The Cyclones scored three tries, the last of which came after the siren to level the match, forcing extra time.
Corrineke Windle stepped up to slot a penalty goal for the Manawatū side, sparking wild celebrations from the visiting side at Eden Park.
Auckland Storm 38 Manawatū Cyclones 41
Manawatū held their nerve in a remarkable six-tries-each thriller at Eden Park, edging Auckland 41-38 after the Cyclones recovered from a second-half deficit.
The Cyclones struck after just two minutes through Rangimarie Sturmey, with Carys Dallinger converting. Auckland answered through Emacyn Ieremia, who also added the conversion. Aldora Itunu then crossed for Auckland, with Ieremia converting, before Manawatū hit back through Kaia Walker-Waitoa. Dallinger converted to level the scores at 14-all.
Itunu grabbed her second on the stroke of halftime, giving Auckland a 19-14 lead.
Manawatū responded immediately after the break, through Jayda Maniapoto, levelling the scores. Auckland then stretched their lead through Cilia Po'e-Tofaeono, with Ieremia converting, before Mikaya Tonga crossed, putting the Storm 31-19 up.
The Cyclones launched their comeback through Keighley-Rein Araia, converted by Dallinger, before Brianna Wallace crossed to level the scores at 31-all.
Auckland regained the lead through Danny-Elle Fesolai, with Melanie Reid converting, but Araia grabbed her second in the final minute. Corrineke Windle converted to make it 38-all.
Windle then landed a penalty in the 85th minute to complete a dramatic 41-38 victory.
North Harbour Hibiscus 5 Otago Spirit 39
Otago Spirit produced a dominant second-half display to beat North Harbour Hibiscus 39-5 at North Harbour Stadium, scoring seven tries to one.
Charli Sinclair opened the scoring after 13 minutes, before Pip Eason crossed after 33 minutes. North Harbour responded through Louisa Tubailagi shortly before halftime, but the conversion attempt was unsuccessful, leaving Otago 10-5 ahead.
The Spirit pulled away after the break. Hannah Norris crossed in the 55th minute, followed two minutes later by Charlotte Va'afusuaga. Sarah Jones converted Va'afusuaga's try to make it 22-5.
Zaria Murray then crossed after 65 minutes, and Jones added Otago's sixth try in the 70th minute and converted to make it 34-5. Norris grabbed her double four minutes later, although the conversion was unsuccessful.
Otago's Jones leads the competition for points scored, with 41 going into the semi finals.
Canterbury Women 50 Waikato Women 14
Canterbury continued their unbeaten regular season run with a 50-14 victory over Waitomo Waikato at One NZ Stadium, Christchurch.
Binky Muamua opened the scoring after just two minutes, scoring her sixth try of the regular season, before Grace Brooker added the red and blacks’ second after 10 minutes.
Grace Houpapa-Barrett scored Waikato’s first try after a quarter of an hour, with Ariana Bayler knocking over the extras to close the gap to 14-7.
Holly Greenway scored for the home side before Paris Lokotui grabbed Canterbury’s fourth of the half – Kelsyn McCook added the extras for Lokotui’s try.
Alex Williamson scored Waikato’s second with a few minutes remaining in the first half, and Bayler added the extras, seeing the half time score 22-14 to Canterbury.
The home side shut Waikato out of the game in the second stanza, with tries to Lokotui, Lucy Jenkins, Winnie Palamo and Rosie Buchanan-Brown ensuring the game was wrapped up.
Replacement Rosie Moffitt converted all four, seeing the final score blow out to 50-14.
Northland Women 39 Hawke's Bay Tui 5
The Kauri notched their fourth win in five matches when defeating the Tui at Semenoff Stadium on Saturday.
Lily-Jean Murray-Wihongi was first on the scoreboard for Northland, before Arlia MacCarthy added a second try inside the opening 10 minutes. Claudia Meltzer added the extras for MacCarthy’s try.
Holli O’Sullivan grabbed the home side’s third, seeing the score 17-0 at half time.
Murray-Wihongi grabbed her second shortly into the second stanza, before Michella’e Stolz scored with 20 minutes remaining.
Terai Elia crashed over for the home side and Meltzer converted, before the Tui responded with a try of their own to Caterina Poletti.
Northland finished in style after the siren with a try to Te Ruawai Herbert-Brown, topping off the match.
Wellington Pride 53 Tasman 14
Wellington secured their spot atop the Championship pile in defeating Tasman in a nine-try, 39-point victory.
First half tries to Lourdes Faifua, captain Valini Vaka, Anastasia Kerr (her sixth try of the season) and Eva Maora saw a responding try from Tasman’s Kim Lammers - who scored her sixth try of the regular season.
This saw the scoreline blow out to 31-7 in the favour of the home side at half time.
Lyric Siaki opened the scoring for the visitors in the second half, with Lucy Hall converting to give Tasman a sniff of a comeback.
But the Pride’s class showed as they went on to score a further four tries, to Balyee Meroiti, Sanita Levave, and two to Phoebe Edwards, with Merania Paraone converting once.
Tasman's Lucy Hall finishes her season second for points scored, with 34. Meanwhile, no one tops Anastasia Kerr for metres gained this season, with a whopping 565 metres.
Bay of Plenty Volcanix 0 Counties Manukau Heat 25
Counties Manukau Heat scored five unanswered tries to record their first win of the season, as they headed to Tauranga to face Bay of Plenty Volcanix.
Mya Alice Tubu scored twice in the first half to see a tight 0-10 scoreline at the break, leaving the door open for a comeback.
It never came though, and Counties scored three more tries, earning the bonus point victory, Those tries were awarded to Harono Te Iringa, Theresa Nasilai and Sariyah Paitai to conclude an emphatic victory to end the season for the Heat.
Semi Finals:
- Premiership: Auckland Storm v Waitomo Waikato, Saturday 3 October, 2:05pm KO at Eden Park; and
Canterbury v Manawatū Cyclones, Sunday 4 October, 2:05pm KO at Rugby Park. - Championship: Northland Kauri v Otago Spirit, at Semenoff Stadium; and
Wellington Pride v Hawke's Bay Tui, at Rugby League Park. Both matches will be played on Saturday 3 October, 2:05pm KO.