18 Oct 2015

Wellington put away Otago to reach final

5:29 am on 18 October 2015

Wellington will play Hawkes Bay in next week's provincial rugby Championship final after the Lions beat Otago 34-14 in last night's semi-final in Wellington.

Marvin Karawana of Wellington is tackled by Michael Collins of Otago.

Marvin Karawana of Wellington is tackled by Michael Collins of Otago. Photo: Getty Images

The Lions will play Hawkes Bay next Friday in Napier, with the winner to claim the title and gain promotion to the top tier Premiership competition.

Earlier yesterday Canterbury and Hawke's Bay booked themselves home finals following their semi-final showdowns.

Hawke's Bay held off Bay of Plenty 33-26 in Napier after turning around a five point deficit at half-time.

Despite Bay of Plenty running in four tries to Hawke's Bay's three, the boot of Ihaia West kept the home side in front for much of the second half.

Wellington or Otago will travel to Napier for the championship final.

Meanwhile Canterbury beat Taranaki 46-20 in Christchurch after the home side ran in three tries in the second half to book their own home final for the premiership competition.

Tom Taylor had a perfect record with the boot, nailing 10 from 10 attempts at goal while Rob Thompson picked up a double for the home side.

A yellow card to Johnny McNicholl, after he was deemed to have deliberately knocked on the ball while Taranaki were hot on attack, was the only real blight on the scorecard for Canterbury.

Canterbury will host Auckland in the premiership final.

In the Heartland Championship, South Canterbury and Wanganui will meet each other in Timaru next weekend for the Meads Cup final after both sides won their semi-final matches.

South Canterbury held off Wairarapa Bush 25-21 in Timaru to book the home final while Wanganui beat Mid Canterbury 26-11 in Ashburton.

In the Lochore Cup, King Country beat Buller 20-6 to claim home field advantage for the final while North Otago thrashed Horowhenua Kapiti 57-12 in Levin.

And in the women's provincial final, Auckland thrashed Wellington 39-9 in Napier to win their eighth title.