CANTERBURY CONTINUED THEIR dominance of New Zealand rugby when they beat Tasman 35-13 in the national provincial final in Christchurch on Saturday.

It was the ninth time in 10 years the red-and-blacks have won the domestic championship, with Irish prop Ollie Jager among the Canterbury replacements.

Canterbury are also the senior contributor to the Canterbury Crusaders who won the southern hemisphere’s Super Rugby crown this year.

Tasman, also in the Crusaders catchment, rocked Canterbury in the opening exchanges with their rapid recycling which paved the way for a territorial advantage and produced an early 10-0 lead.

But Richie Mo’unga, who will play for the Barbarians against the All Blacks in London next weekend, turned the game around with two quick tries for Canterbury.

The second was a piece of individual brilliance when he fielded a clearing kick on halfway and threaded his way through the Tasman side untouched to score under the posts.

At half-time, the Crusaders led 19-13 and they pulled away in the second half with a stream of Mo’unga penalties and a late try to Jack Stratton.

For Canterbury, Mo’unga (2), Tim Bateman and Stratton scored tries. Mo’unga also landed three conversions and three penalties for a match haul of 25 points, a record for an individual in a New Zealand premiership final.

Levi Aumua scored for Tasman with Mitchell Hunt kicking a conversion and two penalties.

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