Canterbury have held on to overcome a determined Northland 23-16 at Christchurch to book their spot in the semi-finals of the National Provincial Championship on Saturday.
They'll face the winner of tomorrow's quarter-final between Waikato and Bay of Plenty for a place in the final.
The hosts entered the contest as enormous favourites with the bookies and sent a quick reminder why, as Tamaiti Williams rampaged down the blindside off a slick 5m lineout move to open the scoring and send an ominous early warning.
The Taniwha may have counted themselves lucky not to have been dealt a fatal blow, when Blake Hohaia collected Mitchell Drummond in mid-air to send the halfback crashing to the turf, escaping with just a yellow card.
The red and blacks quickly cashed in on their advantage in numbers, as hooker Brodie McAlister charged over from a ruck to put his side up 14-3.
Despite Canterbury's wealth of territory and possession, Northland were able to limit the damage through the remainder of the first half to enter the interval on the wrong side of a 17-3 score.
The Taniwha needed to be the first to cross the tryline in the second half and they ensured exactly that, with flanker Jonah Mau'u burrowing over next to the posts to reduce their deficit to 10 points.
That gap closed to within a converted try courtesy of a Dan Hawkins penalty, setting up an intriguing final 17 minutes of play.
As the clock ticked over 70 minutes, Northland's superb pack repelled two golden opportunities for Canterbury to the game out from 5m lineouts, keeping the Cambridge Blues in the fight for the final stages.
Awarded a penalty just outside the Canterbury 22m, Northland elected to let Hawkins claim the three points rather than chase the killer blow with a try, taking the score to 20-16 with four minutes left.
But when prop Ofa Tu'ungafasi was pinged for offside, Fergus Burke was gift wrapped a chance to milk the clock and restore Canterbury's seven-point buffer, with just the simple matter of collecting the restart and putting the ball into touch remaining.
Earlier, Wellington continued their late-season run to book a spot in the National Provincial Championship semi-finals with a late 28-21 victory over Hawke's Bay in the capital.
The result - a repeat of the Lions' successful Ranfurly Shield challenge last month - sees them progress to the final four and a meeting with Auckland, who pipped North Harbour in the first quarter-final match on Friday.
Wellington were immediately on the front foot, when Jackson Garden-Bachop kicked an early penalty and fullback Ruben Love scored a try in the corner moments later.
Referee Ben O'Keefe awarded a penalty try, when the Bay forward brought down a lineout maul on the goal-line, and playing under penalty advantage, Garden-Bachop slotted an opportunistic drop goal that send his team into halftime 18-0 ahead.
The Magpies needed 52 minutes to finally challenge the scoreboard, when halfback Brad Weber finished off a long-range move to score.
When first-five Lincoln McClutchie crossed for his team's second try, Hawke's Bay were within striking distance with all the momentum and they took the lead, when replacement loose forward Josh Kaifa dove over from a maul.
After dominating for so long, the reversal of form stung Wellington into action, with replacement halfback Richard Judd snatching the lead back with three minutes remaining.
Garden-Bachop put the icing on the cake with an ambitious penalty attempt from halfway that found its mark, leaving the Magpies with one last chance to force overtime with a converted try after the siren.
A series of penalties presented Bay with a couple of close-range lineouts, but their bid for victory ended with a crooked throw from reserve hooker Kianu Kereru-Symes, allowing Wellington to kick the ball dead from a defensive scrum.
"We're quietly happy to get through that," said captain Du'Plessis Kirifi. "We're a bit disappointed with the second half, after the good start we made.
"We talked about winning moments and a few high pressure situations we let slip. At the same time, it's bloody good to be back at work on Tuesday."
Wellington will now host Auckland in the first semi-final.
Canterbury 23 (Williams, McAlister, Burke 2 cons, 3 pens) Northland 16 (Mau'u ty, Reihana pen, con, Hawkins 2 pen
Wellington 28 (Love & Judd tries, penalty try; J Garden-Bachop conversion, drop goal & 2 penalties) Hawke's Bay 21 (Weber, Kaifa & McClutchie tries; McClutchie 2 conversions)
Join us for live updates of the NPC semi-finals on Friday and Saturday
