The mighty and the might have been

By CHRIS RATTUE

The cream rose to the top as Canterbury sauntered past Bay of Plenty with a 44-12 win in the NPC semifinal at Christchurch.

Canterbury's victory in the rain at Jade Stadium will install them as slight favourites to win a surprisingly rare NPC title in Saturday's final against Wellington.

Composure and calculated support work were the Canterbury hallmarks, alongside the power running of centre Casey Laulala, who has provided the x-factor sometimes missing in the Canterbury mix.

Canterbury can be a decent bun without the currants, a solid feed without anything to excite the palate. Laulala is changing that.

It would be nice to savour Bay of Plenty gallantry, but they fired so few shots that this semifinal lacked drama. Plentiful plaudits will be saved for the Steamers' season, rather than this finale.

Either overcome or overwhelmed, the Steamers turned over possession - and they lacked some luck. Canterbury, who ooze big-match experience, blotted Bay of Plenty out of the picture.

It has been an extraordinary season for the Bay, one for which they are rightfully proud. They have put a sting in the tail and let us believe the game is not just the domain of the rich and famous - although they may be about to enjoy more of the spoils themselves.

Rugby is a free-for-all which encourages the importance of spirit.

The Steamers have shown plenty of that and a fair deal of skill.

But they were not in Canterbury's class.

And even in injuries, they had been dealt telling blows, with Kevin Senio and Aleki Lutui long gone and Adrian Cashmore (back) ruled out hours before kickoff.

"We gave the ball away in contact ... Canterbury spun it wide and we lost a little bit of confidence," coach Vern Cotter said. "Justin Marshall made all the right decisions when they got the ball. The general feeling is we're disappointed ... We didn't have their big-match experience but we made it much too easy for them."

Bay of Plenty struck glory early in the second half with a scrum move which put wing Anthony Tahana over - with hardly a high-priced Canterbury hand on him.

The Bay have a series of moves named after saws - drop saw, chain saw and hack saw.

Band saw - only devised on Thursday - involved two dummy runners and added to the Steamers' impressive set-play list.

But it was game, set and match to Canterbury, although had referee Steve Walsh not eagle-eyed a forward pass that looked suspiciously okay, Grant McQuoid would have scored to put some jitters in the Canterbury camp.

Ifs and buts became irrelevant, however, with Richie McCaw and Chris Jack leading Canterbury to a comprehensive victory.

Bay of Plenty playmaker Glen Jackson said Canterbury had fed off mistakes.

"They're not All Blacks and Super 12 players for nothing," he said. "They are used to big matches and we may have got a bit overwhelmed."

Still, any Bay disappointment will be short-lived after such a momentous season.

NPC fixtures, results and standings
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