Josh Beehre of the Blues scores. Chiefs v Blues, Super Rugby Pacific Qualifying Final at FMG Stadium Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand on Saturday 7 June 2025. Copyright Photo: Jeremy Ward / www.photosport.nz Photo: Jeremy Ward
The Blues needed to win to give themselves a chance to defend their title - tonight they faced the Chiefs in front of a hostile Hamilton crowd and with an eye on winning a title that had eluded them for the last two seasons.
The Blues have left it till the last possible moment to keep their season alive, beating the Chiefs 20-19 in a thrilling match in Hamilton. Deep into injury time, Josh Beehre managed to power his way over through the desperate Chiefs defence, with Beauden Barrett's conversion sealing the upset victory.
The result also means the other match tonight between the Brumbies and Hurricanes is now a knockout match, with the winner facing the Chiefs next weekend.
It will be a very satisfying result as well as a relief for the Blues and coach Vern Cotter, who have endured a torrid season as defending champions.
The first half had a test match feel about it, not least because both sides had no hesitation in shooting for goal at the earliest possible opportunity.
While Damian McKenzie eventually added two more for the Chiefs, they really should have had a lot more on the board as they completely dominated territory.
A lot of why they couldn't get across the try line was admittedly due to some tough Blues defence, however they absolutely bombed three clear chances. The most egregious came after Daniel Rona had made a fantastic break, then sent a perfect centring kick back infield that found Cortez Ratima all alone 10 metres out from the line. However, the halfback just couldn't hold onto the ball and knocked on.
Earlier, Caleb Clarke almost handed the Chiefs a try with a very ill-judged quick throw-in that went over everyone's heads and was eventually fumbled by Etene Nanai-Seturo with the line open.
However, the Blues were guilty of bombing their only real try-scoring chance of the half too, with Beauden Barrett producing a bit of magic to kick ahead and then find himself just needing to pick the ball up to score.
However, Barrett went to dive on it instead and knocked on to hand the ball back to the Chiefs as the half expired.
McKenzie and Barrett traded penalties after the break but it wasn't till the 58th minute that the game got its first try. The Chiefs enjoyed a long stretch with the ball in the Blues' 22, finally finishing a move off when Daniel Rona hit the line and stepped his way over.
However, any thoughts of the Chiefs dominating from then on were swept aside by a Blues side that started playing like their season depended on it. The forwards won a decent chunk of territory and a penalty, which Kurt Eklund eventually dove over from the ensuing attack.
The Chiefs then had to withstand a storm of Blues attack, first surviving a Hoskins Sotutu try that was rubbed out by the TMO for a double movement. Unfortunately for the big home crowd, the Chiefs were under penalty advantage, which kept the Blues on the attack for Beehre's ultimate heroics.
The win now sends the Blues down to Christchurch next weekend for a semi-final against the Crusaders.
Read how the game unfolded with RNZ's live blog:
Team lists
Chiefs: 1. Aidan Ross, 2. Samisoni Taukei'aho, 3. George Dyer, 4. Naitoa Ah Kuoi, 5. Tupou Vaa'i, 6. Samipeni Finau, 7. Luke Jacobson, 8. Simon Parker, 9. Cortez Ratima, 10. Damian McKenzie, 11. Leroy Carter, 12. Gideon Wrampling, 13. Daniel Rona, 14. Emoni Narawa, 15. Shaun Stevenson
Bench: 16. Brodie McAlister, 17. Ollie Norris, 18. Reuben O'Neill, 19. Josh Lord, 20. Wallace Sititi, 21. Xavier Roe, 22. Josh Jacomb, 23. Etene Nanai-Seturo
Blues: 1. Joshua Fusitu'a, 2. Ricky Riccitelli, 3. Marcel Renata, 4. Patrick Tuipulotu (c), 5. Laghlan McWhannell, 6. Adrian Choat, 7. Dalton Papali'i, 8. Hoskins Sotutu, 9. Finlay Christie, 10. Beauden Barrett, 11. Caleb Clarke, 12. AJ Lam, 13. Rieko Ioane, 14. Mark Tele'a, 15. Corey Evans
Bench: 16. Kurt Eklund, 17. Jordan Lay, 18. Angus Ta'avao, 19. Josh Beehre, 20. Anton Segner, 21. Sam Nock, 22. Harry Plummer, 23. Cole Forbes
