Waikato sneak semifinal thriller

A late try by replacement hooker Hikairo Forbes, followed by Trent Renata's nerveless conversion, saw Waikato claim a dramatic 38-37 ITM Cup semifinal win over Auckland at Eden Park on Saturday.

That means the Mooloo Men will face Canterbury in next week's ITM Cup Final - a gutting result for the home side who seemed to have done enough in a ding-dong affair to book their place in the final.

However, they were unable to stop Forbes from crashing over in the dying minutes of a high-scoring encounter and first five-eighth Renata then held his nerve to slot the winning kick.

Auckland, who trailed Waikato by just one point at half-time (17-18), seemed to have match safe at 37-28 with 10 minutes remaining, but a near 50-metre Renata penalty - making it 37-31 - meant there was still everything to play for in a frantic final three minutes.

The visitors got back into enemy territory and Forbes slipped through after a scrum on the Auckland line - an uncontested scrum as home-team prop Charlie Faumuina had earlier been forced off with injury.

The last time the two teams squared off, in Round Two of the competition back in August, it was a nailbiter which was eventually decided in the 82nd minute - as a last-gasp try by Dwayne Sweeney snatched a 21-18 victory for the Mooloos.

Again, they lived up to their 'Houdini' act and it was a devastating Auckland side left to contemplate what might have been in front of a 10,244-strong crowd at Eden Park.

Waikato, meanwhile, will head into next week's final against Canterbury in Christchurch with a spring in their step - although they are up against an impressive side that is also chasing a hat-trick of ITM Cup titles.

The scorers:

For Auckland:
Tries: B Stanley, Morland, Faleali'i, Raui
Cons: Anscombe 4
Pens: Anscombe 3

For Waikato:
Tries: Anesi, Graham 2, Speight, Forbes
Cons: Renata 2
Pens: Renata 3

The teams:

Auckland: 15 Brent Ward, 14 Chay Raui, 13 Ben Atiga, 12 Benson Stanley (captain), 11 Atieli Pakalani, 10 Gareth Anscombe, 9 Toby Morland, 8 Peter Saili, 7 Sean Polwart, 6 Onosa'i Auva'a, 5 Liaki Moli, 4 Kurtis Haiu, 3 Charlie Faumuina, 2 Tom McCartney, 1 Tevita Mailau.
Replacements: 16 Ash Dixon, 17 Angus Ta'avao, 18 Steven Luatua, 19 Chris Lowrey, 20 Auvasa Faleali'i, 21 Matt Berquist, 22 Winston Stanley.

Waikato: 15 Sosene Anesi, 14 Henry Speight, 13 Save Tokula, 12 Jackson Willison, 11 Dwayne Sweeney, 10 Trent Renata, 9 Tawera Kerr-Barlow, 8 Alex Bradley, 7 Jack Lam, 6 Dominiko Waqaniburotu, 5 Romana Graham, 4 Toby Lynn, 3 Nathan White (captain), 2 Aled de Malmanche, 1 Toby Smith.
Replacements: 16 Hikairo Forbes, 17 Ben May, 18 Kent Fife, 19 Zak Hohneck, 20 Malcolm Barnes, 21 Christian Lealiifano, 22 Tim Mikkelson.

Referee: Chris Pollock
Assistant referees: Kane McBride, Richard Kelly
TMO: Glenn Newman