Chiefs end Reds' finals dream 46-24 as all-Kiwi Super Rugby semis confirmed

Damian McKenzie’s two second-half tries powered the Chiefs to a 46-24 quarter-final victory over the Queensland Reds in Hamilton on Saturday, condemning Australian rugby to a 0-22 play-off record in New Zealand and confirming an all-Kiwi Super Rugby Pacific semi-final line-up.

The result ends Les Kiss’s tenure as Reds head coach — he moves on to take charge of the Wallabies — and extinguishes Queensland’s hopes of breaking Australian rugby’s long-standing finals hoodoo on New Zealand soil. Despite the margin, the Reds gave a reasonable account of themselves, trailing by only five points at the break with the Chiefs leading 22-17.

McKenzie, returning from two weeks out with a concussion, put the result beyond doubt with a sharp finish in the 46th minute, catching the Reds off guard with a quick tap off a penalty to score under the posts. His conversion stretched the lead to 29-17 and the Chiefs did not look back.

“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,” McKenzie said. “We had to prepare really well this week and I thought we did a great job at that and I’m proud of our boys’ ability in sticking to our guns.”

The first half was tightly contested. Winger Kyren Taumoefolau crossed for his second try of the half in the 39th minute to give the Chiefs their interval cushion, though Queensland had threatened to take the lead when prop Aidan Ross — who played 101 games for the Chiefs before joining the Reds — burrowed over from close range.

The match was interrupted in the 17th minute when Chiefs No.8 Wallace Sititi was left on the ground following a heavy head knock. Reds lock Lukhan Salakaia-Loto was shown a yellow card for the initial contact, but the TMO ruled the serious injury resulted from an accidental head clash with Chiefs prop Sione Ahio, preventing an upgrade to red. Sititi was driven from the field in a medi-cab and taken to hospital for further assessment.

For the Reds, flanker Fraser McReight marked his 100th Super Rugby appearance with a typically combative display at the breakdown, while scrumhalf Tate McDermott impressed in only his third match back from a serious hamstring injury. Centre Filipo Daugunu was the pick of the Queensland backs, though he received limited ball.

In the other quarter-final earlier on Saturday, the Crusaders defeated the Blues 52-31 in Christchurch to set up a semi-final against the Chiefs. The top-seeded Hurricanes, who thrashed the Brumbies 66-12 in the first qualifying final, will face the Blues — who advance as the highest-ranked losing side — in the other semi-final.