Storming return by champs Canterbury

By CHRIS RATTUE - CANTERBURY 35 BAY OF PLENTY 30

The Canterbury side almost went the way of the thousands of tourists who have passed through Rotorua over the years.

For much of their match against Bay of Plenty, Canterbury looked as though they would leave the famous tourist trap lighter in the pocket - in terms of NPC points - but richer for the experience.

Yet the under-strength visitors emerged victors at the International Stadium in another warning for the chasing pack that this impressive sports dynasty is far from over.

Ben Blair helped to lead Canterbury to victory, with his sharp running bringing three tries. He also landed four out of eight shots at goal for a haul of 25 points.

Canterbury hardly arrived in Rotorua in all their finery. This was the budget-holiday crew, with some first-class passengers, including test forwards Mark Hammett, Chris Jack and Greg Somerville, thrown in.

The sight of a Canterbury team devoid of a swag of test players had not impressed Bay of Plenty coach Vern Cotter and his side either.

Captain Mark Weedon said after the defeat: "We thought they might have put out a stronger team. I thought it was pretty brave of them.

"Maybe it is only our second year in the first division, but we've shown we can compete, especially on our home patch.

"They might have underestimated us a little bit."

If the sight of a below-strength Canterbury side was not enough motivation for the Bay, they also had Canterbury's record 72-3 win over them last year to think on.

In the end, those motivating factors were not enough to roll the champions, despite the charging runs of Tongan front rowers Aleki Lutui and Taufa'ao Filise.

Canterbury even had to contend with a rearranged backline after Nathan Mauger departed through injury.

Star national Colt Daniel Carter had started at first five-eighths with the intention of his getting some on-field tutelage from veteran midfield back Daryl Gibson.

But Carter ended up covering for Mauger in the centres, with Charlie Hore coming on at pivot after the first quarter.

Gibson was a rock for Canterbury, often settling the side down as the Bay fought back from 13-3 down to lead 20-13 at halftime, despite being on the wrong side of a 9-2 penalty count.

When Lutui bullocked down the short side to give Bay of Plenty a 25-13 lead early in the second half, another NPC upset appeared on the cards.

But the champions came back with a sweeping move leading to a Joe Maddock try, and on came Jack and Somerville to test the Bay further.

Bay of Plenty responded with a superbly worked try to flanker Wayne Ormond after centre Nick Collins threaded through heavy traffic on the short side.

Canterbury then regained the lead with a clinical move that saw wing Alisi Tupuailei canter under the bar, with a fist raised, with 10 minutes remaining. Blair finished off the game with a penalty.

Captain Hammett, who had a running battle with referee Glenn Wahlstrom, praised the work of Carter and the other newcomers in preparing Canterbury for the season without the All Blacks present.

"I'm proud of the job they've done," Hammett said. "We didn't want to bring in too much different and the younger guys have to learn around us.

"But we threw a bit of new stuff at them this week and they did a great job with it.

"There were a few things we could have done better today. We didn't shut down the blindside as well as we could have."

On his dialogue with Wahlstrom, Hammett said he did not believe the referee had given him a fair hearing as the captain.

"We struggled with a few interpretations. We felt they were going over the top and killing the ball," he said. "I felt he wasn't letting me talk to him as the captain. We weren't saying anything nasty, but maybe there were too many people in his ear.

"Part of the captain's role is talking to the referee and I didn't think I was approaching him too much. He didn't seem to want to know."

Weedon said he was delighted Bay of Plenty had already secured four competition points.

He believed they needed more composure to have a greater impact in the first division.

"The changing room is pretty disappointed. We thought we were in with a real chance."