Canterbury cruise into semis

Classy Cantabs: Kieran Read leads the Canterbury charge

Canterbury cruised into the Air New Zealand Cup semi-finals and proved a class apart in winning their quarter-final 48-10 against Tasman in Christchurch on Friday.

Canterbury scored seven tries to one and outplayed their northern neighbours with a clinical display that books them a home semi.

The visitors conceded two soft tries in the first half to trail 3-17 at the interval by which stage the Canterbury coaching staff could afford to start looking ahead to their semi-final next week.

Canterbury opened the scoring after five minutes with a regulation penalty kick by fly-half Colin Slade.

Two minutes later, centre Casey Laulala was put into space before brushing aside an attempted Tasman tackle to score a fine try.

Canterbury loose forward and captain Kieran Read got in on the act moments later, picking up the ball from the base of the scrum before casually stepping inside Makos scrum-half Kahn Fotuali'i to score.

Slade converted both to add to his earlier penalty and Canterbury were firmly in control at 17-0.

Tasman finally got on the board after 30 minutes when fly-half Miah Nilkora kicked a penalty from 41 metres out after winger Blair Cook slipped into a high tackle by hooker Corey Flynn.

The Makos battled hard but were unable to breach the suffocating Canterbury defence and trailed by 17-3 at half-time.

The visitors' defensive frailties were exposed again straight after the restart when Slade picked up a loose pass before waltzing through two defenders to score a try of his own.

The Canterbury defence was finally broken seven minutes into the second spell by a brilliant 40-metre break by centre Kade Poki and left wing Afeleke Pelenise finished it off with a try in the corner.

Nikora converted splendidly to reduce the deficit to 24-10

However, Canterbury struck back almost immediately and it was that man Slade again who produced a pinpoint, crosskick which winger Paul Williams leapt high to accept before twisting his way over the tryline in the tackle of Poki.

The differences in the sides were underlined in the 55th minute when Canterbury coach Rob Penney introduced All Blacks captain Richie McCaw from the bench.

As if to celebrate McCaw's arrival, Williams crossed for his second try after looming up in support of Tim Bateman after the Canterbury centre surged through a huge hole in the Tasman defensive line.

Penney had the luxury of clearing his entire bench for the closing quarter as Canterbury rubbed Tasman's noses in it with further tries to departing full-back Scott Hamilton and left wing James Paterson.

The scorers:

For Canterbury:

Tries: Laulala, Read, Slade, Williams 2, Hamilton, Patterson

Cons: Slade 4, Gard

Pen: Slade

For Tasman:

Try: Pelenise

Con: Nikora

Pen: Nikora

Canterbury: 15 Scott Hamilton, 14 Paul Williams, 13 Casey Laulala, 12 Tim Bateman, 11 James Paterson, 10 Colin Slade, 9 Andy Ellis, 8 Kieran Read (c), 7 George Whitelock, 6 Hayden Hopgood, 5 Isaac Ross, 4 Michael Paterson, 3 Greg Somerville, 2 Corey Flynn, 1 Wyatt Crockett.

Replacements: 16 Ti'i Paulo, 17 Owen Franks, 18 James Broadhurst, 19 Richie McCaw, 20 Tyson Keats 21 Hamish Gard, 22 Adam Whitelock.

Tasman: 15 Robbie Malneek, 14 Blair Cook, 13 Kade Poki, 12 Andrew Goodman, 11 Afeleke Pelenise, 10 Miah Nikora, 9 Kahn Fotuali'i, 8 Mark Bright, 7 Jonathan Poff, 6 Alex Ainley, 5 Brad Thorn, 4 Will Crutchley, 3 Tristan Moran, 2 Dan Perrin, 1 Ben May.

Replacements: 16 Quentin MacDonald, 17 Sakaria Taulafo, 18 Joe Wheeler, 19 Dan Hyatt, 20 Lualua Vailoaloa, 21 James Marshall, 22 Mike Pehi.

Referee: Jonathon White

Touch judges: Chris Pollock, Keith Brown

Television match official: Kelvin Deaker