KEY POINTS:
Canterbury 33
Waikato 20
For almost 12 months Canterbury's players and their coaching staff have been quietly seething about the manner in which they surrendered the Ranfurly Shield last year to what really was an inferior North Harbour side.
But Canterbury eased that pain with a ruthless demolition of brand-new holder Waikato to resume their hold on provincial rugby's most precious prize. In many respects it was a carbon copy of Waikato's destruction of Harbour the previous week.
"What happened last year hurt us all," commented one of Canterbury's outstanding players, No 8 Mose Tuiali'i. "We got a monkey off our backs."
Coach Rob Penney said that while Canterbury now had a new team, and only a few of Saturday night's team were involved in the Harbour defeat, everyone had shared in the disappointment of last year's defeat. "We didn't play well that day," he said, adding a shield loss always comes a little easier if it is to a better team.
It was a pity that Waikato should be the side which took the brunt of Canterbury's quest to restore pride. For after soaring the heights in thrashing North Harbour they now join the Wellington side of 1963 as having the shield for the shortest reign, just seven days.
Even Penney appeared to have sympathy for Waikato's misfortune in having to face such a stiff challenge, without the chance of settling in for a meaningful campaign with a few soft defences.
"They're a good side and they're a union who like us really value the shield," he said. But in hindsight Waikato had little chance against a union which, apart from Auckland, knows more about shield rugby and making successful challenges than any other. Canterbury's history was a tangible factor in preparation and motivation despite having just halfback Kevin Senio, for Bay of Plenty against Auckland in 2004, as their only player to have played in a winning shield side.
An important link was provided by the team's manager, Angus Gardiner, who played as a flanker in the Canterbury side which lifted the shield in 1994 in Hamilton.
He agreed on Saturday night that the proven formula for winning the shield was for any challenger to take the game to the holder. Canterbury did that superbly on Saturday night.
Said Penney: "It's a fantastic feeling when you put strategies in place and then watch them come off almost perfectly."
Canterbury's frenetic start meant the shield was as good as won after only 21 minutes, by which time they had surged to a 26-6 lead, and with tries to Tim Bateman, Corey Flynn, Rico Gear and Scott Hamilton, had already gained a bonus point in the Air New Zealand Cup competition.
Waikato then had the impossible task of playing catch-up against a famously efficient outfit.
In implementing a game plan, which had surprising success overcoming Waikato's rush defence, two players stood out: Stephen Brett at first five-eighths and Tuiali'i. Penney said it was not a matter of if Brett would become an All Black but when. And players like Tuiali'i and others who had been All Blacks deserved to be looked at again.
Waikato coach Warren Gatland was remarkably calm after the match, saying that his young side, who were clearly outpointed in terms of Super 14 experience, would benefit from the encounter. He was proud of the side's second-spell courage.
With Canterbury unable to sustain the pace with which they started, Gatland still had some hope of a miraculous recovery, though that was probably ruled out by Canterbury's fifth try just on halftime when a turnover resulted in a 95m runaway.
Gatland praised Canterbury's performance, but also hinted at some displeasure with some of their ruthlessness, which he had described as coming close to being cynical, and confirmed he had had a couple of words to referee, Matt Stanish, at halftime. "If you made a break against these guys it was amazing the number of times it ended up as a penalty," he said.
Canterbury had also cleverly slowed down the game in the second spell and the number of scrum resets had been "ridiculous".
Canterbury were kept scoreless in the second spell, which was a small victory for Waikato. But Canterbury did lose two prime try-scoring chances, once when Gear ignored an unmarked Hamilton, and the other when a debatable forward pass was called.
