Waisake Naholo of the Highlanders on the attack during the round two Super Rugby match between the Highlanders and the Crusaders. Photo / Getty Images.
Waisake Naholo of the Highlanders on the attack during the round two Super Rugby match between the Highlanders and the Crusaders. Photo / Getty Images.
The Hurricanes will host the ACT Brumbies in their Super Rugby semifinal in Wellington on Saturday night after the Brumbies upset the Stormers in Cape Town on Saturday (Sunday NZT).
Meanwhile, the Highlanders, who defeated the Chiefs 24-14 in Dunedin on Saturday night, will head to Sydney to take onthe defending champion NSW Waratahs in the second semifinal on Saturday night.
Super Rugby semi-finals: Sat 27 June: Hurricanes v Brumbies, Westpac Stadium, Wellington 19:35 Sat 27 June: Waratahs v Highlanders, Allianz Stadium, Sydney 21.55
The Brumbies defeated the Stormers 39-19 but the victory was soured by a red card to winger Henry Speight for a dangerous tackle.
Speight is in doubt for the clash in Wellington after appearing to tip Stormers centre Juan de Jongh onto his head with around six minutes remaining in the match.
The Brumbies went down to 13 men with five minutes remaining when Scott Fardy was sin-binned for a professional foul, but the visitors still managed to score a try as fullback Jesse Mogg crashed over one minute from fulltime.
The Speight card spoiled a great performance for the Brumbies early Sunday, Australian time, with the Canberra side outscoring the South African conference winners six tries to one.
Meanwhile, The Highlanders capped an amazing season with perhaps their finest performance last night, knocking out the Chiefs and advancing to the Super Rugby semifinals to continue their charge for a maiden title.
Dunedin was treated to a display thunderous up front and electric out wide, with the Highlanders winning a playoff match in front of their own fans for the first time since 1999.
