With four senior men banged up or on All Black duty, Richie Mo'unga is the latest to settle into his ITM Cup work in the red and black jersey. He did that with some certainty tonight in Christchurch.
The teenage Mo'unga kicked out on the full to start the match but after that glitch he moved into some very solid work.
It was difficult for everyone, particularly Manawatu, who met a Canterbury side with multiple changes but no reduction in their firepower or cohesion as they eased out to a record victory against Manawatu.
They had a bonus point for four tries after just 35 minutes on an evening when constant rain made conditions awkward. In that period Canterbury missed out on a couple of others as Paea Fa'anunu and Ryan Crotty lost the ball across the line.
Manawatu were left to defend for much of the half. However, tighthead prop Chris Eves scored a superb individual try when he charged down a kick, picked up and rattled 30m for his touchdown.
That fillip was a brief respite with Crotty scoring from the next scrum when outstanding captain Andy Ellis sprinted wide of the scrum to deliver space for his midfield buddy.
Manawatu's defence was too porous and those blemishes were punished by the slick Canterbury combinations.
From debut prop Sione Faletau to free-ranging fullback Johnny McNicholl who showed the zip which marked his game before a serious Super 15 injury, Canterbury were a barrel of talent.
Certainly too much for Manawatu who spent much of their visit on defensive drills.
Referee Chris Pollock also suffered with a hamstring strain which took him off the park at halftime and he was replaced by Kane McBride. The teams rolled out their replacements too as they eyed the playing schedule still ahead of them.
When some of those for Canterbury were Corey Flynn, Adam Whitelock, Willi Heinz and Jordan Taufua, the size of Manawatu's task was even more stark.
It took Canterbury a while to get back into production after the halftime rest but even after Faletau was sinbinned for a blocking tackle, they kept up the momentum.
Canterbury 72 (Milford Keresoma 4, Andy Ellis, Richie Mo'unga, Sione Faletau, Johnny McNicholl, Ryan Crotty, Paea Fa'anunu, tries; Mo'unga 2 pen, 8 con), Manawatu 7 (Chris Eves try; Nathan George con) Halftime: 39-7.
