On a night when the future of Super Rugby was cast into doubt, the Chiefs showed they were a team for the present, downing the Crusaders in a semifinal thriller.

There's no doubt about it now, the Chiefs are New Zealand's new legacy franchise after their thrilling 20-19 win over the Crusaders tonight.

Watch a replay of our live blog from tonight's Super Rugby semi final between the Chiefs and the Crusaders from Waikato Stadium.

Aaah the serenity. It was a well-worn line delivered by Michael Caton in a mocking movie The Castle which seems to fit Chiefs coach Dave Rennie and his conduct.

If the financial details can be sorted, Jerome Kaino wants to sign on for the Blues' next campaign as the opening bid in his attempt to make the 2015 Rugby World Cup.

Few players combine the power and dexterity Chiefs prop Ben Tameifuna showed when he barged across for two tries against the Blues.

Kieran Read last year watched the Crusaders' semifinal defeat to the Chiefs in Hamilton from the discomfort of his couch.

The Brumbies are eyeing the Bulls' revamped lineout as a potential pressure point ahead of tomorrow's knock-out Super rugby semifinal.

Todd Blackadder lives in a house about a kilometre from Crusaders' headquarters in suburban Christchurch.

What is shaping up as an epic semifinal deserves a similarly gigantic subplot.

With Herald Fantasy Rugby allowing managers a maximum of six players from one team it's time to stack up heavily on the remaining four teams.

The swagger has come from the Crusaders, the stagger from the Chiefs.

The Chiefs will be without the injured Tim Nanai-Williams when they take on the rapidly improving Crusaders' midfield in Saturday's Super rugby semifinal.

The Blues have been boosted by Benji Marshall's positive reaction about playing Super 15 rugby next season and have made an offer to the Kiwi five-eighth.

Tracey Nelson looks at the key statistics from the Crusaders thrashing of the Reds on Satutrday.

The Chiefs are aware of the awakening monster that is the Crusaders forward pack but are confident they have the personnel to combat it

The Brumbies and Cheetahs head out of Canberra to South Africa today with the hosts the only side who will unfurl their playing gear again.

The relentless squeeze started from the man in the No1 Crusaders jersey and carried on through the pack and into their backline, writes Wynne Gray.

Amidst the pantomime booing of the AMI Stadium crowd, Cooper appeared to get stage fright, writes Patrick McKendry. He hardly ran the ball.

The new Wallaby coach would have dearly wanted his boys to beat the Crusaders in his first match against a NZ team since his Wallaby appointment, writes Richard Loe. Bad luck, Ewen.

Referees say it's knowing when to show the yellow card that troubles them.

He warned that despite their emphatic performance in despatching the Reds, they can't take anything for granted.

The Crusaders produced a scintillating display of footy tonight to thrash the Reds 38-9 at AMI Stadium in Christchurch.

Join us here for our live blog of the Crusaders taking on the Reds in the Super Rugby playoffs in Christchurch.

For the Crusaders, the pressure of the finals series was embraced shortly after the final whistle of the Hurricanes victory in Christchurch a week ago.

A layer of talent arrived who were new to Super 15 or had just dipped their toes into the tournament last year.

When it comes to rugby coaching, Jake White wants to operate in a manner similar to the style and methods Rod Macqueen brought to the Brumbies when he worked with them around the birth of Super rugby.