Canterbury vs Taranaki Predictions - Canterbury to come out on top against Taranaki in NPC semi-final match

Brad Newcomb

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Last updated: 1 hour ago

Brad Newcomb 1 hour ago

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Canterbury have won 9 of their last 10 home games and scored plenty of tries in their NPC quarter-final.
Taranaki had a solid quarter-final but have lost 6 of their last 9 away matches.
Canterbury are predicted to cover the -6.5 handicap in their semi-final clash.

Canterbury have been in excellent form at home recently (Getty Images)

Canterbury were in great touch in their recent NPC quarter-final match and have excellent home form. Taranaki have come good during the back-end of their season, but struggle to consistently win away from home.

Canterbury have won 6 consecutive matches.
Canterbury have won 9 of their last ten home games.
Taranaki have lost 6 of their last 9 away matches.
Taranaki have lost 3 of their last 4 away games against Canterbury.

Head to Head

Canterbury have a slight edge over Taranaki, with nine victories to seven in 16 meetings in the National Provincial Championship.

Canterbury Form

Canterbury were in tremendous touch in the first half of their quarter-final match against Waikato last weekend, scoring seven tries and four conversions to lead 43-7 at the break.

The home side added three tries and two conversions to their tally in the second half to romp to a 62-26 victory over Waikato.

Earlier in their NPC campaign, the Red and Blacks beat Auckland 38-31 at home, Otago 19-15 away, defeated Bay of Plenty 33-28 at home, and lost 40-26 away to Taranaki before defeating Waikato 36-14 away, Wellington 66-19 at home, North Harbour 25-24 away, Southland 34-21 at home, and Manawatu 22-12 away.

Canterbury finished first in the National Provincial Championship table during the regular season, with 40 points from ten matches.

Canterbury will start confidently against Taranaki in the semi-finals, as they were in fine form in their previous match and have recorded an impressive nine victories in their last ten home games.

Taranaki Form

Taranaki scored three tries and a conversion in the first half in their NPC quarter-final match against North Harbour last weekend to lead 17-14 at half-time.

The Bulls turned it on in the second half, scoring five tries and four conversions to secure a comfortable 50-31 away victory against North Harbour.

Earlier in this season, Taranaki defeated Counties Manukau 20-5 away from home and lost 38-32 at home to Waikato, 42-0 to Northland, and 28-24 to Bay of Plenty away, defeated Canterbury 40-26 at home, lost 27-25 to Manawatu away before beating Southland 55-19 at home, Hawke's Bay 50-14 away, and Wellington 68-26 at home.

The Taranaki Bulls placed fifth in the National Provincial Championship standings during the regular season, with 34 points from ten matches.

Taranaki have been playing excellent attacking rugby lately, but they are prone to losing away from home, having suffered six defeats in nine outings on the road, and three of their last four visits to Canterbury.

Team News

Canterbury

Brodie McAlister scored a hat-trick against Waikato.

Johnny McNicholl, Dallas McLeod, Kurtis MacDonald, Dominic Gardiner, Andrew Knewstubb, Tahlor Cahill, and Tyson Belworthy each scored a try last weekend.

Isaac Hutchinson slotted six conversions in the match.

Starting XV: Finlay Brewis, Brodie McAlister (C), Seb Calder, Tahlor Cahill, Sam Darry, Xavier Treacy, Corey Kellow, Dominic Gardiner, Louie Chapman, Andrew Knewstubb, Kurtis Macdonald, Jone Rova, Dallas McLeod, Isaac Hutchinson, Johnny McNicholl

Replacements: Manumaua Letiu, Lewis Ponini, Gus Brown, Max Fale, Torian Barnes, Tyson Belworthy, Macklan Robertson, James Cameron

Taranaki

Bradley Slater crossed the try line three times against North Harbour.

Kini Naholo scored a brace last weekend, while Michael Loft, Jacob Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens, and Vereniki Tikoisolomone contributed a try each.

Sam Clarke landed five conversions in the match.

Starting XV: Jared Proffit, Bradley Slater (CC), Reuben O’Neill, Jesse Parete, Fiti Sa, Josefa Namosimalua, Michael Loft, Kaylum Boshier (CC), Adam Lennox, Sam Clarke, Kini Naholo, Seta Tamanivalu, Meihana Grindlay, Vereniki Tikoisolomone, Jacob Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens

Replacements: JJ Pokai, Perry Lawrence, Keightley Watson, Jayden Sa, Arese Poliko, Logan Crowley, Jamie Viljoen, Haki Wiseman

Verdict

Canterbury v Taranaki

Canterbury regularly win their matches at home and are tipped to cover the -6.5 handicap in their NPC semi-final clash against Taranaki.

Canterbury -6.5

Handicap

@1,87 - 3 Units

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Canterbury Win

Result

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Brad graduated from the University of South Africa with a Bcom-Management Accounting degree and has a financial background.

His love of sport has seen him venture down the road of researching sporting history for the past several years, specifically boxing, cricket and football.

Other sports of particular interest are golf, tennis, horse racing and motorsports.

Additionally, he spends his time researching the military history of his home country of South Africa.

He is an ardent Liverpool supporter and is known to DJ and release music on occasion.