Brumbies battle back to join Blues and Chiefs in Super Rugby semis

The Brumbies kept Australian dreams alive Saturday with a huge second-half performance to down the Hurricanes and book a Super Rugby Pacific semi-final berth against the Blues.

The Canberra side prevented an all-New Zealand presence in the final four with their 35-25 victory on a freezing night, after the Blues beat the Highlanders and the Chiefs crushed the Reds.

The 'Canes breached the Brumbies defence in the 16th minute with Joshua Moorby finishing off an 18-phase move after Jordie Barrett found him in the corner with a cross-field kick.

But despite a red card to centre Len Ikitau for a high-tackle, the Brumbies refused to give up with Folau Fainga'a dotting down from a trademark rolling maul before Irae Simone found a gap in the defence to rock the visitors with two quick tries.

Moorby ran in his second of the night to send the 'Canes to the break 22-15 in front. But the Brumbies struck back with two penalty goals from Noah Lolesio after the restart, before Tom Banks and Tom Wright crossed to seal a huge win.

"It was an awesome effort, we spoke about our finishers coming on in the last 20 minutes and doing the job for us and we definitely saw that tonight," said Brumbies skipper Allan Alaalatoa.

"It's great for us moving forward into next week."

They will face the Blues at Eden Park for a place in the final after the in-form Auckland side overcame a nervous start to race past the Highlanders 35-6.

Having qualified in top spot for the quarter-finals, the Blues looked rattled as they trailed 6-0 after half an hour. But they found their rhythm to power home, boosted by two tries to star playmaker Beauden Barrett.

They have now notched 14 straight victories, although they only discovered their attacking fluency after Highlanders