The Chiefs are still full of hope but they will need to be a lot more clinical and patient when they meet the Hurricanes on Friday night at Waikato Stadium in Hamilton.

A victory over the Hurricanes, with two home fixtures left, would have put the Crusaders in the box seat for a home semifinal. Instead, they lost 16-9, writes Justin Marshall.

Hurricanes coach Mark Hammett will have the depth of his squad tested this week as his men eye another must-win Super Rugby encounter against the Chiefs on Friday night

Watch a replay of tonight's live blog of the Super Rugby clash between the Hurricanes and the Crusaders from Westpac Stadium in Wellington.

The Hurricanes have beaten the Crusaders in three of the past five meetings and each time the winning points have come in the final 10 minutes.

Chris Boyd and John Plumtree have been named as the Hurricanes new coaches for next season.

Ihaia West's performance in the Blues' big victory over the Hurricanes on Saturday night proved he is not only at home at this level.

Relive all the action from the Super Rugby clash between the Blues and the Hurricanes from Eden Park in Auckland

Hurricanes lock Jeremy Thrush knows his best chance to remind the All Blacks selectors of what he can do will come on the field.

The competition to wear the No10 jersey for the All Blacks against England next month is wide open after Hurricane Beauden Barrett engineered a demolition of the Chiefs.

If Hurricanes coach Mark Hammett watched the Crusaders go down to a short-handed Sharks side, he may have cracked a wry smile as the final whistle blew.

A couple of things will have become clearer for the All Blacks coaches after the Highlanders' defeat of the Hurricanes - not least the fact they will be feeling pretty good about Malakai Fekitoa.

The Highlanders first-five drove the first nail through the coffin of the Hurricanes' 2014 Super Rugby campaign with an impressive kicking display in Wellington last night.

The Hurricanes may have to start relying on more than themselves if they want to make the Super Rugby playoffs.

Watch a replay of tonight's Super Rugby blog from the match between the Hurricanes and the Highlanders from Westpac Stadium in Wellington.

The Hurricanes and Highlanders couldn't have experienced a more contrasting build-up ahead of their Friday night showdown in the capital.

The Hurricanes can look forward to home cooking for the rest of the Super Rugby season.

A perfect try played a big part in deciding an imperfect game.

The Rebels are a melting pot of nationalities and rarely click but when they do they have the ability to torch unsuspecting outfits who arrive at AAMI Park expecting to notch up a bonus-point win.