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Pirates Old Boys and the Eastern Northern Barbarians will contest the Galbraith Shield final on Saturday.
POB beat Woodlands 26-14 in one semifinal at Rugby Park on Saturday, and the Barbarians beat Star 20-10 in the other at the Gore Showgrounds.
Woodlands earned the territory advantage during the first 10 minutes and scored the first converted try to centre Drew Carter.
Pirates Old Boys hit back after 28 minutes with a beautifully executed try to fullback Ngawaka Ririnui. The build-up play featured some silky ball skills from first five Greg Dyer and second five Napoli Surulele.
Woodlands scored another converted try to first five Liam Howley after 35 minutes and held a 14-7 lead at halftime.
Woodlands coach Barry Smith said his side had opportunities to put more scoreboard pressure on during the first half but those important moments were lost.
‘‘We didn’t make the most of our chances to score and missed a couple of shots at goal as well.
‘‘The rain was pretty consistent and the conditions were challenging.’’
Thirteen minutes into the second half, Woodlands had a man sent to the bin and POB were good enough to earn and convert three consecutive penalty goal attempts, one from Greg Dyer 50m out.
POB led 16-14 after 68 minutes and scored a try after Ngawaka Ririnui chased through a high bomb and put on two consecutive strong tackles to force a turnover leaving replacement outside back Kupu Lloyd to scoop up and score.
In the closing minutes, Woodlands were forced to attack from their own try line and a wide pass was intercepted by Dyer, who scored out wide to confirm victory and cap an excellent individual performance.
Loosehead prop Brian Tyrell was a standout for Woodlands in his 50th game for the club.
The Eastern Northern Barbarians were pushed to their limits to beat Star in Gore.
Star fronted up strongly on defence in the first half and were good enough to lead the Barbarians 7-3 at halftime.
Star coach Brayden Mitchell was proud of his team’s effort.
‘‘I think that really good defensive effort in the first half took a bit of a toll on us as the game wore on.’’
Mitchell said the turning point in the game was when the Barbarians won a tighthead scrum on Star’s 5m line and scored off the back.
The Barbarians had scored three tries to build a 17-7 lead before Star closed the gap to 17-10.
Star then went all-out on attack during the last 10 minutes but the Barbarians landed another penalty at the end of the game to confirm their spot in the final.
Captain Morgan Mitchell was exceptional for the Barbarians at tighthead prop, while centre Ryan McFaul played his 100th game for the club.
Tighthead prop Darius Fidow impressed for Star as he builds towards the representative season.
Veteran lock Josh Bekhuis scored Star’s try and played well for his team. Coach Mitchell said Bekhuis was even talking about returning next season. — John Langford