Blues confirm top playoff spot with lastgasp win over Brumbies

BEAUDEN Barrett slotted a lastgasp dropped goal and with it the top seed for the playoffs was confirmed.

The Highlanders will travel to Auckland should they claim the eighth spot for Super Rugby Pacific’s quarterfinals in two weeks, to face an imposing Blues team that has won 12 matches on the bounce.

Certainly, the Blues had to work hard for this one.

They trailed in the dying moments against the Brumbies in Canberra on Saturday night, before Barrett slotted a dropped goal — while they had a penalty advantage — to make it 2119.

It took the Blues six points clear at the top of the Super Rugby Pacific table, now unable to be caught by the Crusaders.

That followed the Hurricanes’ 4522 win over the Rebels in Wellington, taking the Highlanders a step closer to the final playoff spot, despite yesterday’s 3220 loss to the Waratahs.

The Rebels’ loss leaves them six points behind the Highlanders and unable to overtake them.

Only the Force can still catch the Highlanders, although it would need to win Tuesday’s catchup game against Moana Pasifika and beat the Hurricanes next week, get a bonus in one game, and rely on the Highlanders getting nothing out of next week’s match against the Rebels.

That would seem unlikely, even more so after the Force was thrashed 5421 by the Chiefs on Saturday.

In other games, the Crusaders beat the Fijian Drua 613 and the Reds beat Moana Pasifika 3422 on Friday night.

It leaves the other playoff seedings still open.

The Crusaders (48 points) will be favoured to clinch second spot against the Reds next week, while the Brumbies (44 points), should beat Moana Pasifika to secure third.

A clash between the Chiefs and Hurricanes appears likely for the fourth and fifth spots, while the Reds and Waratahs will scrap for the sixth and seventh places.