WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — The pieces of the playoffs puzzle in Super Rugby locked into place match by match during the last round of the regular season. The Hamilton-based Chiefs sealed first place and the defending champion Blues claimed sixth while Moana Pasifika’s best-ever season ended in defeat.
The Chiefs and Blues will now meet next weekend in a repeat of last year’s final.
Matches on Friday decided the top-three places which carry home advantage in next weekend’s first playoff round, while Saturday’s games sorted fourth to sixth place, setting up a series of competitive semifinals.
The second-placed Crusaders will meet the Queensland Reds in Christchurch on Friday; the Chiefs will host the Auckland-based Blues in a contest between neighboring teams Saturday and the ACT Brumbies will face the Wellington-based Hurricanes in Canberra. History shows home advantage is a key factor in Super Rugby playoffs.
The last-placed Highlanders gave the first-placed Chiefs an unexpectedly tough time Friday before losing 41-24.
The Chiefs scored three tries and rushed out to a 19-0 lead in better than even time. But a lengthy injury break around the 20th minute when Chiefs midfielder Quinn Tupaea suffered a head injury broke the Chiefs’ momentum and the Highlanders scored two tries to cut the lead to five points at halftime.
The Highlanders trailed by 10 points with six minutes remaining and went close to scoring another try which would have made the final minutes tense. But lock Tupou Vaa’i scored his third try in the 80th minute to inflate the Chiefs’ winning margin.
While the Highlanders finished last, the losing margin was less than seven points in eight of its 11 defeats.
Crusaders leap Brumbies
The Crusaders scored a contentious late try to beat the Brumbies 33-31 in Canberra to take second place and consign the Brumbies to third.
The Brumbies have now qualified for the playoffs in eight of the last nine full Super Rugby tournaments. They last qualified in first place in 2004, a year they went on to win the title.
“It’s been 21 years and every year we start the season and talk about top two as a goal,” coach Stephen Larkham said. “So yeah, we’ve missed an opportunity there again.
“It makes it a little bit harder for us. We’re going to need a little bit of luck to get a home semifinal but that’s out of our control now.”
Moana Pasifika falls short
The Hurricanes beat Moana Pasifika 64-12 to take fourth place. Moana Pasifika won six matches in a season for the first time, beating the Blues and Crusaders and finishing five points short of the playoffs.
The Moana Pasifika players and fans celebrated the end of their season with enthusiasm, led in song by captain Ardie Savea.
“You know, everyone doubted us, God believed in us,” Savea said. “These boys came together and we brought people together.
“We’re not satisfied. Our goal was to win the thing and make the top six but that wasn’t meant to be.”
The Blues started the last round in seventh place and moved into the playoffs with a 46-6 win over the New South Wales Waratahs who also were in playoffs contention.
Their clash with the Chiefs next weekend repeats last year’s final in which the Blues beat the Chiefs 41-10. This year, the Chiefs start as firm favorites.
The Reds beat the Fijian Drua 52-7 in the final match of the regular season and finished fifth. The Drua won four matches in the regular season but lacked the ability to win away from home.
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AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby
Steve Mcmorran, The Associated Press
