Rugby: Canterbury have wind in sails but Sopoaga may get final say

Lima Sopoaga. Photo / Getty Images

Given it's finals weekend in the ITM Cup it's only fitting Canterbury are playing in the Premiership decider.

Tonight will mark the sixth consecutive occasion they've appeared in provincial rugby's biggest game when they meet Wellington at Westpac Stadium in the capital.

Canterbury are the five-time defending champions. The run at the top began in 2008 when they edged Wellington 7-6 in the final in terrible conditions at the Cake Tin.

And while Canterbury have mastered the art of winning national provincial championship titles during the past decade, Wellington have specialised in finishing second.

They've been defeated six times in the showpiece game since they last won it all in 2000 and, curiously, that victory 13 years ago came against Canterbury with a 34-29 triumph in Christchurch.

Both sides come in to tonight's contest as the best teams in the competition, which should make for an entertaining spectacle.

They've already got together once at Westpac Stadium this year, when Wellington squeezed past Canterbury 25-19 in week six.

Canterbury midfielder Ryan Crotty said the side had moved on from that loss.

"We were nowhere near as good as we could have been that night, which was probably the frustrating thing and Wellington were quite good," Crotty said.

"They won some key moments and they definitely deserved the win then. But it was halfway through the comp, we are at the back end of it now and we've had a lot of development and got a lot better within our game since then so that's probably the exciting thing."

Canterbury bulldozed their way to the final with a 56-26 win over Auckland in Christchurch last weekend as they appear to be coming good at the right time.

Crotty, who will look to add to his sole All Black cap on this season's end-of-year tour, has been involved in every provincial title for the past five years after he made his Canterbury debut in 2008.

"Being a part of all of them is pretty special," Crotty, 25, said of the strong red and black squad. "I guess it's just that confidence and self-belief and belief in our game plan, the team and within each other."

For all Canterbury's success in recent seasons, Wellington have been the form team of this year's ITM Cup.

They've been largely unchallenged during their campaign and won nine of their 10 regular season games - the only blip on the radar was a 35-24 loss against Hawkes Bay in the round-robin - and the Lions have looked pretty good in the process.

Wellington base their play around a dominant forward pack, namely loose trio Brad Shields, Ardie Savea and Victor Vito, while their backs have enjoyed consistency of selection with Lima Sopoaga directing traffic from pivot.

Sopoaga's influence will be crucial tonight.

As Lions coach Chris Boyd pointed out after their 41-10 semifinal victory over Ranfurly Shield holders Counties Manukau in Wellington last weekend, the Highlanders first-five is starting to get the hang of the wind patterns within Westpac Stadium.

Many players have long wondered about the breeze at the Cake Tin, as it swirls at ground level, while there are certain pockets of space which blow stronger than others.

Some nights it seems as if there's no consistency to the gusts but Sopoaga is likely to have a greater handle on it than Canterbury first-five Tyler Bleyendaal.

It might just prove the difference.