Canterbury off to a flyer

The NPC defending Premiership champions Canterbury, the so-called slow season starters, have put together a near complete performance in beating Auckland 48-9 in Christchurch on Saturday.

The two traditional powerhouses, who have won 27 overall titles between them, were totally different beasts in the first week of the 2014 season.

Canterbury started slowly, but then they exploded, preventing Auckland from scoring a try while sending a potential fellow contender away from Christchurch with their tails between their legs.

While Auckland looked to play Canterbury at their own game early, the smarts of the defending champions was ruthlessly on display in just their first match of the NPC.

Dramatically they altered their game, a massive tick for coach Scott Robertson, taking advantages of lapses in the Auckland defence and cover.

* Meanwhile Waikato proved they will be tough to beat this season after upsetting last year's NPC premiership finalists Wellington 37-25 on Saturday.

Trailing 10-11, the Mooloos flipped the switch and scored 20 unanswered points in as many minutes to wrap up a four-try bonus point by the end of the first half.

All Blacks Sevens winger Joe Webber grabbed a scintillating first-half brace but it'll be a freakish try to rookie midfielder Anton Lienert-Brown leading the highlight reel for the match which was played in slightly greasy conditions.

All the NPC scorers and scorers:

Thursday, August 14

Taranaki 9-9 Counties Manukau

Taranaki:

Pens: Rei 2, McKenzie

Counties:

Pens: Kerr 2, Tuala

Friday, August 15

Southland 34-23 Bay of Plenty

Southland:

Tries: Loco, Dixon, Ngaluafe

Cons: Sopoaga 2

Pens: Sopoaga 5

Bay of Plenty:

Tries: Bardoul, Fisiihoi

Cons: Hollinshead 2

Pens: Hollinshead 3

Saturday, August 16

Otago 28-14 North Harbour

Otago:

Tries: Fuatai 2, Lentjes

Cons: Parker 2

Pens: Parker 2

North Harbour:

Tries: Li, Parsons

Cons: Halangahu 2

Canterbury 48-9 Auckland

Canterbury:

Tries: McNicholl 2, Everson, A Whitelock, Todd, Osborne

Cons: Taylor 4, Bleyendaal, Mo'unga

Pens: Taylor 2

Auckland:

Pens: Anscombe 3

Wellington 25-37 Waikato

Wellington:

Tries: Treeby, Kahu, Fifita

Cons: Woodward 2

Pens: Woodward 2

Waikato:

Tries: McKenzie, Webber 2, Mitchell, Lienert-Brown, Hohneck

Cons: McKenzie 2

Pen: McKenzie

Sources: allblacks.com and NZ Newswire