Ben Smith (right) congratulates fellow All Black Aaron Smith on his early try off an intercept.

Hold on to your hats, the blockbusting all-Kiwi final is now a reality.

The Highlanders booked their spot in Super Rugby's finale against the Hurricanes in Wellington next Saturday with a controversial and truly gutsy 35-17 win over the Waratahs in Sydney on Saturday night.

The southerner's fairytale lives on after they scored five-tries-to-one and muscled up to the aggressive Tahs pack to take a deserved against-the-odds victory. Wing Patrick Osborne finished off the stunning result with a 78th-minute try off a Lima Sopoaga cross-field kick.

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Highlanders Richard Buckman (No 12), Aaron Smith and Malakai Fekitoa celebrate in Sydney. MATT KING/GETTY IMAGES

The defending champions were simply no match for the Highlanders' relentless high tempo attack and stoic defence.

The turning point came in the 58th minute, when Patrick Osborne was denied a try by a stray swinging arm to the head from Waratahs enforcer Jacques Potgieter.

After much consultation, South African referee Craig Joubert, with the help of his officials, awarded a penalty try and showed Potgieter a yellow card, putting the visitors up by 10 points.



Patrick Osborne dives over to score in the 78th minute of the Super Rugby semifinal in Sydney. MATT KING/GETTY IMAGES

There didn't appear to be any malice involved in Potgieter's desperate action and Osborne was diving low, but it was likely he would have otherwise scored.

Over 30,000 Tahs fans and the one-eyed Australian commentators certainly disagreed with Joubert's decision, though. No points were conceded while Potgieter was in the bin and any neutral observer would be crazy to argue Jamie Joseph's men weren't by far the best team in Sydney.

Next week both the Hurricanes and Highlanders will be playing in their second Super Rugby finals. Both will be chasing their maiden title. And with the enthralling, attacking style both have adopted this year, you can expect one of the best deciders in history.



The Highlanders kept big lock Will Skelton and the Waratahs' powerful forward pack in check. CAMERON SPENCER/GETTY IMAGES

The All Blacks will be without 17 players for their test against Samoa in Apia on July 8 but, for next week at least, they can take a back seat.

Twelve Hurricanes - TJ Perenara, Beauden Barrett, Julian Savea, Conrad Smith, Ma'a Nonu, Ben Franks, Dane Coles, Cory Jane, Nehe Milner-Skudder, Jeremy Thrush, James Broadhurst and Victor Vito - and five Highlanders - Aaron Smith, Malakai Fekitoa, Ben Smith, Sopoaga and Waisake Naholo - will take centre stage with their team-mates.

The Highlanders were dealt an early blow with Sopoaga appearing to be knocked out. The playmaker, called up by the All Blacks, lay prone on the ground after copping a knock, only to jump back to his feet and resume position. It wasn't long before he was taken from the field, leaving Ben Smith with the kicking duties.

Sopoaga passed his concussion test but, upon returning, missed a dropped goal and skied a chip out on the full before regaining composure and sparking much of the Highlanders' attack.

Coming off the rest week, the Waratahs were terribly rusty. They lacked cohesion, threw wayward passes throughout, struggled to get out of their half and their usual attacking flow was near absent.

Kurtley Beale's creative presence was a notable absence and, without front-foot ball, Bernard Foley elected to kick away a mountain of ball. For the most part, that kicking from the Wallabies first five-eighth was aimless.

The Tahs' missing connections proved costly from an early scrum, when Aaron Smith nabbed a cheeky intercept from Wycliff Palu's ill-timed pass to score the opening try. Smith's kicking game would also prove influence.

In one few memorable moments from the Tahs, Rob Horne took his first chance by swallowing a perfectly-placed Foley cross-field kick to settle his side's nerves. Waisake Naholo did his best to push Horne out, but after being caught in-field he left too much ground to make up.

Fittingly, it was unsung hero Richard Buckman who dragged the visitors back into the contest with a typically gritty individual effort. Like a slippery barracuda, Buckman powered through three defenders and after not being held in the tackle, got up and stormed his way over from 30m out.

That saw Joseph's men take a 15-14 half time lead and they never looked back.

Highlanders 35 (Aaron Smith, Richard Buckman, Waisake Naholo, Patrick Osborne, penalty try tries, Lima Sopoaga pen, 2 con, dropped goal) NSW Waratahs 17 (Rob Horne try, Bernard Foley 4 pen). HT: 15-14