Thrilling semis set up women's final

Auckland and Canterbury will contest the women's national rugby final after two dramatic semifinals on Saturday.

Lion Foundation Cup defending champions Auckland came within a second of losing an unbeaten record dating back to 1994 at Eden Park, before prevailing 20-17 over Otago.

With time almost up and Otago leading 17-15, Auckland fullback Ese Sao-Taliu toed ahead to score a try after defender Piki Solomon failed to put the ball over the touchline.

Otago coach Hayden Finch mirrored his team's disappointment: "We're never going to have a better chance than that.

"We really dominated them in the forwards. But that's why Auckland are a champion team, because they still pulled it out of the hat."

Auckland manager Darryl Suasua was full of praise for the visitors.

"It was one of the most exciting games of women's rugby for a while," said the former Black Ferns coach.

"It's very positive for the game. This Auckland team has a lot of youth, and so do many of the other teams, so there should be some great battles in the future."

Canterbury qualified for their first final on Saturday after a try by captain Anita Boyd seven minutes from fulltime carried them to a tight 11-8 win over Wellington.

In their fourth consecutive semifinal appearance, Canterbury trailed 3-8 at halftime after conceding a try to prop Rebecca Liua'ana and a penalty goal by fullback Rebecca Hull.

Coach Ernie Goodhue singled out his tight five, led by Boyd, Casey Robertson and Maryanne Prescott, as particularly impressive, while second five-eighth Amiria Marsh's tactical kicking had made a difference in the second half.

"What was most pleasing was that they kept their composure and didn't panic when they were behind on the scoreboard," Goodhue said.

"In the past we would have tried to run it from anywhere."

Meanwhile, Bay of Plenty are the national division-two champions, beating Southland 29-5 in Invercargill on Saturday.

- NZPA