It took until after the final buzzer, but Otago's first lead of the match came at the right time to dispatch Hawke's Bay 20-19 at Forsyth Barr Stadium.
Hawke's Bay started the Mitre 10 Cup championship semi-final well, with number eight Marino Mikaele Tu'u scoring within the first 10 minutes.
Halfback Brad Weber finished off a fantastic counter-attack to send the visitors up 14-0 after 12 minutes.
Coming out of the sheds at 14-3, the home side started the second half strongest, with winger Mitchell Scott scoring in the corner in the 49th minute.
It became a battle of the defences after that, with each team taking turns at launching attacks at the try-line.
Some wonderful passing from the Hawke's Bay back-line saw Mason Emerson cross to take the Magpies lead out to 19-10.
Otago were down all game and left it to the last 10 minutes, before they made their final push for the win.
After relentless attacks, Sio Tomkinson scored for Otago to close the gap to two points with five minutes to go.
After the hooter, Josh Ioane slotted a penalty to snatch the victory from the Bay and book a date with Waikato in the championship final next week.
The Mooloo beat Northland 48-26 in Saturday's early semi-final.
Newshub.
