Canterbury 34 Bay of Plenty 3
KEY POINTS:
Despite dominating possession and territory, Canterbury struggled for most of the match but still emerged with maximum points from their Air New Zealand Cup rugby season opener against Bay of Plenty tonight.
After being held 3-3 at halftime by a tenacious Bay side, they scored four tries, the bonus earner coming from replacement Hamish Gard after the fulltime buzzer.
As most first games in the season go, it was a stop-start affair featuring errors, but when Canterbury started to scatter the opposition defence, they cruised in for the tries.
Fullback Scott Hamilton crossed for Canterbury's first try in the 47th minute, Steven Brett converted it and kicked a penalty goal.
Bay of Plenty protested Canterbury's second try in the 65th minute by winger Steve Yates, claiming a dummy runner had blocked off the defence.
Canterbury's third in the 75th minute by Sean Maitland was a classic, with Brett kicking over to the clear side where Hamilton gathered it for Maitland's try.
Ahead 27-3 and with the buzzer gone, Canterbury's desperation paid off in attack, with Gard finishing off their fourth five-pointer.
Canterbury 34 (Scott Hamilton, Steven Yates, Sean Maitland, Hamish Gard tries; Steven Brett pen, 3 con; Gard con), BOP 3 (Murray Williams pen). Halftime 3-3.
- NZPA
