Blues do Crusaders favour by holding off NSW's bonus point

New South Wales surrendered home advantage for the Super 12 rugby final despite beating the Blues 25-20 at Aussie Stadium in Sydney tonight.

However, they will still have the home advantage in next weekend's semifinal, either against the Hurricanes or the Bulls, after finishing second to Crusaders in the round-robin.

The Crusaders beat the Hurricanes 40-20 earlier tonight and clinched a bonus point to finish the round-robin with 44 points.

The Waratahs also finished with 44 points after being denied a bonus point by the Blues, but the Crusaders have a far superior points differential to claim top spot.

The Bulls need to win with a bonus point and at least 15 points to displace the Hurricanes in third place.

Though the Blues bowed out of the competition, they put on a determined late effort to hold off a fourth Waratahs' try for a bonus point which would have seen them claim the top spot after the round-robin competition. 

Despite having half an hour to score a fourth try tonight, the Waratahs were thwarted by heroic Blues' defence and a questionable option by captain Chris Whitaker, who opted to kick a 60th minute penalty when the Blues were penalised five metres out from their line.

Whitaker justified his decision saying the team had to lock up the win first -- and there was still time to cross again.

"We missed about five or six chances to score," he said.

As both sides threw everything into a frenetic last 10 minutes, Waratahs' Peter Hewatt missed an attempted intercept and David Lyons knocked on with men to spare outside.

Replacement loose forward Justin Collins stunned the crowd when he burst over in the final minute to give the Blues an outside chance of victory and close the gap to 25-20.

When No 8 Lyons had scored off a pop pass from Lachlan McKay in the 50th minute, the Waratahs looked set for maximum points.

However, the injury ravaged Blues refused to buckle, much to the relief of the watching Crusaders in Christchurch, who earlier beat the Hurricanes 40-20 and eagerly awaited the result from Sydney

Pressure on the Waratahs was applied before kickoff after the Crusaders's result was relayed to them.

Needing four tries for a bonus point victory for any chance in the top four, the Blues themselves got off to a perfect start in the third minute on the back of 15 consecutive rucks.

Winger Doug Howlett took a pass from fellow All Blacks wing Joe Rokocoko to touch down for the 49th time in the Super 12.

Luke McAlister added the sideline conversion and the Blues continued to punish the Waratahs, who looked rattled.

NSW fullback Mat Rogers kicked a penalty wide and Matt Dunning was penalised for using his hand to bat back the ball as the Blues scrum was poised to steamroll their opponents.

Stray kicks also fed the Blues back three where Fijian fullback Isa Nacewa consistently gobbled up the yards on counter attack.

Yet for all the Blues' early dominance, the Waratahs finished the first half in front after tries to veteran Nathan Grey and new star Hewatt.

There was an element of luck in Grey's 27th-minute try after the ball bounced off debutant second five-eighth Tamati Ellison's head as a backline move went awry.

Grey hacked the ball over the line and won the race from halfback Steve Devine.

Hewatt added the easy conversion and then pushed the Waratahs in front six minutes later when he polished off a sweeping movement after Rogers was stopped inches short near the left hand corner flag.

Waratahs 25 (Nathan Grey, Peter Hewatt, David Lyons tries; Hewatt 2 pen, 2 con)

Blues 20 (Doug Howlett, Justin Collins tries; Luke McAlister 2 pen, 2 con). Halftime 12-7.

- NZPA