Hawke's Bay Tui head for Manawatū this weekend to try to blow away the table-topping Cyclones in the Farah Palmer Cup Championship division final.
The Tui won a nail-biting semi 27-26 at Semenoff Stadium in Whangarei against the Northland Kauri on Friday.
The Tui had started strongly with a surge into the Northland 22 in the first 5 minutes, but dominant prop Ashley Palu crossed the line, only to be held up.
In the 11th minute, the Kauri turned down a three-point gift and kick-passed to the right to expose the Tui defence, and the home side had the game's first five-pointer.
Northland scored again in the 16th minute from a lineout set-piece, and after 20 minutes led 21-0 when Kauri midfielder Victoria Subritzky-Nafatali