Brumbies oust Canes to deny New Zealand semi-final sweep

SYDNEY :ACT Brumbies kept Australia alive in Super Rugby with a 35-25 victory over the Wellington Hurricanes in an arm-wrestle of a quarter-final on Saturday to progress to the last four with the Auckland Blues, Waikato Chiefs and Canterbury Crusaders.

The Brumbies lost centre Len Ikitau to a red card in the 23rd minute but outscored the Hurricanes 20-3 once restored to 15 men in the second half to set up a semi-final against the Blues at Eden Park next Saturday.

The Chiefs earlier beat an error-prone New South Wales Waratahs side 39-15 in Hamilton to earn a trip to Christchurch next Friday to face the Canterbury Crusaders, who downed the Queensland Reds 37-15 in the first quarter-final.

The Blues, top seeds and tournament favourites, started slowly in Auckland but clicked into gear in the second half to overcome a gallant Otago Highlanders effort 35-6 and secure their 14th straight victory.

Despite losing hooker Andrew Makalio to a red card for a no-arms tackle in the 22nd minute, the Highlanders kept the Blues at bay for the first half an hour of the contest until Akira Ioane stormed over the line for the homes side's first try.

All Blacks flyhalf Beauden Barrett then crossed either side of half time and replacement winger AJ Lam and centre Roger Tuivasa-Sheck also crossed in the second half as the Highlanders ran out of gas.

"You can never get comfortable against the 'Landers, they are a side that always fights for the full 80," said Barrett, who replaced Dalton Papalii as captain after the flanker was ruled out of the contest by appendicitis.

"We took a bit of time to find our groove ... but it's great that we finally expressed ourselves and got used to playing our game again."

Barrett's brother Jordie looked like being