Spanish side Castilla y Leon Iberians and Lusitanos from Portugal will contest the Rugby Europe Super Cup final this coming Saturday after they came through their semi-finals over the weekend.
On Friday, Iberians went into their last four tie at home to Delta from Netherlands at the Estadio Nueva Balastera in Palencia as firm favourites, but they certainly did not have things all their own way.
The home side took the lead after just five minutes when full-back Beltran Ortega scored a try converted by stand-off Inaki Mateu.
They were then reduced to 14 men after being given a yellow card in the 26th minute.
Tighthead prop Raul Calzon was the man that was off the field and, during the 10 minutes when he was absent, Delta took advantage and scored a try through centre Tom Eelman. It was converted by winger Bjorn Dolman and, with seven minutes to go until the break, it was 7-7.
That was still the score when the interval arrived, but, crucially, Delta had full-back Sem Verplancke yellow carded just before half-time.
Iberians would have really hoped to take control of things early in the second half with a man advantage and while they did not overrun Delta they did score one unconverted try.
It came from Ortega in the 47th minute and they were 12-7 up by the time Delta were back to 15.
Delta were not going away though, not by any stretch, and as the hour mark approached they were 19-12 up after tries from Dolman and No.8 Jack Slob and one conversion from Dolman.
This was a big test of Iberians mettle as they have not been too used to being behind in this competition this season.
And they showed good battling qualities to score tries in the 61st minute and the 67th minute - subs Hugo Pichardie and Vicente Portoles going over - and Mateu converted one to make it 24-19. Iberians then held on, but credit must go to Delta for their efforts.
On Saturday, Lusitanos were too strong for Belgian side Brussels Devils at the CAR Jamor stadium in Lisbon in the second last four tie.
The home side scored a try after just four minutes through winger Manuel Cardoso Pinto in the fourth minute and never looked back as they went on to win 63-14.
By half-time they were 35-14 up and when centre Guilherme Vasconcelos’ converted try made it 42-14 after 44 minutes the result was pretty much in the bag.
In total, Lusitanos scored nine tries while the two efforts from the Devils in the first half came from hooker Julien Masure and back-row Felipe Geraghty.
Finals weekend - with a bronze final (1pm CET) between Delta and the Devils leading into the cup final (4pm CET) - will be taking place at the National Rugby Center in Amsterdam on Saturday.
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By Gary Heatly
