Wellington: The Auckland Blues beat the ACT Brumbies 34-20 in the Super Rugby final on Friday after scoring four tries.
The hosts blasted the Brumbies early in the semi-final at Eden Park, the Blues’ first try coming just two minutes later.
The Auckland side will meet their opponents in the final when the Wellington Hurricanes host the Waikato Chiefs on Saturday.
“Credit to the Brumbies, they’re a tough Aussie team. We always look forward to a test match against them,” said Blues captain Dalton Papalii, who suffered a late head injury.
“It was a physical game and both teams were sore afterwards.”
Defeat for the Brumbies extended New Zealand’s worst record of any Australian team ever to win a Super Rugby knockout game.
The visitors suffered a double blow when Australia’s James Slipper and Tom Hooper were dismissed after the warm-up.
Four quick tries in the first 21 minutes put the Blues firmly in control.
Their forwards crashed through the Brumbies line before the ball was moved wide for AJ Lam to cross for the opening try.
The home pack kept the pressure on as Blues’ Riccitelli and then Sam Darry tried to lock him down.
After a Brumbies defender was called into question, the Blues went ahead again when Caleb Clarke’s long goal gave the All Blacks a simple goal.
The Brumbies gave themselves hope before the half-time whistle, and tried Rob Valletti, who put between two Noah Lolesio frees to make it 27-13 at the break.
The Brumbies were forced to defend hard for the first 20 minutes of the second half, and the Brumbies fought back until No.8 Hoskins Sotutu crashed over for the hosts’ fifth try.
The Brumbies continued to attack, but were held firmly by the Blues pack, who piled on the pressure by forcing the defense into turnovers.
Brumbies replacement forward Luke Reimer cut the deficit to 34-20 after the defense finally stretched.
The visitors played with 14 men for the final 10 minutes, with Brumbies key Nick Frost sent to Sin-bin for Clarke’s aerial challenge.
“They got away from us early on, we weren’t clinical at the end and they made us pay with a try,” Brumbies captain Allan Alaalatoa said.
“It was a tough lesson for us, you can’t give away a lead in a final, especially against the Blues at home.”
