Canterbury edge Tasman in try-fest

Editor

Canterbury bagged a 36-32 bonus-point ITM Cup victory over Tasman in a match that produced ten tries at Lansdowne Park.

Canterbury bagged a 36-32 bonus-point ITM Cup victory over Tasman in a match that produced ten tries at Lansdowne Park on Friday.

Both sides scored five tries each as the Canterbury wingers ran riot to open up a big gap for the visitors, who at one stage led 36-15.

But the Makos weren't prepared to roll over so easily and stormed back bravely to end the match with two bonus points.

Winger Telusa Veainu grabbed a hat-trick of tries to set up Canterbury's nail-biting win, while flying Fijian Patrick Osborne was equally impressive with two tries.

The defeat was a double blow for Tasman, who earlier had lost lock Riki Hoeata to a three-month suspension following a judicial hearing.

Hoeata was cited and banned for a swinging arm, which resulted in his Hawke's Bay opposite Brodie Retallick suffering a broken nose and facial injuries.

The scorers:

For Tasman:
Tries: Bright 2, Goodman, Kolomatangi, T Marshall
Cons: Goodman, T Marshall
Pen: Goodman

For Canterbury:
Tries: Veainu 3, Osborne 2
Cons: Bleyendaal 2, Taylor 2
Pen: Taylor

Tasman: 15 Tom Marshall, 14 Lucky Mulipola, 13 Kieron Fonotia,12 Andrew Goodman (c), 11 Mitchell Scott, 10 James Marshall, 9 Shawn Begg, 8 Mark Bright, 7 Shane Christie, 6 Jonathon Poff, 5 Joe Wheeler, 4 Filipo Levi, 3 Sam Prattley, 2 Quentin MacDonald, 1 Fai Mika.
Replacements: 16 Francis Smith, 17 Craig Moore, 18 Pablo Heuete/Riki Hoeata, 19 Tevita Kolomatangi, 20 Steve Alfeld, 21 Jack Umaga, 22 Robbie Malneek, 23 Hamish Cochrane.

Canterbury: 15 Sean Maitland, 14 Telusa Veainu, 13 Robbie Fruean, 12 Ryan Crotty, 11 Patrick Osborne, 10 Tyler Bleyendaal, 9 Mark Swanepoel, 8 Nasi Manu, 7 Brendon O'Connor, 6 George Whitelock (c), 5 Luke Romano, 4 Reuben Thorne, 3 Andrew Olorenshaw, 2 Steve Fualau, 1 Paea Fa'anunu.
Replacements: 16 Ben Funnell, 17 Nepo Laulala, 18 Ash Parker, 19 Luke Whitelock, 20 Willi Heinz, 21 Tom Taylor, 22 Johnny McNicholl, 23 Sam Cottam.