Blues win late over Chiefs to seal semi
- Dave Worsley
- 13 hours ago
- 2 min read
The Blues have left it late to keep their season alive by beating the Chiefs 20-19 in Hamilton to reach the semifinals of Super Rugby
It was into injury time that Josh Beehre managed to burrow his way over through the desperate Chiefs defence and for Beauden Barrett to convert for the win. .
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The result also means the other match between the Brumbies and Hurricanes is now a knockout match, with the winner facing the Chiefs next weekend.
The first half was like a test match, but with more mistakes and missed opportunites for primarily the Chiefs to score. Damian McKenzie took the home side to the break 9-3 ahead
In front of big and enthusiastic crowd Quinn Tupaea put in another top effort for the Chiefs and even had halfback Cortez Ratima clutching for the ball with the tryline open before he spilled it.
Earlier, Caleb Clarke nearly gave the Chiefs a try with a badly-judged quick throw-in over everyone's heads and was eventually fumbled by Etene Nanai-Seturo with the line open.
Barrett almost score after a bit of magic but knocked on as ball-to-hand just wouldn't stick anywhere.
It wasn't until the 58th that Daniel Rona crossed after a long attacking passage of play. But the Chiefs were never safe as Blues hooker Kurt Eklund dived over 10 minutes later.
The Blues kept attacking with a Hoskins Sotutu try ruled out before the defending champions stole the win through Beehee.
Blues 20 (Kurt Eklund, Josh Beehre tries; Beauden Barrett 2 con, 2 pen) Chiefs 19 (Daniel Rona try; Damian McKenzie con, 4 pen). HT: 3-9.