Taranaki had plenty to celebrate when they upset defending champions Canterbury 31-20 on their 125th anniversary today.
Playing into a strong head wind at Yarrow Stadium, Canterbury got off to a perfect start after only 80 seconds when Sean Maitland expertly finished off a brilliant break from first-five Stephen Brett for a superb converted try.
Despite damaging line breaks from big midfield combination Sonny Bill Williams and Robbie Fruean, Taranaki gradually clawed their way back into the game. Their game revolved solely around retaining the ball and putting pressure on Canterbury’s inside back combination, along with good kicking tactics.
It worked as Canterbury were guilty of making some basic errors which continually put them under pressure.
Taranaki No8 Ben Souness scored a fine individual try after five minutes when getting a flyer off the base of an attacking scrum. He evaded the clutches of George Whitelock and Brett, then ran around wing Patrick Osborne to score in the corner.
Brett replied with a penalty after 11 minutes but Taranaki were back in it when scoring a try through Kurt Baker following a fine wide kick from first-five Willie Ripia.
With Ripia kicking the conversion, Taranaki took the lead and more was to come when a loose ball presented the home team with another opportunity which they duly finished off.
A dropped pass on halfway led to a kick and chase and a George Pisi try, despite Canterbury getting back in numbers. Ripia converted to hand his side a 19-10 lead at halftime.
After the break Brett narrowed the gap with a penalty and then Canterbury scored a brilliant try through Sonny Bill Williams to re-take the lead.
Fruean, attracting defenders as usual, slipped a pass to substitute wing Sam Monaghan who made good ground before passing inside to Matt Todd. Fantastic interplay between Brett and Andy Ellis allowed Williams to take the final pass for a seven pointer.
At 20-19 with just over 20 minutes to play, that was as good as it got for Canterbury.
Jarrad Hoeata scored in the corner for Taranaki, then the home side dotted down through Beauden Barrett thanks to another Canterbury mistake when going back for a loose ball.
It was a poor finish from Canterbury who too often looked to throw the ball around on the halfway line rather than kicking for territory and applying concerted pressure on Taranaki.
The wet and windy conditions called for a more percentage type game than the Red and Blacks were prepared to play and unfortunately for them they paid the price.
Fruean’s combination with Williams again mixed the brute force with subtlety, especially in the first half, while Canterbury’s best forward was undoubtedly loosehead prop Wyatt Crockett, who never gave up.
Canterbury got out of jail last week against Northland and they hopefully will learn a few lessons ahead of their next game against Wellington at AMI Stadium.
It’s an important game as their next encounters are on the road against Otago and Southland.
Canterbury – tries: Sean Maitland, Sonny Bill Williams. Cons: Stephen Brett 2. Pens: Brett 2.
Taranaki – tries: Ben Souness, Kurt Baker, George Pisi, Jarrad Hoeata, Beauden Barrett. Cons: Willie Ripia 2, Andre Taylor.
HT: Taranaki 19-10
Canterbury:
1. Wyatt Crockett
2. Steve Fualau (Marcel Cummings-Toone 71min)
3. Peter Borlase
4. Luke Romano (Rob Verbakel 58min)
5. Isaac Ross
6. Matt Todd
7. George Whitelock (c)
8. Ash Parker (Brendon O’Connor 71min)
9. Andy Ellis (Willi Heinz 71min)
10. Stephen Brett (Colin Slade 62min)
11. Telusa Veainu
12. Sonny Bill Williams
13. Robbie Fruean
14. Patrick Osborne (Sam Monaghan HT)
15. Sean Maitland
Reserve not used:
17. Andrew Olorenshaw