The Chiefs have booked their fifth Super Rugby final after defeating the Hurricanes in Wellington.
The minor premiers were defeated 30-19 at the Cake Tin, ending the Chiefs' wretched run of away losses in finals.
Prior to the match, the Chiefs had never won a semi-final away from home. Next week, they'll play the Blues in Auckland who defeated the Brumbies on Friday.
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The Chiefs made their mark early through Emoni Narawa, who burst through TJ Pernara and Jordie Barrett before offloading as he was taken to ground.
Samipeni Finau leapt into the air and just got a fingertip to the ball to bring it back down, grab the pill, and score on the edge of the in-goal.
"Oh! What a pass," screamed Justin Marshall on commentary.
"Holy moly, wow! What a start for the Chiefs. The work of Emoni Narawa to stay alive and beat defenders. Then, we he had two on him, just to reach over the top, nonchalantly, and find Finau – incredible."
It wasn't long before the Chiefs had their second try, this time thanks to Cortez Ratima. Ball receiver Etene Nanai-Seturo kicked the ball from 10 metres inside his half, which was charged down by the Hurricanes before the ball was passed back into the hands of Wallace Sititi who offloaded to Luke Jacobson and to Ratima who slid over the try line.
A penalty in the 15th minute extended the Chiefs' lead to 17-0.
The Hurricanes responded in the 19th minute with their first try of the match, but the TMO quickly scrubbed it out after it was found there was a forward pass in the lead-up.
The Hurricanes didn't have to wait long for a second chance, however. Peter Lakai sold a dummy to Ratima, causing him to go wide and open a hole for the flanker to run through and score.
Brett Cameron converted the try to draw the gap back to 17-7.
The Chiefs thought they had their third try of the night when Ratima scored.
However, the TMO intervened and found Finau had made head-on-head contact with Perenara off the back of a box kick. Finau was sin-binned and Perenara went off for a head injury assessment (HIA), which he passed.
The Chiefs were denied another try when a returning Finau was found to be in touch when he threw the ball back in for the waiting Daniel Rona.
The visitors found themselves in a spot of bother when captain Luke Jacobson was sent off for a late tackle on Jordie Barrett.
Marshall initially thought the Chiefs would just be penalised, as did the referee Angus Gardner who reached for his pocket to dish the second yellow card of the night.
"There's a lot of force," said Gardner.
The TMO replied, "There is a wrap but there's significant force."
"I'm happy to throw it out there, that's just my personal opinion, it's a late hit. Barrett is back on his feet. He's fine, there's no head contact. However, they feel there's significant force and it requires a yellow card, so there we go."
There was a noticeable momentum shift thereafter as the Hurricanes got themselves back into the match and got the Wellington fans on their feet.
The Hurricanes made the most of the missing player, scoring in the 55th minute.
Isaia Walker-Leawere broke the line before offloading to Cameron who converted his own try to make it a 20-14 scoreline.
They nearly went back-to-back in the corner only for Josh Moorby to knock the ball on as he dived for the try line.
That momentum swung back the other way when Sititi intercepted the ball and sprinted to the other end of the field.
He was brought down just metres from the try line and the Hurricanes thought they had done enough to turn the ball over but were pinged for going off their feet. The ball was quickly recycled and Rona scored in the corner. That made it 27-14.
A penalty with 15 minutes to go gave the Chiefs a 30-14 lead.
The Hurricanes bit back in the 71st minute when they caught the Chiefs short on the wing, sending the ball out to Billy Proctor. He rose to his feet clutching his side but played on.
Cameron missed the conversion so the scoreline stayed 30-19.
Try as they might, the Hurricanes couldn't bridge the gap and ultimately the Chiefs kept them out of the game in the final 10 minutes.
With victory, the Chiefs sealed a date with the Blues in Auckland. That match will be played on June 22 at Eden Park at 5.05pm AEST.
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