Canterbury maintain NPC domination with fifth title
The challenge was set for Canterbury to create history and they did it in style.
Five consecutive national provincial championship titles were unheard of but Canterbury rewrote the books with arguably one of their most dominant seasons.
Under new coach Tabai Matson, who was elevated after the departure of Rob Penney, the red and blacks were ruthless scoring 58 tries in 12 games and averaging 42 points a match. The backline ran with width, speed and power, while a relatively young tight five stood up and were counted against some much more experienced opposition.
There were a few blips however. The Jordan Taufualoan agreement in which they called him back from Tasman in the week leading up to the semifinal was ugly, the first round loss to Crusaders bedfellows Tasman and a missed Ranfurly Shield chance over Taranaki will still hang as low points.
But at the other end of the spectrum, names such as Johnny McNicholl, Ben Funnell and Dominic Bird being shoved into the limelight mean the future of the red and black brigade is bright.
They were the best this season. Undoubtedly. But the rest of the pack is chasing hard and Auckland, Wellington, Waikato and Taranaki look to be closing the gap.
Counties Manukau set the country alight with their razzle-dazzle style to win the championship title over a much improved Otago, who considering their financial woes a year ago, did well to feature.
The smaller unions will be happy to see the NZRU review the format of the competition with changes set for 2013. The request was put forward by eleven of the 14 provincial unions with only Canterbury, Wellington and Auckland stating they were content with the current set-up. Next year the new round-robin, which lasted seven weeks in 2012, will be stretched to nine and the competition is set to kick off a week earlier.
Provincial rugby’s showpiece – the Ranfurly Shield – was held by Taranaki for a good portion of the season before it was handed over to Waikato late in the season. Still the most prized possession for any provincial side, the Log O’ Wood’s appeal with the public is as strong as ever.
In the Heartland Championship, East Coast ended Wanganui’s dominance with a last-minute try in the final in Ruatoria to claim the Meads Cup while Buller bagged a rare trophy success over South Canterbury in the Lochore Cup at Westport.