Canterbury go back-to-back

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BACK-TO-BACK CHAMPIONS: Canterbury players celebrate with the Air New Zealand Cup.

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DIVING OVER: Canterbury fullback Colin Slade dives over for the first try of the Air NZ Cup final.

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Canterbury heaped more grand final misery on Wellington with a commanding performance last night and about the only complaint in Christchurch could be the lack of support from their fans.

Just 13,000 turned up to watch the red and blacks continue their recent dominance of the national by winning what is likely to be the last Air New Zealand Cup 28-20.

If, as expected, the New Zealand Rugby Union board members bring the axe down on the current tournament when they meet on December 13 they will be able to use this championship showpiece in their defence.

The sorry turnout did the competition and the champions a serious disservice.

Rob Penney's exciting young side deserved far better than this paltry crowd and so did the Air New Zealand Cup itself.

Canterbury centre Casey Laulala might think the same although the stalwart of the backline will be thrilled to get the result he wanted as he gets set to head north and join Cardiff.

Canterbury defended the title they won 7-6 in Wellington last year with far more assurance.

It was their seventh national title. In contrast Wellington were left lamenting their fourth finals loss in a row and their third title loss to Canterbury in the last six years.

Not all the winning emotions were with Laulala.

Spare a thought for Colin Slade. He thought he was going to be in Cardiff with the All Blacks this weekend and on last night's form he probably should be.

The young fullback was in stunning form, displaying the sort of qualities that had Graham Henry looking at him in the first place and bringing him into the Tri-Nations squad where he was ignored and then tossed out altogether for the end of year tour.

Two first half tries showed his wide array of skills but every time he touched the ball something happened.

That included throwing an intercept pass and then a deliberate sly hand in a ruck that earned him a yellow card in the final quarter just to add a bit of tension to the occasion.

Stephen Brett, the man who has pushed Slade to fullback, was the other backline star for Canterbury. His play at first five was instrumental to this win and will leave Crusaders supporters wondering whey he is being released to the Blues.

His field kicking was spot on, enhanced by the chasing game of his team mates.

This was something Wellington lacked to their detriment. They made plenty of use of the boot but simply didn't apply enough pressure to make it count.

Canterbury also made a habit of finding points from their likely opportunities and there was no better example of that than when Sean Maitland's hot form continued with a fine ghosting run for their third try that was a dagger in the heart of the Lions' comeback hopes, taking the home side out to a 15-point lead with 19 minutes left.

Canterbury made a stunning start when Slade sped 70m for a try after the red and blacks had snared a turnover off a Wellington attack and left the visitors' defence exposed in just the second minute.

Brett kept kicking the extras and then Slade struck again five minutes before halftime when he joined the line and sliced through the Wellington defence from a move off an attacking scrum.

Alapati Leuia got Wellington back into the game when he poached an intercept off a rare mistake from Slade 14 minutes into the second spell and Piri Weepu's conversion brought it back to 18-10.

But then Maitland performed his magic as the defence of Wellington's outside backs was shredded again.

A Weepu penalty kept Wellington in striking distance but they were thwarted by some typically resilient Canterbury defence.

That eventually cracked when on the back of some fine work from Victor Vito the Lions managed to outflank Canterbury and get an overlap for replacement Scott Fuglistaller to score and close to within five points.

But the Canterbury forwards grabbed the ball for the final couple of minutes to count the clock down and even had Brett add another penalty as security.

Don't forget Canterbury lifted the Ranfurly Shield off Wellington earlier in the season in the intense rivalry between these two heavyweight provinces and now they have had the final say as well.

Canterbury 28 (Colin Slade 2, Sean Maitland tries; Stephen Brett 3 pen, 2 con) Wellington 20 (Alapati Leuia, Scott Fuglistaller tries; Piri Weepu 2 pen, 2 con). Halftime: 18-3.