The Canterbury Crusaders ruthlessly brushed aside the Auckland Blues 52-15 on Friday to reach a 17th Super Rugby final and extend their unbeaten record in playoffs at their Christchurch home to 30 matches over 25 years.
The Super Rugby Pacific champions will face the winners of Saturday's second semi-final between the Waikato Chiefs and ACT Brumbies in next week's final, where they will be bidding for a 14th title in total and seventh in a row.
Winger Leicester Fainga'anuku scored two tries with centre Braydon Ennor, fullback Will Jordan, hooker Codie Taylor and replacement back Fergus Burke all also crossing, while flyhalf Richie Mo'unga chipped in with 22 points from the kicking tee.
"We knew we had to start really well and I thought we did that," said Crusaders skipper Scott Barrett.
"From there we really just shut their game down and repeated efforts on (defence). I guess that's what's going to be required next week as well."
The Blues were completely outclassed in the rematch of last year's final at Eden Park and were only able to manage a try and a penalty from flyhalf Beauden Barrett until Caleb Clarke crossed for a consolation score after the hooter.
The Crusaders flew out of the blocks with their makeshift pack muscling up to dominate the breakdown while the more recognisable backline kicked deep and ruthlessly converted their early opportunities.
A 50-22 from winger Dallas McLeod gave them field position from which Ennor glided over the line in the third minute and Fainga'anuku crossed nine minutes later after Jordan had drifted across the defence before releasing the winger.
The shellshocked Blues had made a string of early errors and were 18-0 down before they finally put a single cohesive attack together, finally getting some points on the board through a 25th-minute penalty.
The relentless pressure from the Crusaders continued, however, and Jordan crossed under the posts after a neat Ennor pass in the 35th minute before Taylor added a fourth try just before halftime on the back of a juggernaut of a rolling maul.
A yellow card shown to number eight Hoskins Sotutu for trying to stop a rolling maul hindered the Blues as they looked to force their way back into the contest after the break.
Fainga'anuku's 13th try of the season came eight minutes after halftime and was one of his best, the All Blacks flyer coming off his wing to slice through the Blues defence then power through the last few tacklers.
Barrett finally breached the Crusaders line just before the hour mark but Mo'unga extended the lead with a couple of penalties before making space with a run and pass for Burke to score the sixth try.
"Credit to the Crusaders," said Blues captain Dalton Papalii. "They've set the standard for years now and when it's time for finals footy, they just seem to go up another level."