Wellington have beaten Canterbury to advance to the Mitre 10 Cup premiership final, claiming a 30-19 victory at Westpac Stadium.
The hosts were the first to cross the line, scoring in the 30th minute, thanks to Trent Renata, who was the support man to benefit from Vaea Fafita's break.
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They doubled their lead before the break, when James Blackwell was able to make the most of an offload from Ben Lam to score and take the score to 17-0, heading into halftime.
The Lions dominance continued in the second half, with the hosts shifting the ball wide and winger Ben Lam able to score his first of the semi-final.
Down 24-0, the nine-time champions worked their way into the game and scored their first points of the match in the 57th minute, Luke Whitelock crashing over, after a dominant scrum close to the line.
Canterbury hooker Shilo Klein scored off the back of a lineout drive, taking the visitors to within eight points.
But Jackson Garden-Bachop kept his cool late in the match to nail a drop-kick and take the lead out to 11 points and make it an unassailable lead.
The win means Wellington will travel to Nelson, where they take on Tasman on Saturday.
Wellington 30 (Trent Renata, James Blackwell, Ben Lam tries; Garden-Bachop 2 penalties, drop goal, 3 conversions) Canterbury 19 (Luke Whitelock, Shilo Klein 2 tries, Brett Cameron 2 converions)
Join us 7:30pm Saturday for live updates of the Tasman v Wellington Mitre 10 Cup premiership final
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