The Chiefs surged into a home semi-final against the Crusaders after overpowering the Queensland Reds 46–24 in wet and wild conditions at FMG Stadium Waikato, with Damian McKenzie marking his return from concussion with two tries and a 21-point haul. But the victory was overshadowed by distressing scenes involving Wallace Sititi, who was taken to hospital after a sickening head knock in the 17th minute. The result extended the Australian finals drought in New Zealand to 0-from-23 and ended Les Kiss’s tenure as Reds head coach before he takes the Wallabies reins.

Key moments

1 min – SCRUM CHIEFS: Jock Campbell put the kick-off out on the full in the wet conditions, handing the Chiefs a scrum on halfway. They worked inside the Reds half and forced an offside penalty.

3 mins – PENALTY CHIEFS: Damian McKenzie slotted the penalty from 25 metres out in front after Aidan Ross was penalised for offside. (Chiefs 3–0)

6 mins – TRY REDS: Under advantage, the Reds kept it patient going one off before Tate McDermott charged through the five-metre line. He was taken just a metre short before Lukhan Salakaia-Loto went back against the grain and drove over down the left edge. Carter Gordon converted. (Chiefs 3–7)

8 mins – TRY CHIEFS: The Reds set it just outside the 22 off the kick-off before McDermott box-kicked high. Lachie Anderson slapped it back on the 10, but it fell to Cortez Ratima, who streaked off into the 22. He offloaded to Josh Lord, who flopped past the five-metre line, and Kyren Taumoefolau then phased left, driving over in the corner. McKenzie’s conversion missed. (Chiefs 8–7)

17 mins – INJURY/YELLOW CARD: Wallace Sititi went down in distressing scenes after a high collision with Lukhan Salakaia-Loto while picking and driving. Sititi appeared to convulse on the ground and was attended to by medical staff before eventually standing. The medicart was called. Salakaia-Loto was shown a yellow card, which remained yellow after review due to Sititi dipping into the contact, with the TMO ruling the major injury was caused by a subsequent head clash with team-mate Sione Ahio. Samipeni Finau replaced Sititi, who was later transported to hospital.

19 mins – TRY CHIEFS: With Salakaia-Loto in the bin, Taukei’aho found Lord and the Chiefs went straight to the drive. It rumbled immediately and there was no stopping it, with Samisoni Taukei’aho driven over for another maul try. McKenzie converted from in front. (Chiefs 15–7)

27 mins – TRY REDS: Josh Nasser went close before Harry Wilson and Fraser McReight were stopped a metre away. It then opened up for Aidan Ross, who squeezed over against his former side. Gordon converted. (Chiefs 15–14)

32 mins – YELLOW CARD CHIEFS: Kyle Brown was shown a yellow card for a head-on-head tackle on Josh Flook, who departed for an HIA and was replaced by Treyvon Pritchard. The card remained yellow after review due to mitigation.

35 mins – PENALTY REDS: The Reds kept the ball off the lineout and forced Taukei’aho offside. Gordon drilled over the penalty from 30 metres in front to put the visitors ahead. (Chiefs 15–17)

40 mins – TRY CHIEFS: Quinn Tupaea slipped away to the five-metre line before it spat out for Tupou Vaa’i. He launched forward and was stopped just a metre out. Taumoefolau followed, driving over low and hard down the left edge for his second. McKenzie converted from left of the posts. (Chiefs 22–17)

Half-time: Chiefs 22–17 Reds. A frenetic, stop-start first half played at nearly a point a minute. The Reds competed well and briefly led through Gordon’s penalty, but Taumoefolau’s try on the stroke of half-time restored the Chiefs’ advantage. Sititi’s distressing injury overshadowed the contest, while yellow cards to Salakaia-Loto and Brown added to the chaos. Taukei’aho was superb at the set piece, with Vaa’i prominent in the tight exchanges.

47 mins – TRY CHIEFS: The Chiefs won a penalty near the line. The Reds defence held out and forced a knock-on, but there was advantage, so the defence was not yet able to reset — but they switched off. McKenzie spotted the opportunity, tapped and launched himself over beside the posts. McKenzie converted. (Chiefs 29–17)

54 mins – HELD UP: After 28 phases hammering at the Chiefs’ line, the ball spat out and Finau knocked on trying to fly through on it. The Reds had been agonisingly close but could not breach the home defence.

56 mins – HELD UP: Treyvon Pritchard dived for the line but was bundled into touch in the corner by at least five Chiefs defenders. Superb scramble defence from the hosts.

66 mins – TRY CHIEFS: Luke Jacobson won the lineout at the tail, and Brodie McAlister went to the drive before breaking off after it split to the five-metre line. Tupaea worked wider, firing to McKenzie, who flew over beside the posts for his second. McKenzie converted. (Chiefs 36–17)

69 mins – TRY REDS: Matt Faessler nailed his lineout throw, hooked onto the maul and remained patient. He drove low, spinning around the right, before powering over behind the bodies. Gordon converted. (Chiefs 36–24)

73 mins – PENALTY CHIEFS: Finau won the lineout at the front and the Reds slowed the ball illegally, giving up a penalty for not rolling. McKenzie slotted from 30 metres on the left. (Chiefs 39–24)

79 mins – TRY CHIEFS: McKenzie ripped a flick pass into the midfield, finding Isaac Hutchinson 40 metres out. The fullback flew at the line, split the gap, then hit a step to beat Kalani Thomas and speed in under the posts. McKenzie converted. (Chiefs 46–24)

Full-time: Chiefs 46–24 Reds

Match report

The score line did not tell the full story. For 60 minutes this was a contest, and at times a genuinely compelling one, played out in torrential rain and fading light in front of a packed FMG Stadium Waikato. The Reds came to Hamilton with nothing to lose and played accordingly, competing at the breakdown through their outstanding captain Fraser McReight, finding joy through McDermott’s sharpness around the ruck, and even hitting the front midway through the first half. It took the Chiefs’ superior depth, set-piece dominance and McKenzie’s ice-cold game management to pull away in the final quarter and turn a gutsy contest into a flattering scoreline.

The evening began badly for the visitors when Campbell put the opening kick-off out on the full, and McKenzie duly slotted the penalty after Ross was caught offside. But the Reds responded with character. McDermott charged through the five-metre line before Salakaia-Loto drove over for the opening try in the sixth minute, sparked by a McReight linebreak that nearly came unstuck but somehow survived. The Chiefs were level within two minutes when a McDermott box kick was knocked back into the arms of Ratima, who streaked into the 22, and Taumoefolau crashed over in the corner a couple of phases later.

The match was then stopped for the incident that cast the longest shadow over proceedings. Sititi went to pick and drive in the 17th minute and was hit high by Salakaia-Loto, before almost instantly suffering a second head knock in a collision with team-mate Ahio. The 23-year-old was on the ground for several minutes and appeared very groggy as medical staff helped him to his feet and onto the medicart. He was later transported to hospital. Salakaia-Loto was shown a yellow card, which was not upgraded to red after the TMO ruled the major injury was caused by the accidental head clash rather than the initial tackle. Finau replaced Sititi, who is almost certainly out for the remainder of the season.

The Chiefs took only two minutes to exploit the numerical advantage, Taukei’aho driven over off a powerful rolling maul that rumbled from the moment Lord took the lineout ball. But even with Salakaia-Loto in the bin, the Reds refused to wilt. McReight won a crucial turnover that set up field position, and Ross burrowed over against his former club — the prop played 101 games for the Chiefs before joining Queensland — to bring the visitors within a point at 15–14. When Brown was shown a yellow card for a head-on-head tackle on Flook in the 32nd minute, Gordon slotted the resulting penalty to put the Reds ahead at 17–15.

It was the high-water mark of Kiss’s final game. The Chiefs reasserted themselves with a period of sustained pressure that ended with Taumoefolau driving over for his second on the stroke of half-time, after Tupaea and Vaa’i had carried powerfully to within a metre of the line. McKenzie’s conversion from the left made it 22–17 at the break — a margin that hardly reflected the intensity of a frenetic first 40 minutes.

The second half was where the Chiefs’ class told. McKenzie caught the Reds napping just two minutes in, spotting defenders who had switched off after forcing a knock-on under advantage and tapping a penalty to launch himself over beside the posts. His conversion pushed the lead to 29–17, and from there the Reds were chasing the game.

They came agonisingly close twice. After 28 phases hammering at the Chiefs’ line in the 54th minute, the ball spat out and Finau knocked on trying to fly through on it. Two minutes later Pritchard dived for the corner only to be bundled into touch by at least five Chiefs defenders in a superb piece of scramble defence. Those were the moments that defined the contest — the Reds had the will but not quite the composure to capitalise.

McKenzie’s second try in the 66th minute, after Jacobson had won the lineout at the tail and the maul had split to the five-metre line, effectively ended the contest. Tupaea worked it wider and fired to McKenzie, who flew over beside the posts. Faessler wrestled one back for the Reds off a patient rolling maul, but McKenzie added a penalty before Hutchinson sealed the result with the try of the night — collecting a miracle backhand flick pass from McKenzie 40 metres out, splitting the gap, stepping Thomas and speeding in under the posts.

“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 told Stan Sport. “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.”

Captain Luke Jacobson said the team had shown composure when it mattered. “That’s a gutsy Reds team and it was a gutsy game,” he told Sky Sport. “There were a lot of moments back and forth, particularly in that first 60 [minutes], pretty stop-and-start game but really pleased with the composure of our lads to stay on the task. Some huge effort plays in there that I thought really showed up in the back sort of 15 minutes and we were able to get the rewards from it.”

Jacobson was already looking ahead. “No jitters here. [We’re] very excited. It’s always an awesome game, Chiefs versus the Crusaders,” he said. “Just really stoked it’s here at home in front of our fans, who were awesome tonight. We’re going to need you all next week so looking forward to coming to a packed out FMG Stadium.”

Kiss, who will now begin preparations to take over as Wallabies coach from Joe Schmidt, was philosophical about the result. “You’ve got to recognise the Kiwi teams have been in pretty good form most of the year, we’ve certainly been improving week on week, and we went hammer and tong today,” he said. “I think the comp is still in a good place, that wasn’t easy for the Chiefs tonight. We felt we pushed it, and fair play in that second half they pushed it well. I’m optimistic about the comp, I wouldn’t say anything negative.”

McReight, who played his 100th game for Queensland, refused to let the result diminish what the Reds had achieved. “You look at how close the comp is, if we get one more win we’re tied with the Crusaders and we probably finish third, and that’s the reality of it and how close the comp is,” the skipper said. “I think you can’t look at just we finished fifth and had another quarterfinal exit. We left everything out there, and we fought.”

“It was a dog fight, as a forward that’s what you love,” McReight added. “There were some errors where we probably just didn’t grab it when it was right in front of us.”

McDermott, playing just his third match this season after surgery on a severely torn hamstring, was sharp around the ruck throughout. “I would have loved to have done more for the side, but it’s good to be back,” he told Stan Sport. “We’re all pretty gutted and lost for words a little bit because we had that game, and we just let go of the rope a little bit too many times.”

Ratima was excellent in everything he did for the Chiefs, while Taukei’aho was dominant in contact. Hutchinson capped an impressive display with his late try, and Daugunu — the best of the Reds’ backs in an unfamiliar role at inside centre — put in a massive shift but did not get as much ball as he deserved.

Teams

Chiefs: 15 Isaac Hutchinson, 14 Daniel Sinkinson, 13 Kyle Brown, 12 Quinn Tupaea (vc), 11 Kyren Taumoefolau, 10 Damian McKenzie, 9 Cortez Ratima, 8 Wallace Sititi, 7 Luke Jacobson (c), 6 Simon Parker, 5 Tupou Vaa’i (vc), 4 Josh Lord, 3 Sione Ahio, 2 Samisoni Taukei’aho, 1 Ollie Norris.
Replacements: 16 Brodie McAlister, 17 Jared Proffit, 18 George Dyer, 19 Seuseu Naitoa Ah Kuoi, 20 Samipeni Finau, 21 Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi, 22 Josh Jacomb, 23 Lalakai Foketi.

Reds: 15 Jock Campbell, 14 Lachie Anderson, 13 Josh Flook, 12 Filipo Daugunu, 11 Tim Ryan, 10 Carter Gordon, 9 Tate McDermott, 8 Harry Wilson, 7 Fraser McReight (c), 6 Joe Brial, 5 Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, 4 Josh Canham, 3 Zane Nonggorr, 2 Josh Nasser, 1 Aidan Ross.
Replacements: 16 Matt Faessler, 17 George Blake, 18 Massimo De Lutiis, 19 Hamish Muller, 20 Vaiuta Latu, 21 Kalani Thomas, 22 Ben Volavola, 23 Treyvon Pritchard.

Match details

Chiefs 46 (Tries: Taumoefolau 8’ 40’, Taukei’aho 19’, McKenzie 47’ 66’, Hutchinson 79’; Conversions: McKenzie 5/6; Penalties: McKenzie 2/2)
Reds 24 (Tries: Salakaia-Loto 6’, Ross 27’, Faessler 69’; Conversions: Gordon 3/3; Penalties: Gordon 1/1)
Half-time: 22–17
Yellow cards: Salakaia-Loto 17’ (Reds — high tackle on Sititi), Brown 32’ (Chiefs — head-on-head on Flook)

Venue: FMG Stadium Waikato, Hamilton
Referee: James Doleman (New Zealand). Assistant referees: Marcus Playle, Fraser Hannon. TMO: Glenn Newman.

What’s next

The semi-finals are confirmed as all-New Zealand affairs. The Chiefs will host the Crusaders at FMG Stadium Waikato on Friday 12 June (7.05pm NZST), in a rematch of last year’s grand final. The Hurricanes will host the Blues at Hnry Stadium on Saturday 13 June (7.05pm NZST), with the fourth-seeded Blues advancing as the lucky loser despite four consecutive defeats.