Canty hammered by Auckland
An under-strength Canterbury selection side proved no match for the Auckland Vulcans Development side on Monday.
Going down 32-8 is not the start the defending national champions wanted for their representative campaign but Canterbury coach Darrell Coad can see plenty of positives.
Canterbury made far too many errors to be competitive but showed plenty of grit to hang in with Auckland for 70 minutes.
The slick Auckland side ran in three late tries against a tiring Canterbury to blow out the final score.
Coad named a Bulls train-on squad of 42 and 22 of those players were unavailable for Monday’s game due to injury.
With many frontliners not playing, Coad said it was exciting to see fringe players with an opportunity. ‘‘We had something like nine or 10 new faces out there from last year.
‘‘There were a lot of guys out there that have never played at this level before,’’ Coad said.
Canterbury played in patches, looking good in parts but terrible in others.
‘‘They switched on and switched off a bit but that comes with communication and when you’ve been shoved together like this with only a couple of trainings, we have to expect that.
‘‘I think with a bit more time and getting some combinations together and a few more players back, it’s exciting times,’’ Coad said.
He praised the efforts of strong running prop Patella Tou and centre Benaiah Crichton for their efforts but he found a lot to like across the park.
He signalled out southerners Taina Tamou (centre) and Isaac Misky (hooker) who travelled up to Christchurch for the match.
Canterbury struggled for possession early and were only tackled with the ball three times in the first 11 minutes.
They only had themselves to blame through poor discipline and basic errors but did well to hold Auckland’s early lead to 14-0.
Crichton struck first for Canterbury after Auckland made a mess of a Canterbury kick-off to cut the deficit to 14-4.
Auckland scored again to make it 18-4 at the break.
Canterbury fullback Kolone Fa’alilo scored the home side’s only second-half try after a continuous attack that was helped by Auckland being a man down, with Afatasi Collins in the sin bin.
Coad felt his side was improved in the second half.
Fitness appeared to be an issue with some of the Canterbury forwards and Coad said there was work to be done but it probably illustrated the difference in speed between club games in Canterbury and Auckland.
Coad will take confidence in his side improving as the game went on.
Canterbury’s defence fell to pieces in the final minutes but had done well to keep Auckland out for as long as they did.