A Chase Tiatia hat-trick has seen Hawke's Bay win their grudge match against Wellington to earn a spot in the final of this year's National Provincial Championship.
The Magpies and Lions faced off for the first time since Hawke's Bay won the Ranfurly Shield off Wellington in a thrilling contest last month - a victory that was then marred by the new holders' celebrations where the Log o' Wood was broken in half and photographed with white powder on it.
But unlike the last-gasp, come-from-behind win from Hawke's Bay last month, a dominant first half spearheaded by their forward pack was enough to get the Magpies home as they held off a fast-finishing Wellington to once again win in the capital, 25-24.
Hawke's Bay's strong start was in part due to a yellow card against veteran Brad Shields for a high shot in the 17th minute, allowing Tiatia to go over for the first try of the evening minutes later.
Tiatia scored a second try against the flow of play just before halftime after a clean strip caught an attacking Wellington off-guard and with it the visitors headed to the sheds with a commanding 18-3 lead.
Wellington managed to strike first after the break via Billy Proctor to give themselves some hope but Tiatia responded with his third of the evening to give his side a 25-10 buffer - a margin that proved to be just enough to keep the hosts at bay.
As the contest tightened up, Wellington threw everything they could at it to mount a comeback but costly errors hurt their initial efforts while the Magpies walked a fine line with the whistle to lock up shop.
That eventually cost them a yellow card in the 79th minute to Sam Wye but with the score still 25-10, there simply wasn't enough time for Wellington to make the most of it.
They did finish with pride though, scoring immediately after Wye's dismissal and then again after the hooter to make it a one-point scoreline but the celebrations had already begun for the Magpies.
Just not as big as last month.
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