Canterbury grinds out win in semifinal

AUCKLAND: Canterbury will have a shot at defending its Mitre 10 Cup Premiership title after overpowering a resilient Tasman in Nelson.

It was billed as the blockbuster semifinal of the weekend, a battle for Crusaders’ bragging rights and a rematch of last year’s final.

Instead, it was a scrappy forward contest and Canterbury ultimately showed its class with a 2116 victory at Trafalgar Park.

The home side rushed ahead, skipper David Havili going over for the game’s first try after a patient buildup of more than 12 phases. The Makos led 136 at the half.

But after the break, Canterbury looked a completely different side. It burst out of the tunnel and almost crossed within minutes, settling for three points instead.

Helped by a superb performance from newly selected All Black George Bridge, Canterbury turned the screw and pinned Tasman in its own 22 for most of the second half.

Eventually, Canterbury captain Mitchell Drummond crossing over off a scrum and a kick from the sideline by Brett Cameron tied it at 1616 after 63 minutes.

From there, there was only going to be one result, especially after Will Jordan was sent to the bin for a deliberate knockdown, Tasman’s second yellow card of the half.

It was the skipper again in the end who jumped on a nicely weighted grubber to break Tasman’s hearts. — NZME