John McGlashan College and Waitaki Boys' High School will contest the final of the Otago Secondary Schools First XV competition next weekend.
The two top finishing sides claimed wins in their semifinals' today, with John McGlashan beating Otago Boys' High School 2nd XV 16-3 and Waitaki Boys' beating King's High School 33-22.
After being the dominant team throughout the season, John McGlashan were forced to work for their past two wins and have shown they are capable of grinding out close games.
"It was a tight contest in conditions which were pretty cold and windy," John McGlashan team director Mike Idour said.
"Fortunately it rained before the game and not during it, so that was one good thing."
With the score at 3-3 captain Rory Ferguson scored a try five minutes before the break. Idour called it a "very clever piece of football", as the No 8 created a clear-run in for himself down the blindside. It was Ferguson who crossed again in the second half, finishing off a long sequence of phases close to the line.
The second half was a messy affair, with both teams failing to capitalise when they looked to have an advantage. Otago Boys' had the better of the possession and territory during this time, but were not able to breach the John McGlashan defence, which has given up very few tries this season.
"We won ugly," Idour said when asked if his team was happy.
"But winning ugly and holding your line as we did in the second half was brilliant.
"It's awesome. Defence wins games and that was clearly a good example."
He offered plenty of praise for Otago Boys' and said they were worthy semifinalists.
"They were very competitive," he said.
"They never gave anything away, they tackled their hearts out.
"The tries scored were well-engineered, they weren't easy. They took lots of phases, or clever changes in play.
"Their lineout operated very well, probably better than ours, it was far more sensible, and their defence was very strong.
"They deserved to be there."
They will meet Waitaki Boys' in the final, a team they beat 52-5 last time they met. However John McGlashan know that is in the past and won't be taking the Oamaru school lightly.
"This will be the third time we've played them," Idour said.
"They'll be tough opposition, we'll take nothing for granted.
"We obviously know what they bring to the game. Otago Boys' are probably a bit mono-directional, they only do one thing really. Whereas these guys [Waitaki Boys'] are different, so we'll just have to be on our mettle for that."
He said they would try to get back to their normal game if the conditions allowed it.
In the bottom section of the competition Taieri College beat Otago Boys' 3rd XV 31-7 and Kavanagh College beat South Otago High School 2nd XV 19-15.
