So close, yet so far.

The Hurricanes thrilled and spilled their way to an agonisingly close 28-27 Investec Super Rugby loss to the Chiefs in front of 22,200 fans at Westpac Stadium in Wellington.

In a match that could have tipped either way up until the final play, the Hurricanes ran in four tries to Cory Jane, Dane Coles, Beauden Barrett and TJ Perenara, but couldn't quite find the final pass to finish the job.

So often hyped-up games fail to deliver but there was never any doubt about this contest from the first whistle. It was a dynamic demonstration of the best qualities of both sides. Thrust was met with counter-thrust. Try was met with try. And the intrigue lasted 80 intoxicating minutes.

There were the internal contests with the first five-eighths clash between Beauden Barrett  and Aaron Cruden and Ardie Savea and Sam Cane and they didn't disappoint.

Barrett had an outstanding night with his field play, but in tricky windy conditions couldn't quite find his radar from the kicking tee, despite nailing a smartly taken drop goal.

It was Barrett's electric last minute break that provided the heart stopping moment of the night but fullback Jason Woodward, one of the Hurricanes best on the night, couldn't quite reel in the pass as the wind played one final cruel part in the match.

Further spice was provided when the Chiefs lost a player, as a consequence of injury replacements which cost them two tighthead props resulting in uncontested scrums being required in the final minutes.

The Hurricanes started strongly with Cory Jane scoring the opening try after a brilliant break from Barrett before Chiefs centre Seta Tamanivalu scored the first of his two tries.

It was the start of a see sawing and entertaining match.

Barrett snapped over a 10th minute dropped goal to reclaim the lead, Tamanivalu scored again with an athletic finish in the corner, then Coles responded after a chargedown by outstanding Hurricanes lock Michael Fatialofa as the home side took a 15-14 lead into the break.

The Hurricanes halftime lead reflected their advantage of 55 percent possession and nearly two-thirds of the time spent in the opposition half.

It mattered little to the Chiefs who cashed in on a stunning break by fullback Damian McKenzie which carried play right up to the Hurricanes line where No.8 Michael Leitch scored under the crossbar four minutes into the half

McKenzie's attempted off-load four minutes later went to ground and in the turnover, Jane made an outside break and linked with Coles who took Sam McNicol out of the defence by flipping a pass behind his back to his halfback Perenara who raced 25m to score.

Some magic from McKenzie created space for wing Toni Pulu and from the ruck lock Taleni Seu drove over as the Chiefs eased out to a 28-20 lead.

So often the spark for his team's attack, Barrett made the most of a 68th minute tighthead to target two forwards in the backline, get between them and feed Fatialofa. Barrett stayed in contact, took the return pass and crossed for the try that got them back within a point when Woodward took over the goal-kicking and nailed the conversion.

Unfortunately for the home crowd the Hurricanes couldn't quite land the final blow as handling errors proved costly at vital times.

Scorers: Hurricanes 27 (Cory Jane, Dane Coles, TJ Perenara, Beauden Barrett tries; Barrett con, pen; Jason Woodward con) Chiefs 28 (Seta Tamanivalu 2, Michael Leitch, Taleni Seu tries; Damien McKenzie 4 con). HT: 15-14