Saturday, June 21

Crusaders v Chiefs
Venue: Apollo Projects Stadium, Christchurch

The Crusaders will host the Chiefs at the Apollo Projects Stadium in Christchurch on Saturday, June 21 as the two sides compete for the 2025 Super Rugby Pacific title.

The encounter between the New Zealand rivals was confirmed on Saturday after Damian McKenzie scored 22 points for the Chiefs in their 37-17 triumph over the Brumbies in Hamilton. The first semi-final saw the Crusaders securing their spot in this year’s final after claiming a hard-fought 21-14 victory over the defending champions the Blues in Christchurch on Friday. The visitors raced into an early 14-0 lead midway through the opening half before the Crusaders took control of proceedings and the result was a significant one for Rob Penney’s charges as they have now won 31 consecutive play-off matches at home.

Top-of-the-table clash in the final

The Crusaders and Chiefs were the two teams who finished the league phase of the competition atop the standings with the men from Hamilton occupying pole position. However, they suffered a shock defeat to the Blues in their Qualifying Final in Hamilton, but they still advanced to the semi-finals due to the tournament’s controversial ‘lucky loser’ format. The new format was introduced this year and it sees the highest-seeded team booking their spot in the last four despite suffering a defeat in the play-offs – something which the Chiefs achieved after finishing atop the standings at the completion of the league phase of the competition. The Chiefs made full use of their luck as they booked their spot in this year’s final courtesy of that deserved victory over the Brumbies in Hamilton. The one down side to the ‘lucky loser’ tag meant the Chiefs lost home ground advantage for the final and will now head down to Christchurch to take on the tournament’s most successful side