No saving Makos from rampant Cantabs
Fri, 10 Oct 2008 12:28
The Tasman Makos may have been saved from an Air New Zealand Cup competition cull in a dramatic change of heart by the News Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) recently, but they were unable to avoid an early exit from the play-offs.
The rampant Canterbury team, ably lead by impressive No.8 Kieran Read, scored a 48-10 win in a seven-try rout of the Makos in their quarterfinal clash in Christchurch on Friday.
The Cantabs have no won 10 games on the trot, since a surprise First Round loss to Manawatu, and seems to be the only team likely to challenge the dominance of the Wellington Lions.
Canterbury proved a class apart against a Tasman side that failed to live up to the pre-match hype of being a threat to their Super 14 franchise partners.
The visitors conceded two first-half to trail 3-17 at the interval and already the game appeared over as a contest.
Centre Casey Laulala strolled over for Canterbury's first try in the eighth minute, when he was put into a gap and Read got in on the act 17 minutes later.
Read did not have to exert himself either, picking up the ball from the base of the scrum before casually stepping inside Tasman scrumhalf Kahn Fotuali'i.
Flyhalf Colin Slade kicked both conversions - to go with an early penalty - and Canterbury were well clear at 17-0.
Tasman No.10 Miah Nikora landed a 41m penalty before the break, after hooker Corey Flynn was penalised for a high tackle, for the only Makos highlight in an indifferent first-half effort.
Tasman's defensive frailties were again exposed immediately after the restart when Slade picked up a loose pass before waltzing through two defenders to score a try of his own.
Nine minutes later it was that man Slade again as he produced a pinpoint, high cross-kick which wing Paul Williams leapt high to accept before twisting his way over the tryline in the tackle of Tasman centre Kade Poki.
Sandwiched between these efforts was Tasman's best moment of the match, as a break by Poki led to wing Afeleke Pelenise capping a long movement with a try in the left-hand corner.
That marked a brief respite for Tasman, who were clearly outmanned, the differences in the sides underlined in the 55th minute when Canterbury coach Rob Penney introduced All Blacks captain Richie McCaw from the replacements' bench.
As if to celebrate McCaw's arrival Williams crossed for his second try after looming up in support of Tim Bateman, after the inside centre surged through a huge hole in the Tasman defensive line.
Penney had the luxury of clearing his entire bench for the closing quarter as Canterbury rubbed Tasman's noses in it with further tries to fullback Scott Hamilton and left wing James Paterson.
The scorers:
For Canterbury:
Tries: Laulala, Read, Slade, Williams 2, Hamilton, Paterson
Cons: Slade 4, Gard
Pen: Slade
For Tasman:
Try: Pelenise
Con: Nikora
Pen: Nikora
Teams:
Canterbury: 15 Scott Hamilton, 14 Paul Williams, 13 Casey Laulala, 12 Tim Bateman, 11 James Paterson, 10 Colin Slade, 9 Andy Ellis; 8 Kieran Read (captain), 7 George Whitelock, 6 Hayden Hopgood, 5 Isaac Ross, 4 Michael Paterson, 3 Greg Somerville, 2 Corey Flynn, 1 Wyatt Crockett.
Replacements: 16 Ti'i Paulo, 17 Owen Franks, 18 James Broadhurst, 19 Richie McCaw, 20 Tyson Keats 21 Hamish Gard, 22 Adam Whitelock.
Tasman: 15 Robbie Malneek, 14 Blair Cook, 13 Kade Poki, 12 Andrew Goodman (captain), 11 Afeleke Pelenise, 10 Miah Nikora, 9 Kahn Fotuali'i; 8 Mark Bright, 7 Jonathan Poff, 6 Alex Ainley, 5 Brad Thorn, 4 Will Crutchley, 3 Tristan Moran, 2 Dan Perrin, 1 Ben May.
Replacements: 16 Quentin MacDonald, 17
Sakaria Taulafo, 18 Joe Wheeler, 19 Dan Hyatt, 20 Lualua Vailoaloa, 21 James Marshall, 22 Mike Pehi.
Referee: Jonathon White
Touch judges: Chris Pollock, Keith Brown
TMO: Kelvin Deaker
