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Canterbury has taken the right path to avoid relegation from the 10 Miter Cup Premiership.
The perennial title contenders have found themselves in uncharted territory in 2020, sitting at the foot of the ladder heading into the penultimate round of the regular season.
With the top two teams Tasman and Auckland on the schedule for the home race, they looked poised to end a forgettable season properly.
Instead, by upsetting Tasman 29-0 at Blenheim on Saturday, Canterbury has not only given itself a chance to remain in the top division, but is not out of the race for playoff spots.
“Our start was great for us,” Canterbury captain Reed Prinsep said after the victory.
“We talked about intention and going moment by moment, and the way we started, it flowed throughout the game. We just took it block by block, moment by moment and it flowed like that.”
Canterbury made their presence felt early, putting pressure on the Tasmania defense before winger Ngane Punivai crossed for the first points within the first five minutes.
At first, things turned from bad to worse for Tasman when they lost midfielder Alex Nankivell to a broken hand in just 11 minutes.
Both teams had their chances in the first half, but outside of the opening attempt, attacking play was uneven on both sides, with handling errors and tough defensive play slowing things down.
Just seven points behind and half time approaching, Tasman was still good in the game, but a penalty from Brett Cameron followed by a dazzling solo attempt from Josh McKay caused the margin to extend to 17 when the halftime whistle blew. .
The pain only worsened for Tasman when Chay Fihaki intercepted a pass and walked away to extend Canterbury’s lead just six minutes after the restart.
A late attempt by Isaiah Punivai sealed the deal, with Canterbury handing Tasman his first shutout loss since a 39-0 loss, also to Canterbury, in 2017.
With an extra points victory, Canterbury moves within one point of fourth-placed North Harbor, which trampled Manukau counties 32-5 in Albany.
After losing its first three games of the season, North Harbor has now picked up five wins in its last six outings to move closer to a playoff spot.
After a relatively slow start both ways, North Harbor took a 10-0 lead at halftime, found their way in 40 seconds to move up the scoreboard for a comfortable victory.
Earlier in the day, Auckland made it tough against Northland in a 24-20 win, spending most of the game with 14 players.
Auckland lost prostitutes Soane Vikena and Leni Apisai in the first 25 minutes, bringing undisputed scrums into play. Because Auckland was the team that caused the problem, they were forced to play the remainder of the game with one man less, while reserve prop Jarred Adams was tasked with throwing lineouts.
Trailing 8-0 at the break, Auckland charged home on a Salesi Rayasi double, surviving a late charge from Northland to retain their place at the top of the ladder.
Canterbury 29 (Ngane Punivai, Josh McKay, Chay Fihaki, Isaiah Punivai tries; Brett Cameron 3 cons, pen)
Tasmania 0
HT: 17-0.