Missed tackles and handling errors cost the Western Force dearly as the Chiefs ran in four tries to one to post a thumping 31-13 triumph at Waikato Stadium in Hamilton on Friday.

The Chiefs, winless in the opening three rounds, set up the win with a blistering first-half as Lelia Masaga, Brendon Leonard and Richard Kahui all registered tries after shaking off weak tackles from their Force opponents.

Substitute Colin Burke earned the Chiefs a well deserved bonus point in the 82nd minute when he barged over the line to notch the home side's fourth try of the match.

But the Chiefs' first win of the season could come at a cost, with fullback Sosene Anesi suffering an injury to his right shoulder midway through the second half.

The Force, sensational in their 25-16 bonus-point win over the Brumbies last week, simply had no answers to the Chiefs' explosive backline in a match played at a frenetic pace.

It took the Chiefs just 45 seconds to notch the opening try of the match, with winger Masaga shaking off tackles from Cameron Shepherd, Matt Giteau and Drew Mitchell to cross over.

Penalties from Giteau and Shepherd closed the gap to 7-6 as the Force slowly worked their way back into the contest but their good work was undone in the final 10 minutes of the first half as the Chiefs crossed for another two tries.

Halfback Leonard crossed in the 33rd minute after a great break by flyhalf Stephen Donald, who sliced through the Force defence to set up his teammate for the easiest of tries.

And five minutes later, winger Sitiveni Sivivatu escaped the clutches of a diving Ryan Cross to set up centre Kahui, with Donald's third conversion of the match making it 21-6 at half-time.

The Force closed the gap to 21-13 in the 55th minute when the Chiefs spilled Josh Valentine's high bomb and flanker Tamaiti Horua scooped on the loose ball and ran 20m to score the visitors' first try.

Donald's 58th-minute penalty gave the Chiefs some breathing space at 24-13 but the Chiefs were put on the back foot for the next 10 minutes as the Force, led by Giteau, tested the home side's defence.

But it was the Chiefs who struck the final blow, with Burke exposing a tired Force defence to barge over under the post.

"You can't give away tries like that to the Chiefs," Force skipper Nathan Sharpe told Fox Sports after the match.

"We knew they were going to attack us out wide like they did, they had good success with that.

"We just didn't play well tonight and credit to them, they played very well and just disrupted everything we tried to do.

"There's no doubt about our courage but you don't want to get into those positions where you have to exercise that courage, you want to be in it from the start and it's something we didn't do from the start."

Chiefs stand-in skipper Liam Messam praised his charges after the impressive win.

"The boys certainly stepped up tonight, we wanted to do it for ourselves and our fans," Messam said.

"Tonight it finally clicked.

"It's good to get five points ... and hopefully we can build from this win."

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