It was an outstanding game, with both sides playing some scintillating rugby en-route to a 41-34 final score.
Otago struggled to get going early on however, and after an early try, were forced to defend for long periods of the second half. Meanwhile Tasman made the most of the indoor stadium, putting on a clinic of running rugby, showing great handling skill and support play to have Otago under the pump for much of the first 40.
Too many tackles were missed from Otago in this time, but crucially they scrambled well and despite conceding six penalties, only once did Tasman cross the line. It was this and a late moment of brilliance resulting in a try that kept Otago in the game and saw they only trailed by four points at halftime.
But as they have done so often this year, Otago showed a great deal of determination and came back strongly in the second half.
Here they played nearly all the rugby, putting Tasman under the same pressure Otago had been under in the first half, which was always going to be telling. The penalty count illustrated this better than anything, with Tasman conceding ten second half penalties to one in the first half.
So when the Tasman lead was extended to 13 points after 55 minutes it began to seem as though it just wasn't meant to be. Despite all the pressure, two intercept passes had resulted from trying to play with too much width and enabled Tasman to open up a sizable gap.
Otago didn't give up though, continuing to apply pressure and eventually reaped the rewards, scoring 17 points while Tasman lock Filipo Levi was in the sin bin to take the lead.
The backs were beginning to play with confidence, running the ball well and forcing Tasman defend. They did this well and it took two moments of brilliance for Otago to breach the defence.
The first came from a well worked lineout move which saw Fumiaki Tanaka snipe through a gaping hole in the lineout that most likely came as a result of the absence of Levi.
The second was a great showing of ball movement before Tony Ensor sensationally re-gathered to put Otago in front.
It was then the boot of Glenn Dickson that saw the game clinched, as he kicked the final two of his eight goals to extend Otago's lead to seven.
There was a lot to like about the win, particularly in the second half as the team played with great confidence and brought a strong physicality to their game.
However next week they will need to be sharper from the beginning, as they were completely outplayed in the first half and were lucky to only concede one try.
Too many first up tackles were missed which led to the countless breaks that were made up the middle of the field by the dangerous Tasman backs. With Counties-Manukau the likely opponent in the final, this must be cut out of the game as their backs are amongst the most dangerous in the country and will run rampant should they be given a sniff.
Ball security wasn't great either, as Otago looked to fan out on attack, not committing to the breakdown.
Consequently Tasman always seemed to have more players at the breakdown and seemed to get them there faster. It was this that saw Otago turnover too much ball and forced them to defend for the amount of time they did. This was improved in the second half, as greater urgency was shown by the forwards to clean out their opposition and resulted in a far better showing.
The best of the forwards was Liam Coltman, who was busy all game and showed why he has been signed to a contract with the Highlanders. His work rate around the field was outstanding, particularly on defence where he made a ton of tackles.
His fellow front rowers were all good around the field too, although the scrum did struggle for much of the game. Jacob Ellison too made a huge impact on his introduction, helping the scrum a great deal and getting through plenty of work.
Rob Verbakel was outstanding at kickoff time and was prominent in open play, whilst his locking partner Jackson Hemopo had a strong game in his first class debut.
The loose forwards improved as the game progressed, with Gareth Evans and Adam Thomson prominent in the second half and TJ Ioane adding grunt midway through the game.
Fumiaki Tanaka had another strong game, kicking well and providing excellent service, whilst the 10-12-13 combination all gave solid performances.
The back three were a mixed bag, with Tony Ensor in particular showing himself to be brilliant one moment before coming up awful the next.
But as they say in finals footy, it doesn't matter how the team wins, only that they do win.
And with that they will progress onto the final next where they will do battle with Counties-Manukau to determine who will walk away with the silverware, and more importantly who will be promoted to the Premiership for 2013.