Any thoughts of a lasting revival after the previous week’s victory went on hold as Canterbury were swatted aside by a team that was superior in every department.

After a brief revival late in the first half the city side sank with barely a trace as they shipped 42 points in the Titans second half barrage.

This ten try demolition was the Canterbury’s biggest defeat of the season and raised serious questions about their ability to handle the pressure from National 2 South’s leading sides.

On a foul day, which got worse as the game progressed, Taunton carried all the weapons.  Once they had seen off some early Canterbury promise they unsheathed them to such good effect that they rattled up four tries in a fifteen minute spell and had the city side by the throat.

The opener came from wing Jack Claydon, courtesy of clever handling and support work and from then on a rampant back row, clever off-loading and a dominant scrum gave them the ammunition to punch holes in the defence.

Canterbury were in danger of being overwhelmed with the game only half an hour old as they were punished by tries from livewire scrum half Ollie Claxton and centres Freddie Fraser and Toby East.  With Gary Kingdom missing only one conversion the Titans were 26 points ahead, had a bonus point safely locked up and were on course for the win.

Credit to a shaken but defiant city side for then producing their best ten minutes of the match.  They scored twice and the game briefly looked like a real contest.  An over thrown lineout gave them their first opportunity and Tom Burns burrowed over under the posts. It was followed by a powerful break from Number Eight George Micans, some solid close quarter driving and Micans applying the finishing touch.

Guy Hilton’s conversions reduced the gap to a manageable twelve points at the break and it was a question of sustaining that momentum in the face of wind and heavy rain.

The answer came in the first minute of the second half as Canterbury wastefully coughed up the ball, Taunton fly half Joe Simmonds swooped and the initiative had been surrendered.

Brave though Canterbury were they could not live with the tempo, accuracy and decisive running of an impressiveTaunton outfit.  They were under constant pressure and when they did have rare moments in possession were laboured in comparison.

Simmonds went on to complete a hat trick and Barry-John Chapman, Kingdom and Paul Davies all crossed the line, with Kingdom converting the lot.

Canterbury had a last word when they found space on the left. Martyn Beaumont broke, Mason Rosvall scored and Hilton converted.  Significantly, that final minute was the first time in the entire half that the city side had entered Taunton’s 22 metre area.

Canterbury: A.Moss (repl M.Beaumont), C.Horey, W.Farris,T.Best (repl D.Smart), G.Hilton, O.Best, J.Green (repl C.Townley), N.Wakefield (repl S.Rogers), R.Cadman (repl R.Corr), T.Burns, T.Edwards, R.Ward, G.Micans