No cigar for hapless Mooloos

Canterbury 23 Waikato 15 

Canterbury certainly do have the ability to rise to the occasion.

A touch flaky and unconvincing in the opening rounds, Canterbury reached inside themselves last night and got in touch with their champion side.

They needed to. Waikato were brave and uncompromising and had their chances. Three times in the second half when the game was so finely poised, the Mooloo crossed the tryline but couldn't unite leather with grass.

It was agonising for the cow-bell janglers to see first Steven Bates, then Stephen Donald and Soseni Anesi get the cigar into their mouths but not find a light.

Ranfurly Shield challenges are all about inches and split seconds. Canterbury hold the Shield this morning, because, when it really mattered, they had individuals who made the right decisions or executed without faltering.

While David Hill snap-hooked a kickable penalty with 10 minutes remaining, Ben Blair stroked one over from wide out on the left to put his side 16-15 ahead.

While Stephen Donald pushed a potential match-winning drop goal left of the uprights with five minutes remaining, Vilimoni Delasau kept his head a couple of minutes later to hack through a loose ball and pounce on it to keep the Shield secure.

It was cruel on Waikato, who showed huge collective will and no little ability.

The key is to make sure we do learn some lessons, was Waikato coach Warren Gatland's take.

"We got over the line three times. That happens in rugby and you may not score.

"Then we didn't take a kick-off, Byron [Kelleher] was penalised and Ben Blair kicked a penalty from the sideline.

"The guys are pretty gutted, really. We got ahead with 10 minutes to go, but that is why Canterbury are such a good side and we have got to go away and make sure that when we get in the same situation we improve our performance next time."

The nature of the defeat was cruel, not only because so many opportunities were squandered, but because a number of Waikato's returning stars deserved something for their high-impact efforts.

There was Kelleher, who showed himself to be the fastest 'weeble' on the planet, when he wobbled down the right wing but never fell over to score a spectacular solo try early in the first half. Sione Lauaki chipped in with a bruising 80 minutes and Jono Gibbes added the belligerence that has been missing for much of the season.

Then, there was Keith Lowen making us all wonder where he has been all season. The former All Black ran with the speed of a man half his size, while managing to pull off the neat trick of then hitting tackles with the force of a man twice his size.

Canterbury, too, had some giants. Ben Blair, a fallen angel last season, has rediscovered his confidence. He ran like the wind and struck the winning kick so sweetly there are some who swear the ball was actually singing as it bisected the posts.

Campbell Johnstone, the whispering All Black, also pitched in with a colossal effort, destroying replacement prop Nathan White in a scrummaging effort of the highest quality.

With so many individuals in such chipper spirits it was little wonder that the first two tries of the game were straight out of the drawer marked classic.

Canterbury's opening score will be a contender for try of the season.

Somehow they managed to soak four relentless minutes of Waikato pressure, turn the ball over deep inside their own 22 and go the length of the field.

They managed it because Caleb Ralph had the poise and vision to throw a huge pass to Casey Laulala.

The centre weaved and bobbed like a dinghy on choppy water, popped to Johnny Leo'o who then turned it back inside to the supporting Caleb Ralph to finish a move he had bravely started.

The riposte, only a minute later, from Kelleher was every bit as spectacular. The All Black halfback outpaced Reuben Thorne to get on the end of a perfectly-weighted Steven Bates kick ahead and then brushed off tackles all the way to the chalk.

By the end of the game Canterbury coach Aussie McLean was in no doubt that: "This was a victory for player depth. It wasn't the biggest win I have enjoyed, but I would say this was the most satisfying victory of my career."

Canterbury 23 (C. Ralph, V. Delasau tries; B. Blair 3 pens, 2 cons)

Waikato 15 (B. Kelleher, K. Lowen tries; D. Hill con, pen).

- HERALD ON SUNDAY