Waratahs playmakers Kurtley Beale and Bernard Foley boosted their hopes of Wallabies starting spots as their side moved closer to achieving coach Michael Cheika's pre-season target of a top two Super Rugby ladder position.
A 41-19 away win over Melbourne (21 points, 12th) lifted NSW to second (39 points) only behind the Sharks (44) with four rounds to go.
The victory moved NSW back to the top of the Australian conference, but record setting Western Force (36, 4th) and the Brumbies (35, seventh) are involved in a three-way tussle for top spot.
Force moved above the Brumbies and established a franchise record of eight wins in a season as skipper Matt Hodgson scored two tries in a 29-19 bonus-point home victory over the Lions (18, 14th).
The Brumbies, who have played one more game than both the Waratahs and Force, crashed 44-23 to the Bulls (33, 9th) in Pretoria leaving them with just one point from their two South African fixtures.
They have slipped out of the top six for the first time since round three, but still have to play both of the Australian teams above them.
"Our destiny is in our hands," Brumbies coach Stephen Larkham said.
With incumbent five-eighth Quade Cooper last week ruled out of next month's three-Test series against France, Waratahs pivot Foley and inside centre Beale strengthened their claims for starting inside back spots by unstitching the Rebels defence in Melbourne.
Though they left 16 points on the table between them with some wayward goalkicking, the duo were prominent in many of the Waratahs' six tries, as the Waratahs made it 16 five-pointers and 121 points from their last three games.
It wasn't such a happy round for the other main inside back contenders, the Brumbies pairing of five-eighth Matt Toomua and inside centre Christian Lealiifano.
They struggled to shine behind a well beaten pack and Toomua suffered the additional indignity of being sin-binned.
Just six points separate the Waratahs from the ninth-placed Bulls.
The Sharks notched the notable achievement of back-to-back wins in New Zealand with a 29-23 victory over the Blues (26, 10th).
Only two points separate the top four teams in the New Zealand conference.
The Crusaders (37, 3rd) moved to first among the Kiwis with a 32-30 away win over the Highlanders (36, 6th), while Hurricanes (36, 5th) scored a thumping 45-8 home victory over the Chiefs (35, 8th).
The Stormers (24, 11th) scored a 33-0 win over the Cheetahs (20, 13th) in a South African derby.
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