Rugby-Brumbies oust Canes to deny New Zealand semi-final sweep

The Brumbies lost centre Len Ikitau to a red card in the 23rd minute but outscored the Hurricanes 20-3 once restored to 15 men in the second half to set up a semi-final against the Blues at Eden Park next Saturday. The Chiefs earlier beat an error-prone New South Wales Waratahs side 39-15 in Hamilton to earn a trip to Christchurch next Friday to face the Canterbury Crusaders, who downed the Queensland Reds 37-15 in the first quarter-final.

ACT Brumbies kept Australia alive in Super Rugby with a 35-25 victory over the Wellington Hurricanes in an arm-wrestle of a quarter-final on Saturday to progress to the last four with the Auckland Blues, Waikato Chiefs, and Canterbury Crusaders. The Brumbies lost center Len Ikitau to a red card in the 23rd minute but outscored the Hurricanes 20-3 once restored to 15 men in the second half to set up a semi-final against the Blues at Eden Park next Saturday.

The Chiefs earlier beat an error-prone New South Wales Waratahs side 39-15 in Hamilton to earn a trip to Christchurch next Friday to face the Canterbury Crusaders, who downed the Queensland Reds 37-15 in the first quarter-final. The Blues, top seeds and tournament favorites, started slowly in Auckland but clicked into gear in the second half to overcome a gallant Otago Highlanders effort 35-6 and secure their 14th straight victory.

Despite losing hooker Andrew Makalio to a red card for a no-arms tackle in the 22nd minute, the Highlanders kept the Blues at bay for the first half an hour of the contest until Akira Ioane stormed over the line for the homes side's first try. All Blacks flyhalf Beauden Barrett then crossed either side of half time and replacement winger AJ Lam and centre Roger Tuivasa-Sheck also crossed in the second half as the Highlanders ran out of gas.

"You can never get comfortable against the 'Landers, they are a side that always fights for the full 80," said Barrett, who replaced Dalton Papalii as captain after the flanker was ruled out of the contest by appendicitis. "We took a bit of time to find our groove ... but it's great that we finally expressed ourselves and got used to playing our game again."

Barrett's brother Jordie looked like being as influential for the Hurricanes in Canberra, kicking five penalties and producing a pinpoint crosskick for fullback Joshua Moorby to score the first of his two tries. The Brumbies snagged tries through hooker Folau Fainga'a and Irae Simone before the break but Moorby crossed for a second time to give the Hurricanes a 22-15 lead at halftime.

The Australians battled back, however, and outside backs, Tom Banks and Tom Wright both got across the line in the last 16 minutes to secure the victory. "It was an awesome effort," said skipper Allan Alaalatoa. "We spoke about our finishers coming on and doing a job for us and they certainly did that tonight."

Earlier, Chiefs skipper Brad Weber had the cowbells ringing at Waikato Stadium in the sixth minute when he scored the first of his two tries against the Waratahs. Two more tries from flanker Luke Jacobson and centre Alex Nankivell had the Chiefs 27-10 ahead at halftime and Weber and number eight Pita Gus Sowakula crossed in the final quarter to snuff out any chance of a comeback from the visitors.

The Waratahs scored tries early in each half through winger Dylan Pietsch and number eight Will Harris but a rash of handling errors at key moments robbed them of the opportunity to chase the game. "Everyone's proud of our season given how far we've come," said Waratahs coach Darren Coleman, who took over a team who lost all 13 matches last season. "We’re at base camp and we want to get to Mount Everest next year."

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