RUGBY LEAGUE Canterbury Beaten By West Coast, 16-8

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28619, 23 June 1958, Page 8

RUGBY LEAGUE Canterbury Beaten By West Coast, 16-8

The Canterbury representative league side suffered its third defeat of the season when West Coast convincingly won the return game at the Show Grounds on Saturday by 16 points to 8. Canterbury began the game like a winning side but the West Coast gradually gained the upper hand and fully deserved its win with a better

all-round display. A strong, compact set of forwards paved the way for West Coast’s win. Their performance in all phases of forward play was much superior to the efforts of the Canterbury pack which lacked fire and purpose for most of the game. At times the play of the Canterbury forwards appeared halfhearted compared with the robust and bustling play of their opponents. Canterbury’s back-line had greater speed but was greatly hampered by the ball coming to them far too slowly. When the ball was won’from the scrums it only trickled out and by the time the backs received it the West Coast defenders were almost on top of them. On the other hand, when West Coast won a scrum the ball came out with speed and the back-line was able to get on the move quickly. Had the Canterbury backs received the ball faster the result of the game could easily have been reversed. Fast Passes The West Coast backs threw fast passes and handled cleanly but seemed content to let the movements go across field. When the gaps were found they were generally quickly closed up by the speed of Canterbury’s cover defence. The fine efforts of the West Coast forwards in breaking the defence paved the way for scoring efforts. The most pleasing aspect of Canterbury’s display was the great improvement in tackling which was far superior to that against Auckland. The West Coast captain, J. Butterfield, set a fine example to the rest of the side. He guided most of the side’s movements and his intelligent switching of the play kept the defence guessing. His generalship was something which was sadly lacking in the Canterbury pack. As usual T. Kilkelly was always right up with the play and was on hand to carry on movements after Butterfield had opened up play. Kilkelly made several typical bursts which took him past defenders and gained a lot of ground. F. Hassan and D. Linley were in the thick of the play throughout and gave Butterfield and Kilkelly fine support. Menzies in Form Most of Coast’s back play was initiated hv first five-eighths G. Menzies, who again gave a fine display. Menzies’ handling and speed off the mark were features of the game and. although he was carefully watched, his ability enabled him to beat the defence several times. Menzies received fine service from the half-back. G. Skinner, who fed him perfectly with fast, accurate passes. W’hen R. Griffiths was shifted in to partner Menzies in the second half the West Coast attack was greatly smartened up. Griffiths put a lot of dash into his play and his strong running made a bin difference to the side’s attack. The best o 4 ' the rest of the backline was A. Kennedy, a wing who ran strongly an - ' tackled very soundly. The outstanding Canterbury forward was M. Cooke who fully matched the West Coast forwards. His fine cover defence was invaluable to his side. R. Turton, a loose forward, appreciated the return of Cooke to the side and was able to play his usual tvne of game. He excelled in open play and his covering up stopped several almost certain West Coast tries. J. Jones and B. Barron toiled hard in the tight but did not reach the same standard as most of the opposition. B. Tewnion did not have an easy game, having to cone with an indifferent service from his half-back and having to keep a close watch on Menzies. He acquitted himself well and his display was solid. J. Bond, at second five-eighths, had a good allround game. His tackling showed a big improvement and he frequently found gaps in the defence with his tricky running. Canterbury’s three-quarter line did not receive many chances to show sneed. most opportunities came from « r °ken Play. D. Stevens, at centre, ran strongly and his handling showT/ri ™ pr ? vement - C. Courtney excel-

G. Williams was sound at full-back with good handling and solid tackling. The Scoring Canterbury led at half-time by 8 points to 3. The points came from two fine tries by Anderson. The first came after a side-line run in which he beat two -defenders with clever footwork and the other was on the opposite wing after Bond had kicked the ball ahead. Williams converted one try- West Coast’s points came from a try by B. Gardiner after a breakthrough by the forwards. In the second half West Coast did all the scoring. Fahey kicked a penalty goal and then Butterfield fooled the opposition and sent Duggan over in the corner. W. Menzies finished off a movement started by Griffiths and shortly before . time Griffiths put the issue beyond doubt with a try under the posts after G. Menzies had broken through. Fahey converted this try. The referee was Mr W. Mountford (West Coast). The teams were:— West Coast: L. MdNTiehol, A. Kennedy,» R. Griffiths, W. Menzies, J. Fahey, G. Menzies, G. Skinner, B. Gardiner, C. Clarke, T. Kilkelly, F. Hassan, J. Butterfield, P. Linley. In tne second half C. Clarke was replaced by R. Duggan. Canterbury: G. Williams, I. Anderson, D. Stevens, C. Courtney, J. Bond, B. Tewnion, K. Roberts, R. Turton, M. Cooke, F. Tinning, J. Jones, B. Barron, K. Pearce.

LOWER GRADES

Senior Reserve.—Addington 23, Dallington 0. Junior Grade.—Papanui 31, Hornby 7; Sydenham beat Linwood by default. Third Grade.—Linwood 22, Riccarton 10; Kaiapoi 23, Shifley 19; Sydenham 22, Hornby 9. Under 18 Years.—Hornby 38, Linwood 0. Senior Schoolboys.—Addington 11, Hornby 11. Under 14 Years.—Papanui 18, Dallington 17. Under 13 Years.—Papanui 5, Addington 0; Sydenham 3, Hornby 0; Marist 39, Kaiapoi 2; Christchurch 10, Linwood 9; Shirley 14, Dallington 3. Under sst 101b.—Shirley A 14. Riccarton 5; Papanui 31, Shirley B 6. Bantams.—A section: Papanui 0, Addington 0; Shirley 12, Kaiapoi Of Addington 12, Hornby 3; Sydenham 6, Papanui A 3. B section: Linwood 15, Marist 0; Papanui B 15, Papanui 6; Dallington 12, Riccarton 3. Midgets.—Shirley A 18, Papanui A 9; Shirley B 6, Riccarton 6; Marist 12, Kaiapoi B 9; Christchurch 12. Addington 3; Kaiapoi A 9, Linwood 6. Fly-weight.—Sydenham 6, Kaiapoi 3; Papanui A 9, Papanui B 3; Shirley A 6, Shirley B 0; Addington B 12, Shirley C 9.