It was a Richie Mo'unga masterclass as Canterbury secured the Mitre 10 Cup Premiership title with a 35-13 win over Tasman on Saturday.
Mo'unga scored two tries and was a threat throughout with Canterbury's other crossings coming via centre Tim Bateman and scrum-half Jack Stratton. Mo'unga added a further 15 points off the kicking tee to cap an impressive showing.
In reply the spirited Makos crossed through outside centre Levi Aumua but in the end couldn't live with the quality of the Christchurch outfit.
Much like the Championship final which took place on Friday, this was a game full of entertainment as both sides offered plenty with ball in hand. At half-time it was 19-13 to the hosts but the underdog Makos had shown they were capable of picking up the Mitre 10 Cup silverware.
Mo'unga had missed an early shot for Canterbury and Tasman made them pay when they crossed the whitewash on nine minutes, Aumua capping off a lovely interchange down the left wing involving Andrew Makalio and Ethan Blackadder. Hunt landed the tough extras for a 7-0 lead.
Hunt made it 10-0 with a penalty six minutes later but Canterbury would then get on the board with a line-out drive leading to them heading blind where Mo'unga slipped a tackle before dummying and crossing on the left. He was wayward with the conversion so Tasman were 10-5 up.
The game was now opening up in Canterbury's favour and Mo'unga was leading the fightback, scoring his second try from 45 metres out as the Makos could not live with his talents. He raced under the posts and added the simple conversion on 25 minutes to nudge his side 12-10 ahead.
What added to Tasman's headache was the inspirational Jordan Taufua struggling with an arm injury, but he soldiered on until the interval.
Hunt did slot a penalty to edge his side back in front but crucially for Canterbury, Bateman's try on the stroke of half-time sent them in ahead. It came following a sustained period of pressure from the red and blacks and they would have been delighted to lead after their slow start.
Tasman returned without number eight Taufua in a significant blow to their cause and with Mo'unga making it 22-13 soon after the break off the tee, Canterbury had a two-score lead which, against a dangerous side such as Tasman, was handy.
The Makos responded strongly but Canterbury kept them at bay and in fact Mo'unga made it 25-13 when a player was taken out off the ball.
Going past the hour mark Tasman were holding on in their own 22 and after a spell that reached 35 phases, Canterbury eventually got a reward as Mo'unga slotted a simple three points that made it 28-13. It was now looking nailed on that Canterbury would hold the trophy yet again.
That was rubber stamped in the 75th minute when Stratton backed himself from close range for their fourth try to seal Canterbury's success.
The scorers:
For Canterbury:
Tries: Mo'unga 2, Bateman, Stratton
Cons: Mo'unga 3
Pens: Mo'unga 3
For Tasman:
Try: Aumua
Con: Hunt
Pens: Hunt 2
Canterbury: 15 George Bridge, 14 Josh McKay, 13 Tim Bateman, 12 Rob Thompson, 11 Braydon Ennor, 10 Richie Mo'unga, 9 Mitchell Drummond, 8 Luke Whitelock (c), 7 Billy Harmon, 6 Tom Sanders, 5 Dominic Bird, 4 Hamish Dalzell, 3 Siate Tokolahi, 2 Ben Funnell, 1 Alex Hodgman
Replacements: 16 Nathan Vella, 17 Chris Gawler, 18 Oliver Jager, 19 Reed Prinsep, 20 Tom Christie, 21 Jack Stratton, 22 Brett Cameron, 23 Inga Finau
Tasman: 15 Will Jordan, 14 Tomas Aoake, 13 Levi Aumua, 12 Alex Nankivell, 11 James Lowe, 10 Mitchell Hunt, 9 Finlay Christie, 8 Jordan Taufua, 7 Vernon Fredericks, 6 Ethan Blackadder, 5 Shannon Frizell, 4 Alex Ainley (c), 3 Tyrel Lomax, 2 Andrew Makalio, 1 Siua Halanukonuka
Replacements: 16 Ti'i Paulo, 17 Tom Hill, 18 Ryan Coxon, 19 Pari Pari Parkinson, 20 Pete Samu, 21 Billy Guyton, 22 Tim O'Malley, 23 Trael Joass
Referee: Mike Fraser
Assistant referees: Nick Briant, Danny Morrison
TMO: Shane McDermott
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