University nailed a penalty during injury time to clinch a tense 29-28 win over Southern at Bathgate Park.
The students will host Harbour, who upset Kaikorai 36-15 in an impressive performance at Bishopscourt, in the other semifinal.
Kaikorai secured the other semifinal spot courtesy of being the highest-ranked loser.
Harbour 36
Kaikorai 15
Harbour told everyone what they were going to do in the Otago Daily Times on Friday — and they went out and did it at Bishopscourt on Saturday.
The plan was simple: slow the game down, pile pressure on Kaikorai’s tight five, turn the game into a set piece battle, plug the corners, and stop Kaikorai from playing with pace and width.
It was a masterful performance from a team who have flown under the radar.
Harbour dominated territory and possession throughout the contest.
Hooker Gabriel Francesconi opened the scoring. Harbour had been banging away and swung it to the right, where the front-rower was hovering on the wing and he went over in the corner.
First five Rique Miln landed the conversion. He had a good day with the boot and had helped get his side into the red zone with a 50-22.
Kaikorai replied with a penalty in one of their few entries deep into Harbour territory.
But moments later, they were back defending and Francesconi nabbed a second. He got in the boot of a lineout drive and flopped over.
The killer came just before the break.
Kaikorai fluffed an up-and-under and knocked it on. The ball broke nicely for Harbour and winger Wiremu Brailey sprinted off on a 70m run.
He was stopped, but Harbour had the momentum and swung it back his way to make it 19-3 at halftime.
Kaikorai needed a spark. But Harbour had all the ball.
They picked off lineout after lineout. Preston Moananu and Charles Elton did a lot of good work in that area.
Loose forward Toni Taufa threw himself at the defensive line and into tackles.
Halfback Tetauru Cuthers was nippy and made a thunderous tackle on some poor soul.
Kaikorai had a nightmare at the back. They were missing regular fullback Charlie Breen.
They did not attack an innocuous kick and it broke bad. The bounce was just nasty. Harbour regathered and big prop Saula Ma’u eventually crashed over.
There was no way back after that.
The game had to be shifted to the top field when Hawks reserve hooker Angus Hewett was injured with five minutes remaining.
Kaikorai had an off day. They were missing Lucas Casey, who rolled his ankle at training on Thursday. The absence of lock Lachlan Stevens was also costly.
Seasoned flanker Slade McDowall had a big game in a losing effort, and Brock Reid made an impact when he came off the bench. — Adrian Seconi
Taieri 24
Green Island 14
Taieri made the most of their opportunities to progress to the semifinal stage with a solid win over 2024 champions Green Island.
Green Island enjoyed a decisive territorial advantage in the first half but struggled to turn it into points. The game remained scoreless until the 20th minute when Taieri took advantage of midfielder Jake Te Hiwi being yellow-carded. From the ensuing play, Taieri fullback Caleb Leef sliced through to score.
The play was repeated 10 minutes later. Te Hiwi ran back on, but team-mate Delaney McKenzie was yellow-carded. Leef sliced through the same gap for his second try.
To Green Island’s credit, following Leef’s first try, they muscled their way upfield from the restart to score through prop Ben Lopas despite being down a man.
Trailing by 14-7 at the break, Green Island, restored to 15 players, began with intensity to score through wing Reimana Saunderson-Rurawhe, who ran the cutter to score close to the posts. The conversion levelled the scores.
But this only jolted the home team into life as they set up camp deep inside the Green Island half. First five Archie Body wrong-footed the midfield to score and break the deadlock.
For the next 25 minutes, both sides punched and counter-punched only to be met by resolute defence. Only Body added a penalty goal in the final minutes to trouble the scorers.
The game had to move to another ground with minutes remaining when Green Island forward Shane Fikken sustained a nasty head knock.
Body and halfback Finn McDonald-Page thrived in the space and cover created up front by the Eels’ tight five of Jared Burns, Jared Ruwhiu-Bott, Cam McNeill, Harvey Amende and Eric Peita. Out wide, Leef, centre Josh Whaanga and wing Marc Rooney were constant threats.
For Green Island, props Lopas and Ethan Hippolite, locks Atunaisa Katoa and Ronan Dynes featured alongside flankers Fikken and Amos Roddick. — Wayne Parsons
University 29
Southern 28
The game at Bathgate Park had everything — tension, drama, massive hits on defence, stunning tries, yellow cards, penalty tries, controversy over timekeeping — and finished with Southern holding their heads in utter disbelief.
Southern lost two of their starters on Friday when first five Jimmy Taylor was whisked off to the under-20 world cup as injury cover, and openside Flavius Roberts-Vili ended up in hospital with an infection.
They then lost two of their starting pack inside the first 20 minutes.
However, they had points on the board early when Jeremiah Asi made a big break and hooker Israel Otunuku crashed over with 11 minutes gone.
Varsity had their best period of the match to storm away to a commanding halftime lead.
Against the run of play, halfback Kieran McClea made a break inside his 22m then put through a searching kick that was fumbled by Southern, and winger Caleb Abrahams scored to level the game after 17 minutes.
The students spent a large period camped in the Southern 22m late in the half and first five Rico Muliaina finally scored close to the posts to put them up by seven.
They continued to attack, and when a rolling maul collapsed close to the line, referee Caleb Nielson awarded a penalty try, leaving Southern trailing 21-7 and with two men in the bin to boot.
From the kickoff in the second half, McClea made them pay with a big break, a chip kick and regather for a brilliant solo try to give them a 26-7 lead.
Southern looked done but their big forwards rolled up their sleeves, and two quick tries from replacement prop Hisa Sasagi and lock Quinten Holland reduced the lead to five.
Southern were making most of the play but kept turning the ball over at the wrong times to keep Varsity in the game and the clock was starting to get away from them.
With five minutes to go, the Magpies kept hammering away at the line, and the referee decided the students were a tad cynical on defence.
The penalty try gave Southern a two-point lead, and Varsity were down to 14 men.
Southern tried to wind down the clock by hiding the ball.
When the ball came back to Mackenzie Palmer, with coaches screaming at him, he hoofed it into touch and raised his arms in jubilation.
It was a premature celebration, however, as the referee decided there was 15 seconds left.
Varsity won the lineout, moved the ball to the midfield and battered away at the Southern pack, leading to a penalty that Muliaina slotted three minutes into referee’s time.
McClea was the standout for Varsity, but a pack led by Otunuku and Mike Mata’afa were the heroes for Southern. — Paul Dwyer
Playoffs
The scores
Harbour 36 (Gabriel Francesconi 2, Wiremu Brailey, Saula Ma’u, Brad Campbell tries; Rique Miln 4 con, pen), Kaikorai 15 (Taine Hand, Slade McDowall tries; Ben Miller con, pen). Halftime: Harbour 19-3.
Taieri 24 (Caleb Leef 2, Archie Body tries; Body 3 con, pen), Green Island 14 (Ben Lopas, Reimana Saunderson-Rurawhe tries; Isaac McAuliffe 2 con). Halftime: Taieri 14-7.
University 29 (Caleb Abrahams, Rico Muliaina, Kieran McClea tries, penalty try; Muliaina 2 con, pen), Southern 28 (Israel Otunuku, Hisa Sasagi, Quinten Holland tries, penalty try; Mackenzie Palmer 3 con). Halftime: University 21-7.
