Ten-try victory for Canterbury

Editor

Canterbury were excellent on Wednesday as they defeated Manawatu 72-7 in Christchurch, with young fly-half Richie Mo'unga starring.

Canterbury put in a fine performance on Wednesday as they demolished Manawatu 72-7 in Christchurch, with young fly-half Richie Mo'unga starring.

The 19-year-old, who was filling in due to the absence of Dan Carter, Tom Taylor, Colin Slade and Tyler Bleyendaal, scored 27 points on debut.

Almost wrestling the headlines from Mo'unga however was fellow youngster Milford Keresoma, who crossed for four tries in the second-half.

Canterbury were 39-7 ahead at the break at AMI Stadium after Andy Ellis, Mo'unga, Sione Faletau, Johnny McNicholl and Ryan Crotty scored. Chris Eves replied for the ailing Turbos, who simply couldn't contain the red and black machine.

It was business as usual after the turnaround as wing Keresoma got the ball rolling again on 52 minutes before loosehead prop Paea Fa'anunu went over seven minutes later to make it 51-7.

Keresoma would then take centre stage as he crossed for three more tries while Mo'unga added to his impressive match tally with points from the kicking tee for a dream first start.

The scorers:

For Canterbury:
Tries: Ellis, Mo'unga, Faletau, McNicholl, Crotty, Keresoma 4, Fa'anunu
Con: Mo'unga 8
Pen: Mo'unga 2

For Manawatu:
Try: Eves
Con: George

Canterbury: 15 Johnny McNicholl, 14 Patrick Osborne, 13 Ryan Crotty, 12 Rob Thompson, 11 Milford Keresoma, 10 Richie Mo'unga, 9 Andy Ellis, 8 Nasi Manu, 7 Jed Brown, 6 Luke Whitelock, 5 Luke Katene, 4 Joel Everson, 3 Sione Faletau, 2 Ben Funnell, 1 Paea Fa'anunu.
Replacemenets: 16 Corey Flynn, 17 Graham Mitchell, 18 Matt Symons, 19 Jordan Taufua, 20 Mitchell Drummond, 21 Willi Heinz, 22 Adam Whitelock.

Manawatu: 15 Jade Te Rure, 14 Leroy Van Dam, 13 Nico Malo, 12 Hamish Northcott, 11 Tomasi Cama, 10 Nate George, 9 Nick Stirzaker, 8 James Oliver, 7 Antonio Kiri Kiri, 6 Nick Crosswell, 5 Fraser Stone, 4 Dan Squire, 3 Chris Eves, 2 Nick Grogan, 1 Hubert Buydens.
Replacements: 16 Rob Foreman, 17 Damian Horgan, 18 Mike Fitzgerald, 19 Heiden Bedwell-Curtis, 20 Ben Edwards, 21 Tevita Taufu'i, 22 Newton Tudreu.

Referee: Chris Pollock