Rugby: Canterbury crush Tasman to begin season

Canterbury player Tim Bateman. Photo / Photosport

Canterbury have begun their national provincial rugby season in the same fashion they ended last year's - outmuscling Tasman, this time 39-0 in Nelson.

In a repeat of last year's premiership final - won 43-27 by Canterbury - the red and blacks controlled the first half before fighting off a Tasman resurgence in the second spell.

Canterbury started promisingly, spending the first eight minutes camped inside the Tasman 22, twice crossing only to be held up over the line.

The relentless pressure inevitably told, fullback George Bridge muscling over after snappy work off the back of an attacking scrum.

In contrast, Tasman struggled for field position as Canterbury's well-organised defence shut them down in the middle of the park.

They did manage to close to within a couple of metres of the Canterbury line as the half-hour mark neared, grinding away with a series of charges one-off the ruck.

But centre Tim Bateman stripped the ball in the tackle and hared 80m downfield to reset the Canterbury attack.

Five minutes later, lock Dominic Bird barged over from a typically efficient Canterbury lineout drive, Richie Mo'unga's conversion giving the defending champions a 20-0 lead at halftime.

Tasman tackled the second half with more conviction, but although their defence was superb, they were let down by handling errors and turnovers at crucial times on attack.

Canterbury finished strongly, tries to skipper Luke Whitelock, second five- eighth Rob Thompson and lock Mitchell Dunshea to completing a dominant performance.

- NZN