Canterbury thrash Southland to retain Shield

Canterbury continued with their unbeaten run as they cruised to a 78-20 thrashing of Southland at AMI Stadium in Christchurch on Friday.

The result means Canterbury retain the Ranfurly Shield and, as the scoreline suggests, they were in a rampant mood outscoring their visitors 11 tries to two with Braydon Ennor leading the way with four five-pointers.

The opening half was a tight affair and the match was evenly poised with the sides level at 17-17 at the break.

Richie Mo'unga scored all Canterbury's points during that period courtesy of two converted tries and a penalty. In reply, Junior Ngaluafe and Neria Fomai dotted down for the visitors with Scott Eade adding a penalty and two conversions.

Ennor crossed for two tries early in the second half before Eade slotted his second penalty in the 47th minute.

That was the last time Southland would score points though and their cause was not helped when Ryan Tongia was sent to the sin bin in the 55th minute for a late shoulder charge on Mo'unga.

Just before that, George Bridge scored Canterbury's fifth try and both he and Ennor would score two further tries each during the half with Tim Bateman and Josh McKay also dotting down to seal an emphatic win for the champions.

The scorers:

For Canterbury:
Tries: Mo'unga 2, Ennor 4, Bridge 3, McKay, Bateman
Cons: Mo'unga 5, Cameron 5
Pen: Mo'unga

For Southland:
Tries: Ngaluafe, Fomai
Cons: Eade 2
Pens: Eade 2
Yellow Card: Tongia

Canterbury: 15 George Bridge, 14 Marshall Suckling, 13 Tim Bateman, 12 Inga Finau, 11 Braydon Ennor, 10 Richie Mo'unga, 9 Mitchell Drummond, 8 Luke Whitelock (c), 7 Jed Brown, 6 Reed Prinsep, 5 Dominic Bird, 4 Mitchell Dunshea, 3 Siate Tokolahi, 2 Nathan Vella, 1Alex Hodgman
Replacements: 16 Nick Werahiko, 17 Chris Gawler, 18 Oliver Jager, 19 Hamish Dalzell, 20 Billy Harmon, 21 Ere Enari, 22 Brett Cameron, 23 Josh McKay 

Southland: 15 Lewis Ormond, 14 Junior Ngaluafe, 13 Neria Fomai, 12 Matthew Johnson, 11 Michael Molloy, 10 Scott Eade, 9 Liam Howley, 8 Elliot Dixon, 7 Tim Boys, 6 Phil Halder, 5 Bill Fukofuka, 4 Tepasu Thomas, 3 Morgan Mitchell, 2 Brayden Mitchell (c), 1 Joseph Walsh
Replacements: 16 Flynn Thomas, 17 Shaun Stodart, 18 Guy Millar, 19 Michael McKee, 20 Tupou Sopoaga, 21 Greg Dyer, 22 Aleki Morris, 23 Ryan Tongia

Referee: Nick Briant