Bitter diasappontment
Forget about the scoreline for a moment.
Ignore the fact that Canterbury have once again comfortably established themselves as the powerhouse of New Zealand domestic rugby after their 43-27 win over Tasman in Christchurch on Saturday earned them their eighth premiership crown in nine years.
Just consider that for a Tasman union only 11 years into its existence, its record of having won the national provincial championship crown, appearing in two premiership finals and in another semifinal –all in the past four years – puts the province’s increasing development into true perspective.
Still, it wasn’t much consolation for a Tasman side that again fell short on New Zealand’s biggest provincial stage. No matter how gallant their challenge or however brave their intentions, the Tasman Makos have again missed out on premiership glory.
The reality is that Tasman made too many errors against a clinically efficient Canterbury side and they paid dearly for their inaccuracy.
Tasman head coach Leon MacDonald certainly didn’t hide his disappointment.
‘‘It’s just gutting...we didn’t really show what we were capable of doing with just little mistakes and two tries in the first three or four minutes, with a team like Canterbury, you just can’t do that,’’ MacDonald said.
‘‘We toiled hard to score tries and we struggled to execute, obviously, so it was very disappointing.’’
He said it was a typically clinical Canterbury performance.
‘‘They held the ball at the start for long phases and they got into the game that way,’’ MacDonald said.
‘‘We just couldn’t get our hands on it and we got a little bit panicky possibly when we did get the ball back because it was a rare thing.
‘‘We’ve got to give credit to a very good [Canterbury] outfit and there’s a reason they’re eight out of nine time champions. They don’t make errors and they apply pressure for long periods of time and capitalise on every opportunity.’’
The match couldn’t have started worse for Tasman as two tries to Canterbury inside the opening five minutes got the home team off to a flier.
Big lock Dave McDuling charged down an attempted Marty Banks clearance to regather and score after just 40 seconds before winger Nathan Earle latched on to Richie Mo’unga grubber kick minutes later to strike a decisive double blow.
A Banks penalty earned Tasman some respite although a disallowed try to hooker Andrew Makalio when he appeared to ground the ball on the line proved a costly miss. A second Banks penalty closed the gap to 12-6 after 17 minutes.
But with Earle sitting in the sinbin for some cynical play at a breakdown, a clever speculator by centre Kieron Fonotia quickly had Canterbury in trouble on their own line. Flanker Shannon Frizell seized the opportunity, scoring round the side of the resulting ruck to help put Tasman ahead 13-12.
Individual brilliance by Mo’unga soon had Canterbury back in front though, the No 10 slicing through Tasman’s defence for a slick try.
Tasman threatened a couple of times late in the half but continued to lose their advantage through frustrating errors.
The half ended controversially, referee Glen Jackson reversing an initial penalty to Tasman after lock Alex Ainley was yellowcarded for a dangerous tackle, Canterbury heading to the break 22-13 ahead.
Canterbury made the most of their one-man advantage after the restart, second five-eight Rob Thompson breaking through Tasman’s defence on the line to open up a 29-13 lead.
A fully restored Tasman team threw everything at an outstanding Canterbury defence, eventually finding a rare hole when halfback Billy Guyton sniped across after a series of phases inside the Canterbury quarter.
Tasman wouldn’t lie down, responding to another sizzling strike by the outstanding Mo’unga when substitute hooker Jesse MacDonald crossed to help keep Tasman in touch at 36-27.
But as they’d done throughout, just as Tasman looked to be getting back into the contest, Canterbury would strike back, with a try to reserve flanker Billy Harmon stretching their lead to 16 points.
It was perhaps indicative of Tasman’s fortunes that winger Viliami Lolohea would lose possession diving between the posts during the final minutes. But Canterbury were too good and their defence outstanding.
True to form though, Tasman were still fighting right up to the final whistle.
‘‘We got over the line a couple of times but we just weren’t good enough tonight,’’ MacDonald said.
‘‘We tried our hearts out and we’d defend for long periods of time, then a little bit of [Canterbury] magic and they’re off and score a try. That’s just the quality of the team.’’