Bay of Plenty have earned a shot at Wellington for a place in next year's rugby's premiership division with a 48-32 championship semi-final win over Otago in Tauranga on Saturday.
They'll face the overwhelming favourites Wellington at home next weekend after the Lions accounted for Northland 49-21 in Friday's first semi-final.
Well-steered by new Crusaders signing Mike Delany at No.10, the Steamers were kept honest by a never-say-die Otago outfit, eventually taking out the win six tries to four.
Bay skipper Keepa Mewett said a blustery wind had made conditions challenging.
"The kick-off receives and the line-outs were really challenging in this wind was pretty tough but I knew if we could just tighten up a little bit, we could unleash the boys out wide," he said.