WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — For the third straight season, the ACT Brumbies will carry Australian hopes into the Super Rugby Pacific semi-finals.
They face the Auckland-based Blues at Eden Park on Friday, while the Wellington-based Hurricanes play the Hamilton-based Chiefs in an all-New Zealand semi-final on Saturday.
The Brumbies have traveled to New Zealand for the semi-finals in the past two years, losing to the Blues 20-19 at Eden Park in 2022 and the Chiefs 19-6 in Hamilton last year.
With each of those defeats, the Brumbies have added to the poor record of Australian teams not having won a play-off game in New Zealand in 17 attempts. This year they will face a Blues team in top form, having lost just two games in 13 games, with the best defensive record and points difference in the competition.
New manager Vern Cotter has added an element to the Blues’ game that has been missing for some time: toughness, which is most evident in their defensive intensity and understated style. The Blues are as happy to score tries from lineout and phase play as they are from using All Black wings Caleb Clarke and Mark Telea.
There is still one missing element and the Blues tend to drift out of the game at times, as they did early in the second half in last weekend’s quarter-final against Fiji’s Drua. They don’t always end well.
They will be hit hard on Friday by the absence of captain Patrick Tuipulotu, who suffered a knee injury last weekend, and are likely to be without All Blacks backrower Akira Ioane, who is also injured and in his final season with the Blues before. moving to Japan.
The Brumbies entered the semi-finals via the closest of four quarter-finals in which they beat the Dunedin-based Highlanders 32-16 in Canberra. They were under pressure throughout the first half and trailed 16-15 near halftime. But tries either side of the break gave them a lead which they defended by holding the Highlanders scoreless in the second half.
A repeat of that performance would not be enough to beat the Blues. They need to find another gear, or a twist to their fairly measured game plan that will catch the Blues by surprise.
“The experience of the last two years will be huge for us,” said Brumbies captain Alan Alaalatoa. “Last year and last year is probably the first time the boys have gone to New Zealand and experienced what it’s like to play at Eden Park as well.
“Well, we’ll draw on those experiences from the boys who were there.”
The clash between the Hurricanes and Chiefs in Wellington looks close, closer than their respective first and fourth seeds.
The Chiefs scored 28 points in the first 23 minutes of their quarter-final against the Queensland Reds, while the Hurricanes took 25 minutes to score their first points against the Melbourne Rebels. A repeat of those starts could be fatal for the Hurricanes.
The Chiefs have reached the semi-finals each of the last two years and the final last year, where they narrowly lost to the Crusaders. That’s another advantage over the Hurricanes who lost to the Brumbies in the quarter-finals in 2022 and 2023.
The Hurricanes have been transformed this season under first-season coach Clark Laidlaw, a former sevens coach who has given full license to their attacking style. They have paced the competition for most of the season, finishing the regular season at the top of the table.
They will need to be flawless again on Saturday to advance to their first final since 2016. The Hurricanes beat the Chiefs twice during the regular season and will also take some confidence from those games.
“The Hurricanes set the pace in this year’s competition, earned the right to take home field advantage in the finals and will again be a formidable opponent in front of a large home crowd,” said Chiefs coach Clayton McMillan. “They are a well-balanced team that has high confidence. It will be a tough nut to crack, as we have already experienced twice this year.”
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