St Peter's College have advanced to this year's National First XV Championship final after grinding out an 8-7 win against Hamilton Boys' High School this afternoon.
The two schools battled in windy conditions in Palmerston North at the Massey University Sport and Rugby Institute but a late set piece from the Auckland secondary school proved to be the difference.
Hamilton Boys were clinging to a 7-3 lead early in the second half after halfback Cortez Ratima dove over to score in the opening minutes of the contest.
But St Peter's found their moment to strike when they were awarded a scrum five metres from Hamilton Boys' try line five minutes into the second half.
After setting a stable platofrm, St Peters went down the blind side with numbers and allowed winger PJ Tonga to dive into the right corner to score what would be the game-winning try.
Hamilton Boys had a chance to snatch a win late in the match with the ball in-hand and camped inside St Peter's half, but a knock on after 19 phases of play saw their comeback chance come to a heartbreaking end.
St Peter's will face the winner of this afternoon's other semi-final between Napier Boys' High School and Christchurch Boys' High School.
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