Waikato came out on top of a heavyweight Air New Zealand Cup clash on Friday night, outshining Canterbury with a 36-22 win in Hamilton on Friday night.

With both sides tipped as strong contenders to take out the premier provincial competition, Friday night's match-up was always expected to produce top-class rugby.

And while the defence from both sides wasn't entirely up to scratch, the match did not disappoint from a spectator point of view, with some brilliant attacking rugby on display.

As the scoreline suggests, it was Waikato who created the bulk of the attacking opportunities, with the home side outscoring Canterbury five tries to three.

After a slow start, Waikato took control of the proceedings midway through the first half securing a four-try bonus point before the break.

Leading 26-14 at halftime, Waikato appeared to take their foot off the accelerator over the second spell, allowing the Red and Blacks to claw their way back in to the match. But the Mooloo men ensured they finished strongly with an inspired final 10 minutes, capping off an impressive performance with a try to Liam Messam just before fulltime.

Canterbury took advantage of some lax Waikato defence early on to score the opening try of the match in the third minute. With the home side guilty of dropping off tackles, an overlap opened up on the left-hand side for Canterbury with Cameron McIntyre running in for a soft try. Ben Blair converted from the sideline to put the visitors out to a handy 7-0 lead after less than five minutes of play.

Waikato opened their account for the evening in spectacular fashion with Sitiveni Sivivatu finishing off a set move with a try in the corner. With a scrum feed just inside the Canterbury half, halfback Brendon Leonard exploited a massive gap on the blindside, making a dart down the left-hand touchline before getting a good ball back inside to Sivivatu who could not be stopped from close range. Stephen Donald could not land the conversion from the sideline, ensuring the visitors kept their noses in front at 7-5 after 18 minutes.

But with momentum slowly building with the home side, Canterbury could not hold on to their lead for long, with Waikato exploding over the second half of the opening spell.

Waikato mid-fielder Richard Kahui, who was impressive all night, grabbed a double in the space of three minutes.

And when Donald raced in untouched to score under the posts in the 34th minute, Canterbury all of a sudden found themselves staring at a 26-7 deficit.

A try to Casey Laulala right on the stoke of halftime got the visitors back within striking distance, but with Waikato leading 26-14 at halftime, Canterbury still had plenty of work to do in the second half.

After a frantic opening 40, the game took a much more leisurely pace in the second half, but it was no less intense.

Canterbury were able to string together some solid phases of play early on in the spell, but a lack of finish and some poor option-taking on attack proved their undoing.

It wasn't until the 62nd minute that Canterbury were able to find the tryline again, with Laulala grabbing his second of the evening to bring the visitors' deficit back to seven at 29-22 after the two sides had earlier traded penalties.

But some resolute defence over the final stages of the match from Waikato effectively snuffed out any hopes the Cantabs had of a come from behind victory, while a try to Liam Messam right on fulltime emphatically sealed the match for the home side.