The Hurricanes will host the Lions in Saturday night's Super Rugby final.

The Lions have secured their place in the title decider with a 42-30 win over the defending champion Highlanders in the second semi-final in Johannesburg.

Highlanders captain Ben Smith said the Lions deserved to win as the running rugby they had been playing was "unreal". Smith wished them all the best for the final.

"We couldn't quite put enough pressure on the Lions or couldn't quite execute the way we would have liked but still really proud of the team and we'll learn a lot."

Earlier the Hurricanes delivered an incredible defensive performance to beat the Chiefs 25-9 in the first semi-final in Wellington.

Chiefs co-captain Sam Cane says the were unable to cope with the pressure and didn't get the ball in the right players' hands against the rush defence.

Chiefs coach Dave Rennie refused to blame their travel schedule for their showing.

"It is what it is," he said. "It's the nature of this competition."

"We had a chance to play the playoffs at home if we beat the Highlanders and we didn't so...there's no excuses there."

Both the Hurricanes and Lions are searching for their first Super Rugby title.