Waikato 18 Auckland 26
Auckland have been kind to Hawke's Bay this season. They started by allowing the Magpies to crush them and ended it by giving them safe passage to the semifinals.
Despite Auckland producing their most composed, tactically astute and competent performance of the season, last night was never about them. It
was about Waikato and their quest to win and score four tries.
The Mooloo men knew if they came up short - if they took anything less than five points - then Hawke's Bay had the fourth semifinal spot.
There is nothing quite like the need for a bonus point to put indecision in the minds of players.
Waikato played most of the first half unsure if it would be too reckless, too maverick, to fling the ball around and see what happened.
They played the second half with only moderately more ambition but that wasn't so much by choice - that was more because Auckland were too good and the mistakes came from the Mooloos.
There was always a danger a high-risk approach would see them tumble in a ball of flames. Surely such an outcome would have held more honour and fewer regrets than never quite opening the throttle?
With a long summer to think about things, the Waikato players may well reach this conclusion. They may well wonder why they didn't take more risks and kick less.
The dilemma for the home side was that they were facing the second-best defensive team in the competition. They were also acutely aware that, as well as scoring four tries, they had to win the game.
From their conservative puttering, it appeared the plan was to push the scoreboard along by any means, try to knock the wind out of Auckland's sails by removing the possibility of them winning and then cut loose.
That would have to be why Trent Renata kicked long midway through the half when there were numbers on his right. He was in his 22 and in normal circumstances his excellent clearance would have been the right call.
But last night it was a missed opportunity; a sign Waikato were going to grind and bump - take a methodical approach.
For the buccaneers out there, it was all wrong. Waikato could argue their conservatism was justified. Auckland love nothing more than wild and furious rugby.
They still play their best football out of broken play rather than from the set-piece. That point was illustrated when they scored the first try of the game.
Dwayne Sweeney flapped at a clearance kick with his feet out of play and thought his faint touch would be enough for the assistant referee to raise his flag for the lineout.
Sweeney stopped, Joe Rokocoko didn't and, when the whistle didn't come, Auckland were charging up the guts, with Jamie Helleur able to coast clear from 25m.
From nothing, something had been conjured and Auckland suddenly had belief. That was buoyed further when Henry Speight spilled a try-scoring pass from Callum Bruce.
It was a night where blown opportunities were not going to be easily absorbed by the home side - where every dropped pass, or wrong option would be worth double the usual level of frustration.
That level of angst crept up in the second half. A well-worked try by Renata in the opening minutes should have been the platform from which Waikato turned the screw. But before they knew it, Charlie Faumuina was being bundled over the chalk with a turbo-charged Rokocoko giving the prop some needed propulsion.
Auckland played smart rugby in the final quarter, pumping it long through Taniela Moa, who had had his best game in months. They didn't take unnecessary risks and didn't give Waikato a sniff of opportunity. They allowed the home side's desperation to be their undoing.
There was reason for Auckland to celebrate in the way they held their shape and concentration. But there was far greater celebration in Napier where the Magpies were the real winners.
Waikato 18 (J. Lam, T. Renata tries; C. Bruce con, 2 pens), Auckland 26 (J. Helleur, C. Faumuina tries; A. Moeke 2 cons, 3 pens).