Canterbury off to a flyer
The NPC defending Premiership champions Canterbury, the so-called slow season starters, have put together a near complete performance in beating Auckland 48-9 in Christchurch on Saturday.
The two traditional powerhouses, who have won 27 overall titles between them, were totally different beasts in the first week of the 2014 season.
Canterbury started slowly, but then they exploded, preventing Auckland from scoring a try while sending a potential fellow contender away from Christchurch with their tails between their legs.
While Auckland looked to play Canterbury at their own game early, the smarts of the defending champions was ruthlessly on display in just their first match of the NPC.
Dramatically they altered their game, a massive tick for coach Scott Robertson, taking advantages of lapses in the Auckland defence and cover.
* Meanwhile Waikato proved they will be tough to beat this season after upsetting last year's NPC premiership finalists Wellington 37-25 on Saturday.
Trailing 10-11, the Mooloos flipped the switch and scored 20 unanswered points in as many minutes to wrap up a four-try bonus point by the end of the first half.
All Blacks Sevens winger Joe Webber grabbed a scintillating first-half brace but it'll be a freakish try to rookie midfielder Anton Lienert-Brown leading the highlight reel for the match which was played in slightly greasy conditions.
All the NPC scorers and scorers:
Thursday, August 14
Taranaki 9-9 Counties Manukau
Taranaki:
Pens: Rei 2, McKenzie
Counties:
Pens: Kerr 2, Tuala
Friday, August 15
Southland 34-23 Bay of Plenty
Southland:
Tries: Loco, Dixon, Ngaluafe
Cons: Sopoaga 2
Pens: Sopoaga 5
Bay of Plenty:
Tries: Bardoul, Fisiihoi
Cons: Hollinshead 2
Pens: Hollinshead 3
Saturday, August 16
Otago 28-14 North Harbour
Otago:
Tries: Fuatai 2, Lentjes
Cons: Parker 2
Pens: Parker 2
North Harbour:
Tries: Li, Parsons
Cons: Halangahu 2
Canterbury 48-9 Auckland
Canterbury:
Tries: McNicholl 2, Everson, A Whitelock, Todd, Osborne
Cons: Taylor 4, Bleyendaal, Mo'unga
Pens: Taylor 2
Auckland:
Pens: Anscombe 3
Wellington 25-37 Waikato
Wellington:
Tries: Treeby, Kahu, Fifita
Cons: Woodward 2
Pens: Woodward 2
Waikato:
Tries: McKenzie, Webber 2, Mitchell, Lienert-Brown, Hohneck
Cons: McKenzie 2
Pen: McKenzie
Sources: allblacks.com and NZ Newswire