Canterbury 'rarin' to go against Taranaki | Canterbury Sport | Surfing, Rugby, Soccer, Football, Cricket in Canterbury

The short turnaround isn’t bothering Canterbury as they prepare for the second Ranfurly Shield defence when Taranaki come to AMI on Friday night.

Canterbury have only a six-day preparation after a challenging derby win over Otago.

But they had strategies in place for short weeks to make sure players were “fresh and rarin’ to go,” said assistant coach Tabai Matson.

This includes training at different venues, and yesterday they “reconnected with the community” at Sumner School.

Giving players a different landscape was important to keep them fresh, he said.

Matson, plainly enjoying shield fever as much as the players on his return to red and black country, said it would be a real battle at the collision on Friday.

“That’s where it will be won — if we are up for a Taranaki collision fest, we’ll do all right!” he said.

Matson said the staff were pleased with the way Canterbury bounced back from a “pretty average” performance against Bay of Plenty to beat Otago.

“People like Stephen Brett led us really well – the mental preparation and the way he got us around the field,” he said.

Sixty per cent of the lineout mistakes came from throwing errors, said Matson.

Both hookers had “one of those nights” but there was no need to reinvent the wheel.

A great crowd of 17,000 – the best of the season – showed the log hasn’t lost its magic in Canterbury, in spite of so much red and black success in the pro era.

And Matson said big matches like these helped players push their envelope.

“And how about our bench with Andy Ellis, Corey Flynn, Casey Laulala, and Adam Whitelock? Cavalry (like them) coming over the top of the hill is awesome!”

With the shield at AMI, the coaches are putting a big emphasis on maintaining standards.

“Obviously in this competition and with the shield, it’s no use being up and down and no use being on a shield roller coaster,” he said.

It was about standards. Canterbury had played really good rugby, so they knew they could.