Rugby: Dogged Wellington destroy Canterbury

Asafo Aumua of Wellington breaks away for a try. Photo / Getty

Canterbury's unbeaten season has gone to the dogs, following a 60-14 thrashing at the hands of Wellington.

After a 5-0 start to the season, Canterbury were swept away in a wet outing at Westpac Stadium, with Wellington regaining the Harry Saundercock Memorial Trophy.

The first ever "Bark at the Park" promotion allowed fans to bring along their four-legged friends, but only Wellington were allowed off the leash as they raced away to an impressive victory.

Canterbury were missing several key players due to injury and rotation, and as a result their bark was worse than their bite as they quickly fell into a first half hole.

An early Jackson Garden-Bachop intercept was finished off by Julian Savea, before rampaging hooker Asafo Aumua showed his immense talent by skinning Canterbury speedster George Bridge and fending off first-five Brett Cameron for a phenomenal solo try.

Wellington were hounding Canterbury all over the park, and managed to summon tries out of nothing on multiple occasions. Two chargedowns led to tries as the lead extended to 24-7 shortly after halftime, and Canterbury finished with a whimper as Wellington ran in eight tries to complete a remarkable rout.

While the hosts displayed some dogged defence, Canterbury lacked bite on attack, and were a shadow of the side who notched 70 points in their two previous outings.

Despite the defeat, Canterbury stay atop the Premiership ahead of their top-of-the-table clash against North Harbour next week, while Wellington remain top dogs in the Championship, with five wins from six encounters.