Canterbury just too strong
No, not again.
The same scenario, the same opposition and ultimately, the same big prize. And sadly for the Tasman Makos, the same heartbreaking outcome.
Tasman have again failed to nail it on New Zealand provincial rugby’s biggest stage after suffering their third Mitre 10 Cup premiership final defeat in four years.
In a repeat of last year’s final showdown, Tasman’s 35-13 loss at Christchurch’s AMI Stadium on Saturday handed Canterbury their ninth premiership title in 10 years.
It wasn’t anything like the carnage of last season’s heavy 43-27 loss, also at AMI Stadium, or even this year’s opening round 39-0 loss at Trafalgar Park. But courage and effort aren’t necessarily always rewarded and whatever solace Tasman might have taken from Saturday’s brave performance was ultimately of little consolation.
To be fair, it’s what most punters outside of the Tasman catchment area had predicted as Canterbury’s peerless premiership pedigree once again stood up under intense finals pressure.
It left Tasman head coach Leon MacDonald feeling empty at the end of another gruelling contest.
‘‘We started really well I thought and played some good rugby ... but with the wind in the first half, we probably didn’t get enough points,’’ he said.
Sadly, Tasman’s set piece wasn’t up to the mark against a formidable Canterbury forward unit.
‘‘Yeah, it let us down big time. [Canterbury] won seven from seven of their lineouts and all quality ball which just gave them the ability to keep firing at us, so we ended up spending a bit of time on defence at the end.
‘‘We were definitely gutsy and we’ll rue the ease of a couple of their tries and a few missed tackles.
‘‘It’s not unusual that they score tries like that.
‘‘They’re a very good team, nine out of 10 titles suggests that and it means you’ve got to play an amazing game and we just didn’t do that tonight.’’
There was no masking MacDonald’s disappointment.
‘‘I would have hoped to be a lot closer than that and we let the score slip away at the end which was disappointing. But it’s a pretty young squad and the core of this team are going to be together for quite a long time hopefully, so there are some really promising signs.’’
Tasman captain Alex Ainley, playing in his 90th match for the province, also paid paid tribute to the champion Canterbury side.
‘‘They’re a good side and you’ve got to turn up at 100 percent to beat them,’’ he said.
‘‘They beat us at the breakdown, they beat as at set piece and you can’t be expected to win a game if you don’t win them.’’
Tasman threw everything at the title-favourites and showed plenty of early adventure. But with No 10 Richie Mo’unga in indomitable form and their forwards applying considerable and consist-
ent set phase pressure, Canterbury gradually began to tighten their grip.
It certainly didn’t start as Canterbury had anticipated when Tasman stunned the locals with the game’s opening try, big centre Levi Aumua crashing across in the corner after some concerted pressure with Mitch Hunt’s angled conversion and subsequent penalty pushing Tasman to a shock 10-0 lead.
It didn’t take Canterbury long to respond, Mo’unga in particular revealing his special array of attacking skills with two superb solo tries to put the favourites ahead 12-10 after 24 minutes.
Despite a second Hunt penalty putting Tasman ahead 13-12, Canterbury’s clear set-phase dominance eventually paid dividends when centre Tim Bateman cashed in off an attacking lineout drive to give the home team a 19-13 lead at the break.
Three Mo’unga penalties extended Canterbury’s lead to 28-13 heading into the final quarter, his third ending a remarkable 35-phase onslaught inside Tasman’s quarter as Tasman’s defence showed admirable tenacity to hold them out.
With the game slipping away, Tasman’s only option was to throw everything into attack.
But their endeavour was matched by an equally determined Canterbury defence.
Reserve halfback Jack Stratton eventually broke Tasman’s defensive resistance to score Canterbury’s only second half try, with Mo’unga’s conversion giving him a new final point-scoring record with 25 points.
Leinster-bound Tasman winger James Lowe was at his effervescent best, sparking much of Tasman’s early attack.
Loose forwards Ethan Blackadder and Vernon Fredericks and lock Frizell also epitomised Tasman’s energetic approach with solid contributions. Pete Samu also added value off the bench.