Chiefs hold on against Drua, Moana stun Brumbies

SYDNEY :Waikato Chiefs held off Fijian Drua in a thrilling finish to lock up a home Super Rugby quarter-final with a 35-34 victory in front of a passionate Churchill Park crowd in Fiji on Saturday.

The narrow win moved the Chiefs into third place in the standings and that is where they will finish after the ACT Brumbies were later stunned 32-22 by Moana Pasifika in Auckland.

The Auckland Blues, who meet the New South Wales Waratahs in Sydney later on Saturday, sealed top spot last week, while the Canterbury Crusaders ensured they would finish second with a 28-15 win over the Queensland Reds on Friday.

Drua entered Super Rugby for the first time this season with Moana and a sell-out crowd of more than 11,000 turned out to support them in their first match in Fiji's second city, Lautoka.

The Chiefs were made to sweat as their 22-point lead was whittled down to one point over the final 10 minutes and the Drua nearly snatched a third win to conclude their inaugural season.

Timoci Sauvoli stormed up the middle for a converted try that cut the lead to the solitary point with a minute on the clock, but the Chiefs survived when they bundled the big prop into touch as Drua pushed for the winning score.

"We just feel a sense of relief more than anything," said Chiefs skipper Brad Weber.

"Hats off to the Drua. That last 10 or 15 minutes they were just unbelievable. I haven't seen tries scored like that in my whole career."

Moana also put in a passionate performance at Mount Smart Stadium but their hopes of a second win of their maiden campaign were dealt a hefty blow when skipper Sekope Kepu was shown a red card for a high tackle in the 11th minute.

A superb defensive effort, a penalty try and scores from William Havili, Joe Apikotoa