NPC final: Canterbury overcome halftime deficit to beat Northland in decider

The National Provincial Championship will again reside in Canterbury for the summer.

After ending a seven-year title drought last year, the Red and Blacks have gone back-to-back, beating Northland 43-24 in Christchurch on Monday afternoon.

After Northland went to Christchurch and dominated Canterbury to relieve them of the Ranfurly Shield earlier in the year, there was plenty of intrigue in a final that pitted perennial title contenders Canterbury against the first-time finalist Northlanders.

And for more than a moment, it seemed like Northland might repeat their heroics from late August.

Canterbury had to overcome an 11-point deficit at halftime, after Northland made a strong start to the contest in the opening 40 minutes.

But a strong second half saw Canterbury finish the better of the two sides, scoring four tries in the second half and holding Northland to just a penalty to close out the win.