Rugby: Blistering start guarantees victory

CANTERBURY 43 TARANAKI 9

NEW PLYMOUTH - A ruthlessly efficient Canterbury side squashed any hopes of a Taranaki victory in the first 20 minutes of their NPC rugby match.

Taranaki were not in the hunt, with Canterbury racing to a 24-3 lead and then cruising to a 43-9 win.

Try as they might, Taranaki could not get their hands on the ball. What little ball the home side did win, they tended to turn over just as quickly.

"I couldn't believe how well Canterbury played in the first 20 minutes," Taranaki coach Colin Cooper said.

"We were blown away. We just couldn't get the ball and when we did we turned it over. You can't afford to do that against Canterbury."

Canterbury coach Robbie Deans was pleased with the win and the five competition points.

"It was important not to give Taranaki a sniff. We knew we had to start well and play the game at pace using the short side," Deans said.

Canterbury ripped into Taranaki from the start, with All Black captain Todd Blackadder leading the way. Canterbury captain and midfield back Daryl Gibson scored three tries.

Gibson's first try came with ridiculous ease after the Canterbury forwards drove to the Taranaki line and the ball was spun wide to the solid midfielder who pushed off Mark Urwin to score under the posts.

Soon after, Gibson was over for number two after good leadup work by flanker Scott Robertson and centre Mark Robinson.

The warning bells were still ringing when Canterbury roared back on to attack.

Blackadder floated out wide, had the line open but flicked the pass on to winger Afato So'oalo to stroll in for the side's third try.

It had been a clinical start.

Behind 24-3, Taranaki were on the way to conceding an old-fashioned hiding.

But they never gave up and battled back bravely in the second quarter to keep Canterbury scoreless for the remainder of the half.

Any hopes of a second-half comeback for Taranaki were quickly snuffed out.

Canterbury claimed an early tighthead and had Taranaki on the back foot for the opening 10 minutes of the spell, with Robinson scoring a try against his old province.

Throw in a third from Gibson and one from All Black lock Norm Maxwell and Canterbury finished with six tries to none.

Blackadder was outstanding, with Robertson, flanker Reuben Thorne and Maxwell close behind, while halfback Ben Hurst, Gibson and Robinson in the midfield and fullback Ben Blair caused the Taranaki defence all sorts of problems.

- NZPA