McKenzie makes the difference for Chiefs

Super Rugby Pacific round-up

By CAMERON STEPHENS

The Chiefs will host the Crusaders in the Super Rugby final next week after edging past a resilient Brumbies side 19-6 behind Damian McKenzie's dominant performance.

The result was built on ceaseless defence with the torrid conditions limiting attacking flair but McKenzie's perfect night off the tee kept the Chiefs on top throughout before he produced a late moment of magic to seal the deal.

With the game in the balance heading into the final stages, McKenzie ripped apart the Brumbies' defence, which had been impenetrable up to that point, to set up Brodie Retallick's match-winning try in the 77th minute.

“I feel like we've won in every way possible this season and that was just a hell of a grind against a good Brumbies side,” a relieved Brad Weber said.

“It took 77 minutes and that's where your big-time players step up, Damian through the middle and then Brodie doing what he does best.”

Co-captain Sam Cane added: “It was a bit like a boxing match, both teams were throwing punches and firing shots.

“A big part of our identity this year as a team has been our defence, we've managed to hold teams out which we did again tonight.”

Amidst the heavy downpour, both sides showcased their tireless defence early on as neither could make inroads, but the first chance for points came in the seventh minute as McKenzie landed a penalty from in front after the Brumbies infringed at the ruck.

A kick battle then ensued with both sides displaying silky skills despite the torrential rain as McKenzie clinically slotted another three points before Noah Lolesio's penalty proceeded a manic end to the first half.

The Chiefs came agonisingly close to scoring the first try of the game as Shaun Stevenson deployed his magic to skip around the outside of the Brumbies' defence, but Emoni Narawa couldn't gather the pass with open space in front.

A penalty kept the Chiefs camped in Brumbies territory before the hosts were held up over the line three times in three minutes.

Tom Wright then produced a near calamitous moment as his goal-line dropout went straight to Narawa five metres out, but the brain fade went unpunished as the Chiefs spilt possession half a metre from the line to end an enthralling first half.

The theme of brutish defence continued in the second half as the sides traded penalties to leave the Chiefs 9-6 ahead with 15 minutes to go.

A golden opportunity then presented itself as the Brumbies earned a penalty to level the scores but surprisingly opted to kick to the corner and were unable to convert the chance into points.

McKenzie then landed his fourth penalty, a dagger to the Brumbies' hopes as it sailed over from halfway to stretch the lead to six with ten minutes to go.

He then produced the decisive moments minutes later, scything through the Brumbies' defence to link up with Stevenson before Retallick thundered over a few phases later to send the Chiefs into their first final since 2013.

“Gutted,” said a dejected James Slipper. “We had a good season and we came here pretty confident.

“We knew we had a job to do, it's a pretty good team we're up against tonight, and we did push them, just a couple of big moments didn't go our way and we ended up falling short.”

The Chiefs will face a familiar foe in the final as they square off against the Crusaders for the title after the reigning champions eviscerated the Blues 52-15 in Christchurch.

Despite the absence of a large All Black contingent through injury, the 11-time champions were in spellbinding form as they ripped apart the Blues to register their highest-ever tally in a finals game.

The Blues failed to deal with the Crusaders' attacking tempo early on and seemed overwhelmed by the occasion as they quickly fell into a ten-point hole in as many minutes after Braydon Ennor's try and Richie Mo'unga's penalty.

This year's top try scorer, Leicester Fainga'anuku, then added to his season tally after Will Jordan carved open the defence as the Crusaders continued to punish the Blues' error-ridden start.

Last year's runners-up finally got a reprieve as they strung together their first uninterrupted attacking set, leading to a Beauden Barrett penalty for their first points.

But that wouldn't kickstart any momentum as Jordan latched onto a beautiful Ennor tip pass to score before Codie Taylor put the stamp on a ruthless first half leaving the hosts with an unassailable 32-3 lead at the break.

It was more of the same in the second-half as Scott Robertson's side piled on the misery with Fainga'anuku scoring a stunning solo try from inside his own half before Fergus Burke's late score and two Mo'unga penalties saw the Crusaders extend their incredible unbeaten home play-off run to 29 games.

The results set up a tantalising clash for the title in Hamilton next week as the Chiefs look to dethrone the Crusaders atop the Super Rugby mountain.