The stage has been set for the Southern Region final after two exhilarating semifinals played at the weekend.
Clutha earned the right to host the final with a 41-33 win over Toko at the Balclutha Showgrounds.
Clutha flew out of the blocks and played some of their best rugby all season.
The home side were sharp and clinical and in the blink of an eye were 31-0 ahead inside 20 minutes.
Toko did not get the chance to offer anything on attack, and their defence was lukewarm at best.
Midway through the first half, Toko’s fortunes began to change when Clutha was reduced to 14 men with No 8 Kael Merrett being sent to the sin bin.
Toko began to feel the ball in their hands and make metres, and it was not long before they scored a try to give them hope.
The visitors blew a certain try on the stroke of halftime which could have closed the gap more, but Clutha were in command at 31-7.
The second half was a complete turnaround as Toko dominated proceedings.
They attacked with vigour, made metres against a tiring Clutha defence and scored four consecutive tries.
Toko’s dominance led to Clutha being reduced to 14 again midway through the second half with another yellow card.
Clutha kept their noses in front with a penalty and managed to finish the match with a late try to lock Tate Colley, his second of the game, to claim victory in a fantastic battle.
West Taieri will join Clutha in the big dance after surviving an extreme comeback from Crescent.
West Taieri won the other semifinal 22-21 but survived a late scare as Crescent missed a chance to win on the stroke of fulltime.
The Pigs started in confident fashion and were 17-0 up after some sublime attacking rugby at Outram.
The home side found space out wide and busted holes in the midfield on regular occasions.
Crescent did have chances to attack, but West Taieri’s defence was determined to keep a clean sheet for as long as possible, and they led 17-0 at halftime.
It was Crescent’s turn to play with the ball in the second half and their attack managed to break down a dogged West Taieri defence.
A brace of tries to halfback Josh Cook and a solo effort to centre Jonathan Muagututia brought Crescent right back into the contest.
West Taieri held their nerve under plenty of pressure but gave away a cynical penalty after fulltime about 35m out from the posts. Crescent fullback Kairus Booth, who was one of the best players on the field, watched his kick miss its mark, and West Taieri could breathe.
Owaka and Lawrence will contest the bottom-four final in the curtain-raiser to the big dance. This is a repeat of last year’s final.
Owaka beat Clutha Valley 43-25 on Saturday, and Lawrence beat Heriot by default.
— Francis Parker
