Mitre 10 Cup: Canterbury Power Past North Harbour
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Canterbury kicked off their Mitre 10 Cup campaign with a convincing 43-29 victory over North Harbour in Auckland on Friday.
Canterbury kickoff their @Mitre10Cup campaign with a solid win. #Mitre10Cup pic.twitter.com/Qen61fPLlp
— Ultimate Rugby (@ultimaterugby) September 11, 2020
The nine-time winners had the likes of Joe Moody, Taylor, Sam Whitelock, Cullen Grace, George Bridge and Richie Mo’unga in their matchday squad, while North Harbour only had Karl Tu’inukuafe.
Canterbury, who found themselves on the wrong side of Paul Williams whistle on a few occasions, needed a dominant second half to eventually put away the hosts six tries to two.
There were a few interesting milestones in the match as Sam Whitelock made his first appearance in the Mitre 10 since 2010, while Mo’unga notched his 50th match for the red and blacks when he replaced Brett Cameron.
All Black hooker Codie Taylor scored a brace for his side, while flanker Cullen Grace managed to also dot down over the white line from a driving maul.
George Bridge also managed to scramble himself over the try line in the second-half but the try of the match was arguably scored by North Harbour winger Ngarohi McGarvey-Black.
The debutant showed some ridiculous speed in the first half after he chased down a perfectly timed grubber from Shaun Stevenson
🚀 McGarvey-Black has JETS!@HarbourRugby have rocked Canterbury in the first half.
— Mitre 10 Cup (@Mitre10Cup) September 11, 2020
Catch the action live on @skysportnz NOW! pic.twitter.com/J8SzCRikQs