BoP had shield chances

By CHRIS RATTUE

Canterbury 31 BoP 26


Taranaki will lick their lips in Ranfurly Shield anticipation after Canterbury struggled to beat back Bay of Plenty's challenge.

Early NPC leaders Taranaki, who held the shield briefly in 1996, will be backed by around 500 travelling supporters when they take on the holders in Christchurch on Saturday night.

And hopes will be high after Canterbury battled to a victory over the Steamers yesterday, with their scrum struggling and their backline combinations jittery.

It was their second unconvincing win against lowly-rated opposition, after a narrow escape in Whangarei, while Taranaki have impressed in beating Waikato and Northland.

A charter plane will take about 70 Taranaki supporters south and flights out of New Plymouth and Palmerston North are booked out.

Taranaki knew they faced a shield challenge soon because their next NPC assignment is against Bay of Plenty in Mt Maunganui.

They have ended up with the tougher assignment, but a huge upset by the Steamers was closer to reality than most would have predicted.

There was a dual challenge at Jade Stadium - could Bay of Plenty cause a rugby shock and would Andrew Mehrtens give the national selectors a late reminder of his test worth?

Both the Bay and Mehrtens had their moments, but fell short of command performances.

With Tongan hooker Aleki Lutui among those to dent Canterbury's defence, and others such as loose forwards Wayne Ormond and Clayton McMillan in the thick of the action, this was an honourable if not rousing challenge from a team who are is building some first-division credibility.

Yet if the Steamers gained joy out of claiming an NPC bonus point, they should be kicking themselves for not causing one of the great Ranfurly Shield boilovers.

They may never get a better shield chance against an NPC heavyweight - with Canterbury's All Blacks missing and their stand-ins not firing on all cylinders.

Bay of Plenty hung in at vital times, when Canterbury held a 22-6 lead in the first half and 28-16 in the second. But they were never a major threat.

In the final minutes, referee Kelvin Deaker correctly pulled back centre Alan Bunting after the pass delivered to him by Lutui was just forward. Lutui and Bunting could quite easily have got it right, but it wasn't to be.

Mehrtens looked fit and sharp, made some incisive breaks and skipped over for a try on the blindside. But he spun like a turnstile when faced with a Lutui charge which led to Nili Latu's late first-half try that reduced the deficit to 13-22.

It's unlikely John Mitchell and his fellow All Blacks selectors saw anything to convince them that Mehrtens could take the ball to international play with more authority.