Canterbury shine with cross-eyed Brett
Thu, 18 Sep 2008 12:07
Canterbury consolidated their second position on the Air New Zealand Cup (NZ) table with a bonus-point 37-13 victory over Bay of Plenty (BoP) in Christchurch on Thursday.
Canterbury secured their bonus-point fourth try shortly before the interval to give them a 23-13 lead at half-time, after Steven Brett missed four consecutive conversion attempts.
Returning Canterbury flyhalf Stephen Brett however opened the scoring in the fifth minute with a simple penalty kick, but the Steelers secured the first try when centre Cory Aporo broke a Brett tackle to score in the corner.
Mike Delany's sideline conversion put the visitors ahead (7-3) after eight minutes, but he missed a 47-metre penalty goal shortly after.
The Steamers' clinical forwards effort was then rewarded when Delany kicked a 42-metre penalty goal after 18 minutes.
Canterbury replied immediately, with the ball being passed to both flanks before right wing Scott Hamilton made an incisive break and found an unmarked Mose Tuiali'i on the inside. Brett however missed the conversion from a handy range.
Canterbury then took the lead in the second quarter with a slashing Hamilton try, with Brett again missing the conversion but the home team led, 13-10.
Both teams were keen to run the ball, even from defensive positions, and Canterbury's Ellis paid the price for helping referee Bryce Lawrence with some decisions - seeing Delany level the scores at 13-13 with his 35-metre angled penalty goal.
A fumbling BoP pass led to Canterbury's third try, seeing fullback Colin Slade scoring in the corner after a 55-metre run. Brett again missed the conversion.
Steamers fullback Zar Lawrence had his clearing kick charged down, but Delany just managed to beat Canterbury wing Sean Maitland to the touchdown.
However, Canterbury flank George Whitelock was rewarded with good following up, the try being awarded by the Television Match Official (TMO), thus handing Canterbury their bonus-point try.
Brett missed his fourth conversion, but Canterbury went into the break with a healthy 23-13 advantage.
The game went through a bland period in the third quarter until the 56th minute, when Tim Bateman and Hamilton did some impressive interchanging with Bateman scoring and Brett finally converting from in front to put Canterbury ahead, 30-13.
Whitelock was sin-binned on the hour for coming off his feet, and BoP attacked through their forwards only to concede a free kick on Canterbury's line.
But Bay hit back and after a series of attacks, flank Solomon King bashed over for a try which Delany converted to leave Canterbury ahead, 30-20.
After Brett's goal-kicking concerns, he redeemed himself in the 75th minute - following up a charged down kick and taking an inside pass from Ellis to score. Brett converted his try to take Canterbury to a 37-20 lead which they held to the finish.
Scorers:
For Canterbury:
Tries: Tuiali'i, Hamilton, Slade, Whitelock, Bateman, Brett
Con: Brett 2
Pen: Brett
For Bay of Plenty:
Tries: Aporo, King
Cons: Delany 2
Pen: Delany 2
Teams:
Canterbury: 15 Colin Slade, 14 Scott Hamilton, 13 Tim Bateman, 12 Hamish Gard, 11 Sean Maitland, 10 Stephen Brett, 9 Andrew Ellis, 8 Mose Tuiali'i, 7 George Whitelock, 6 Kieran Read (captain), 5 Isaac Ross, 4 Michael Paterson, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Ti'i Paulo, 1 Wyatt Crockett.
Replacements: 16 Corey Flynn, 17 Peter Borlase, 18 James Broadhurst, 19 Hayden Hopgood, 20 Tyson Keats, 21 Adam Whitelock, 22 James Paterson.
Bay of Plenty: 15 Zar Lawrence, 14 Lance MacDonald, 13 Cory Aporo, 12 Nigel Hunt, 11
Jason Hona, 10 Mike Delany, 9 Ruki Tipuna, 8 Colin Bourke, 7 Tanerau Latimer (captain), 6 Solomon King, 5 Culum Retallick, 4 John Moore, 3 James McGougan, 2 John Pareanga, 1 Joe Savage.
Replacements: 16 Dean Elmigar, 17 Matt Wallis, 18 Aidan Kuka, 19 Luke Braid, 20 Josh Hall, 21 Kelly Haimona, 22 Paula Asaeli.
Referee: Bryce Lawrence
Television match official: James McPhail
