The regular season is over and the teams to contest Dunedin's grand final have been found.
For the first time, a Pirates team will compete for the league title when it takes on the unbeaten Hawks next weekend.
But Pirates TE's entry to the big day took 160 minutes of game time on Saturday to become clear.
Pirates began the day third on the ladder on seven points and the South Pacific Raiders on eight, and both teams were vying for next week's decider against the Hawks, on nine points. To get there, Pirates TE first had to beat University.
The students put together their best game of the year and, while Pirates scored first, University hit back with two tries in the first half, the second a brilliant chip and chase from lock Tyler Schreurs, and hit halftime ahead 12-10.
Pirates picked up the pace in the second half but it took until the last 10 minutes for the game to be decided, 26-18 in Pirates' favour.
Pirates then had to wait for the outcome of the game between the Raiders and the vastly improved South City Dragonz.
The Dragonz had all the territory early on, putting on 14 points in less than 20 minutes.
But the Raiders hit back with three tries to make it 16-14 at the break.
The lead changed a remarkable six times during the game.
As the half progressed, big Dragonz forward Mark Scoullar was rewarded with a try.
His team had plenty of chances, but kept knocking on until close to fulltime when reserve back Danny Russell took a neat pass and crashed over the line to take the score to 32-28 to the Dragonz.
Pirates coach Mark Nafatali admitted to being "nervous, right down to the wire".
In the other game, the Hawks scored three tries in the first half, and withstood a second-half challenge by the Kaikorai Silverbacks to win 29-24.
