The Chiefs charged into their first ever Super 14 final after beating the Hurricanes 14-10 in a suspenseful semi-final on Friday.
A brilliant end-to-end second half try finished by captain Mils Muliaina broke the deadlock and staunch defence in the last 10 minutes ensured the win for the Chiefs.
They will meet the winner of the second semi-final between the Bulls and the Crusaders to be played Saturday in Pretoria.
The Hurricanes blew their last chance for victory just a couple of metres from the Chiefs' try line after the fulltime siren had sounded, when a knock-on ended a series of pounding forward attacks.
"The heart and dedication in that last 10 or 15 minutes that went into the (defence), you can't train for stuff like that," Muliaina said afterwards.
"I'm absolutely proud of my boys."
A last minute match-winning try for the Hurricanes would have been a harsh result for the Chiefs, who dominated much of the match, creating more scoring chances and making fewer mistakes.
The Chiefs have come a long way since losing three straight matches at the start of the season.
Appearing in just their second Super Rugby semi-final, they outclassed the Hurricanes, who have made five semi-finals in the last seven years but won only one of them.
The low score was the second cliff hanger in two weeks for two of the competition's best attacking sides, after the Chiefs ran out 16-8 winners against the Hurricanes two weeks ago in their round robin clash in Hamilton.
The 7-7 halftime score failed to reflect the intensity and pace of the opening spell, although it probably flattered the Hurricanes, after the Chiefs dominated the second quarter.
Both teams created their chances in the early stages, but it took 19 minutes for the Hurricanes to draw first blood through a touchdown to the competition's top try-scorer Ma'a Nonu.
Flanker and former sevens star Victor Vito slipped through a gap into space in the Chiefs 22, before shovelling onto Nonu near the line.
Halfback Piri Weepu, taking over from the inconsistent Willie Ripia as kicker, added the conversion.
The Hurricanes suffered a blow midway through the spell when prop John Schwalger was shown a yellow card for slowing the ball down at the breakdown, but Chiefs' flyhalf Stephen Donald sent the resulting penalty into the upright.
The Chiefs got on the scoreboard after 31 minutes, moving the ball wide to the left flank, where hulking No. 8 Sione Lauaki shook off Hurricanes fullback Cory Jane and captain Rodney So'oialo to score a try converted by Donald.
After the break, the Chiefs continued to dominate the third quarter and set a course for victory through a brilliant try in the 54th minute.
A poor tactical kick by Hurricanes flyhalf Ripia, who was soon replaced, was fielded by Chiefs fullback Mils Muliaina.
He passed to All Blacks winger Sitiveni Sivivatu who scythed through the Hurricanes in a 40 metre run. On hand to finish the movement he started was Muliaina, whose try was converted by Donald.
Weepu cut the margin to four points with a 66th minute penalty but the Chiefs defence remained unbreakable in the final minutes.
Sapa-AFP
Les Wellington Hurricanes se sont qualifiés pour la finale de l'édition 2009 du Super 14. Ils se sont imposés sur leur terrain au dépend des Wellington Hurricanes sur le score de 14 à 10. Dans cette finale purement néo-zélandaise, le sort de la rencontre est longtemps resté incertain jusqu'à la sirène finale. C'est la première finale de leur histoire que les Chiefs disputeront.