We were all happy to get the victory over Tasman at AMI Stadium on Saturday, but we’ve got to take the lessons learned from that match into this weekend – a Ranfurly Shield challenge against Wellington.

We got out to a 17-6 lead halfway through the first half against Tasman and we should have shut them out of the game.

Instead, we made a few mistakes and they kept hanging in there. In the end we won by only four points: 25-21.

We’ve got a bit of work to do on our scrum which is no real surprise as our forward pack is very young and they haven’t been together as a unit for long. Tasman had some good, experienced players in their pack, including an All Black in Ben Franks.

Our lineout went OK and the work at the breakdown was pretty good.

Now we’ve got a few All Blacks back in the frame for us after their epic battle to retain the Bledisloe Cup against the Wallabies in Sydney on Saturday night.

Richie McCaw, Brad Thorn and Wyatt Crockett will train with us this week and it’s great to have them back and enthusiastic.

There are still question marks over Kieran Read and Dan Carter due to the knocks they received in Sydney. Neither Isaac Ross nor Owen Franks will be available as they are to be rested.

Understandably, everyone is very keen to get on the park in Wellington on Saturday night and Tabai Matson and I will have a few things to think about his week. The team will be released on Thursday morning.

It’s an exciting time for us and it’s a real privilege to be getting an opportunity to be playing for the Log o’ Wood.

It’s great to see that the public have shown an incredible interest in this season’s Air New Zealand Cup. Some of the crowds at smaller venues have been amazing and Sky’s viewership figures are through the roof compared to last season.

Provincial rugby is something that footy fans are still very interested in after a few years in which the Super 14 has taken the spotlight. Maybe things are going full circle. Whatever the reasons for it, it’s good for New Zealand rugby.

Rob Penney
Canterbury Head Coach

I was really happy with the way most of backs took their opportunities against Tasman on Saturday.

Tu Umaga-Marshall started on the wing in his Canterbury debut and made the step up from club rugby remarkably well. Tu signed with us from Wellington this season but has had a back problem. On Saturday he scored a great long-range try and put in some other very good touches.

Canterbury wingers have always been industrious and hard-working and Tu fits the mould well.

His contesting of kick-offs is a real plus for us too and his disrupting of Tasman’s ball helped set the stage for Steve Brett’s try.

Steve himself had a very good game after not getting much game time over the previous three weeks. He showed his injury problems are behind him and is reaping the benefits of some really good conditioning work.

Sean Maitland took his try very well and showed great composure in giving the ball an extra kick through when he would have been tempted to snatch at it as it kept bouncing.

Chris Small created a little bit of history when coming on as a substitute for Tu late in the match. Chris is the first man to play first class rugby and cricket for Canterbury since Rod Latham.  Chris played four cricket matches for Canterbury before deciding to focus on rugby – a true all-round sportsman.

The Wellington match on Saturday will be my fifth game as Canterbury assistant coach. It’ll easily be my biggest – it doesn’t get much bigger than the Ranfurly Shield!

Tabai Matson
Canterbury Assistant Coach