The students, late 37-35 winners over Harbour, will host Taieri, which beat Kaikorai 34-11.
As the highest-placed losing team, Kaikorai lives to fight another day.
Green Island 28 Southern 17
Green Island took a punt on holding back its star trio until halftime and Southern had the bigger stack of chips at the break.
It led 14-7 at Miller Park and the foundation for an upset in the top-six playoff match had been established.
But the moment James Arscott started snapping off passes and Dylan Nel began hitting rucks, the momentum swung.
Midfielder Ray Nu’u arguably made the largest impact in the 28-17 win, though.
He was in devastating form. When he was not bumping off tackles, he was flicking on offloads.
Nu’u combined nicely with centre Levi Harmon to get in behind the Southern defence early in the second spell.
Arscott cleared the rucks quickly and veteran front-rower Peter Mirrielees eventually got himself to the front of the queue and crashed over for a try in his 250th premier appearance.
Loose forward Sean Jansen nabbed several lineout steals and pilfered another off the Magpies to set up Green Island’s third try.
That great work was eventually rewarded when he drove over from close range moments later.
Jakob Te Hiwi got on the end of the line to complete the scoring for Green Island and round off an impressive second half for the home side.
Southern had its moments. Fullback Obey Samate drilled four penalties.
Experienced No8 Mika Mafi made some probing runs, while fellow loose forward Bradley Horne made some crucial tackles.
First five Riku Kitahara had some nice touches as well.
Green Island was too good with the A team on, though. But the reason it delayed the entry of Nel, Arscott and Nu’u is because the three are likely to be missing for the semifinal against Kaikorai this weekend. Otago duties call and Green Island is a different side without them.
Taieri 34 Kaikorai 11
It was a champion performance from a champion team as Taieri fired a warning shot across the bow of the Dunedin premier competition playoffs with a 34-11 humbling of Kaikorai at Peter Johnstone Park.
The defending champion was unrelenting as it went ruthlessly about its task of defeating the early season front-runner, celebrating the 100th premier game for halfback and assistant coach Kurt Hammer and 50th game for prop Kieran O’Sullivan in style.
A strong scrum from the Taieri pack in the opening minutes forced Kaikorai backwards, setting the scene for lapses in the Kaikorai backline.
The dominant Eels pack laid a perfect platform for first five Cameron Millar to excel in the soft underfoot conditions and fading light.
One of the stars of the Highlanders under-20 team, Millar showed some sublime skills and cover play. His 19 points — taking him to 114 points this season — resulted mostly from Kaikorai’s inability to learn from its mistakes, as he landed five penalties from various angles and distances in the first half.
Two of Millar’s kicks came when Taieriwas down to 14 men, with a player in the bin for an indiscretion at a breakdown.
The confidence shown by Millar was further evident when, with time up in the first half, Kaikorai was penalised, and without hesitation he grabbed the ball and pointed to the posts to land his fifth penalty and give his team a 22-6 lead at the break.
Kaikorai’s resurgence after halftime was shortlived, as Taieri’s defensive pattern kept it locked out of the game. And as errors crept back into Kaikorai’s game in the final quarter, Taieri exposed gaps out wide and capitalised with tries to Brodie Hume and Hunter Dickson.
University 37 Harbour 35
University was the best team on the paddock but only just won the game with a penalty to Sam Clarke in the dying minutes.
The students raced to a 24-7 lead after 32 minutes at the University Oval, and the game looked done. Then their defensive discipline let them down, they got on the wrong side of referee Jono Bredin and they never had more than 14 men on the field for the rest of the game.
They scored sparkling tries to impressive winger Tom Rance, outstanding centre Thomas Umaga-Jensen, halfback Kieran McClea and replacement winger Ivan Hill.
Lock Taylor Dale scored from a simple lineout move to put Harbour on the board. The Hawks sniffed a momentum swing and stormed back on to attack after Josh Hill was put into the bin for offside play.
That was followed by a penalty try and flanker Louis Magalogo joining Hill in the bin. Varsity was down to 13 at the break and Harbour was back in the game.
Harbour scored straight from the break when flanker Olly Parkinson went over from close range, and the lead was down to three. Unbelievably, Varsity scored a slick try to Tom Rance from a McClea kick through with 13 on the paddock to stretch the lead to eight.
Harbour struck straight back when winger Antonio Iloilo went over to cut the lead to three. Clarke kicked a penalty to extend the lead to six but Varsity had another man binned, and centre Viliami Fine crashed over and the Hawks led for the first time.
Then, you guessed it, another player — Umaga-Jensen, for a dangerous tackle — was sent to the bin, and Varsity was back to 13 and staring down the barrel.
Finally, something broke the students’ way and Clarke kicked a penalty from 35m to win in a thriller.
Umaga-Jensen, Rance and hooker Ricky Jackson were outstanding for University, making a series of slashing line breaks.
For Harbour, Dale and flanker James Tomkinson were strong up front and first five Joshua Robertson-Weepu kept his team in positions to score with an uncanny tactical kicking display.
- ODT rugby writers
