Rugby: Canterbury shut out Taranaki

Canterbury 27 - Taranaki 0

Canterbury moved to the top of the premiership table with a bonus try 27-0 win over Taranaki in a ITM Cup match in Christchurch.

Ahead 17-0 at halftime, the defending champions never looked threatened, and were helped in no small part by an error-ridden display from Taranaki.

It took barely four minutes before the visitors' line was breached, Canterbury wing Johnny McNicholl crossing for a superb solo try as he sliced through some indifferent Taranki defence to score.

Canterbury's second followed barely five minutes later, fullback Sean Maitland showing no sign of the ankle injury which kept him from last Sunday's match against Northland.

In a well-rehearsed set piece try, Canterbury moved the ball wide from an attacking lineout and Maitland proved lethal with room to spare.

New Zealand under-20 representative Tyler Bleyendaal, starting at first five-eighth today, added the extras and Canterbury led 12-0 after 12 minutes.

Taranaki battled gamely but struggled for possession, and missed too many tackles as Canterbury pounded their defensive line.

The home team's pressure finally told in the shadow of halftime, halfback Willi Heinz mesmerising Taranaki's defence into letting him stroll 50 metres unopposed before finding lock Ash Parker on the outside to score.

Taranaki struggled without George Pisi and Mahonri Schwalger, on duty with Samoa's rugby World Cup squad, and also missed wing Andre Taylor, out after a nasty blow to the kidneys in 26-23 win over Tasman last week.

Captain Jason Eaton led from the front, running strongly and constantly testing the Canterbury defence but received precious little back-up.

Taranaki again battled for possession and territory in the second half, proving predictable on attack and reactive on defence.

A Bleyendaal penalty after 50 minutes provided all the scoring until the final minutes of the second stanza, as mistakes crept into the Canterbury game and try-scoring opportunities went begging.

However, centre Robbie Fruean finally crossed for the bonus point try with five minutes to go, Bleyendaal making the conversion to complete the Canterbury shut-out.

Canterbury 27 (Johnny McNicholl, Sean Maitland, Ash Parker. Robbie Fruean tries; Tyler Bleyendaal 2 con, pen) Taranaki 0. Halftime: 17-0.


- NZPA