Canterbury Name An Incredibly Talented Squad For 2020 Mitre 10 Cup Season

Canterbury has unveiled one of their most experienced squads in recent memory as they look to chase down the Mitre 10 Cup trophy, which they last held in 2018. 

 
25 of 37-man squad have Super Rugby experience, there are nine current or former All Blacks, as well as one All Black Sevens representative. 

 
“Representing your province and doing them proud is motivation enough, but when you add in the fact that it has been two years since we last held the Mitre10 Cup Trophy, I’m sure that’ll add a little extra motivation too,” said Coach Reuben Thorne. 

“To have the All Blacks available this year is a really special opportunity, whether we have them for one week or ten weeks, we will look to take full advantage of their experience,” Thorne added. 

“If it’s on the park, great, but just having them around the group will be a massive benefit for our young guys, who will no doubt be relied upon a fair bit during this year’s campaign.” 
 

Thornes Co-Coach Mark Brown said he’s looking forward to seeing what the likes of Tom Christie, Cullen Grace, Dallas Mcleod, and NgatunganePunivai all bring to this years Mitre10 Cup campaign after having gained valuable experience in their rookie Super Rugby seasons, “I thought they all handled their opportunities really well and already we can see the differences in those guys.” 
“They’ve all grown a bit, both physically and rugby wise too.”

 
Thorne and Brown were also both excited about the addition of two new assistant coaches, Mark Jones and Grant Keenan. “Jonesy is in charge of our attack, something that he’s really passionate about, he’s got a wealth of knowledge in that space and coming from Wales he has a slightly different approach to the game too, which is exciting,” said Thorne. 
 

“Grant, having been the Under 19 Coach for the past few years and also in charge of running the Academy, has some really well established relationships with some of the younger guys, so this will be a big help to our overall campaign.”

Canterbury have won 9 titles in the past 13 years, only losing to Auckland in 2018 in an extra time thriller, where their arch-rivals prevailed 40-33 after 100 minutes. 
 

Canterbury’s season gets under way against North Harbour in Albany on Friday 11^th September, before their first home game, which will also see them put the Ranfurly Shield on the line against Taranaki on  Saturday the 19^th of September. 

Canterbury Squad for the 2020 Mitre 10 Cup season:
 

Coach’s Reuben Thorne and Mark Brown, Assistant’s Mark Jones and Grant Keenan