The Blues were too strong for the Brumbies in the first semifinal of Super Rugby Pacific 2024 with a 34-20 victory at Eden Park.
It was the home side starting well which won the Blues the match with four tries in the space of 21 minutes while the visitors had a better second half.
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The loss for the Brumbies means Australia has now gone 10 years without a title.
The Blues will take on the winner of the other semi, with the table-topping Hurricanes hosting the Chiefs on Saturday in Wellington.
The home side scored first through centre AJ Lam in the second minute after they sent the ball wide to cross after a 14-phase build-up.
After a Brumbies penalty strike that lead was extended to 12-3 after eight minutes, with Blues hooker Ricky Riccitelli bagging a try off the back of a rolling maul.
Another Noah Lolesio penalty kept the Brumbies in the game but errors were costly and the Blues moved to a 24-6 scorelin after 20 minutes, with lock Sam Darry who is putting his hands up for All Blacks selection and wing Caleb Clarke crossing with ease.
To the Brumbies' credit they regrouped, and after wing Corey Toole came within centimetres of scoring, flanker Rob Valetini burrowed over with the teams going to halftime 27-13.
In greasy conditions the Brumbies continued to make uncharacteristic mistakes, with the Blues' stiff defence and dominant set piece keeping the pressure on.
Blues No 8 Hoskins Sotutu landed a hammer blow in the 59th minute, although flanker Luke Reimer replied to cut the margin to 14 points with 10 minutes to play.
But the final nail in the coffin came when the visitors lost lock Nick Frost to a yellow card for tackling a rival in the air, leaving the visitors to play out the match a man down.
Blues 34 (AJ Lam, Ricky Riccitelli, Sam Darry, Caleb Clarke, Hoskins Sotutu tries; Harry Plummer 3 con, pen) ACT Brumbies 20 (Rob Valetini, Luke Reimer try; Noah Lolesio 2 con, 2 pen). HT: 27-13
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