Chiefs beat Reds 43-21 to reach Super Rugby Pacific semi-final

Chiefs 43-21 Queensland Reds, FMG Stadium Waikato

Chiefs scored six tries as they defeated Queensland Reds 43-21 in the quarter-final of the Super Rugby Pacific at FMG Stadium Waikato on Friday.

Damian McKenzie also contributed with 13 points for Chiefs while Tate McDermott crossed over twice for Reds with Lawson Creighton also touching down in the 75th minute.

Chiefs made a head start to the game as Samisoni Taukei'aho exhibited great pace and strength to stun Reds' defence and score the opening try and McKenzie kicked the conversion to make it 7-0.

The home side doubled their tally by the 11th minute as Wallace Sititi charged down on the right flank allowing Emoni Narawa to touchdown and McKenzie improved it to make it 14-0.

The third try came in the 16th minute when Shaun Stevenson sent an offload for Taukei'aho to complete his second try and once again McKenzie kicked the conversion to perfection to make it 21-0.

There was no respite whatsoever for Reds as McKenzie and Stevenson combined to send Etene Nanai-Seturo over in the corner for their fourth try while the fly half kicked a conversion and followed it with a penalty goal at the stroke of half time to ensure Chiefs completed the opening half with a 31-0 lead.

The Reds eventually opened the account early in the second half as Seru Uru sent a flat pass for McDermott to crossover but his effort was negated with Anton Lienert-Brown strolling over the left edge to make it 38-7. The 55th minute saw McDermott complete his second as the trail came down to 24 points.

The 63rd minute saw Reds reduced to 14 players temporarily with Hunter Paisami sin-binned for a deliberate knock on and Chiefs capitalised on the numerical advantage with Bradley Slater touching down at the back of a maul to make it 43-14. Lawson Creighton scored a consolation try for Reds but that could not stop the Chiefs from entering the semi-final with a 22 point victory.

Team line up:

Chiefs XV: Aidan Ross, Samisoni Taukei'aho, George Dyer, Jimmy Tupou, Tupou Vaa'i, Samipeni Finau, Luke Jacobson (c), Wallace Sititi, Cortez Ratima, Damian McKenzie, Etene Nanai-Seturo, Rameka Poihipi, Anton Lienert-Brown, Emoni Narawa, Shaun Stevenson

Reserves: Bradley Slater, Jared Proffit, Reuben O'Neill, Naitoa Ah Kuoi, Simon Parker, Xavier Roe, Quinn Tupaea, Daniel Rona

Reds XV: Alex Hodgman, Matt Faessler, Jeffrey Toomaga-Allen, Seru Uru, Ryan Smith, Liam Wright (co-c), Fraser McReight, John Bryant, Tate McDermott (co-c), Tom Lynagh, Mac Grealy, Hunter Paisami, Josh Flook, Tim Ryan, Jock Campbell

Reserves: Josh Nasser, Sef Fa'agase, Zane Nonggorr, Connor Vest, Joe Brial, Kalani Thomas, Lawson Creighton, Taj Annan