The ACT Brumbies have been unable to end Australia's 10-year Super Rugby Pacific title drought with the Blues powering to a 34-20 victory on the back of a fast start in their Auckland semi-final.
The Brumbies were rocked by the late withdrawals of James Slipper (calf) and Tom Hooper (illness) before the game.
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The Blues ran in four tries in 20 minutes to quash the visitors' hopes of going beyond the final four for a third straight year.
This left captain Allan Alaalatoa to lament the poor start after a third straight semi-final defeat.
"We showed throughout the whole year that we had that fight but it's a tough lesson that in finals, especially against the Blues at their home stadium, that you can't give them that lead," the Wallabies prop told Stan Sport.
"We wanted to write a different script this year but it wasn't meant to be."
The Brumbies struggled at restart time, gifting the Blues opportunities to strike early as they raced to a 24-6 lead.
In greasy conditions the visitors continued to make uncharacteristic mistakes, with the Blues' stiff defence and dominant set piece keeping the pressure on.
"We weren't clinical coming out of our end and we gave them free balls off our kick-off receipt and they made us pay through the try," said Alaalatoa.
"You can't give a side like that that ascendancy at the beginning of the game; we tried to fight from there but they got too much of a lead at the start of the game."
Stand-in Blues skipper Dalton Papalii made an early departure due to a head knock but said he was a certainty for the grand final.
He said his troops were motivated for the title after falling in the 2022 decider against the Crusaders.
"It means a lot, this group been through a lot and it means so much to these boys so we've got one game to go," Papalii said.
"Credit to the Brumbies, they're a tough Aussie team and we always expect a Test match calibre game against them."
