Canterbury’s third defeat in four games, their biggest and most humbling of the season, saw them swept aside by a vibrant Taunton team who ran in six tries in a victory which took them to the top of the of National Division 2 South table.

It was an outstanding performance by the Somerset club, whose pace and precise handling would have tested the best, and the city club were nowhere near theirs.

Injuries have disrupted their early season efforts significantly but here they contributed mightily to their own downfall with defensive lapses, poor handling and by coming second best in the battle for possession.

They were also, once again, heavily penalised as they attempted to hold back the Taunton tide and only briefly did they give the travelling support cause for optimism.

It came in the first minute of the second half when the backs, with Tom Best back in action for the first time, created space for Martyn Beaumont to run a great inside line and score by the posts. Ollie Best’s conversion eat further into Taunton’s seventeen point interval lead, and the scent of revival was in the air. All to briefly as it turned out,

Four minutes later the city side took a wrong option, ball was turned over and Taunton punished them with their third try, a point from, where they rarely looked back.

The first half followed a worrying recent pattern with home skipper Dan Lee being waved through for the first try and scrum half Lewis Webb finding an inviting a gap at a ruck after a period of intense pressure. Gary Kingdom landed a penalty goal and two conversions to leave Canterbury in the all too familiar catch-up situation.

It might have been worse, ironically, had it not been for some great defensive work which twice saw Taunton held up over the line, but the damage had been done.

Once that early second half optimism was doused by prop Jake Woolmore’s try Taunton, masters of possession and skilfully prompted by fly half Toby Lea, went on a spree. Admittedly the ball often fell their way and not Canterbury’s, but they were a side whose eye for an opportunity, off-loading skills and glue like handling could not be denied.

They met stout resistance in midfield from cente Alex Veale, committed and brave as ever, but others did not always follow his example. Woolmore’s score was followed by crisply worked tries from Alex Wilcoxon, Ollie Massey-Birch and Kingdom, who converted all thee.

Canterbury, never short of effort in the face of superior opponents, made a final gesture by cleverly working space for wing Mason Rosvall who finished strongly for the try.

Canterbury: M.Beaumont, M.Rosvall, T.Best, A.Veale (repl O.Best), C.Wallace-Sims, O.Best (repl C.Kingsman), D.Smart (repl G.Kay), S.Kenny ( repl R.McLeod), N.Wakefield, R.McLeod (repl C.Townley), R.Cadman (repl B.Massey), B.Massey (repl T.Burns), S.Rogers (repl F.Tonry-Brown), T.Sherson, G.Micans

by Steve Uglow

Canterbury travelled to Worthing with some optimism as their hosts, relegated from National 1, had started the season with two successive defeats.

But the South Coast side showed that those losses were just a morning-after hangover as they produced an all-round performance which left Canterbury playing catch-up from the third minute.

Only in the final ten minutes did the travelling faithful start cheering as the city side grabbed a fourth try and a bonus point to give a measure of respectability in the scoreline

Initially it was the Worthing kicking game that created problems for the city defence. A box kick from scrum half and man of the match, Callum Waters, was re-gathered by Worthing and skipper Rob Smith powered over from a ruck close to the line. Canterbury replied quickly with a penalty from Guy Hilton but in the 12th minute, another box kick led to a further try for prop, Dan Sargent as Worthing stretched their lead to 14-3.

The Canterbury defence was at full stretch but relief came with an interception by winger, Connor Wallace-Sims, who went the length of the field to score. On the half hour mark, Canterbury produced another long range effort, a superb try by Ollie Best who broke down the right, linked with Aiden Moss and took the return pass to reduce the Worthing lead to 17-13.

Strong driving mauls by the Canterbury pack were encouraging but the Worthing scrum and lineout held up well and it was the hosts who were dominating possession and territory. The city defence battled hard but the threat was always present and a missed tackle led to a try for winger, Alex Nielsen, and the hosts led 22-13 at half time.

Worthing produced their most effective rugby in the third quarter, constantly pressing Canterbury back into their own 22 metre zone. The city side found difficulty in clearing their lines through the boot and often created problems for themselves by trying to run the ball out of trouble.
Waters, creator of tries in the first ten minutes, turned poacher, nipping over from a line-out on the 50 minute mark.

Ten minutes later, the same player was denied a second try, pulled down just short of the Canterbury line but made amends as he darted over from the resulting scrum. Full back McLean, who kicked four conversions and a penalty, put Canterbury a daunting 36-13 in arrears.

The fight-back in the last ten minutes was heartening. Three successive penalties in the Worthing red zone led to prop, Storer, being sin-binned. Canterbury pounced immediately, moving the ball wide for Aiden Moss to score. Within five minutes, Canterbury were within striking distance – an initial bullocking run by Number Eight George Micans, led to a break by replacement scrum half, Grant Kay. He timed his pass to centre Mason Rosvall who scored in the right corner and Best’s conversion reduced the arrears to eleven.

The last few minutes had an element of chaos as both sides threw the ball around with abandon and mistakes proliferated. A storming run by winger Milo Tonry-Brown had the Canterbury spectators cheering and in the final seconds a break and kick ahead by centre Alex Veale made a second bonus point seem possible. But the bounce of the ball took it into touch rather than into the hands of Wallace-Sims and Canterbury had to be satisfied with a single point.