Reds v Blues: Teams

The Reds' fairytale Super Rugby season continues on Saturday as the Queenslanders enter their first semi-final in 10 years when they tackle the Blues at Suncorp Stadium.

Brisbane plays host to the opening knock-out clash this weekend, before the action makes its way to Cape Town for the second semi between the Stormers and Crusaders.

The newly-formatted Super Rugby competition has brought mixed reaction, but nobody can argue that the four best teams have made it into Saturday's play-offs.

The qualifying quartet are all capable of making next week's final. A victory for the table-topping Reds will guarantee Ewen McKenzie's men their first home final in Super Rugby history. However if the Blues upset their trans-Tasman rivals, coach Pat Lam will be watching how events unfold in Cape Town very closely.

Rampant

If the Stormers win, the Blues travel to Cape Town. But if the Crusaders prevail, the final will be held somewhere in New Zealand - depending on the venue choice of the homeless franchise.

No team has won a Super Rugby play-off on foreign soil since 2000, but the Blues will be out to change all that when they return to the Sunshine State in an attempt to rain on the rampant Reds' parade.

The last time these two teams met six weeks ago, the Reds beat the Blues 37-31 in a pulsating encounter, but the New Zealanders will know they need to make a better start than before, when they were down 24-0 after just half an hour.

The Blues did manage a comeback to claim two bonus points, and will take heart at the fact that they are one of only two teams to score four tries against Queensland this season. But the Round 13 result saw the Reds leap over them to the top of the table and that's where they've stayed ever since.

13 wins from 16 matches in the home-and-away rounds meant the Reds deservedly finished top of the pile, and go into Saturday's rematch as heavy favourites against Lam's fourth-placed Blues after losing only once at fortress Suncorp in 2011 (to the Brumbies).

Earlier this week, Lam played up his team's status as underdogs, saying his players were ready for the challenge.

"It's been 12 years since the fourth-ranked side has beaten the first-ranked side and we're rightly down as underdogs," said Lam.

"We have to travel to Brisbane, we've lost to the Reds there before this season, they've got players coming back and they've had the week off - but that just adds to the challenge and the boys are relishing it."

The refreshed Reds also carry a great deal of confidence into their first semi-final since 2001, on the back of spirited wins over the Force (24-21) and the Chiefs (19-11) in the final two weeks of the regular season, both triumphs achieved away from home and amid a significant injury list.

Killer instinct

The Blues, meanwhile, made it back-to-back wins by beating the Waratahs in last Friday's 'quarter-final', after ending a run of four consecutive defeats two weeks ago.

Both victories in the last fortnight have been at home though, and Lam's troops face a big test of character to carry their winning form on the road to the same venue where their season started spiralling out of control over a month ago as they look to advance to a first Super Rugby final since 2003.

The Kiwis boast nine All Blacks in their starting line-up alone and have attacking threats all over the pitch. The Blues may not have featured in the last four of the competition since 2007, but certainly have the killer instinct and truck loads of ticker to put any side away on their day.

The visitors have been known to be a cavalier side in the past, but that's no longer the case with measured, patient attacks a feature of their recent performances. They've also shown plenty of steel under pressure, something not usually associated with them.

The Blues have already acknowledged they will try to attack the Reds through the set-piece with a pack led by All Blacks front rowers Keven Mealamu and John Afoa. Much of the Reds' game plan will be centred on strengthening their scrum, which has been widely identified as a weakness throughout the season.

The Reds' front row has not been helped either by the loss of tighthead prop James Slipper to an ankle injury, but the Blues suffered a blow of their own after in-form lock Anthony Boric was also ruled out.

Still, the Reds have been a formidable unit this season - poor scrum or not - and are more than capable of two more wins to take them to that title that has eluded them in the professional era.

Reds: 15 Jono Lance, 14 Rod Davies, 13 Anthony Faingaa, 12 Ben Tapuai, 11 Digby Ioane, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Will Genia, 8 Radike Samo, 7 Beau Robinson, 6 Scott Higginbotham, 5 James Horwill (c), 4 Rob Simmons, 3 Greg Holmes, 2 Saia Faingaa, 1 Ben Daley.
Replacements: 16 James Hanson, 17 Guy Shepherdson, 18 Adam Wallace-Harrison, 19 Jake Schatz, 20 Liam Gill, 21 Ian Prior, 22 Will Chambers.

Blues: 15 Jared Payne, 14 Joe Rokocoko, 13 Benson Stanley, 12 Luke McAlister, 11 Lachie Munro/Rene Ranger, 10 Stephen Brett, 9 Alby Mathewson, 8 Peter Saili, 7 Luke Braid, 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Ali Williams , 4 Chris Lowrey, 3 John Afoa, 2 Keven Mealamu (c), 1 Charlie Faumuina.
Replacements: 16 Tom McCartney, 17 Tevita Mailau , 18 James King/Mat Luamanu, 19 Daniel Braid, 20 Chris Smylie, 21 Lachie Munro/Rene Ranger, 22 Winston Stanley/Sherwin Stowers.