Rugby: Canterbury machine builds toward final success

Wellington's Hosea Gear attempts to beat the Southland defence. Photo / Getty Images

Pragmatists 2, Romantics 0.

And so Canterbury, the defending champions and big occasion masters, will host Wellington in the Air New Zealand Cup final on Saturday night.

Those whose heart invariably rules their head on knockout nights will be disappointed.

The idea of Southland hosting Hawkes Bay had a certain appeal. Both have had championship campaigns to be proud of. But come the crunch, and the big-city mobs had the stronger all-round games, and so on balance, the semifinal results should have come as no surprise.

Even shorn of their eight All Blacks - Dan Carter, Andy Ellis, Kieran Read, Richie McCaw, Brad Thorn, Owen Franks, Wyatt Crockett and Corey Flynn - Canterbury were always going to be a huge challenge for Hawkes Bay.

Providing first five-eighth Stephen Brett had a decent game, which he did, and they took their scoring opportunities when presented, which they did, Hawkes Bay were going to be up against it.

Canterbury's defensive prowess saw to that. In the 13 matches of the round robin, they conceded just 19 tries - only Southland with 15 were more parsimonious.

Canterbury operated their line like a vice and Hawkes Bay were unable to break it and so headed home desperately disappointed they were unable to progress any further than in the previous two years, when they also fell at the penultimate hurdle.

"Gutted. We just didn't fire a shot, which is really disappointing," Hawkes Bay coach Peter Russell said.

At 19-7 down at halftime, Southland's bold run seemed coming to an end. However the Ranfurly Shield holders found a second wind and two long-range tries got their noses in front.

Halfback Scott Cowan emulated big brother Jimmy, pinching the ball from opposite Alby Mathewson's grasp at a scrum on halfway and sprinting to the line 50m away.

Then Jason Kawau broke clear from 10m off the Southland line, got past halfway before putting centre Kenny Lynn clear on a 45m run to the Wellington line.

At 21-19, with half an hour left it was all on. But it was Wellington who finished stronger, allied to Southland boo boos, chiefly with handling errors and turnovers. Replacement hooker Dane Coles was in the right spot to score twice and Piri Weepu, with a strong game at first five-eighth, kicked 19 points. In last year's final, Canterbury held out Wellington 7-6 in the capital. It's fair to say they know each other well, so there won't be too many surprises for either side.

"We've had some great battles with Wellington in the past, so this is fantastic," Canterbury coach Rob Penney said.

"They can explode from anywhere. They have great firepower through their back division and they are capable of destroying sides if they get a bit of momentum going."

Translation: if Canterbury stifle that momentum with their long red-and-black defensive blanket, they'll be halfway to a seventh national championship since it began in 1976.

The two have met in three finals since that format was introduced in 1992. Wellington won in 2000, Canterbury in 2004 and last year.