Canterbury have secured their third championship title in a row - beating Waikato 33-13 in the 2010 ITM Cup final at AMI Stadium tonight.
Canterbury emulate Auckland's three-repeat of the mid-90s in a victory which was throughly deserved by the Red and Blacks.
The ITM cup will sit alongside the Ranfurly Shield in Canterbury's bulging trophy cabinet over the summer.
Canterbury's victory was set up in the first half with the team playing into a strong head wind. Despite this, Canterbury took a 13-8 lead into halftime.
The Red and Blacks held on to possession brilliantly and tired the Waikato defence so that in the second half Canterbury's firepower out wide could take full effect.
Tu Umaga-Marshall and Ryan Crotty scored first-half tries for Canterbury.
Umaga-Marshall chased through a Robbie Fruean kick and dotted down after a mistake at the back by No8 Alex Bradley. The TMI awarded the try as Canterbury's wing was close to the deadball line when he forced it.
Crotty capitalised on a Colin Slade charge down to brilliantly control the ball and dive over just before halftime. It was an important score and meant Canterbury could take a lead into the second half.
After the break two more tries came from poor Waikato kicks. First Nasi Manu charged down an attempted Brendon Leonard kick for Matt Todd to score and then Slade gathered one on his halfway line and ran through untouched.
It was a perfect send off for prop Peter Borlase and first-five Stephen Brett, who are off to Munster in Ireland and Auckland, respectively.
Borlase was again immense for Canterbury tonight, with fellow front-rowers Steve Fualau and Wyatt Crockett also having big games against a pack which got the better of them in Hamilton two weeks ago.
Flankers Matt Todd and George Whitelock were very effective at the breakdown, with Whitelock getting through 80 minutes despite not playing due to injury for five weeks.
Slade ran the show well at first-five, with Fruean again making a massive impact in the midfield.
Canterbury - Tries: Tu Umaga-Marshall, Ryan Crotty, Matt Todd, Colin Slade. Cons: Slade 2. Pens: Slade, Stephen Brett.
Waikato - Tries: Tob Smith, Henry Speight. Pen: Trent Renata.
HT: 13-8
Canterbury:
1. Wyatt Crockett
2. Steve Fualau (Paul Ngauamo 78th)
3. Peter Borlase (Andrew Olorenshaw 74th)
4. Luke Romano
5. Isaac Ross
6. George Whitelock (c)
7. Matt Todd (Brendon O'Connor 77th)
8. Nasi Manu (Ash Parker 72nd)
9. Willi Heinz (Takerei Norton 78th)
10. Colin Slade
11. Telusa Veainu (Sam Monaghan 64th)
12. Ryan Crotty
13. Robbie Fruean
14. Tu Umaga-Marshall
15. Sean Maitland (Stephen Brett 56th)