Super Rugby Pacific will crown its 2026 champion from an all-New Zealand cast after the qualifying finals went to form, with the Chiefs and Crusaders booking semi-final spots alongside the table-topping Hurricanes and a Blues side through by the back door.
The Chiefs accounted for the Queensland Reds 46-24 in Hamilton, pulling clear with a second-half surge after the visitors had matched them early. Damian McKenzie kicked and ran the home side home with two tries, with Kyran Taumoefolau also crossing twice and Samisoni Taukei'aho and Isaac Hutchinson adding the others. Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, Aidan Ross and Matt Faessler scored for the Reds, whose campaign ended with skipper Fraser McReight prominent in a losing cause.
McKenzie was quick to credit the beaten side. "The Reds are a quality side and we've had many battles against them in the past in play-offs and we knew they were going to come out firing and they did exactly that," he said.
The afternoon was soured by a serious injury to Chiefs No.8 Wallace Sititi, who was taken to hospital after a head knock in the 17th minute. Salakaia-Loto was shown a yellow card for the initial contact; the TMO judged that the worst of the damage came from an accidental clash with teammate Sione Ahio, and stopped short of a red.
In the weekend's other qualifier, the Crusaders ran riot in a 52-31 win over the Blues. Yet the result did not eliminate their opponents. Under the competition's wildcard format, the fourth-seeded Blues survived as the "lucky losers" once the Reds failed to beat the Chiefs, meaning Vern Cotter's side advance to a semi-final despite Saturday's heavy defeat. The mechanism has drawn sharp criticism, with commentators at Stuff branding a system that lets a beaten team play on, and avoid having to beat the Crusaders to progress, "ridiculous".
The reprieve sets up a fixture few would have predicted. The Hurricanes, who topped the regular-season standings, host the Blues at Sky Stadium in Wellington on Saturday 13 June (19:05 NZST). A day earlier, the Chiefs welcome the Crusaders to FMG Stadium Waikato on Friday 12 June (19:05 NZST) in a heavyweight rematch of recent finals.
Crusaders coach Rob Penney had flagged the danger of his side's traditional rivals before the qualifier, describing the Blues as "the arch enemy" and warning they would be a threat. His team answered emphatically on the scoreboard, but the format means the Blues live to fight another week. To lift the trophy, Cotter's men will now have to win back-to-back games away from home — an uphill task, but one a side that has just been handed a finals lifeline will happily take.
