Canterbury booked their spot in the Mitre 10 Cup final on Saturday after they beat North Harbour 35-24 in the semi-final in Christchurch.
They led 17-10 at the break thanks to tries from Mitchell Drummond and George Bridge, which Brett Cameron converted along with a penalty.
A third crossing was added early in the second half by Billy Harmon and despite North Harbour hitting back and adding to a first-half try from Ben Volavola, Chris Eves and Murphy Taramai going over, Canterbury sealed victory through Tim Bateman's score with six minutes left.
While it was a scrappy semi-final victory, to secure a spot in the final without in-form All Black call-up Richie Mo'unga, will delight Canterbury.
The scorers:
For Canterbury:
Tries: Drummond, Bridge, Harmon, Bateman
Cons: Cameron 3
Pens: Cameron 3
For North Harbour:
Tries: Volavola, Eves, Taramai
Cons: Volavola 3
Pen: Volavola
Canterbury: 15 George Bridge, 14 Josh McKay, 13 Tim Bateman, 12 Rob Thompson, 11 Braydon Ennor, 10 Brett Cameron, 9 Mitchell Drummond, 8 Luke Whitelock (c), 7 Billy Harmon, 6 Tom Sanders, 5 Dominic Bird, 4 Mitchell Dunshea, 3 Siate Tokolahi, 2 Ben Funnell, 1 Alex Hodgman
Replacements: 16 Nathan Vella, 17 Chris Gawler, 18 Oliver Jager, 19 Hamish Dalzell, 20 Reed Prinsep, 21 Jack Stratton, 22 Inga Finau, 23 Marshall Suckling
North Harbour: 15 Shaun Stevenson, 14 Matt Duffie, 13 Matt Vaega, 12 Harrison Groundwater, 11 Tevita Li, 10 Ben Volavola, 9 Chris Smylie, 8 Murphy Taramai, 7 Connor Collett, 6 Glenn Preston, 5 Jarrad Hoeta, 4 Brandon Nansen, 3 Michael Tamoaieta, 2 James Parsons, 1 Chris Eves
Replacements: 16 Adrian Smith, 17 Karl Tuinukuafe, 18 Sione Mafileo, 19 Shane Neville, 20 Hapakuki Moala-Liavaa, 21 Lewis Gjaltema, 22 Daniel Hilton-Jones, 23 Todd Doolan
Referee: Ben O'Keeffe
Assistant referees: Mike Fraser, Jono Bredin
TMO: Chris Hart
The post Canterbury book Mitre 10 Cup final spot appeared first on Planet Rugby.