Hurricanes

They found themselves down 23-7 just before halftime in front of a 27,000-strong capacity crowd at Prince Chichibu Memorial Stadium in Tokyo on Friday night, but kept the home side scoreless in the second half to surge back to win 29-23.

TJ Perenara, Ben Lam, Chase Tiatia and Wes Goosen scored their four tries, with the latter three coming in a 19-minute spell through the middle stages of the second half.

While they got the win, it was a performance riddled with a plethora of errors - they conceded 16 turnovers by the time all was said and done.

The former Waratahs Super Rugby and New Zealand Warriors rugby league forward is currently sidelined with what is expected to be a season-ending pectoral injury.

"I am very excited to join the Scarlets for next season," he told the Scarlets website.

"It is a team that plays an exciting brand of rugby and I am looking forward to linking up with a group of players that are ambitious to be winning trophies.

"Hopefully, I can help them push forward and achieve further success over the next few years."

Will Jordan and Braydon Ennor also crossed for the visitors who moved to 24 points on the table, giving themselves some breathing room ahead of the Hurricanes (19) at the top of the New Zealand conference.

Ngani Laumape scored the Hurricanes' only try in the match in which both sides committed numerous errors while the Crusaders defence forced several turnovers when the hosts were on attack.

Denied a head-to-head clash between the All Blacks' pivots in round two in Christchurch because Barrett wasn't back from an extended break, Crusaders first-five Mo'unga and his Hurricanes counterpart will line up opposite one another in Wellington on Friday night. 

The last time they clashed - during last year's semifinal in Christchurch - Mo'unga outplayed Barrett in a 30-12 win, the second time he did so during the red and blacks' march to a ninth Super Rugby title. 

Hurricanes captain Dane Coles also crossed twice while James Blackwell scored after the final hooter for the home side, who were given no ball or space last week by the Crusaders, but were at their dynamic best as they played at pace and attacked from anywhere on the field.

Hooker Folau Fainga'a and Tom Wright crossed for the Brumbies, who showed signs of the play that destroyed the Waikato Chiefs 54-17 last week but were forced to chase the Hurricanes in the second half.

Foley, who surpassed Matthew Burke's record of 959 points with a third-minute penalty goal at Brookvale Oval, had landed all five of his earlier attempts on Saturday night.

But with just over a minute left, the normally reliable pressure kicker failed to land a penalty from just beyond 30 metres, to the horror of most of the 17,111 sellout crowd.

Perenara's five-pointer gave the Hurricanes a 25-17 lead and some much-needed belief for the final quarter of an intense encounter after they had spent most of the first half chasing the game.

Julian Savea scored an intercept try in the first minute, while Ben Lam grabbed his 15th of the season in the second half to set up a semi-final against either the Canterbury Crusaders or Sharks next week.

It's one win each so far for both teams, but more importantly the Chiefs beat the Hurricanes last weekend without a number of their stars and playing much of the second half with only 14 men.

In fact the red card and subsequent suspension of back Jonathan Fa'auli left a bit of bitterness between the two sides.

Back at home in Wellington for the quarter-final, the Hurricanes are determined to redeem themselves as well as send their five departing players, and coach Chris Boyd, off in style.

Marshall played the last of his 44 matches for the Hurricanes when the club won its first Super Rugby title in 2016 before he headed to the United Kingdom to link up with London Irish.

The 29-year-old joins loose forward Reed Prinsep and prop Alex Fidow in signing on for the 2019 season.

"I'm very excited to be heading back to the Hurricanes, a team that I've always loved and supported since I was a kid," Marshall said.

"I feel that it's the best environment for me to play to my potential being surrounded by the quality players and management that they have."

Twenty-four-year-old Savea and 21-year-old Barrett have recommitted through to the end of the 2019 season.

Twenty-five test Savea made his Super Rugby debut for the Hurricanes in 2013 and All Blacks Test debut in 2016, while Barrett made his Super and Test debut in 2017. He has played five Tests.

"Wellington is my home town and it's great I can stay here and contribute as much as I can for the Hurricanes," said Savea.

"Also, we all know how important next year is for the All Blacks with the Rugby World Cup in Japan and I really want to be a part of that campaign."