Fantastic five for Cantabs
27 Oct 2012
Canterbury won their fifth successive New Zealand domestic title when they beat Auckland 31-18 on Saturday.
Tom Taylor scored 23 of Canterbury’s points to break the New Zealand record for the most points scored in a final. The fullback was initially in doubt to play, but after passing a late fitness test, he contributed two tries, two conversions and three penalties.
Indeed, Canterbury’s chances of winning this encounter were also in doubt during the initial stages. The first half belonged to Auckland, and it was a combination of poor Auckland finishing and determined Canterbury defence that saw the hosts leading 15-13 at the break.
The Auckland forwards generated plenty of momentum early on, and this in turn created try-scoring chances. They converted an opportunity in the fourth minute, with Hadleigh Parkes diving over, but their subsequent surges into the Canterbury 22 ended in frustrating turnovers.
They had a fantastic opportunity to take the game away from Canterbury in the 33rd minute. A fantastic build-up had resulted in a three-on-one overlap out to the left. A score at this stage may have taken the score to 20-7 in favour of the visitors, but unfortunately for Auckland, Canterbury wing Telusa Veainu got a hand in the way of the final pass and killed the movement.
It may have robbed Auckland of a potential seven-pointer, but they were still in command when referee Glen Jackson yellow-carded Veainu’s for a deliberate knock-down.
Unforgivably, Auckland failed to take advantage.In fact, it was the team without the momentum and without the full 15-man contingent that seized the initiative.
Taylor scored his second try before halftime, and then added a penalty right after the break to take Canterbury’s short-handed tally to eight points. Meanwhile, Auckland had failed to score any points while Veainu was in the bin.
From here, Auckland panicked, running from everywhere, forcing the pass and making elementary handling and kicking errors. This played into Canterbury’s hands, as they capitalised on the turnovers and slowly turned the screws. Taylor kicked another penalty, while flyhalf Tyler Bleyendaal followed with a well-struck drop goal.
Canterbury landed the killing blow when Veainu scored on the hour and Taylor added the extras. This took the score to 31-13 with less than 20 minutes left to play. It was a gap the disjointed and dispirited Aucklanders were never going to close.
The victory marks Canterbury’s fifth successive domestic title, which is another New Zealand record.
7 Comments
27 Oct 2012, 10:33 am
Unbeatable Dragons. How do they do it year after year?
27 Oct 2012, 10:51 am
Telusa Veainu got a hand in the way to stop a certain try, was penalized and sent to the bin to boot.
So why on Earth was that not a penalty try. Auckland had a three player overlap and would have scored for sure.
From that point on, Canterbury took control and the game shifted away from Auckland.
Well done Canterbury though, they had the right temperament to get through the tough bits and then kick on to win comfortably.
27 Oct 2012, 11:04 am
@Brads-2: Sean Fitzpatrick was a bit upset too, calling the Glen Jackson a bit frightened and reminding him he’ll need to make a step up when he referees in November.
And Justin Marshall to his credit kept going on about Andy Ellis getting his hands on the ball when he shouldn’t, sparking what Fitzy called a 14 point try
Probably he wishes he was still Canterbury halfback
27 Oct 2012, 11:23 am
@Brads-2: Have to agree with you.
27 Oct 2012, 11:30 am
Should have started Weepu.
27 Oct 2012, 12:49 pm
Did the earth move for you too?
27 Oct 2012, 14:11 pm
WTF Catab v Mighty Aucks been going on since the day of the Originals..Nz Rugby the Greatest
Have your say
You must be logged in to post a comment.