Hamilton versus Canberra

Oh what an amazing couple of matches that went down on the weekend.

In case you were living under a rock or just a hater of the original oval ball sport, then here's what went down.

Firstly the Chiefs overcame a dogged Crusaders outfit that had just begun to hit their stride and were peaking at the right time.

Then the Brumbies did the impossible and came away with the victory from the fortress that is Loftus Versfeld.

OK, to begin with, I am a Stormers and a Springbok fan to the core. I will always cheer for the South African teams.

EXCEPT...

if the team that they are playing has a Fijian in the ranks. That's when my loyalties get spliced up and divided, sometimes disproportionately.

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I was happy that Chiefs and Crusaders were meeting up in one semi-final because it denied an all-New Zealand final which would have been boring. Especially considering the world champions domination on world rugby at the moment.

The Chiefs had to contend with a dogged 'Saders effort in the opening exchanges to run in two well-taken tries.

Dan Carter was a bit shaky from the tee and missed a couple of shots at goal that would have been bread-and-butter for him, on a good day.

The 'Saders, being the class outfit that they are, dug deep and came at the Chiefs with everything in the final quarter but the Chiefs defended stoutly.

One point.

That's as close of a winning that you're likely to see in any sport. And yes it hurt the 'Saders.

Said their coach, Todd Blackadder:

"It comes down to those critical decision-making errors on the field. It comes down to key moments. Probably the difference is that the Chiefs took their two (tryscoring) opportunities and we didn't quite nail ours."

 So with no major injury worries for the side, they go into the final knowing that they would be hosting because of the top-of-the-log finish at the end of the regular season.

The scorers:

For Chiefs:

Tries: Masaga, Cruden

Cons: Cruden 2

Pen: Cruden 2

For Crusaders:

Try: Dagg

Con: Carter

Pen: Carter 4

Chiefs: 15 Gareth Anscombe, 14 Lelia Masaga, 13 Charlie Ngatai, 12 Andrew Horrell, 11 Asaeli Tikoirotuma, 10 Aaron Cruden, 9 Tawera Kerr-Barlow, 8 Matt Vant Leven, 7 Tanerau Latimer, 6 Liam Messam, 5 Brodie Retallick, 4 Craig Clarke, 3 Ben Tameifuna, 2 Hika Elliot, 1 Toby Smith.

Replacements: 16 Rhys Marshall, 17 Ben Afeaki, 18 Michael Fitzgerald, 19 Sam Cane, 20 Augustine Pulu, 21 Bundee Aki, 22 Robbie Robinson.

Crusaders: 15 Israel Dagg, 14 Tom Marshall, 13 Ryan Crotty, 12 Tom Taylor, 11 Zac Guildford, 10 Dan Carter, 9 Andy Ellis, 8 Kieran Read (c), 7 Matt Todd, 6 George Whitelock, 5 Sam Whitelock, 4 Luke Romano, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Corey Flynn, 1 Wyatt Crockett.

Replacements: 16 Ben Funnell, 17 Joe Moody, 18 Luke Whitelock, 19 Richie McCaw, 20 Willi Heinz, 21 Tyler Bleyendaal, 22 Adam Whitelock.

Referee: Steve Walsh (Australia)

Assistant referees: Glen Jackson, Chris Pollock

TMO: Glenn Newman

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And then, attention turned to Pretoria as the next match prepared to get under way.

The Brumbies, who topped the Australian conference, were always going to be the underdog in this clash because they had never won at Loftus since 2006 and the odds were well and truly stacked against them.

Buoyed by the two Fiji boys, Henry and Tevita, the Brumbies were on the back-foot for a major part of the match.

The Bulls must have had a gameplan of stifling the Brumbies attack and keeping them pinned deep in their own half.

Why else would captain Dewalt Potgeiter forego kickable penalty chances to go for a lineout in the corner?

"We tried to spend most of the time in their territory and it was working for us right up to the end - when we took the penalty and we were back in our own half. We just could not exit [our half] from there. We'd been struggling the whole match with our exits - so that was basically the reasoning behind that. [It is] not always a popular choice, but you've got to back what you want to do and the guys were of the same mindset at that time."

As I watched this transpire, I thought to myself that it would hurt heaps if the Bulls lost the match by 3 points or less.

And yes, they lost by 3.

They had been leading for a majority of the match due to the boot of Morne Steyn but the try by Kuridrani after the Leali'ifano break, with two minutes to go, was the knife that plunged deep into the heart of the Bulls faithful.

The scorers:

For Bulls:

Tries: Engelbrecht

Pen: Steyn 6

For Brumbies:

Try: Mogg, Kuridrani

Con: Leali'ifano 2

Pen: Leali'ifano 4

Bulls: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Akona Ndungane, 13 JJ Engelbrecht, 12 Jan Serfontein, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Mornè Steyn, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 Dewald Potgieter (c), 7 Jacques Potgieter, 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Grant Hattingh, 4 Flip van der Merwe, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 1 Dean Greyling.

Replacements: 16 Callie Visagie, 17 Frik Kirsten, 18 Mornè Mellett, 19 Paul Willemse, 20 Jono Ross, 21 Jano Vermaak, 22 Jürgen Visser.

Brumbies: 15 Jesse Mogg, 14 Henry Speight, 13 Tevita Kuridrani, 12 Christian Lealiifano, 11 Clyde Rathbone, 10 Matt Toomua, 9 Nic White, 8 Ben Mowen (c), 7 George Smith, 6 Peter Kimlin, 5 Sam Carter, 4 Scott Fardy, 3 Ben Alexander, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Scott Sio.

Replacements: 16 Siliva Siliva, 17 Ruan Smith, 18 Fotu Auelua, 19 Colby Faingaa, 20 Ian Prior, 21 Andrew Smith, 22 Joe Tomane.

Referee: Craig Joubert

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And so it turns out it's going to be Asaeli Tikoirotuma, Patrick Osborne, Save Tokula and Maritino Nemani versus Henry Speight and Tevita Kuridrani.

Can't wait.