At one point, the Bulls sat 10th on the ladder and had lost five games in a row, but three wins to end the regular season saw them scrape into the quarter-finals where they got up over Lincoln University, 31-17, to book a semi-final berth.
Nolan said he was ‘rapt’ with his side’s recent results.
“It’s been building for a while, so it’s just good to stick at what we’ve been doing and get over like we did. It was rewarding for everyone involved.”
Nolan said the team learned a lot from those mid-season results.
“We were probably just missing those moments that we’re grabbing now, but that may have set us up for where we are now.
“We probably had to have a good look at ourselves and move forward, so, the last three or four weeks it’s been good. We’re on the other side of the win-loss record.”
HSOB narrowly missed out on automatic progression to the preliminary finals, losing 41-38 to Canterbury University.
Sydenham also missed a chance to progress automatically, losing 49-28 to Marist Albion at home, and they’ll take on Sumner, who beat Burnside in the quarter-finals, at Sydenham Park on Saturday.
Lincoln Uni and Burnside dropped into the plate competition with their losses, and will take on Belfast and New Brighton respectively.
Shirley will host Christchurch in the 11th/12th place game.
Metro rugby results
Canterbury Uni 41 HSOB 38 (qualifying final); Marist Albion 49 Sydenham 28 (qualifying final); Linwood 31 Lincoln University 17 (elimination final); Sumner 24 Burnside 17 (elimination final); New Brighton 38 Christchurch 14 (bottom 4); Belfast 36 Shirley 10 (bottom 4).
Fixtures (2.45pm Saturday)
HSOB v Linwood, Bob Deans Field (semi-final); Sydenham v Sumner, Sydenham Park (semi-final); Lincoln University v Belfast, Lincoln Uni (plate semi-final); Burnside v New Brighton, Burnside Park (plate semi-final); Shirley v Christchurch, Burwood Park (11th/12th).
