The Super Rugby finals series has been flipped on its head after the Blues beat the table-topping Chiefs with an 82nd minute try to keep their season alive.
Trailing by 13 points midway through the second half, the reigning champions scored two late tries, including one deep into stoppage time by replacement lock Josh Beehre, before Beauden Barrett added the extras to keep the Blues’ season alive with a stunning 20-19 win in Hamilton on Saturday evening.
The scenes of ecstasy from the men in Blue starkly contrasted the sighs of frustration and disbelief from Clayton McMillan’s men.
Not only did Damian McKenzie miss a late penalty that would have given them a buffer, the home side’s discipline fell off a cliff as perennial flyhalf bone-cruncher Samipeni Finau gave away two crucial penalties to give the Blues the field position they required. The Blues made the All Blacks hit man pay.
Rieko Ioane’s finger to silence the Hamilton crowd said it all.
“There’s a whole lot of excitement,” Blues skipper Patrick Tuipulotu said.
“There’s been a whole lot of ups and downs throughout our season and that culminated in that last season and us getting over the line and really enjoying the win. Although there’s another week for us, we’ve got to enjoy that moment because it’s been up-and-down for us.”
Rieko Ioane reacts at full-time after the Blues shocked the Chiefs at home in Hamilton, New Zealand. (Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)
The win means the Blues will now travel down to the South Island to take on the Crusaders, who made it 30 straight finals wins at home after dispatching the Reds 32-12 on Friday night.
Scared? Not at all.
“Even better,” Tuipulotu said.. “We’re up for the challenge now, and what better way to do it than in their own backyard.”
It wasn’t just the Chiefs who were left disappointed, but the Brumbies and Hurricanes who thought they would both survive regardless of their qualifying final in Canberra. But the upset means the loser will now bow out, with the winner to face the Chiefs at home.
“Definitely disappointed,” acting captain Tupou Vaa’i said. “I thought we had that game in the bag.
“I guess footy’s a strange game at times, and you can start on a high and it can humble you real quick. We obviously didn’t capitalise on our small moments. Credit to the Blues, they did a job.
“We’ve still got a life now, our season’s not over, and we’ll be back even better.”
Extraordinarily, the Blues didn’t lead in the match until the full-time whistle from Australian referee Angus Gardner.
After both sides traded early penalties, it took until the 31st minute for the Chiefs to sneak back in front as McKenzie landed his second penalty. A clumsy trip from Ricky Riccitelli allowed McKenzie to bang over a third shortly after as the Chiefs led 9-3 at the break.
The Blues started strongly in the second half and eventually cut the deficit to 9-6 in the 48th minute, but McKenzie’s fourth penalty restored their six-point lead.
It looked like the Chiefs would run away with it when Daniel Rona stormed over on the fringes and McKenzie landed the conversion in the 60th minute.
But the Blues hit back quickly through Kurt Eklund to narrow the margin to 19-13.
After a counter-attacking effort the Chiefs looked like they could wrap up the game when McKenzie called for the kicking tee once more, but the playmaker missed and the Blues never looked back.
Despite being forced to work hard for their match-winner, including an overturned try to Hoskins Sotutu, the Blues eventually pounced and scored.
