A missed kick for touch with just seconds remaining deprived the defending champions of one last chance to steal the win, the Chiefs calmly closing out another pulsating game of Super Rugby Pacific 2025.
The Chiefs kicked off the scoring in thrilling style, a stupendous Shaun Stevenson offloading out the back door sending Daniel Rona over for the opener.
A pirouetting Damian Mckenzie scored the second as he scooped up a wayward ball, before slipping through the line.
A diving Mark Telea brought the Blues back just before the break, the hosts holding a 15-12 advantage.
It was tit-for-tat in the second forty, first Corey Evans slicing through for the Blues, shortly followed by Tupou Vaa'i stretching out a limb to plant it on the chalk.
The lead changes continued, Marcel Renata rumbling over from close range before Cortez Ratima finished off a superb movement sparked by McKenzie inside his own half.
After a quiet match, Reiko Ioane was the beneficiary of a perfect crosskick by Stephen Perofeta, to give debutant Xavi Taele a crack at taking the lead with a sideline conversion, only for his effort to plough into the posts.
The Blues had one last shot at victory after Anton Segner won a penalty with sixty seconds to play, but Perofeta missed touch to bring the curtain down on another classic.
