one-point deficit into a 51-14 victory, in what was a disappointing showing for the Waratahs.

The 37-point win was the Chiefs biggest winning margin over NSW, eclipsing the previous mark of 22 points set back in 1996.

Chiefs coach Warren Gatland was confident his side would fire in the second half but even he didn't expect a 38-point performance.

"We've been training well and were prepared for tonight," Gatland said. "We were very disappointed with the result against the Brumbies, we trained and prepared well and it was important we started well tonight.

"Our second half performances have been good in games we've played and that continued tonight.

"The boys have been training at a high intensity, they were comfortable at half time and comfortable picking up the pace in the second half. I was pleased with the men who came off the bench.

"We're not a finished article, but we were better as the game went on. We were dangerous with ball in hand and had two or three times we kicked the ball away when we should've kept hold of it.

"Thirty-eight unanswered points in the second half is a pretty good result."

The Chiefs win came in the final match of a WIN Stadium triple header, the Brumbies running rampant in their win over the Sunwolves before Illawarra fell to Hunter in the Steel City Challenge.

The evening drew a crowd of 7596, rain throughout the week putting a dampener on the build up to the event.

The main game was won up front, with the Chiefs controlling the breakdown and the pack laying a platform for the backs to attack from.

Waratahs captain Kurtley Beale said it was disappointing to produce such a poor showing in the team's first match in Wollongong, while coach Rob Penney was scathing in his assessment of the performance, labelling the second-half meltdown embarrassing.

"It was very concerning," Penney said. "How does that happen?

"We witnessed it. We know the Chiefs have some strong players. We don't want to make any excuses for the group we had.

"We had six clean drops in the second half, just turned over the ball inexplicably. And good players doing it.

"Straight through the hands off the chest and into a Chiefs player, allowing them to attack. That happens through pressure.

"It's not acceptable and just embarrassing. It's tough on our supporters, people who believe in these boys, want them to do well. It's not acceptable."

The Chiefs dominance started in the opening minute, when loose forward Pita Gus Sowakula broke through the Waratahs defensive line to put his side on the attack.

NSW conceded a penalty soon after, the Chiefs hitting the lead 3-0 in just the second minute.

Aaron Cruden fired his second penalty of the match five minutes later to double the advantage, before Shaun Stevenson crossed for the first try of the game in the 21^st minute.

Twenty minutes in and with the Chiefs in complete control, the Wollongong faithful were starting to worry they were in for another long night.

That flipped immediately, however, with the Chiefs conceding a penalty to put NSW on the attack for the first time in the match.

The Waratahs made the most of the opportunity, Beale on the end of a brilliant Karmichael Hunt inside ball to close the gap to just six.

It didn't take long for NSW to add a second try to the scorecard, Hunt in the thick of the action again as Jack Dempsey barged over.

This time Hunt's involvement was more fortuitous than brilliant, the inside centre spilling the ball backwards into Dempsey's hands, who was awarded a try by the video referee despite appearing to bobble it in the grounding.

A Will Harrison conversion from out wide put the Waratahs in front by one.

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The second half commenced in similar fashion to the first, an elementary NSW defensive lapse allowing the Chiefs to burst through.

This time the visitors made the Waratahs pay, halfback Brad Weber darting from the base of the ruck and running 20 metres to cross untouched.

Weber had his second just two minutes later, the New Zealand representative on the end of a brilliant flick pass from Stevenson.

Suddenly a 14-13 Waratahs advantage had turned into a 25-14 deficit and the hosts were forced to work their way back into the match.

The Waratahs attempted to do so, however a number of breakdown errors cost the side dearly and it wasn't long before the Chiefs had extended their advantage to 18, Sean Wainui pouncing on a loose ball to score beside the posts.

The Chiefs dominance at the breakdown was particularly stark in the second half, with Gatland revealing it was a key point of emphasis throughout the week.

"Quick ball allowed [the Waratahs] to play with tempo," Gatland said. "They looked dangerous with the ball in hand and we saw that in parts in the first half.

"It was about being a bit more aggressive in the breakdown for the whole 80 minutes and we did a pretty good job on most occasions.

"There were a few penalties we gave away, we need to be a bit cleaner in terms of that. The breakdown was definitely an area we fixed leading into this game."

The visitors didn't let up throughout the final 30 minutes of the match, adding a further three tries in a run of 38 unanswered points.

The Waratahs generated very few opportunities in that period, the Chiefs holding firm when their opponents did enter attacking territory to secure their first win over the Waratahs in Australia since 2007.

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