Canterbury work their way to a solid win

Canterbury's patience and experience earned them maximum points beating Northland 32-10 in tonight's national first division rugby match at ITM Stadium in Whangarei. 

After leading just 7-3 at halftime with the help of Ben Blair's converted try, Canterbury crossed the Northland line three more times to earn a bonus point for scoring a minimum four tries.

The wet and slippery conditions didn't help and the home team probably took the most out of the situation by keeping the ball locked among their forwards.

However, Canterbury soaked up the pressure on the backfoot and gradually used their experience to turn over possession. It was then, with the Northland defence scattered and sometimes non-existent, hit back.

Three of Canterbury tries were scored from snappy counter-attacks.

Fullback Blair, first five-eighth Cameron McIntyre, winger Steve Yates and replacement halfback Jame Nutbrown scored Canterbury's tries, Blair kicked two penalties and three conversions.

Flanker Jake Paringatai rammed over for Northland's only try when Canterbury had already scored 25 points, and first five-eight David Holwell kicked the conversion and a penalty.

While the Northland pack were as strong or stronger than Canterbury's on the conditions, Canterbury's backs were superior and well timed their attacks.

Midfielder Casey Laulala broke the line and four tackles to allow Blair over in the 12th minute for the opening try.

Twelve minutes into the second half, after Blair had added two penalties to his converted try, McIntyre beautifully angled his run to take the ball from Mose Tuiali'i and score untouched under the bar.

Four minutes later Yates crossed and it looked like the floodgate was going to open.

However, under the guidance of Bryce Woodwood, who took over after coach Bruce Hodder resigned this week, Northland used the pick-and-charge effectively to gain good field position.

After two attempts by the forwards to bulldoze over the goal-line, Paringatai succeeded and Holwell converted the try.

A crunching tackle by replacement Tone Kopelani saw Northland lose the ball and Nutbrown picked it up and race half the length of the field for Canterbury's fourth try.

Canterbury captain Caleb Ralph said the conditions were equally hard for both teams.

"We just had to be patient, you can't be too eager in those conditions because you'd give the ball away," he said.

"I think our patience paid off, we turned them around a few times and it paid off in the second half -- that was the plan. We got the ball behind them and the openings came."

Northland veteran Jared Going said his team knew they'd be whipped if they coughed up possession but lacked composure after starting to build up their game.

"We suffered when we lost the ball, we had to turn around and chase so many times," he said.

"In those sort of conditions I think Canterbury played very well, they were patient and they picked their attacks."

Canterbury 32 (Ben Blair, Cameron McIntyre, Steve Yates, Jamie Nutbrown tries; Ben Blair 2 pen, 3 con)

Northland 10 (Jake Paringatai try; David Holwell pen, con).

Halftime: 7-3.

- NZPA