Rugby-Highlanders take down champion Waratahs to reach Super final

SYDNEY, June 26 (Reuters) - Otago Highlanders took their chances ruthlessly to dethrone the New South Wales Waratahs with a 35-17 victory in a tempestuous semi-final on Saturday and set up the first all-New Zealand Super Rugby final since 2006. Tries from Aaron Smith and Richard Buckman in the first half combined with a Waisake Naholo effort, a penalty try and a late Patrick Osborne score after the break sent the Highlanders to Wellington to face the Hurricanes next Saturday. The reigning champion Waratahs had a first half try from Rob Horne and 12 points from the boot of flyhalf Bernard Foley but were error-prone where the Highlanders were clinical in front of 32,632 at the Sydney Football Stadium. Earlier, the Hurricanes looked every inch champions-elect as they beat ACT Brumbies 29-9 in another trans-Tasman Sea semi-final to take their place in their first title-decider since 2006. (Reporting by Nick Mulvenney, editing by Amlan Chakraborty)