Tries: S Hamilton (2), M Tuiali'i, K Read
Cons: Stephen Brett (2), H Gard
Pen: Stephen Brett

As reported on stuff.co.nz:
Canterbury has completed its Air New Zealand Cup preparations with a comfortable 29-14 win over Ranfurly Shield holders North Harbour at Christchurch's Rugby Park.

The home side made the most of playing with a southerly breeze at its back in the first spell today, scoring two tries en-route to a 17-0 halftime advantage.

That became 22-0 when replacement flanker Kieran Read rammed his way over 10 minutes into the second half, before North Harbour finally posted a score of its own.

The visitor's opening try was scored by its first-five-eighths Tusi Pisi, who excelled at the ground where he had trained as a Crusader earlier in the year.

The Pisi try in the 60th minute was followed by a try for replacement outside back Puanani Hunia in the 76th minute before Scott Hamilton completed the game's scoring two minutes later when he won the race to a kick through behind the Harbour line.

Hamilton had earlier opened the scoring for Canterbury in the sixth minute when he timed his run to perfection off a short Stephen Brett pass to split the Harbour defence and cross the goal-line un-touched.

The second Canterbury try of the opening period came 18 minutes into the contest when No 8 Mose Tuiali'i followed up a high kick that wasn't cleaned up by the North Harbour side.

Instead the bouncing ball found its way into the big man's hands, with Tuiali'i touching it down beside the posts.

That proved to be one of Tuiali'i's last acts in the game as he retired shortly afterwards with a minor knee injury.

Of greater to concern to Canterbury was the groin strain sustained by prop Campbell Johnstone, who had the misfortune to be forced from the field in the 17th minute after having suffered the injury in the early moments of the game.

It was a brief contribution and a sad end to the day for a player who was making his 50th appearance for Canterbury in a representative match.

Midfield back Tim Bateman also came from the field in the second half with a hip flexor injury.

All three players will be treated and monitored by the Canterbury medical staff before any decisions are made next week with regards to their availability for the Air New Zealand Cup opener against Bay of Plenty at Jade on July 28.

On the plus side was a strong performance by All Black prop Greg Somerville, who was one of the game's outstanding figures as he got through just his second 80 minutes in five weeks since returning from a torn Achilles.

"I was puffing a bit at times, but felt pretty good by the end of it," Somerville said afterwards.

"It was a bit the same as the club games I've had so far. The more you play, the better you feel, but I'm pretty pleased with how everything has gone so far."

This is good news - not just for Canterbury - but also for the All Blacks, who may leave a space for Somerville in the 30-man Rugby World Cup squad that is named tomorrow.

Other Canterbury players to shine against Harbour included halfback Andrew Ellis and first-five Brett, who both were positive in their decision making and assertive in the way they took control of the game.

Lock Kevin O'Neill and skipper Corey Flynn also made strong contributions up front, while replacement prop Owen Franks was a notable figure once he took the field for Johnstone.

A New Zealand Under-21 representative against Canada, the younger brother of Crusaders and Canterbury prop Ben Franks threw himself about with purpose and will have good reason to remember his first-class debut.

So too will replacement winger Sean Maitland, with the strongly built 18-year-old proving difficult to contain when given the opportunity in open space.

Maitland had earlier featured for Canterbury against Southland, and the Cantabrians against the Sassenachs, but neither of these games had full representative status.

With today's game expected to be given first class status by the national union as all of the required protocols were followed, both players have now earned their maiden Canterbury caps.

Canterbury coach Rob Penney acknowledged satisfaction at the progress his side had made since its camp in Twizel last week.

"We're about 80 percent there," Penney said. "There were a lot of good bits. Our execution and accuracy has come on a bit since last week [against the Sassenachs in Dunedin] and you'd expect that. But there was some good patience shown with the ball, and I was pleased with a lot of the set piece work.

There's still improvement to find, and you'd want that at this stage of the preparation, but I'm happy with the general direction in which we are heading."