CRUSADERS 27 - 13 CHIEFS
9:16pm: The Chiefs season is over. The Chiefs will say goodbye to a number of players including Aaron Cruden, Tawera Kerr-Barlow an of course coach Dave Rennie.
9:15 pm: Who will the Crusaders face in the final? The lions? or the Hurricanes?
FULLTIME: The siren sounds and the crowd roars as the Crusaders kick the ball into touch. The Crusaders win 27-13.
The Crusaders had 34% possession during the match and some who won. What a performance by the home side - and what a magnificent defensive display.
79mins: Time is almost up.
78mins: Damian McKenzie converts the try.
77mins: TRY CHIEFS: The Chiefs finally crack the Crusaders defence and big Brodie Retallick crashes over.
75mins: Five minutes to go now. The fans are getting excited.
73mins: The conversion from the wing is well short and wide. Crusaders lead 27-6.
72mins: TRY CRUSADERS: That is the ball game and Seta Tamanivalu has two. He gets the ball and attacks the corner and he stays in the field of play to score.
72mins: TMO CRUSADERS: Seta Tamanivalu goes over in the corner and they want to take a look.
71mins: Another penalty to the Crusaders who go for touch once more.
69mins: The Crusaders win a penalty and they kick to the corner. They are going in for the kill.
68mins: The Chiefs get the ball close to the line once more but the Crusaders steal the ball. They clear and James Low drops the bal cold and the home side counter.
67mins: Damian McKenzie makes a break and he finds James Lowe who finds Finlay Christie who kicks the ball forward and the ball goes into the in-goal and David Havili dives on the loose ball.
66mins: The Chiefs are pinned inside their 22, and Aaron Cruden clears the ball into touch.
64mins: The Crusaders attack and they kick high, but Aaron Cruden jumps high and takes the mark.
62mins: The Crusaders steal the ball and they happily boot the ball away.
61mins: Now the Chiefs are five metres from the line after 15 phases.
60mins: The Chiefs are hot on the attack and are 10 metres from the line.
58mins: The Conversion goes over. Crusaders now lead 22-6.
57mins: TRY CRUSADERS: Seta Tamanivalu gets the try and what a beauty. From the scrum, Mitchell Drummond throws the ball to his winger who runs a rugby league line and he crashes over for the try.
56mins: What a play by the home team. Seta Tamanivalu chips over the top and the ball bounces up perfectly for the winger an he goes over, but TKB holds him up.
55mins: The Crusaders have a lineout which they win and now they drive forward.
54mins: The small Christchurch crowd makes some noise to try distract the Chiefs.
53mins: The Chiefs win a penalty and the away side look shattered already. Hands on hips and everything as the fatigue is kicking in.
52mins: The Chiefs finally get inside the Crusaders 22. But the away side lose the ball and the Crusaders counter.
51mins: The Chiefs get the ball back from the restart.
50mins: Richie Mo’unga pushes the conversion away to the left. Crusaders lead 15-6.
49mins: TRY CRUSADERS: James Lowe goes to clear the ball and Richie Mo’unga tackles Lowe as he kicks and the ball goes straight to Dagg who scores the try.
48mins: TMO CRUSADERS: If given, it will be a freakish try to Israel Dagg.
47mins: The Crusaders attack wide and the Chiefs nearly intercept but the Crusaders keep the ball. Now the away side have a lineout.
45mins: The scrum is done and TBK attacks and finds James Lowe but the Crusaders read the play.
44mins: Chiefs now have a scrum inside the 22. Will they attack through the midle again?
43mins: Damian McKenzie gets the away side inside the Crusaders 22. Then Scott Barrett turns the ball over, but somehow the Chiefs get it right back.
42mins: Penalty to the Chiefs who have a lineout inside the Crusaders half.
41mins: The Crusaders are hot on the attack early and are just outside the Chiefs 22.
40mins: The second half is underway in Christchurch. Owen Franks is off with injury. Michael Alaalatoa replaces the All Blacks prop.
HALTIME: 40 minutes down in Christchurch and the Crusaders lead the Chiefs 10-6. It has been a physcial first half with the Crusaders defence leading the way. Only one try in the first half scored by Bryn Hall. One try was turned down which will be a talking point postmatch.
39mins: What a play by the Chiefs! Anton Lienert-Brown finds Damian McKenzie who makes a break and he finds Aaron Cruden who finds James Lowe and he is tackled inside the Crusaders 22. The away side continue to attack and now they are inches from the line. But the ball is knocked forward.
38mins: PENALTY GOAL CHIEFS: Easy shot for Damian McKenzie and the Crusaders only lead 10-6.
37mins: They will go for the points on offer.
36mins: The Chiefs win a penalty right in front of the posts.
35mins: The Chiefs catch the Crusaders napping and Tim Nanai-Williams makes a break down the right wing. Once more the Chiefs are just outside the Crusaders 22.
34mins: The Crusaders knock the ball forward trying to contest a high-ball. Chiefs scrum inside their half.
32mins: The Chiefs finally get inside the 22 after 13 phases and 13 turns out to be the unlucky number as Ryan Crotty turns the ball over - and a penalty to the home side.
31mins: The Chiefs have the ball attack and they go wide but the Crusaders defence does a great job. But all of a sudden Anton Lienert-Brown makes a break.
29mins: Another mistake by the Chiefs lets the Crusaders off the hook.
28mins: Now Aaron Cruden chips the ball over the top and it goes into touch. It came off a Crusaders player so the Chiefs have another attacking throw in.
27mins: The Chiefs kick high and David Havili drops the ball. Damian McKenzie kicks forward and he is racing Jack Goodhue to the ball and the Crusaders midfielder gets to the ball first.
26mins: PENALTY GOAL CHIEFS: Damian McKenzie converts the penalty and the Chiefs have their first points of the night... Or will the TMO reverse the call?
25mins: The Chiefs decide to go for the points.
24mins: The Chiefs are 10 out and win a penalty as the Crusaders were offside.
23mins: Crusaders kick the ball into touch and now the Chiefs have an attacking lineout.
22mins: Crusaders scrum.
21mins: NO TRY CHIEFS: The TMO says Nanai-Williams lost the ball. It looks like the wrong call. When you watched the play fast it looked fine, but slowed down it looked like a knock on. That call will come up post game. Very debatable.
21mins: The try was given, but now they want to check with the TMO.
20mins: TMO CHIEFS: Tim Nanai-Williams hits right back for the Chiefs. The Chiefs go down the right wing, and James Lowe stabs a kick towards the line and TNW dives for the try.
19mins: Owen Franks is pinned for a dangerous tackle on the tiny Damian McKenzie. Aaron Cruden kicks the ball into touch who have a line-out 35 out from the line.
17mins: Good conversion my Richie Mo’unga and it sails over.
16mins: TRY CRUSADERS: Bryn Hall goes over! The home side attack down the left wing and have numbers. Israel Dagg throws the ball infield to his scrum half and he dives over for the first try of the game.
15mins: Crusaders lineout inside Chiefs territory and they push forward and they are making big metres.
13mins: PENALTY GOAL CRUSADERS: Richie Mo’unga opens the scoring with a perfectly struck penalty goal.
12mins: The Crusaders will go for goal.
11mins: The Crusaders continue to attack and they are five out from the line. Jack Goodhue is tackled metres from the line and eventually the home side win a penalty as a Chiefs player was caught offside.
10mins: Joe Moody is put into a hole but he falls over. Then Jack Goodhue makes a break. They are inside the Chiefs 22.
9mins: Aaron Cruden then drops the ball cold. Crusaders scrum just inside their half.
8mins: The Chiefs lose ground as the Crusaders push the Chiefs back. Liam Messam then puts James Lowe into space but he doesn't go far.
7mins: Chiefs back with the ball on the halfway line.
6mins: The home side win the scrum and Israel Dagg clears. Then both sides play some force back and eventually, Tim Nanai-Williams decided to go for a run.
5mins: First scrum of the match and it will need to be reset. It is a very soft ground so we might see this often tonight.
4mins: The Chiefs have the ball on the halfway line, but the Crusaders defence is preventing the away side to make ground - but then all o a sudden Aaron Cruden breaks the line. Matt Todd makes the tackle on Cruden who drops the ball.
3mins: The Chiefs will have another lineout inside the Crusaders half and the home side steal the ball as it is thrown in and they kick it away once more.
2mins: The Chiefs make little-to-no ground after nine phases with the ball. Eventually, Damian McKenzie kicks and David Havili takes the mark.
1mins: The Crusaders clear the ball early and Bryn Hall boots the ball into touch. Chiefs lineout inside the Crusaders half.
KICKOFF: We are underway in Christchurch. The Chiefs get the match started.
7:34 pm: Now here come the home team!
7:33 pm: Here come the Chiefs!
7:32 pm: This will be a battle of the forwards with a number of All Blacks taking part in the match.
7:30 pm: Very small crowd tonight considering this might be the last Super Rugby macth in New Zealand for 2017.
7:26 pm: Kickoff is less than 10 minutes away in Christchurch. The winner of this match will face the Lions or the Hurricanes in the Super Rugby final.
Kia ora and welcome to live updates of the Crusaders hosting the Chiefs at AMI Stadium in Christchurch.
We bring you live streaming written commentary, video highlights (be sure to refresh your browser) and all the action. VIDEO will be available as soon as the final whistle goes.
Commentary will start from around 7:30 pm (NZT). In the meantime check out the video above as Newshub rugby reporter Ross Karl previews the big clash between the Crusaders and the Chiefs.
Lineups
Crusaders
1. Joe Moody, 2. Codie Taylor, 3. Owen Franks, 4. Scott Barrett, 5. Sam Whitelock (c), 6. Jordan Taufua, 7. Matt Todd, 8. Kieran Read, 9. Bryn Hall, 10. Richie Mo’unga, 11. Seta Tamanivalu, 12. Ryan Crotty, 13. Jack Goodhue, 14. Israel Dagg, 15. David Havili
Reserves: 16. Ben Funnell, 17. Wyatt Crockett, 18. Michael Alaalatoa, 19. Luke Romano, 20. Pete Samu, 21. Mitchell Drummond, 22. Mitchell Hunt, 23. George Bridge
Chiefs
1. Kane Hames, 2. Hika Elliot, 3. Nepo Laulala, 4. Mitchell Brown, 5. Brodie Retallick, 6. Liam Messam, 7. Sam Cane (cc), 8. Michael Leitch, 9. Tawera Kerr-Barlow, 10. Aaron Cruden (cc), 11. James Lowe, 12. Charlie Ngatai, 13. Anton Lienert-Brown, 14. Tim Nanai-Williams, 15. Damian McKenzie
Reserves: 16. Liam Polwart, 17. Aidan Ross, 18. Atu Moli, 19. Dominic Bird, 20. Lachlan Boshier, 21. Finlay Christie, 22. Stephen Donald, 23. Shaun Stevenson
Match facts and stats
Referee: Glen Jackson
Assistants: Angus Gardner and Ben O’Keeffe
TMO: Glenn Newman
The Crusaders won 31-24 when these teams met in Round 13 this season, their first win against the Chiefs since 2014; they’ll now be looking for back-to-back wins against them for the first time since Round 14, 2011.
This will be the third Finals meeting between these teams after they met in the semi-finals of both 2012 and 2013, the Chiefs earning wins in both but by no more than three points on either occasion.
The Crusaders have never lost a Finals fixture when playing as the home team on the day (W17).
The Crusaders (17m 47secs) average the most time in possession of any team so far this season, while the Chiefs (14m 19secs) average the least.
Only Damian McKenzie (74) has beaten more defenders than David Havili (58) so far this campaign.
James Lowe has made 37 clean breaks so far this season, four more than any other player, and has found the try line in five of his last six games against the Crusaders.
Past meetings
Head to head: Played 30, Crusaders 17, Chiefs 13, draws 0
In Christchurch: Played 13, Crusaders 8, Chiefs 5, draws 0
Last time played: Crusaders 31 def Chiefs 24, May 19, 2017
Head-to-head: Crusaders - $1.26 Chiefs - $3.75
Prematch banter - Midfielder Seta Tamanivalu re-signs with Crusaders
Powerful back Seta Tamanivalu has signed on for a second Super Rugby season with the Crusaders.
Tamanivalu says the decision was a relatively straight-forward one when he thought about how much he has been enjoying this first year with the team.
"I have been loving playing for this team and learning from the coaches and players around me," he said.
"This has been such a special season for all of us at the Crusaders with so many highlights and great memories, and the best is yet to come.
"There were options to go overseas, but I am not ready to walk away from all of the good stuff here just yet."
Fiji-born Tamanivalu joined the Chiefs in 2015, moving south to play his third Super Rugby season with the Christchurch-based Crusaders this year. He played three Tests for the All Blacks against Wales last year.
Crusaders coach Scott Robertson says Tamanivalu has made important contributions on and off the field.
"Seta came here with a winning attitude and a desire to make an impact on this team, and there's no doubt that he has done that," he said.
"We're excited that we will be able to continue working with his natural talents in 2018."
