Ranfurly Shield stays in Canterbury

CANTERBURY 65 NORTH HARBOUR 10

Winger Joe Maddock showed why he's an exceptional rugby player last night.

The only non-All Black in the starting Canterbury team, Maddock scored five tries in their 65-10 win over North Harbour in the NPC-Ranfurly Shield match in Christchurch.

North Harbour showed plenty of resistance early in the game and even threatened the Canterbury line on a number of occasions.

But once the star-studded Canterbury lineup settled down, they moved the ball swiftly along the backline and scored four tries in the first half to lead 29-3.

Then Maddock raced in for four consecutive Canterbury tries to rip the heart out of Harbour's Shield challenge and take the scores to 58-10. Only flanker Matua Parkinson's sole try for Harbour interrupted Maddock's sequence.

Maddock now leads the first division try scorers with 10 and isn't likely to be beaten in the round-robin.

Canterbury 65 (Joe Maddock 5, Caleb Ralph, Mark Hammett, Mark Robinson, Chris Jack tries; Andrew Mehrtens 2 pen, 7 con)

North Harbour 10 (Matua Parkinson try; Luke McAlister pen, con)

Halftime: 29-3.

- NZPA