The Blues winger Mark Telea. Photo: Photosport
It's down to the final four in Super Rugby, and hosts the Hurricanes and Blues are favoured to win both semi-finals and set up an all-New Zealand title decider.
However, the Chiefs and the Brumbies are bullish about their chances, and with three Kiwi teams in action, the games also shape as All Black trials in all but name.
The Hurricanes have beaten the Chiefs twice already this season, but halfback TJ Perenara said those results will count for little come Saturday afternoon in Wellington.
T.J. Perenara of the Hurricanes during the Super Rugby Pacific round 14 match between the Chiefs and Hurricanes at FMG Stadium in Hamilton. Photo: Photosport
He said the Chiefs are a physical side who will try to dominate the tackle and the breakdown, and the Hurricanes must reflect on what worked and what didn't in their most recent victory over the Waikato-based side - a three-point win in Hamilton late last month.
"It was a gutsy performance. We had 14 men for 30 minutes of that game so we can take some confidence from some of the good things that we did do, but we also understand there were parts of the game that we left out on the field that gave the Chiefs a really good opportunity to almost beat us at the end."
Perenara was part of the first Hurricanes team to win a Super Rugby title in 2016, an achievement he described as a career highlight.
"Being able to win Super Rugby for the first time for the club that I grew up supporting and the club I love is a massive thing that I look back on with a lot of pride. It's something I want to do and achieve again with this club."
TJ Perenara of the Hurricanes passes the ball during the Super Rugby Pacific Quarter Final - Hurricanes v Rebels at Sky Stadium, Wellington, New Zealand on Saturday 8 June 2024. Copyright photo: Masanori Udagawa / www.photosport.nz Photo: Photosport / Masanori Udagawa
Hurricanes Clark Laidlaw said 32-year-old Perenara has been copping some gentle ribbing from his more junior teammates, many of whom watched the 2016 final as kids.
"A lot of these younger players are Wellington boys or Hurricanes boys that have come through our system and went to those kinds of games as kids. Some of them have been giving TJ a little bit of shit this week around he was playing when they were watching."
The Hurricanes have only won one Super Rugby crown, eight years ago, and while the Chiefs have two titles to their name, they haven't lifted the trophy since 2013.
Chiefs coach Clayton Clayton McMillan said that shows how hard it has been for all but one team to win the competition.
"Over those last 12 years there just happened to be a Crusaders team that was pretty special and who dominated Super Rugby and everyone else has just been fighting for scraps."
Clayton McMillan head coach of the Chiefs during the Super Rugby Pacific rugby match between the Chiefs and the Crusaders at FMG Stadium in Hamilton on 23 February, 2024. Photo: Aaron Gillions / Photosport
And he warned that favouritism doesn't mean much in knockout rugby.
"Sometimes good teams that have been the best team all year don't necessarily get the job done," McMillan warned.
The Blues have won a recent title, claiming the Super Rugby trans-Tasman crown in 2021, but they haven't won a full Super Rugby competition since 2003.
Dalton Papali'i of the Blues. Blues v Western Force, round 7 of the Super Rugby Pacific competition at Eden Park, Auckland, New Zealand on Friday 5 March 2024. Photo by Andrew Cornaga / www.photosport.nz Photo: Andrew Cornaga/www.photosport.nz
Flanker Dalton Papali'i and the Auckland-based side are determined to beat the Brumbies and earn another week with fellow loose forward Akira Ioane, who's leaving for Japan at the end of the season after 10 years with the Blues.
"He's one of those guys that when new players come in he'll put his arm around them and look after them. He looked after me and he's done it for so many others in this team. It's going to be sad next year not seeing that ugly mug every day," Papali'i joked.
The Blues will also have to best the Brumbies without injured captain, All Blacks lock Patrick Tuipulotu, though All Black midfielder Rieko Ioane is confident the hosts can overcome the blow and move a step closer to their first Super Rugby title in 21 years.
