Canterbury Wins Narrowly Against South Canterbury

Press, Volume XC, Issue 27425, 11 August 1954, Page 12

Canterbury Wins Narrowly Against South Canterbury

RUGBY FOOTBALL

A win by 3 points to 0 over South Canterbury, which was beaten on Saturday by Mid-Canterbury by 17 points to 6, did little to raise the hopes of Canterbury supporters for a long tenure of the Ranfurly Shield. The ground at Rugby Park, Timaru, yesterday, was in capital order, and a good crowd, which included members of the Southland team, the first challengers for the shield this season, watched the game. At no stage of the game did the Canterbury men establish a decided ascendancy, and several times South Canterbury went very close to scorm The Canterbury team differed materially from that which is expected to take the field on Saturday, and the back-line may be improved by the inclusion of A. W. McPherson, who was replaced at second fiveeighths by D. Taylor, and R. Smith, who will come in at wing threequarters. To counter this, however, Canterbury was unlucky enough yesterday to lose two wing three-quarters in M. Dixon, who retired in the first spell with a dislocated thumb, and KBlick, who was heavily tackled ana injured a shoulder. Dixon was replaced by a centre three-quarters in C. McDonald, and D. Mayo, whose usual position is full-back, went on in place of Blick. T _ . . The selectors, Messrs J. G. Rankin and Ik P. White, may not be greatly worried by the apparent poor display, but the game did not give them any cause for undue optimism in meeting Southland, which beat Otago last Saturday. Canterbury supporters may rest assumed that the team will be greatly improved, especially the forwards, by yesterday’s game.

Elsom and Hill in Form ‘ The match, although full of interest from start to finish, did not produce an exhibition if high-grade football, and the failure of the fast Canterbury backs to f oenetrate the South Canterbury defence | more than once was perturbing. In line- , outs the Canterbury men held a distinct , advantage, with S. F. Hill outstanding as < the best forward on the ground. Time and time again he took the ball cleanly and fed his half-back, »P. B. Vincent, who J did his part by sending the ball on to • his other backs. At no stage, however, did the Canterbury back line swing into . action at anything more than half pace, and only the brilliant speed of the centre-three-quarters, A. E. Elsom, put any fire or penetration into the attack. Usually the South Canterbury defence was very sound, and the tackling hard and sure. This stopped efforts by Waine and Taylor to produce their usual fireworks, and several times when Elsom received the ball he passed on quickly and doubled round to take the extra pass. In these movements he gained long stretches of ground and narrowly missed scoring several times. The South Canterbury forwards were not over-awed by the reputation of their opponents and excepting in line-outs and loose rucks, matched the Canterbury men with a display of hard, rugged football. Dribbling well and rucking vigorously they proved much more formidable than . expected. The backs were sound on defence, and made several passing rushes i which went from half-back to wing-three-quarters. Several times a quick--1 moving five-eighths in A. J. Henley made the defence look feeble when he cut in : between Waine and Taylor. Most of the > breaks, however, came from loose play , in which a very lively wing-three-quar-ters in J. Coles made several dashing » runs. ; J’ull-backs’ Displays I Two of the best full-backs in the South j Island in K. Stuart (Canterbury) and H. t Fairbrother had plenty of work to do, and though Stuart showed the more initiative in attempting to set his backs mov- • ing, he was also more times in trouble 1 than his lighter opponent. Fairbrother S was the more successful in line-finding, i but neither kicked as well as expected. f The chosen wing three-quarters, Dixon and Blick, were not given chances to

show their scoring prowess, although early in the game Dixon was responsible for very sound defence, which saved his side. Elsom electrified the crowd several times by racing round opponents, but he found it difficult to make a hole in the sound defence. Waine and Taylor had to stand up to some very sound tackling by loose forwards, and the half-back, Vincent, who made several smart runs, received his fair share of attention. He and Elsom were the best of the Canterbury backs, although McDonald, who replaced Dixon, did good work after a rather shaky beginning. Hill played a splendid all-round forward game, and he was well supported in the line-outs by. J. H. Mauger, who was included in place of N. Teague, and L. Davies. P. Eastgate, in his first game for three weeks, w r as consistently good. The whole pack, however, did not give an inspiring display, although each man worked hard.

In J. Coles and L. Jack, South Canterbury produced two speedy wing threequarters, and with faster service from inside they might have proved good scorers. They made no mistakes in stopping the opposing wings. D. Salmons, who previously played for Christchurch Technical, was sound on defence and, because of his swift cut-in, Henley must command respect in any company.

In the forwards, there was none better than P. Larkins at No. 8, and he was a continual source of worry to the Canterbury backs. The feature of the play, however, was the footwork of the South Canterbury forwards, and with the ball at toe, they severely tested the defence. J. Gallagher, T. Coughlin, and J, Senior were at the head of most rushes. Following were the teams:—

Canterbury.—K. Stuart, M. J. Dixon, A. E. G. Elsom, R. Blick, D. Taylor, J. Waine, P. B. Vincent, E. Hern, D. Young, P. Eastgate, S. F. Hill, L. Davies, J. H. Mauger, K. Meates, N. Roberts. In the first spell C. McDonald and D. Mayo replaced Dixon and Blick.

South Canterbury.—H. Fairbrother, J. Coles, J. Ellery, L. Jack, D. Salmons, A. J. Henley, L. Robinson, J. Senior, M. Casey. F. Coughlan. D. Craighead, I. Proudfoot, J. Gallagher, T. Coughlin, P. Larkins. The Play Early in the game the Canterbury backs gave promise of a bright display, and the ball went to Blick, who was heavily tackled by Coles. Stuart misjudged a long kick by Fairbrother, and only the clever defence of Dixon relieved the position for Canterbury. A fine run by Vincent opened up another attack, which was stopped when Coles tackled Elsom. The Canterbury backs were throwing the ball about in good style, and Elsom narrowly missed scoring when he followed a wellplaced kick by Waine. A speculator by Fairbrother gained ground, and Stuart narrowly missed the posts with a penalty shot. Elsom made a run that gained a good stretch of ground, but penalty kicks put South Canterbury on attack. In passing from the scrum Henley cut in past Waine and sent Jack away, the winger being pushed over the corner flag. 1 Fairbrother kicked past Stuart, and Lar- ; kins was almost over.

Canterbury received the ball in the lineouts. and after several passing rushes had been stopped, McDonald scored a try after a kick-through by Elsom which was carried on by Davis. Stuart's kick at goal landed under the posts. Stuart was caught in possession, and twice in quick succession Vincent saved with timely line-kicks. Henley made another brilliant burst and was almost over. At half-time Canterbury led by 3 points to 0.

Mayo fumbled the drop-out and the South Canterbury forwards took charge, a free-kick relieving. Fairbrother had a long drop-kick shot at goal which went wide, and Elsom was almost over when he collected a loose pass. A well-placed kick by Salmons had Stuart in trouble, and .twice Mayo was called on for sound defence. Larkins missed a long shot at goal, and a good run by Vincent went close to giving Elsom a try; Hill made two brights efforts to score, and after Stuart had missed a long shot at goal, McDonald broke away, but was not supported. Soon afterwards a passing rush by all the Canterbury backs ended when Elsom was pushed out near the corner. I Mr I. L. Armishaw was referee.