CANBERRA, Australia (AP) The ACT Brumbies secured the last of eight playoff spots in Super Rugby on Saturday with a 24-10 victory over the Western Force, clinching the Australian conference.
The Brumbies will host the defending champion Highlanders from New Zealand in a quarterfinal match next Friday in Canberra. The remaining quarterfinal lineups were still to be determined following two games in South Africa later Saturday and one between the Lions and the Jaguares in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
The other teams through to the playoffs were conference champions the Hurricanes in New Zealand and the Johannesburg-based Lions and Cape Town-based Stormers in South Africa. The wild-card teams were the Durban-based Sharks in South Africa and the Crusaders, Chiefs and Highlanders from New Zealand.
The Lions could finish first overall in the standings with a win over the Jaguares, despite leaving most of their leading players at home to prepare for the playoffs.
Earlier, the Wellington-based Hurricanes overcame big odds to secure a home quarterfinal, topping the New Zealand conference when they took a bonus point from a 35-10 win over the Crusaders while the previously first-place Chiefs lost 25-15 to the Highlanders.
In a thrilling finish to the regular season, the Hurricanes came from fourth place in the tightly-contested New Zealand group to secure first place, then watched the Highlanders rally in the second half to dump the Chiefs off the top of the table.
The match was played with frenetic pace and energy in a remarkable performance from the Highlanders who only returned to New Zealand on Tuesday from Argentina. The first half saw only a try to each team, the first to Toni Pulu for the Chiefs and the next brilliantly scored by winger Waisake Naholo for the Highlanders.
But the Highlanders scored 10 points in the second half when the Chiefs were reduced to 14 men by the sin-binning of flanker Tom Sanders for a dangerous tackle on Ben Smith. They turned a 10-8 deficit into an 18-10 lead during that period with a penalty to Sopoaga and a superb team try finished by flanker Dan Pryor.
The Chiefs hit back with a try to Lachlan Boshier before Sopoaga's last score sealed the win and the Hurricanes' home playoff.
''Good on the Hurricanes, they deserve it,'' Highlanders captain Ben Smith said. ''It's a great competition isn't it?''
