Wellington 26 Canterbury 21
KEY POINTS:
Wellington underlined their reputation as semifinal specialists with a dramatic victory in Christchurch last night.
It was the Lions' sixth trip to the national championship semis and they withstood a furious Canterbury fightback to preserve their 100 per cent record.
Wellington dominated the first half and stretched to what had looked a match winning lead only to lose their way in the final quarter.
In the end Canterbury could have won it but their last desperate attack came up just short and it was the Lions who booked the first berth in next Saturday's final.
That match will be Wellington's fourth trip to the final in five years. The previous three have all ended in defeat.
Canterbury may have posted a convincing 41-23 victory in the corresponding fixture in round four but Wellington went into the match with a vastly superior record in semifinals.
The Lions may have an impeccable semis record but Canterbury have now tripped six times at the second-to-last hurdle. Wellington also had a 2-1 edge in playoff encounters between the sides.
Wellington played all the rugby in the first half, pressuring Canterbury into mistakes that allowed Jimmy Gopperth to kick three well-struck penalties.
Stephen Brett had pegged back three points with a penalty but Canterbury spent the majority of the first half defending.
Piri Weepu looked to have crossed for the game's first try nine minutes before the break after finishing a flowing move but the try was correctly ruled out as Gopperth's final pass had drifted forward.
Wellington had thrown plenty of craft and guile at Canterbury but in the end it was a simple mistake from Cory Flynn that led to the opening try. Lions centre Tane Tu'ipulotu parked himself in the middle of the Canterbury backline and was perfectly positioned to intercept Flynn's pass and race 30m to the line.
Canterbury's defence had been stoic in the face of an overwhelming possession and territory deficit but they finally cracked just before the break.
Second five-eighths Tim Bateman slipped off Tu'ipulotu and he showed good strength to stretch out in the tackle and plant the ball on the line for his second.
Gopperth's unerring boot had stretched Wellington's lead to 20. The only relief for Canterbury came from another Brett penalty but that was cancelled out five minutes into the second spell by another excellent Gopperth strike.
Canterbury were content to plug away through Brett's boot and he added a third penalty before their hopes of an unlikely comeback were dashed by the sinbinning of lock Michael Paterson, who dropped a simple pass and compounded the error by hitting out in the ruck.
But Wellington failed to capitalise on their numerical superiority and the breaks started to go Canterbury's way.
There was more than a touch of good fortune about the try that brought them back into the match.
Replacement lock Isaac Ross seemed to have knocked forward Brett's cross kick but referee Keith Brown ruled the ball had gone straight down and Johny Leo'o pounced on the loose ball.
Brett's conversion cut the deficit to 10 and that was quickly halved when prop Campbell Johnstone barrelled over from close range. Brett's missed conversion gave Wellington some breathing space but they had to survive three tense minutes camped on their own line to close out the match.
Wellington 26 (T. Tu'ipulotu 2 tries; J. Gopperth 4 pen, 2 con) Canterbury 21 (J. Leo'o, C. Johnstone tries; S. Brett 3 pen, con). HT: 23-6.
