Canterbury destroy North Otago to retain Ranfurly Shield

MATCH REPORT: Canterbury have retained the Ranfurly Shield in emphatic fashion as they thumped North Otago 71-7 in their first pre-season outing in Christchurch.

The Mitre 10 Cup juggernauts made light work of their Heartland Championship counterparts, who earned the right to challenge for the Log o’ Wood after winning the Meads Cup last year.

The Old Golds didn’t come close to giving the Cantabrians a scare, though, as Crusaders wing Manasa Mataele and new Blues lock Sam Darry each bagged a brace of tries in romp at Rugby Park.

With eight Crusaders players and All Blacks Sevens star Andrew Knewstubb in Canterbury’s starting line-up, the hosts ran North Otago ragged in the first half to head into half-time with a 45-0 lead.

Six of their 11 tries came within the first 28 minutes, with Knewstubb, who was making his provincial debut along with 13 other players, among those to cross the chalk inside the opening half an hour.

The difference in speed and physicality between the two sides was clear to see, and Canterbury coaches Mark Brown and Reuben Thorne will no doubt be heartened by the performances of Mataele and Cullen Grace.

Both players were making their first appearances following injury lay-offs, but wing Mataele – playing in his first game for Canterbury since transferring from Taranaki – looked in good condition as he made easy work of the North Otago defence with his pace and elusive footwork.

Grace, meanwhile, showed why he was in firm contention for a possible All Blacks call-up following a breakout campaign with the Crusaders before a broken thumb scuppered his Super Rugby Aotearoa season.

The 20-year-old was a prominent threat in ball in hand, and had plenty to offer on defence before being pulled from the field at half-time in place of the impressive Bill Fukofuka.

Full Time

A spirited second half from @NorthOtagoRugby but our boys take it 71-7 pic.twitter.com/OBdAN32oL7

— Canterbury Rugby (@crfu) August 28, 2020

Former All Blacks lock Luke Romano, meanwhile, took the captaincy role for the first time in his 11-year provincial career, and lived up to the occasion with some bruising tackles that rocked opposition ball carriers.

One-test All Blacks first-five Brett Cameron was another standout for Canterbury in a performance that will have pleased Crusaders coach Scott Robertson, who watched on with assistants Jason Ryan and Scott Hansen, as well as former All Black halfback Byron Kelleher.

As the match wore on, however, the Canterbury attack became a bit more stagnant as the replacements rolled out onto the field, and North Otago were rewarded for their persistence when reserve prop Josh Hayward scored their sole try in the 70th minute.

Canterbury will now hold onto the Ranfurly Shield until September 19, when they host Taranaki in the second round of the Mitre 10 Cup, a week after they kick-off their domestic campaign against North Harbour in Albany on September 11.

North Otago, meanwhile, are set to defend the Hanan Shield against South Canterbury and Mid Canterbury in the coming weeks following the cancellation of the Heartland Championship due to COVID-19.

The scorers:

For Canterbury:
Tries: McLeod, Knewstubb, Brewis, Punivai, Harmon, Mataele 2, Fihaki, Darry 2, Poihipi
Cons: Cameron 8

For: North Otago:
Try: Hayward
Con: Phipps

Canterbury: 15 Andrew Knewstubb, 14 Chay Fihaki, 13 Isaiah Punivai, 12 Dallas Mcleod, 11 Manasa Mataele, 10 Brett Cameron, 9 Ereatara Enari, 8 Cullen Grace, 7 Billy Harmon, 6 Liam Allen, 5 Sam Darry, 4 Luke Romano (captain), 3 Tamaiti Williams, 2 Brodie Mcalister, 1 Finlay Brewis.
Replacements: 16 Shilo Klein , 17 Scott Mellow, 18 Fletcher Newell, 19 Zac Gallagher, 20 Bill Fukofuka, 21 Luke Donaldson, 22 Rameka Poihipi, 23 Cameron Bailey.

North Otago: 15 Josh Phipps, 14 Sione Kavatoe, 13 Lemi Masoe, 12 Sam Tatupu, 11 Mathew Vocea, 10 Mike Williams, 9 Robbie Smith, 8 Junior Fakatoufifita, 7 Marcus Balchin, 6 Cameron Rowland, 5 Josh Clark, 4 Charles Elton, 3 Kelepi Funaki, 2 Sam Sturgess (captain), 1 Ralph Darling.
Replacements: 16 Jake Greenslade, 17 Robert Richardson, 18 Josh Hayward, 19 Woody Kirkwood, 20 Jack Kelly, 21 Ben McCarthy, 22 Taina Tamou, 23 Antonio Misiloi.

By Alex McLeod, @RugbyPass