Making the most of tries either side of halftime, Taranaki put the issue beyond doubt early in the second half and looked far more like the Premiership contender they were last year.
Former Gisborne Boys’ High School first 15 first-five-eight Beaudein Waaka. wearing the No.15 jersey, was outstanding for the winners.
Nothing quite exemplifies the Canterbury rugby machine than the effort that goes into turning around a loss like that suffered in the first week against Tasman.
This time, against Wellington, the Canterbury desire was evident whereas Wellington threw the ball around with the sort of free abandon that Canterbury cherished, forcing mistakes that allowed them to build more pressure. With centre Braydon Ennor and fullback George Bridge, also from Gisborne, showing their skills, Canterbury claimed a 27-20 bonus point win to get their campaign back on track.
Waikato must be wondering how they lost to North Harbour, when they led 21-8 with just under 30 minutes to play, before going down 29-28 at Hamilton.
The wait goes on for the Southland Stags as they hunt for their first away win in three years.
Beaten at home by Hawke’s Bay in their opening round, the Stags went down 45-24 to Tasman at Blenheim.
Bay of Plenty started round 2 with a 22-17 victory over Counties Manukau at Pukekohe on Thursday. — NZ Herald
