Heartland finals set after thrilling semi upsets and late drama

Undefeated Mid Canterbury will host defending champions Thames Valley in the Meads Cup final.

Brought to you by Whanganui Rugby

For the second year in a row, finals weekend of the Bunnings Heartland Championship will not involve Steelform Whanganui, as the team they played in both their previous Lochore Cup finals will host Horowhenua-Kāpiti in Ōamaru.

Sixth-placed North Otago scored in the shadow of fulltime to beat the unpredictable Poverty Bay 48-46 in the other Lochore semifinal at the A&P Showgrounds on Saturday.

In a game with 15 tries, North Otago chased the match from the fifth minute onwards, down 12-5, then 29-17, 41-29 and finally 46-36 with 14 minutes left.

However, Poverty Bay missed a few conversions, whereas North Otago did not miss a kick until the match-winning try was scored.

They will now try to win their union’s third Lochore Cup while Horowhenua-Kāpiti hunt their second, while also trying to become the third Heartland union to make a “season double” of winning both the Lochore Cup and the Bill Osborne Taonga.

The two big games were the Meads Cup semifinals and neither disappointed, as the final will be a rematch of 2024 but on a different island, as undefeated Mid Canterbury will host defending champions Thames Valley at the Ashburton Showgrounds.

Mid Canterbury just held off a plucky Wairarapa Bush 21-19, having led 21-12 at halftime and then being virtually camped inside their own half for most of the second stanza in windy conditions.

In Timaru, Thames Valley continued their month of clutch performances by running roughshod over a stunned South Canterbury in the second half for a big 61-31 victory at Fraser Park.

Deadlocked 24-24 at halftime and then trailing 31-24 shortly afterwards, the Swamp Foxes put on 37 unanswered points to book another Meads finals spot.