Marist and Pirates-Old Boys advanced to the 2018 Galbraith Shield final on the back of semifinal victories on Saturday at Rugby Park in Invercargill.
In the first of the two semi-finals, defending champions Marist crushed Blues 41-0 in a season which has been known for its tight results.
Many had picked Marist to advance to the final, but few would have predicted such an onslaught.
It took 18 minutes for Marist to register its first points through a long-range Scott Eade penalty.
When Blues lost prop Ethan de Groot for 10 minutes when he was shown a yellow card following what was deemed an elbow at a lineout, it started to slide for Blues.
Marist prop Shaun Stodart scored soon after to push the score out to 10-nil. It got much worse for Blues when they turned the ball over close to halfway and big No 8 Lio Tosi scooted away to score to make it 17-nil at halftime.
Eade pushed it out to 20-0 with 20 minutes to play before Marist scored three converted tries in the final 12 minutes to push the dagger deep into the Blues' season.
Tosi put Marist fullback Curtis Tarrant clear to score the first of those three late tries, before Tosi showed good strength soon after to score himself.
With two minutes to play wing Keanu Kahukura latched on to an intercept to score, and to cap it all off, Eade landed the sideline conversion to make it 41-0.
In that mood, Marist will take a fair bit of stopping as it searches for back-to-back Galbraith Shield titles.
The power of Tosi, the work rate of hooker Flynn Thomas and Phil Halder, the goal-kicking boot of Eade - there was a lot to like about Marist on Saturday.
While Marist ran out comfortable victors, the other semifinal played out in much different circumstances, as fourth seeds Pirates-Old Boys toppled top seeds Woodlands 18-13.
Pirates-Old Boys were able to shoot out to a 10-nil lead after 20 minutes through an Ash McEwing try and the boot of first five-eighth Greg Dyer.
Woodlands halfback Nico Costa was able to land a penalty of his own to register Woodlands' first points 30 minutes into the game.
With just a minute to play in the first half, Dyer clawed back those three points to make it 13-3 at halftime.
When Pirates-Old Boys No 8 Hayden Hegarty was yellow-carded five minutes into the second half, the momentum started to shift.
Woodlands started to threaten a lot more through the likes of powerful fullback Tauasosi Tuimavave.
Costa first kicked a second penalty before lock Cole Williams scored, and 14 minutes into the second half the scores were locked up at 13-13.
Costa had an opportunity to push Woodlands into the lead for the first time in the 58th minute, but pushed a penalty shot wide.
Just a few minutes later Pirates-Old Boys delivered what was ultimately the match-winner.
Against the run of play fullback Josh Buchan found himself in the clear.
Buchan linked with flanker Wade McRae who then shifted it to second five-eighth Sam McLachlan, who showed good pace to score.
Pirates-Old Boys then had a bout of toil to close out the hard-fought win.
The 2018 Galbraith Shield final berth is a big step for the side, which last year could manage just one victory.
SOUTHLAND (Premier semifinals) Marist 41, Blues 0; Pirates-Old Boys 18, Woodlands 13.
- Logan Savory