Rugby: Taranaki overpower Canterbury for third straight home win

Photo by John Velvin

Taranaki produced one of their most complete performances of the NPC season to beat Canterbury 40-26 at Stadium Taranaki on Saturday afternoon.

The Bulls were the superior side for long periods, combining an improved set-piece with an attacking game that repeatedly put their dangerous outside backs into space.

The victory was Taranaki’s third successive home win over Canterbury, the first time they have achieved that in NPC history, and their fourth win from their past six matches against the red and blacks.

Canterbury arrived in New Plymouth on the back of losing the Ranfurly Shield to Northland and struggled to find cohesion in their backline.

While their forwards regularly provided front-foot possession, Canterbury’s backs rarely looked organised enough to capitalise.

Taranaki were much sharper.

Meihana Grindlay, Kini Naholo and Jacob Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens all found space during the afternoon, while Vereniki Tikoisolomone was threatening whenever he was given an opportunity.

Loose forward Josefa Namosimalua was also prominent, regularly used as a one-off runner and making valuable metres through the middle of the Canterbury defence.

Taranaki made their intentions clear immediately when Tikoisolomone broke the defensive line from the opening kick-off before Kaylum Boshier crossed after just a minute.

Canterbury responded through hooker Manumaua Letiu from a driving effort to level the scores 7-all, but from there Taranaki increasingly took control.

The home side was forced into some early reshuffling, however, with Keightly Watson failing an HIA and halfback Logan Crowley leaving the field later in the first half with a leg injury.

Crowley was in a moonboot after the match.

First-five Sam Clarke looked to have added another try in the first half, only for the television match official to correctly rule it out after Naholo stepped on the touchline earlier in the movement.

Clarke did get his try later in the half before Namosimalua powered across as Taranaki took a deserved 21-7 lead into halftime.

The Bulls again threatened immediately after the break and Boshier crossed for his second try to stretch the advantage.

Naholo then thought he had scored one of the tries of the afternoon when he soared to claim a kick-off and raced away untouched, but that effort was also correctly disallowed after replays showed he was in front of the kicker.

The two overturned tries did little to disrupt Taranaki’s attacking rhythm.

Canterbury finally found some fluency when Johnny McNicholl crossed, but Taranaki continued to win the important exchanges.

Their lineout was considerably more reliable than earlier in the season and their maul also provided a strong attacking platform.

Replacement prop Zach Landon-Lane was rewarded when the Taranaki pack drove him across, effectively putting the match beyond Canterbury.

Canterbury scored twice late in the contest, while Willem Ratu also crossed for Taranaki, but the late points did little to disguise the gap between the teams.

For Taranaki, it was another significant step forward after their heavy defeat to Northland earlier in the competition.

Their narrow loss to Bay of Plenty had shown signs of improvement, particularly at lineout time and with the penetration of their backline, and against Canterbury those improvements translated into a convincing result.

For Canterbury, meanwhile, it was another disappointing afternoon following the loss of the Ranfurly Shield.