It took until the final match of the Mitre 10 Cup regular season but Northland have secured a semi-final berth following a tense Hawke's Bay upset victory.
Hawke's Bay took out a dramatic Mitre 10 Cup Championship battle with Manawatu 36-31 to deny them a spot in the playoffs, giving Northland the place.
The Taniwha faithful were biting their fingernails over the last three days of matches following their 36-18 loss to Wellington on Thursday.
They needed one of either Bay of Plenty, Otago and Manawatu to lose in order to cement their spot.
Bay of Plenty seemed the more likely to lose out of the three given their match was against Premiership side Waikato but an inspired performance gave them a 36-32 win and a spot in the Championship semi-finals while simultaneously consigning Waikato to relegation.