The ACT Brumbies, who clinched first place in Australia with a 24-10 over the Perth-based Western Force on Saturday, will meet defending champions the Highlanders and the Cape Town-based Stormers will host the Chiefs, who gave up first in New Zealand during the weekend’s turbulent round.
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The Hurricanes started the match under huge pressure, especially at scrums but scored two tries against the run of play to take a 14-10 lead to halftime.
The Hurricanes, who finished the regular season with 53 points, will have to wait to find out their quarter-final opponents, with the Lions’ final match against the Jaguares set to re-jig the playoffs positions.
Given the dominance of New Zealand sides, it throws up the very real possibility that four New Zealand sides could make the Super Rugby semifinals with wins in the quarterfinals.
The Highlanders claimed the top wildcard spot with a 25-15 home win over previous Kiwi conference leaders the Chiefs.
Hurricanes top Super Rugby standings By Ana Ravulo Sunday 17/07/2016The Hurricanes celebrate in Christchurch after Beauden Barrett sealed the deal with a try against the Crusaders.
The five-tries-to-one victory left the Hurricanes in top spot overall after the Highlanders battled past the Chiefs later in the day. That gave them the bonus-point three-try advantage before Barrett put the icing on the cake with an intercept try with no time remaining.
The Highlanders had a chance to leapfrog the Hurricanes at the top of the conference with a bonus point win of their own, but were contained by a Chiefs defense that was under siege for much of the night under the closed roof at Forsyth Barr Stadium.
Scoring in the second half began with Halaholo’s try, thanks to missed tackle from Matt Todd.
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After a lengthy video review, Sopoaga’s try was confirmed, crushing the Chiefs’ hopes of a home playoff and sending Dunedin fans into raptures. It’s a big task for the so-called “second-stringers” as the Jaguares have hit some good form since the global break and they’re always a hard side to play against on home soil.
