Blues belted by Chiefs, denied home Super Rugby Pacific qualifying final against Crusaders

Saturday, 30 May 2026

At FMG Stadium Waikato, Hamilton: Chiefs 59 (Kyren Taumoefolau try 27min, Tyrone Thompson try 32min, Daniel Sinkinson tries 37min, 56min, Wallace Sititi try 46min, Liam Coombes-Fabling try 59min, Seuseu Naitoa Ah Kuoi try 63min, Reon Paul try 68min, Samipeni Finau try 74min; Josh Jacomb 6 con, Tepaea Cook-Savage con) Blues 34 (Torian Barnes try 3min, AJ Lam try 40min, Eli Oudenryn try 53min, Caleb Clarke try 70min, Xavi Taele try 80+3 min; Zarn Sullivan 3 con, pen). HT: 19-15.

The Blues will have to travel to Christchurch for the first week of the Super Rugby Pacific playoffs.

A golden opportunity for Vern Cotter’s side to earn home advantage for a qualifying final against the Crusaders not so much slipped, but was rather smashed, from their grasp, in a Battle of the Bombays belting against a second-string Chiefs in Hamilton on Saturday night.

Desperately in need of some confidence after not winning since May 2 (two losses and a bye coming into this final round), the Blues will instead go into the finals on the back of a 59-34 thumping, where only Xavi Taele’s 83rd minute try for the visitors stopped it from being the biggest-ever margin, either way, between the great rivals.

On the back of Moana Pasifika’s stunning 21-19 upset of the Brumbies in Canberra just prior, the Blues knew they were locked in to face the red and blacks in the 3 v 4 clash next Saturday afternoon, it was just a matter of where that contest would be staged, with a win here to have them host at Eden Park.

Instead, any thoughts of that were quickly thrown out the window, as a hearty crowd of 19,950 were brought to their feet numerous times as the Chiefs came from 10-0 down after 25 minutes to absolutely wipe the floor of their adversaries from up State Highway One.

Jono Gibbes’ side, with the luxury of knowing they were locked in to the No 2 spot (which will see them host the Reds next Saturday night, as the top-ranked Hurricanes’ Friday night fixture now sees them face the Brumbies), had a swathe of big names sitting out, with the likes of captain Luke Jacobson and fellow All Blacks Samisoni Taukei’aho, Tupou Vaa’i, Simon Parker and Quinn Tupaea resting up, alongside a few other big names already in the casualty ward.

But it was like the boot was on the other foot, as the Chiefs came alive with three tries in 10 minutes late in the first half, then after taking a 19-15 lead to the break, stormed on with the job, running in nine tries, including a double to wider-training-group winger Daniel Sinkinson.

The Blues were also down on star power, with Beauden Barrett (quad) and Patrick Tuipulotu (neck) having joined Dalton Papali’i (jaw) on the sidelines, while Josh Fusitu’a was a late scratching from the bench, the prop having meant to be returning from a bicep injury suffered in round two, but instead replaced by Ofa Tu’ungafasi, who was able to equal Keven Mealamu’s record 164 appearances for the franchise.

With everything to play for, they started in fine fashion, the visitors, opening the scoring in just the third minute with Torian Barnes barging over out wide, cutting back back on a nice angle after some great set-up work from Sam Nock, and the Blues weren’t just their direct route-one types, as they gave the ball some air.

But, after Caleb Clarke knocked on reaching for the line soon later, things unravelled for the Blues on the back of a shocking lineout, where hooker James Mullan had numerous throws miss target or be picked off.

The Chiefs’ scrum was also big again for them, and it proved a huge moment for them on a couple of second-half scores, where stand-in skipper Wallace Sititi used the new rules well with a tap kick from a penalty earned and charged hard and burrowed over, while later another massive shunt then had Reon Paul able to dance around an awful tackle attempt from a rather uninterested Codemeru Vai.

A couple of moments summed up the night. The first being when AJ Lam was flying into the corner, but for his best Dallin Watene-Zelezniak impersonation, when he could have dived conventionally, to be undone by a brilliant trysaving tackle from Josh Jacomb, who went on to kick so splendidly off the tee on the right touchline.

The other was soon after, in the 59th minute, when Liam Coombes-Fabling sent a long kick downfield, only for it to bounce over the head of Stephen Perofeta in the backfield, with Coombes-Fabling chasing up, slipping out of Perofeta’s clutches, and running into score.

Qualifying finals draw

Friday, 7.05pm: Hurricanes (1) v Brumbies (6), Hnry Stadium, Wellington

Saturday, 4.35pm: Crusaders (3) v Blues (4), One NZ Stadium, Christchurch

Saturday, 7.05pm: Chiefs (2) v Reds (5), FMG Stadium Waikato, Hamilton