Super Rugby's final four set amid mounting injury toll ahead of international season

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — The quarterfinals of Super Rugby Pacific have produced two compelling match-ups in next weekend’s semifinals, a whiff of controversy and a larger casualty ward as the All Blacks and Wallabies prepare to name their first squads of the season.

The Christchurch-based Crusaders will play the Auckland-based Blues in the first semi on Friday and in a repeat of last year’s final which the Crusaders won 21-7.

The top-ranked Chiefs on Saturday narrowly avoided a loss to the Queensland Reds who were the only team to beat them in the regular season and came close to doing so again. They will be at home in Hamilton to the ACT Brumbies who owe their place in the semifinals to a contentious decision which saved them from a loss in Canberra to the Wellington-based Hurricanes.

Hurricanes captain Ardie Savea was denied the winning try after the full time siren by the on-field referee who ruled the ball was held up over the line and the television official who upheld the decision. Replays appeared to show the ball was on the ground and Savea told former Wallaby Morgan Turinui “I scored it brother” in a television interview immediately after the match.

All Blacks head coach Ian Foster will name his first squad of the season next Sunday with question marks over the fitness of several leading players. The Crusaders alone have lost All Blacks Sevu Reece, David Havili and props George Bower and Fletcher Newell to long-term injuries; lock Sam Whitelock and prop Joe Moody to lesser problems.

Others such as locks Tupou Vaa’i and Patrick Tuipulotu, prop Angus Ta’avao and centers Quinn Tupaea and Jack Goodhue all have injuries of varying severity.

The match between the Brumbies and Hurricanes was by far the best of the quarterfinals, a thrilling and see-sawing contest which wasn’t decided to the last play and the last second. Both teams had moments of ascendancy but let those advantages slip and saw them wrested from them.

The Hurricanes can’t blame the last second decision of their referee for their loss. They were in control midway through the second half but let the game slip away, playing too much rugby around halfway while the Brumbies always were clinical when they got inside the Hurricanes’ 22.

The Hurricanes led 33-30 at the three quarter mark and seemed on top but the Brumbies won back the lead with a try to fullback Tom Wright.

“I thought when we went ahead we’d taken the wind out of the Brumbies a little bit,” Hurricanes coach Jason Holland said. “They were putting us under massive pressure with their carry but we put a stop to that in the second half and I thought we were getting on top.”

The Crusaders were impressive in their 49-8 win over the Fijian Drua. The Drua beat an under-strength Crusaders side in Lautoka during the regular season. But any hope of a repeat was brutally extinguished when the Crusaders scored two tries in the first five minutes. They rarely gave the Drua space to play their attacking game.

The Crusaders remain unbeaten in 27 home playoffs matches in Super Rugby and that gives them an edge over the Blues who beat the New South Wales Waratahs 14-12.

The Blues and Crusaders have a long-standing rivalry which has been one-sided in favor of the Crusaders in recent seasons. The Blues’ performance against the Waratahs was good in parts but may not be good enough to prevent the 11-time champions from reaching another final.

“There’s a bit of bad blood there with us and the Crusaders,” Blues captain Dalton Papali’i said. “We look forward to these big challenges. Going down there and getting one over them — you couldn’t ask for a better opportunity.”

The Chiefs entered the playoffs as top seeds but their favoritism was dented a little by their scrambling win against the Reds. They tried to play too much rugby without building a foundation and were smothered by accurate Reds defense.

Chiefs coach Clayton McMillan welcomed a reality check for his players.

“Everybody including all of our fans would have loved us to have run away with the game,” McMillan said. “But I reckon we’ll learn more from this.

“If we’d won by 20 points, I think our week might have looked a bit different, our mindset. This will just bring a bit of an edge and a realness around finals footy. Sometimes it’s not going to be pretty but you’ve just got to get the job done.”

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