Morgan Turinui tries to set up another Waratahs attack

The ACT Brumbies sneaked into the Super 12 semi-finals on Saturday after both the Northern Bulls and New South Wales failed to overhaul them.

South Africa's Bulls defeated the Sharks 24-16 in a scrappy game at King's Park but never came close to the 88 points they needed to deny the Brumbies.

But NSW Waratahs missed out on a top-four finish by the narrowest of margins despite beating the Waikato Chiefs 25-14 earlier on Saturday.

The Waratahs failed to secure a vital bonus point for scoring a fourth try and had to settle for fifth place behind ACT on points difference.

Winger Scott Staniforth summed up the Waratahs' feelings when he ran in their third try after the final siren, throwing the ball away in disgust rather than celebrating.

Earlier in the game, skipper Matt Burke crossed the line at the end of the first half and lock Van Humphries went over early in the second.

But despite the Chiefs going down to 14 men following the sin-binning of prop David Briggs, the Waratahs were unable to get across the line until Staniforth's late effort.

Bizarrely, Waratahs prop Matt Dunning kicked a drop goal with 11 minutes left on the clock rather than going for a much-needed try.

Queensland Reds ended the Otago Highlanders' chances of reaching the semis with a 28-23 win.

The Australians dominated from the kick-off, scoring four tries to finish the season with five wins and six defeats.

Otago finished with six wins and five defeats and needed the win to book a semi-final spot against first-place Auckland.

Queensland's win prevented New Zealand teams from sweeping all four semi-final spots.

The Auckland Blues continued their victorious run in Super 12 by beating the Wellington Hurricanes 29-17 on Friday.

The Blues won their 10th match out of 11 in the regular season to secure first place with 49 points from a possible 55.

Auckland led 19-3 after just 27 minutes thanks to two tries by full-back Doug Howlett and another from centre Sam Tuitupou.

Wellington skipper Tana Umaga scored a try to cut the Auckland lead to 19-10 at half-time, but the Hurricanes were never in serious contention.

After the interval, Carlos Spencer, who was in inspired form and set up two tries for his team, settled the match with a 40m dash for the line.

Canterbury Crusaders booked their place in the play-offs by coming from behind to beat ACT Brumbies 28-21.

Lock Brad Thorn scored the decisive try 17 minutes from time after the Crusaders had trailed 21-18 at one stage.

Super 12 results

Saturday:
Warratahs 25-14 Chiefs
Queensland 28-23 Otago
Waratahs 25-14 Chiefs
Sharks 16-24 Bulls

Friday:
Blues 29-17 Hurricanes
Crusaders 28-21 Brumbies