Waikato have produced the upset of the NPC quarterfinals, ousting defending champions Taranaki 15-14 at New Plymouth to book a spot in next week's final four.
The Mooloos booked a final-four meeting with top seeds Wellington, while Bay of Plenty will take on the winners between Tasman and Canterbury on Sunday afternoon.
Waikato never trailled against the Bulls, with tries to prop Ollie Norris and winger Oli Mathis gifting them a 12-0 halftime lead, which they stretched with an opportunist drop goal from fullback Tepaea Cook-Savage after the break. That was to prove the difference, as Taranaki began their comeback.
Halfback Adam Lennox and hooker Bradley Slater scored tries, converted by Stephen Perofeta and Josh Jacomb respectively, but Jacomb had an unhappy performance with the boot, missing a first-half penalty and failing to find touch for an attacking lineout from another penalty.
Taranaki still had time and momentum to complete their rally, but the Waikato defence held for the final 20 minutes.
Both sides were bolstered by their All Blacks — loose forwards Luke Jacobson and Samipeni Finau for Waikato, Perofeta for Taranaki — but the home side had to quickly adjust, when captain Kaylum Boshier withdrew before kickoff with injury.
"They're defending champions for a reason and we knew it would take a big shift from us to get the win," said Waikato captain Xavier Roe. "We know we can play good footy, we've got good individuals, but we probably haven't put it together as a team this year, but today, we were pretty good.
"Our defence has been carving teams up pretty easily in this comp, we put a lot into our defence and it paid off today."
Meanwhile, Bay of Plenty needed a last-ditch try from replacement hooker Taine Kolose to grab their place in the semis, edging Hawke's Bay 19-17, after a contest that swung one way and then the other at Tauranga.
The Steamers opened the scoring with a try to winger Leroy Carter, but the visitors were up 12-7 at halftime. A penalty try and yellow card to Magpies prop Joel Hintz put Bay of Plenty ahead again, but hooker Jacob Devery grabbed the initiative back with 20 minutes to play.
Bay of Plenty lost a quarterfinal to Hawke's Bay in almost identical circumstances, but were determined not to let it slip again.
"Pretty ugly, but we can learn a lot from it and we've got a couple more weeks out of it," reflected Bay of Plenty captain Kurt Eklund. "Sometimes all it takes is that one opportunity.
"We spoke about it quite a bit throughout the week and didn't want to be in the same shoes as last year."
Waikato 15 (Norris & Mathis tries; Cruden conversion, Cook-Savage drop goal) Taranaki 14 (Lennox & Slater tries; Perofeta & Jacomb conversions)
Bay of Plenty 19 (Carter & Kolose tries, penalty; Trask conversion) Hawke's Bay 17 (Godfrey, Thompson & Devery tries; Godfrey conversion)
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