We successfully defended the Ranfurly Shield against Otago, now we turn our attentions to an equally tough prospect in Taranaki.

We know what Taranaki will bring to this match – tough, uncompromising forwards - and a confident attitude throughout their team.

They know what it takes to win the Shield too – they last held it in 1996 after beating Auckland at Eden Park.

Our lads will have to lift their game slightly at the breakdown and improve their general physicality.

There are opportunites for us of course, and we will go into the match confident in our abilities to ask some questions of their defence.

It was fantastic to see a crowd of 17,000 at the match against Otago last Saturday. It was a great crowd for the lads to play in front of on a sunny afternoon.

We hope to have another good crowd at AMI Stadium on Friday night for what should be a very intense and physical match.

Skipper and openside flanker George Whitelock is out with an ankle injury but we have a lot of faith and confidence in his replacement Matt Todd. Toddy played very well for Metro club champions Christchurch this season and he added a lot when he came into the game against Otago last weekend.

Also out is second-five Ryan Crotty, who got a head knock in a heavy tackle last weekend and also has the flu.

We are lucky to have such a good replacement in Casey Laulala who is sure to keep the Taranaki defence on their toes. He returned from injury against Otago last weekend and scored a try with virtually his second touch of the ball.

We have had a pretty short turnaround for this match and the workload this week has been a bit lighter. We’re aiming to keep the boys as fresh as we can in what is a long season.

Thanks for your support. See you at the game.

Rob Penney
Canterbury Head Coach