Blues hold off Brumbies to set up Super final against Crusaders

The Auckland Blues held off a late surge from the ACT Brumbies to win an Eden Park thriller 20-19 on Saturday and set up an all-New Zealand Super Rugby final against the Canterbury Crusaders at the same ground next week.

The Blues had a 20-7 lead at halftime but were held scoreless after the break as the Canberra-based Brumbies scored two tries off lineout drives to cut the deficit to a single point with three minutes to play.

The home survived, however, and tries from Hoskins Sotutu and Mark Telea as well as 10 points from the boot of Stephen Perofeta proved just enough for a 15th successive Blues victory and a spot in the title decider.

The Crusaders marched into the final with a 20-7 win over the Waikato Chiefs built on stonewall defence in Friday's first semi-final.