As a first dish to set in front of the home crowd this win was the perfect appetiser from a confident Canterbury side who ran in eight tries.

The All Blacks are unlikely to be the toughest opposition they will face this season as the Cornishmen are rebuilding after losing a dispiriting number of senior players.

However, that should not detract from the improvement shown from the city club’s opening game nor from some of the sparkling tries they scored.

Those tries were evenly divided between backs and forwards, reflecting an all round authority which grew throughout the second half. Three newcomers to the squad, flanker Sean Nixon (2) and centres Will Farris and Dan Winchester, were among the scorers and Number Eight Max Cantwell earned himself a Man of the match award with his aggressive ball carrying.

The ability of the city pack to hammer effectively over the gain line and control possesion for significant periods was a key factor and a liberated back division made proper use of it.

There was an initial wobble when All Blacks applied early pressure and went ahead through a Fraser Honey penalty goal. After ten minutes the young fly half was unluckily stretchered off with a knee injury and from that point Canterbury imposed themselves on the game.

Courtney Horey opened their account after fellow wing Mason Rosvall slipped into the line to create an overlap and Canterbury pushed home their advantage with a lovely try from scrum half Dan Smart. A snipe down the blind side and Smart’s clever kick and chase from half way ended with a touchdown behind the posts.

New skipper Martyn Beaumont got the third with a trademark solo run but a yellow card for lock Royce Cadman gave All Blacks an opportunity. Scrum half Ollie Mulberry dummied and sprinted through a gap and Rhys Brownfield’s conversion cut ino the lead.

The Cornishmen threw away that good work by handing Tom Best a penalty chance for a high tackle and his kick, plus conversions of the first two tries, saw Canterbury 22-10 ahead at the break.

As a contest that was just about it as the city side ran the second half show. They scored in the first minute when Best sent Farris crashing over and the visitors began to feel the strain. Four more tries were scored, three sin binnings disrupted some of the flow and Canterbury showed they lacked nothing in defensive commitment when the visitors came calling in brief spells.

The steady flow of points came from Sam Rogers catch and drive effort, followed by Winchester’s try and in the final ten minutes Nixon got his brace.

The Kiwi flanker applied the finish to a sweeping handling movement and struck from a close quarter ruck moments before the final whistle.

There was one more conversion but any more would only have been the icing on a tasty cake.

Canterbury: M.Beaumont, C.Horey, D.Winchester, W.Farris, M.Rosvall, T.Best (repl G.Hilton), D.Smart (repl T.Best) J.Green (repl I.Miljak), N.Wakefield (repl S.Rogers), T.Mount (repl A.Wake-Smith), R.Cadman, T.Burns (repl G.Micans), S.Rogers (repl S.Nixon), R.Ward, M.Cantwell