Canterbury juggernaut revs up a gear with win over Waikato

Canterbury upped their NPC bid last night in impressive if conservative style, overpowering fellow contenders Waikato 30-15 in Hamilton.

Canterbury can be pencilled in for a semifinal place, after their 15-point victory at Waikato Stadium, but they might face the rest of the season without test halfback Justin Marshall.

He limped out of the game in the 18th minute with what appeared to be a serious knee injury.

The rest of the match was all good news for the red and blacks who are, for now, joint leaders with Taranaki.

Canterbury face a tough task at Eden Park in the penultimate round, but finish off with what should be guaranteed maximum points against Northland at Jade Stadium. That should be enough, whatever happens against Auckland.

The visitors had trouble finding the try line last night, despite a wealth of opportunities early in the game.

The crucial moment came in the 58th minute when hooker Corey Flynn broke a Marty Holah tackle to set up Caleb Ralph, who pushed off a poor Sosene Anesi tackle. Dan Carter's conversion gave Canterbury a 20-15 lead, and they powered home from there.

Ralph squandered a try soon after, following a magical chip kick and regather by Andrew Mehrtens.

He tried to skid over the line from long distance, but was dragged into touch by little fullback Isaac Boss.

But minutes later, Ralph powered over the line for his side's third and final try to seal Waikato's fate.

Canterbury could not take advantage of their superiorty early in the game, but finally scored a try in the 47th minute, after being handed a series of invites by Waikato who kept chip-kicking the ball away.

Canterbury's most potent back, Casey Laulala, did the damage with a 40m run after brushing past Keith Lowen, then swatting off Isaac Boss.

Canterbury did not learn the lesson, however, replying in kind with a chip-kick that Isaac Boss scooped up.

The converted fullback skirted around defenders and set a counter-attack away, finished by wing Sosene Anesi for a fine try.

And Waikato repeated the dose minutes later with replacement Derek Maisey - in his NPC return after a long injury break - providing the final pass for Lowen as Waikato took a 15-13 lead.

Waikato kept the score to 3-3 at halftime, although just how was a rugby mystery.

Canterbury dominated territory, made a number of half-breaches near the Waikato line, and could probably have led by around 15 or 20 points.

Waikato defended stoutly, however, with good front-on tackling and scrambling when it counted.

And they were aided by a series of Canterbury turnovers and forward passes.

Canterbury's best scoring chance came via an unusual manner, a 50m kick-and-chase effort from hooker Corey Flynn, whose only decent pursuer was a lumbering Marty Holah.

Flynn always had the edge, a great effort by a hooker against an openside loose forward, but as he went to dive and slide over the line, the ball spilled away.

And when Justin Marshall made a dab to the line, he was held up by his old sparring partner, Byron Kelleher.

After withstanding 18 minutes of almost constant pressure, Waikato scored first when Stephen Donald kicked a drop goal, with the penalty advantage applying to Waikato. Ten minutes later Dan Carter landed a simple penalty to end the scoring in a torrid half.