Canterbury have kicked-off their ITM Cup campaign in winning fashion after they put away a physical Auckland side in a highly anticipated match that didn’t disappoint.
Canterbury assistant coach Tabai Matson said he felt the victory was a “pleasant surprise” and the boys showed “plenty of belief”.
“We could really take a lot of positives out of that match. It was an outstanding performance and to get the bonus point and go to the top of the log is really good,” said Matson.
A game where the momentum fluctuated dramatically, Canterbury showed composure, especially through the boot of debutant Tom Taylor, to come away with a 40-33 victory at Eden Park.
Taylor, 22, who kicked eight out of his ten kicks at goal, sealed the win for the red-and-blacks where he used his cool-head to kick a 45m kick to put the lead out to seven ensuring a draw - at worse - for his team.
Canterbury took a while to spark-up when Auckland kicked out to a nine-point lead in 12 minutes, courtesy of the boot of Gareth Anscombe and brutal physicality at the breakdown by the Auckland forwards.
Canterbury scored their first points in the nineteenth minute through openside Brendon O’Connor after Number 8 Nasi Manu made another one of his trademark bustling runs to break the line and put him away.
After a strong try to Auckland’s Onosai’i Auva’a to make the score 7-16, Canterbury started to find holes in the Auckland defence by scoring two quick tries where second five-eighth Ryan Crotty starred twice by scoring one himself and putting over fullback Johnny McNicholl.
Taylor also added the extras and a penalty to boot to put the half-time score at 24-16 in Canterbury’s favour.
Canterbury came out firing in the second-half after they ran a move down the left-hand flank showing scintillating support and soft hands to put Canterbury halfback Willi Heinz over for a well-deserved bonus-point try.
The Cantabrians ran out to a 15-point lead prompting Canterbury coaches Rob Penney and Matson to substitute All Black number 10 Colin Slade from the field after a “tidy” performance, however they didn’t believe the game was in the bag just yet.
“He’d been building over the past few weeks to get to full fitness. This is part of the All Blacks programme that he is under as he is part of the (All Blacks) team now.
“We didn’t believe we had the game in the bag, you can never think that,” said assistant coach Matson.
The pulling of Slade proved pivotal as the momentum shifted Auckland’s way, scoring two tries in quick succession and a penalty to Anscombe to come within one-point of Canterbury.
Under pressure and inexperienced the levelheaded Taylor stepped up and kicked two penalties to put the victory out of Auckland’s reach and put a winning start in Canterbury’s ITM Cup defence.
Canterbury’s prop Joe Moody suffered a freakish hand injury and lock Luke Katene a bruised shoulder in the match, which will leave them both out of the next week's shield defence against Southland, although the return of Crusaders Matt Todd, George Whitelock and Sean Maitland will bolster the side next week.
Canterbury – 40 (tries: Brendon O’Connor, Ryan Crotty, Johnny McNicholl, Willi Heinz; Tom Taylor 4 conv, 4 pen)
Auckland – 33 (tries: Onosai’I Auva’a, Penalty try, Alby Mathewson; Gareth Anscombe 3 conv, 4 pen)