Final score - Canterbury 24 (Burke, Romano, McLoed tries, Burke 3con, 1pen) by
Tasman 20 (MacDonald try, Hunt five pens)
HT 12-7 Tasman
Wrap - What a comeback in the final quarter from the red and blacks. Tasman scored 20-straight points for a 60th minute 20-7 lead, but insspired by former All Black Luke Romano, the Cantabs came storming home for victory and are know in the hunt for a semi-final spot.
Fulltime - Third scrum goes down and it's a Canterbury penalty - Drummond kicks the ball into touch to end the game.
80+1mins - Two scrum resets so far - Tasman throwing everything at this.
79mins - Superb defence! Canterbury tie up the maul and referee rules a turnover and that should be enough.
78mins - Tasman scrum under pressure but Drummond is pinged for entering from the side and Tasman will have a 5m lineout... this is the game here.
77mins - Drummond knocks on from the restart and Tasman will come straight back here.
76mins - Try Canterbury: Dallas McLoed - Under advantage again ... four phases of pick and go's come to nothing ... Burke calls for it and swings the ball to McLoed who steps inside his defender and will dive over to score: CAN - 24-20
75mins - Nope - they want more. 5m lineout coming.
74mins - Well defended by Tasman and Canterbury are forced to go out wide. Through several phases and Tasman ruled offside again .... this time they will take the kick surely ....
72mins - Worked to within 15m of the line for Canterbury and the win a penalty for not rolling away - kickable but they are going for the lineout 5m.
71mins - The teams exchange free kicks for set piece infringements ... result is a Canterbury scrum just outside the 22.
68mins - 10 phases of patient attack from the red and blacks doesn't come to anything as the ball is spilled ... ruled off a Tasman hand however and Canterbury have a scrum 15m out. Luke Romano is everywhere at the moment.
67mins - A kicking duel is won by the Cantabs as Hunt gets into trouble inside his in-goal and finds touch on his 22.
65mins - Penalty goal Canterbury: 10 points in five minutes for the Cantabs and the gap is just three. TAS 20-17
64mins - Midfield penalty for the homeside ... boy has momentum swung around. Burke points to the sticks and will have a crack.
60mins - Try Canterbury: Luke Romano - Atacking lineout for the Cantabs it, but 's a messy one .... Romano emerges form the muck and crashes over to score. Game on. TAS 20-14
57mins - Penalty goal Tasman: A fifth penalty goal of the evening for the Tasman skipper and the lead is 13 points. TAS 20-7
56mins - Cantabs playing some rugby inside their own half but Mataele is brought to ground and doesn't release. Penalty shot coming up for Hunt.
55mins - Canterbury's defence has been top notch all night and again the repel an attack. Drummond gets over the ball and wins the penalty. Burke finds touch on his 10m line.
54mins - Great little kick from Chapman over the defensive line - Fihaki is there to clean up but he slides over the sideline. Lineout 15m out for the Mako.
50mins - Try Tasman: Quentin MacDonald - Textbook lineout drive and the replacement hooker off the back, crashes over for Tasman's first try of the evening. TAS 17-7
48mins - Hunt throws a sweeping pass out to Segner but the ball has gone forward ... under advantage though and Hunt finds touch again. Another 5m lineout.
47mins - Lineout 5m for Tasman after offside play from Naholo.
45mins - Penalty goal Tasman: Hunt has his fourth of the evening and Tasman have a five-point lead. TAS 12-7
44mins - Shot for goal coming up for Hunt. Daniel Leinert-Brown pinged for slowing up the ball.
43mins - Scrum for Tasman on the red and black 22.
41mins - Mistake from Romano at kick-off and Tasman have a scrum.
Second-half - The weather has closed in and gotten alot worse. Sweeping rain, although the wind has died down. Hunt gets us underway again.
Halftime - So the Mako score the final nine points of the half to take a deserved lead into the break. Canterbury started with a roar, but slowly the Mako tool control, despite going down to 13 men for a period, Back in 10 mins.
40+2mins - Penalty goal Tasman: Hunt nails the easy three and Tasman will take a two-point lead into the sheds. TAS 9-7
40+1mins - Fainga'anuku pulls in a box kick and races away to the Cantab 22 ... several phases later and the red and blacks are pinged for playing the ball on the ground and Hunt will have a crack for three.
39mins - Winding down here in the first half.... lineout for Tasman midway their own 22 and halfway.
36mins - Dickson reels in the throw but he spills the ball as he goes to ground so pressure valve relieved.
35mins - Good period of play for Canterbury as the finally work their way back into the Tasman half. The earn a penalty and will have a lineout 10m out. Luke Romano and Dallas McLoed having cracking games for the red and blacks.
31mins - Penalty goal Tasman: Hunt throws it over for the three points and the gap is one. CAN 7-6
30mins - Offside play from Canterbury right in front of the sticks and Hunt opt for the three.
29mins - They win a penalty with a big shove ... 40m out and Hunt kicks for touch ... Tasman lineout around 15m out.
28mins - Scrum for Tasman midwat 22 and halfway in Canterbury territory.
27mins - Tasman attacking with intent and looking dangerous, but the ball is spilled in midfield by Levi Aumua and Canterbury have a defensice scrum - their defence is looking composed tonight.
24mins - Back to 15v15... Hunt finds touch with a penalty kick on the Canterbury 10m line.
22mins - Big scrum from the Cantabs and they win a vital penalty. Ball is cleared by Burke to the 22.
20mins - Play on - no evidence of an illegal tackle and the Mako have a scrum 5m.
19mins - TMO looking at potential foul play from Luke Romano who may not have wrapped his arms around Andrew Makalio in a thunderous tackle close to the line .... looks okay to me.
18mins - Nice ball control from Tasman as they work themselves up to the Canterbury 22. Penalty awarded to the Mako for a high tackle - it's close to the sideline and Hunt finds touch 5m out.
14mins - Superb defence from the Mako - they collapse the maul legally this time and Prinsep plays the ball on the ground trying to save the attack for the red and blacks. Hunt clears to midway 22 and halfway.
13mins - Yellow Card Tasman: Sam Matenga heads to the bin now for collapsing the maul. Cantabs with a lineout 5m against 13 men.
10mins - Penalty goal Tasman: No mistake made by Hunt and the gap is down to four. CAN 7-3
9mins - Waisake Naholo pinged for taking out a ball runner and Hunt will have a crack at three points from 30m out - right in front.
7mins - Yellow Card Tasman: Leicester Fainga'anuku will get 10 in the bin. Sam Dickson leaps high for the restart and collects it but he's cleaned out by the Tasman winger and he will sit for 10.
6mins - Try Canterbury: Fergus Burke - Patience. Romano with two strong runs close to the line....through six phases and Burke has a dart and beats two defenders to score next to the sticks. CAN 7-0
5mins - Mataele wins a penalty as Nankivell is pinged for not rolling away. Lineout 10m out for the red and blacks.
3mins - Long period of play with both teams happy to kick the ball away. Knock-on by the Cantabs and Tasman halfback Chapman darts down the blindside ... he no look passes to Fainga'anuku but the ball sails over to sideline. Canterbury have a clearing penalty with offside play from Tasman.
Kick-off - Game is underway as Fergus Burke launches the kick-off deep into Tasma territory. Hunt clears to halfway after two phases.
7:05pm - Reed Prinsep leads out the red and blacks for this must-win game... the Mako follow.
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Pre-match - Pretty horrible conditions in Christchurch. Windy and wet and will be played in front of a very sparse crowd.
Kia ora rugby fans and welcome to Newshub's live coverage of the NPC clash between struggling Canterbury and defending champion Tasman from Orangetheory Stadium.
With the season winding down, the Mako can leapfrog Wellington into second spot behind Hawke's Bay Magpies if they can inflict another defeat on the red and blacks.
The once mighty Cantabs have lost their last three and recorded just three wins from seven games this season, and if relegation was possible in 2021, they would be at serious risk of leaving the Premiership.
Teams
Canterbury: 1-Finlay Brewis, 2-Brodie McAlister, 3-Fletcher Newell, 4- Luke Romano, 5-Sam Darry, 6-Reed Prinsep, 7-Mitch Gibson, 8-Sam Dickson, 9-Luke Donaldson, 10-Fergus Burke, 11-Manasa Mataele, 12-Dallas McLeod, 13-Isaiah Punivai, 14-Waisake Naholo, 15-Chay Fihaki
Reserves: 16-Shilo Klein, 17-Daniel Lienert Brown, 18-Oli Jager, 19- Hamish Dalzell, 20-Corey Kellow, 21-Mitchell Drummond, 22-Alex Harford, 23- Cameron Bailey
Tasman: 1-Isi Tu'ungafasi, 2-Andrew Makalio, 3-Sam Matenga, 4-Pari Pari Parkinson, 5-Antonio Shalfoon, 6-Hugh Renton, 7-Anton Segner, 8-Te Ahiwaru Cirikidaveta, 9-Louie Chapman, 10-Mitchell Hunt, 11-Leicester Fainga'anuku, 12-Alex Nanivell, 13-Levi Aumua, 14-Timoci Tavatavanawai, 15-Andrew Knewstubb
Reserves: 16-Quentin MacDonald, 17-L Inch, 18-Isaac Salmon, 19-M Hicks, 20-Jacob Norris, 21-J Grooby, 22-Tim O'Malley, 23-Regan Ware
