Southern will play Green Island, and Dunedin will host University.
Top qualifiers Green Island were beaten 31-25 by University at Miller Park on Saturday afternoon, but the Grizzlies survive for another week as the highest-ranked loser.
Southern soaked up some early pressure to romp to a 41-15 win over Zingari-Richmond, who had a player shown a red card in the second half.
Dunedin overcame a shocking start to beat Kaikorai 39-20 to claim the final spot in the semifinals, where they will have their hands full with a University team hitting their straps.
University 31
Green Island 25
A robust forward performance early in each half from University set it up for victory over table-topping Green Island at Miller Park.
Despite the loss, Green Island survive as the highest-placed loser, but defeat to a resurgent University suggests the semifinals are wide open.
Both sides showed enough on Saturday that they could well meet again in the final, making for what could be a thriller.
University mirrored each half with a pair of tries in quick succession, promising much with each two-try blow.
The students thrived on a wealth of possession and a dominant forward pack, and their free-running style eventually broke through the resolute Green Island defence, leading to halfback Bradley Campbell running in the first try.
Minutes later, lock Ale Aho broke free on the Green Island 22m and maintained enough momentum in the tackle for the try.
With just 12min gone, it appeared as if University were set for a runaway victory, but they could not score again until winger Finlay Hagan and prop Charles Engelbrecht crossed in the early stages of the second half.
Just like in the first half, that was the end of University troubling the line as Green Island’s defence created an impenetrable wall of green and gold jerseys.
Green Island’s bench then made an impact in the final quarter, and the Grizzlies scored twice from mauls close to the line, through hooker Heath Macewan and, in the final minute, loose forward Shane Fikken.
Both sides had chances to gain complete control and run amok — and it will be game on should they meet in the final. — Wayne Parsons
Southern 41
Zingari-Richmond 15
No 8 Konrad Toleafoa inspired Southern to what eventually became a dominant victory at Bathgate Park.
But it took 25 minutes for the Magpies to get on top.
Zingari were excellent in that early spell as they leaned on big bruisers like Lawrence Leung-Wai, Tofatu Solia and Mika Mafi in the pack to make plenty of metres.
Willie Time also looked potent at centre as the Colours got their tails up, camped deep inside the Southern half for long stretches and had a dominant scrum.
There were a couple of problems for Zingari, though. The first was that they could only turn all that dominance into three points. The second was that their defence was found wanting when Southern finally got their hands on the ball.
The first try was the best of the game and totally against the run of play. Counter-attacking from their own 22m, Southern broke out through Toleafoa, and after a couple of exchanges, Levi Emery touched down.
Just three minutes later, Paul Tupa’i lofted over a cross kick, and Toleafoa had time to let it bounce then regather and score.
After Zingari lost Flavius Roberts-Vili for 10 minutes, Southern took complete control thanks to — you guessed it — Toleafoa, whose second try made it 19-3 at halftime.
Things shaped to get ugly when Southern scored again immediately after the break, and while Zingari hit back through nifty halfback Fionn McKenna, the Magpies eased back on top when big prop Tafa Tafa chased a kick and scored.
The deal was sealed when Time was shown a red card for alleged contact with the head, and while the sides exchanged tries, Southern were able to cruise into the semifinals.
Apart from Toleafoa, Caleb Hughes and Corban Agar put in big shifts for the home side, while Harry Taylor did some nice work and both Mackenzie Palmer and Jack Leslie kicked well for territory. — Hayden Meikle
Dunedin 39
Kaikorai 20
Kaikorai started with a bang at Kettle Park with two quick converted tries against a Dunedin side that was playing with the strong breeze but looked out of sorts.
Winger Jordan McEntee kicked things off with his standard intercept but was dragged down just short by a flying Josh Augustine. After two quick rucks, flanker Sidney Fidow burrowed over.
Not long after, the Kaikorai backline stretched Dunedin out wide, and an in-pass to centre Troy Anstiss put him over untouched. Throw in a Ben Miller penalty and the Demons led 17-0 inside 20 minutes.
Dunedin finally woke up and scored tries of their own to winger Tayne Harvey and halfback Tim Hogan to get back into the game.
Miller and Cam Burgess traded penalties. Then Dunedin got their lineout drive working and hooker Taitelea Tasi-Cordtz crashed over.
That gave Dunedin a five-point lead at the break but that did not look enough as they had to face the wind for the last 40 minutes.
But defence wins games. After the Sharks muffed the kick, they were pinned in their 22m for 10 minutes but they repelled every attack Kaikorai threw at them.
Kaikorai failed to score a point in the second spell, even with the big breeze behind them.
The Sharks scrum took complete control, and the penalties started to flow and they started clawing territory back. Big lock Reuben Palmer capitalised and burst over from close range to extend the lead to 12.
Kaikorai had chances but they could not crack the impenetrable Dunedin defence, and they started running out of ideas and time.
Replacement loosie Curtis Palmer, who lifted the energy levels when he came on, broke from a ruck 20m out to put the game to bed.
His brother, Reuben Palmer, was inspirational for Dunedin and threw his big body around with abandon. Props Sepa Vaka and Rohan Wingham dominated the scrums and carried the ball with real power.
Hogan and Burgess controlled the game for Dunedin in the second half.
The Kaikorai loosies were their best. Fidow was tireless at the breakdown, and Lucas Casey and Henry Bell looked dangerous any time they were near the ball.
Dunedin will need to work on taking the ball cleanly from the kickoff as they botched three during the game to put themselves under unnecessary pressure. — Paul Dwyer
Quarterfinals
The scores
University 31 (Bradley Campbell, Ale Aho, Finlay Hagan, Charles Engelbrecht tries; Jacob Waikari-Jones 4 con, pen), Green Island 25 (Heath Macewan 2, Shane Fikken tries; Samuel Nemec-vial 2 pen, Finn Hurley 2 con). Halftime: University 14-6.
Southern 41 (Konrad Toleafoa 2, Levi Emery, Naryan Strickland, Tafa Tafa, Corban Agar tries; Mackenzie Palmer 4 con, pen), Zingari-Richmond 15 (Fionn McKenna, Dylan Petaia tries; Shaun Driver con, pen). Halftime: Southern 19-3.
Dunedin 39 (Tayne Harvey, Tim Hogan, Taitelea Tasi-Cordtz, Reuben Palmer, Curtis Palmer tries; Cam Burgess 4 con, 2 pen), Kaikorai 20 (Sidney Fidow, Troy Anstiss tries; Ben Miller 2 con, 2 pen). Halftime: Dunedin 25-20.
