Chiefs

The Crusaders won the inaugural edition of the New Zealand competition last season without a final but the big red machine have claimed six of their record 10 Super Rugby titles as hosts, with many of the finals not even close.

The Chiefs have already beaten the Crusaders once in Hamilton this year, however, and coach Clayton McMillan said his squad was heading south confident of what would be a major upset.

"On any given day, any team can be beaten, and we have proven that," he said.

The 37-year-old Messam wound back the clock on Saturday night, coming off the bench in the 55th minute in the Chiefs’ 39-19 loss to the Blues at Eden Park.

The veteran was called into the squad last Tuesday after it was confirmed Kaylum Boshier, Mitchell Karpik and Simon Parker all had injuries that would sideline them for the rest of the season.

It was Messam’s first appearance for the Chiefs since 2018 and his 180th overall, but he says he doesn’t know if he’ll get to 181.

“I’m not sure,” Messam told Stuff.

Last night's dramatic win over the Hurricanes in Hamilton leaves the Chiefs second in the competition standings - three points behind the defending champion Crusaders and five points ahead of the Blues.

The Chiefs are looking over their shoulders at the Blues, who face the Crusaders in Christchurch on ANZAC Day.

The Crusaders can secure a home final with victory, but if the Blues win their final round match against the Chiefs at Eden Park will become a virtual semi-final.

Chiefs coach Clayton McMillan admits he'll be backing the reigning champions tomorrow.

Both teams won golden point matches last week, but last night it was the kicking of Damian McKenzie - both tactically and from the tee - which proved decisive.

He nailed four penalties and two conversions in a faultless performance to edge the Chiefs ahead in a see-sawing second half.

The Crusaders had started strongly, scoring after seven minutes as they built phases and closed in on the line with strong running through the midfield.

Farid Mohammed, Digicel Fiji CEO, said; “We are delighted to be able to organise the free live screening of the highly anticipated rugby clash on Sky Pacific. A big screen will be erected at Albert Park and rugby fanatics and families are invited to come and soak the live match atmosphere and enjoy Super Rugby.”

Head coach Leon MacDonald has made just one change to the starting XV that secured their third victory of the season, 27-17 over the Hurricanes, before last weekend’s bye, bringing in Jonathan Ruru to start at halfback, with Sam Nock dropping out of the 23 altogether and Finlay Christie returning via the bench. Regular skipper Patrick Tuipulotu is still unavailable as he nurses a neck issue.

Otherwise it’s an unchanged run-on XV, with the only other tweak among the reserves where veteran outside back Bryce Heem gets the nod this week ahead of rookie AJ Lam.

With the scores level at 23-23 after 80 minutes, and after McKenzie had missed a dropped goal and an earlier penalty, the All Blacks fullback nailed a 45m effort to seal the dramatic win.

The victory reverses the result from the last time the two teams clashed, a second round match in February won by a dramatic second-half comeback from the Highlanders.

The Chiefs led 10-5 at halftime after a scrappy first 40 minutes that saw a slew of penalties and opportunities missed.

The 22-year-old is coming off a breakout performance in the win over the Blues a fortnight ago – a coming of age display for a young man who, until then, had largely under-delivered on his huge potential.

A football player till his last year of primary school, Tupaea was then a star in rugby through Hamilton Boys’ High, captaining the New Zealand Secondary Schools team, then dazzling in his maiden provincial season with Waikato in 2018.

The Chiefs and Blues have announced they will play the first Super Rugby women's game, with the “historic” encounter part of a double header before the Blues’ men host the Chiefs in Super Rugby Aotearoa at Eden Park at 4.35pm on May 1.

Blues Women assistant coach and IRB Hall of Famer Anna Richards said in a statement: “This is super-exciting.

“It is the way forward and it is great to see the CEOs from the Blues and the Chiefs be so supportive and committed in pushing this game.

The visitors trailed 26-7 at half-time but ran in four converted tries after the break to avoid the ignominy of posting the longest losing streak by a New Zealand Super Rugby team.

Damian McKenzie started at fullback but orchestrated the victory from the playmaker role and converted all five tries as the visitors beat the Hurricanes for the first time since 2018.

Centre Chase Tiatia sparked the comeback after coming off the bench to score a try in the 57th minute and then play a part in a brilliant move that led to another for halfback Brad Weber a minute later.