Canterbury have waltzed into the NPC semifinals with a 62-26 victory over Waikato in Christchurch.
The Cantabrians made it six wins in a row after they came firing out of the blocks, scoring five unanswered tries in the first 26 minutes.
Hooker Brodie McAlister scored two of those, and made it a hat-trick just before halftime, emulating Taranaki and fellow All Black hooker Bradley Slater, who got three for Taranaki in their 50-31 win over North Harbour on Saturday.
Waikato had got on the board with a try to Mason Tuapea in the 28th minute but Dom Gardiner scored shortly after and McAlister’s third it made it 43-7 at halftime.
The Mooloos had to score first in the second half if they were to have any chance and to their credit they scored two, narrowing the gap to 43-21, but Canterbury found their rhythm again in the final quarter and ran in three more tries before Waisake Salabiau scored a late consolation one for Waikato.
McAlister deferred credit for his three tries to his fellow forwards, telling Sky Sport he was just finishing off their good work.
“The set piece is a real weapon of ours.”
Waikato captain Mitch Jacobson rued the Canterbury dominance in the first half.
“I’m proud of the boys for their second half effort but gee we let ourselves down in the first half.”
Canterbury will face Taranaki in their semifinal next weekend, while Otago will play Northland. Otago beat Hawke’s Bay 50-14 yesterday while Northland beat Tasman 26-21 on Friday night.
See how the action unfolded below: