All the signs suggested that it was always going to take a supreme piece of individual skill to decide this one.

Chiefs fans earned their red, yellow and black stripes as they roared for their heroes to win the Super Rugby final last night.

The Chiefs have another title - that's all that really matters.

It wasn't pretty and two or three reputations suffered as the Chiefs let the Brumbies too far into this game - but they pulled it out of the fire, writes Richard Loe.

Double delight came for the Chiefs but it took all their courage to claw their way past the Brumbies for the Super 15 title.

Sometimes strange things happen that just make you believe this is your time.

All rugby eyes are on Hamilton tonight as a tasty decider and teaser towards the resumption of transtasman sporting combat.

Editorial: The Super 15 is a long, hard slog, especially for New Zealand teams that have to play each other twice on the road to the play-offs.

Of all the players leaving the Chiefs, the one who has made the most impact has been Craig Clarke, a player who in Dave Rennie's opinion should have been an All Black last year.

With one game left in the season you'd expect the number of decisions to be made by Herald Rugby Fantasy managers to decrease - but there are still plenty of moves to be considered before the Chiefs and Brumbies clash in Hamilton.

Chiefs fans are struggling to find merchandise, clothing and even red, black and yellow balloons with Hamilton fully in the grip of Super Rugby finals fever.

Here it is in black and white: during the regular season the Chiefs won the least amount of possession of any other team.

A scalper has come under fire from Chiefs fans for inflating ticket prices to this weekend's Super 15 final.

Hundreds of Chiefs fans - some queuing for close to 12 hours - have braved the cold to snap up tickets for their side's Super Rugby home grand final.

Chiefs coach Dave Rennie has beefed up security at his home so he can concentrate on the big game this Saturday.

Global warrior George Smith is delivering another snapshot of his remarkable skills which were lost to the Wallabies for three seasons in the middle of Robbie Deans' tenure.

Hamilton is getting set for its biggest night of the year when the Chiefs host the Brumbies for their second Super 15 rugby grand final appearance at home in two years.

There's a sense of the Chiefs being on track to be the dominant force in Super Rugby.

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.

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

The "dream team" label is hawked around sporting circles. We've heard it for the Blues but it might more aptly be applied to those who have been guiding the Chiefs.

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

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.