The Auckland Blues kept their faint Super 14 semi-final hopes alive with a pulsating 19-17 win over the Wellington Hurricanes in Auckland.

Trailing 16-17 at the half, the Blues scored the only points of the second period when fullback Nick Evans kicked his fourth penalty to give his side what turned out to be a match-winning lead.

Wellington threw everything at the Blues over the last 10 minutes but could not break down their stubborn defence.

The Hurricanes remain in second place after the result while Auckland move up to third but both could miss out on a semi-final spot when the final round is completed in South Africa on Saturday.

Auckland put the first points on the board with an Evans penalty, but Hurricanes winger Hosea Gear grabbed two tries in two minutes to put the visitors firmly in charge.

His first was a brilliant darting run through the middle ofthe Auckland pack, somehow getting through seven or eight players without being touched, and the second came when he charged down an Evans clearing kick and regathered.

Wellington scrumhalf Pire Weepu converted both tries and added a penalty to make it 17-3, before the Blues staged their comeback.

Lock Anthony Boric crashed over after some sustained pressure and then Evans kicked two more penalties to close the gap to 17-16 at the break.

Auckland opened the second half in commanding fashion and were unlucky not to go ahead when they crossed the line three times in the first 10 minutes, only to be held up once and denied by the video referee on two occasions.

Auckland finally hit the front when Evans kicked another penalty after Hurricanes centre Ma'a Nonu was caught going too high in a tackle.

Wellington fly-half Willie Ripia had three drop-goal attempts in the last two minutes but put all three wide as the Blues held on for the win.

+++

Western Force 29-22 ACT Brumbies

The Western Force made a stunning comeback to beat the ACT Brumbies 29-22 in a Super 14 match in Perth .

Down 22-0 after 20 minutes, the Force scored 29 unanswered points.

Both sides scored four tries apiece, but Matt Giteau's three conversions and one penalty to Stirling Mortlock's sole conversion proved the difference.

"That was 20 minutes of the ugliest rugby we've played, then 60 minutes of pretty good intensity," Force captain Nathan Sharpe said.

"At halftime (and down 22-7) the 22 blokes in the squad said we had to dig ourselves out of it."

The result had no bearing on the semi-final places with both teams out of contention, but it was the last chance players had to impress Wallaby selectors ahead of June test matches.

The Brumbies impressed first, going 12-0 up after just seven minutes.

Winger Francis Fainifo scored his first Super 14 try when he chased a chip ahead and re-gathered, then Mark Gerrard strolled over in the corner after flanker George Smith threw a glorious cut out pass.

The Brumbies were dominating and went further ahead when Fainifo grabbed his second to leave the Force on the ropes.

Soon after another Smith cut-out pass found winger Adam Ashley-Cooper, who crossed in the corner to make it 22-0.

But the Force were at last able to keep possession of the ball and it paid off when 17-year-old centre James O'Connor darted through a gap for a converted try to close the gap before halftime.

The Force came out firing in the second half and tries to centre Josh Tatupu and Giteau inside the first 10 minutes reduced the deficit to just three points.

They went in front at the 60-minute mark when scrumhalf Chris O'Young burrowed his way over beside the posts.

When Giteau increased the lead to seven points with a penalty from right in front of the posts, the Brumbies never looked like being able to come back.

Reuters