For the first time in the history of Super Rugby Pacific, every team left standing in the semifinals comes from New Zealand. The Chiefs, Crusaders, Hurricanes and Blues all booked their places over a one-sided qualifying weekend, leaving the Australian and Pacific sides watching the business end of the season from the sideline.
It is a clean sweep that the competition has never seen before. Across the various forms of Super Rugby stretching back to 1996, no single country has ever supplied all four semifinalists. This year New Zealand has done exactly that, and it sets up two derbies this weekend that will feel a lot like a return to the old days of trans-Tasman bragging rights, except both sides of every fight will be wearing familiar colours.
The Hurricanes led the way as top seeds and were merciless against the Brumbies. Their 66-12 win in Wellington was the highest score recorded in a Super Rugby Pacific finals match, and it inflicted the heaviest playoff defeat ever suffered by an Australian team. On a wet and windswept night the Hurricanes still managed nine tries, scoring five of them before halftime. Replacement winger Ngane Punivai came on midway through the second half and grabbed a hat-trick, while fullback Ruben Love was flawless off the tee with ten kicks from ten attempts. The result also extended a remarkable streak, with Australian teams still yet to win a single knockout match on New Zealand soil.
The Chiefs were almost as ruthless in Hamilton, beating the Queensland Reds 46-24. Damian McKenzie reminded everyone why he remains one of the most dangerous playmakers in the competition, finishing with 26 points and two tries of his own. The win carried an extra consequence beyond the Chiefs’ own progress, because the margin of the Reds’ defeat closed the door on a back route into the semifinals for one of the weekend’s losers.
That door eventually opened for the Blues. Their qualifying final against the Crusaders in Christchurch did not go to plan, and they went down 52-31 at One NZ Stadium. The Blues actually started well with an early try, but the contest swung when number eight Malachi Wrampling was sent off, his yellow card upgraded to red for a high tackle on Leicester Fainga’anuku midway through the first half. Down to fourteen players, the Blues could not hold the line, and the Crusaders ran in three unanswered tries before the break to lead 33-14. Veteran fullback Johnny McNicholl, at 35 and a former Wales international, scored a hat-trick and showed he has lost none of his pace. Wing Sevu Reece also crossed, while Sam Nock, Anton Segner and Savi Taele got the Blues’ points.
The loss looked like the end of the road, but the competition’s format gave the Blues a reprieve. Because the Reds could not topple the Chiefs, the Blues survived as the highest-ranked losing side and earned another week. It is a soft landing for a team that lost to multiple top sides during the run home, and it has not gone unnoticed that the Blues are heading into a semifinal having just been beaten by 21 points.
The Crusaders, meanwhile, keep building one of the most intimidating records in the sport. Their win over the Blues stretched their unbeaten run in playoff matches to 33 games, a sequence that underlines why no New Zealand side relishes the trip to Christchurch in finals season.
That sets the stage for a heavyweight first semifinal. The Chiefs host the Crusaders at FMG Stadium Waikato in Hamilton on Friday 12 June, with kick-off at 7.05pm. It pits McKenzie’s attacking flair against the Crusaders’ relentless finals machine, and a home crowd that has watched the Chiefs build a genuine title case this season. The winner moves into the final, and on current form there is very little to separate the two.
The second semifinal carries its own intrigue. The Hurricanes welcome the Blues to Wellington on Saturday 13 June, also at 7.05pm. The Hurricanes have home advantage and the momentum of that record demolition, while the Blues arrive as the team almost nobody expected to still be involved. If the Blues are to go deep they will need to be far more disciplined than they were in Christchurch, where an early red card effectively ended the contest before halftime.
The two winners will meet the following weekend in a decider that is now guaranteed to be an all New Zealand affair. For a competition that has spent years trying to balance the interests of Australian, Fijian and New Zealand sides, it is a striking outcome, and one that will spark plenty of debate about the relative strength of the conferences. For now, though, New Zealand rugby fans get two derbies with everything on the line. The full semifinal schedule and details have been confirmed by organisers.
Which two teams do you think will make the final, and can anyone stop the Crusaders in Christchurch later this month? Let us know your pick in the comments below.
This article was written by AI, briefed to report the facts, hopefully without some of the bias people bring to the job π
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