RUGBY Christchurch Draws With Linwood

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28921, 15 June 1959, Page 14

RUGBY Christchurch Draws With Linwood

When the two top teams in the senior Rugby championship met at Lancaster Park on Saturday, there was no suggestion of win-at-any-price tactics by either side. Christchurch, running up 20 points in 13 minutes, led Linwood 23-5 at the interval but Linwood, with an equally dramatic recovery, drew the match, 23-all. This left Christchurch first and Linwood second, but there are now seven teams within two points of the leader.

Conditions were excellent for fast and open play, and the oval match was particularly entertaining. Sunnyside-Spreydon gave one of its best performances with a resounding victory over Sydenham. University had its fourth drawn game in eight, this time with the determined Merivale team and both Old Boys and Marist were thoroughly extended by teams which share last place.

Results were:— Christchurch 23, Linwood 23. Old Boys 14, Albion 9. Marist 17, Belfast 13. University 6, Merivale 6. Sunnyside-Spreydon 21, Sydenham 5. Technical 14, New Brighton 0. Competition points are:—

SWIFT MOVEMENTS CHRISTCHURCH 23. R. M. Smith (2), G. Watereus, G. Eden, C. Devine tries. Watereus four conversions. LINWOOD 23. G. McConchie (2), D. de Felice, F. McCormic* tries. McCormick field goal and four conversions.

Whatever the deficiencies in the defence of both sides, there was no mistaking the enjoyment the small crowd at Lancaster Park oval derived from this spectacular • match. For a brief period in the first spell the Linwood defence was almost non-existent, and Christchurch drew so far clear that it seemed the team might achieve something in the nature of a record score. Perhaps because of this huge lead —23 to 5 at the interval—the Christchurch backs in the second spell took only a passing interest in tackling until it was too late to deny an eager Linwood team the satisfaction of a draw. Linwood started superbly, scored a lovely try. and was then completely outclassed for the rest of the spell. But then the Linwood forwards began to hold their own. and more, and the backs began to tackle, and to run. Linwood’s four tries were not perhaps as well engineered as most of the five Christchurch scored, but the magnificent rally the team made thoroughly earned it the draw. It was highly spectacular football, with McConchie’s second try outstanding. The full-back. McCormick, ran strongly on the blind side from a scrum, on the Linwood twenty-five-.cifcGQbcMft. went nearly 60 yards -fo aeore. eluding several defenders on the way. In the first spell, A. Leslie did much to win the line-outs for Christchurch, and in the second W. McCallum jumped particularly welt G. Thompson and W. Warden, neither particularly well-known players, lasted better than some of the other Christchurch forwards, but K. Orsboum was consistently prominent. D. Harding, the halfback. gave his line good, sound service most of the time, and K. Harman and Devine both ran hard. But it was the genius of Smith which had most to do with Christchurch’s successes. He was nearly always at the right place at the right time, and it made him a very busy player. Watereus was cool and capable, and gave added thrust to a back line which, when good, was very, very good. Linwood was again splendidly led by R. Tabb, whose defence should have been an inspiration to his team. Tabb showed tremendous, sustained energy in tight and loose. B. J. Havill at the -back of the scrum was also very quick to the ball, and began several sweeping movements. D. Mansfield tackled gamely and G. Amos, at the moat vital stage, took control of the lineouts. After a nervous start. N. Main got the ball away smartly, but the Linwood line did not look nearly as capable of making openings as the Christchurch backs. But there were some good opportunist efforts, and it was the great pace of de Felice which brought the last try. and the scores level, eight minutes from time. Once more Linwood owed very much to McCormick. He was one who tackled well, and he was quick and decisive in his rush-stopping. When he ran. it was with purpose and determination. Watereus kicked four good goals in five attempts for Christchurch, McCormick four in four for Linwood, as well as a field goal. He must have been under considerable pressure for his last conversion, but there, too. he did not let his side. down. The referee vVas Mr L. Kirk. ALBION TRIES HARD Old Boys 14. D. Panckhurst and B. Loveridge (2) tries, B. Dalton a penalty goal and a conversion. Albion 9. N. Edgington three penalty goals. If Old Boys had a more reliable goal kicker they could have more than doubled their score against Albion on the south ground at Lancaster Park. Albion’s full-back, N. Edgington, kicked three penalty goals to score all his side’s points. Old Boys took the initiative early, and with backs and forwards showing speed, looked to have Albion’s measure from the time that D. Panckhurst dashed through for a try within the first few minutes. But the Albion backs adopted defensive formations. They tackled hard and often bustled the Old Boys backs into running across field. For Old Boys. R. Young, at halfback. played well. His passes were for the most part very accurate andhe secured a good length without much apparent physical effort or haste. Albion also had its moments on attack, but dropped passes or lack of support prevented any try from being scored. Once Albion appeared to have an easy try in hand, with four players on attack and only one defender; but a pass was dropped and the try lost. P. Lennon, at centre, and J. Sewell, at half-back, were the best of the Albion line. In the Albion pack there was none better than P. Kininmonth. For Old Boys. M. Hern and B. Loveridge were the pick. Mr B. J- Drake was referee. MARIST WINS MARIST 17. E. Noonan, L. H. Geange (2) and J. Collier tries. K. J. Brown a conversion and Collier a penalty goal BELFAST 13. P. Martlew and M. Frost tries. E. Williams two conversions and a penalty goal. Changes in superiority marked the match between Marist and Belfast at Rugby Park. Belfast took an earlylead. 5-0. but Marist led, 6-5. at half-time. Looking the better team. Marist competently took the score to 17-5 in the first part of the second half only to have the lead whittled down to 17-13 by a Belfast i team which recovered to attack moat of the flrat half beL ’ ?*** Marist backs made good of tbeir undoubted potential, and

when they got going properly, Belfast found them hard to stop. However. they later deteriorated and many mistakes allowed determined Belfast forwards and backs, who played well as individuals, to gain the initiative again.

When the Marist backs had their good spell, J. G. Hutchinson, at centre, was outstanding. He made grand runs for three of the four tries before handing on to a support at the right moment. J. M. Stuart played intelligently behind the scrum and with a quick break he also made a try. L. H. Geange was a formidable wing.

Marist always looked as if it would win, but its score could have been bigger if it had been successful with kicks. Collier took most of them and failed several times. In the forwards, B. R. Mann, W. L’Estrange and O. Stopforth often showed out and K. J. O’Connor did a good share of the lineout work.

The Belfast forwards matched them well most of the time, with M. Frost and T. Gilmore playing determinedly Frost shifted to the backs late in the game and scored a good try. Most enterprising of the backs was C. Cassidy, who made some fine runs in the middle of the field and down the sidelines. The finely-built full-back, E. Williams, emerged with credit. He made one mistake in the first half, but from then was very sure in taking and gained some large stretches with his line-kicks. Mr E. N. Penlington was referee. TENSE STRUGGLE

UNIVERSITY 6. R. Wells a try, D. J. Davison a try. MERIVALE 6. P. Smith a try, T. * Gallagher a penalty goal. In a highly-exciting finish to the main match at Rugby Park, University tried every form of attack to force a win over a tired but determined Merivale team, and it failed to breach the defence decisively. After a first half with a lot of good tight forward play and one or two nice back movements by both sides, Merivale led 3-0 at half-time, and it was guarding this narrow lead tenaciously. Then, with about three-quarters of the game gone. University attacked consistently for two tries when the Merivale forwards, who had held the formidable Christchurch pack so well the previous week, had slowed down a lot in getting to the ball. But Merivale, with its backs playing soundly, attacked again, and the full-back, T. Gallagher evened with his penalty goal and the side desperately kept University out until the end.

Merivale survived a severe battering in the latter part of the match when the two main loose forwards, J. Jardine and M. Bourne, had to leave the field. The halfback, R. Watson, was then knocked, and went to full-back, with T. Gallagher going into the five-eighths. This lasted only a few minutes, until Watson had to tackle the flying University wing, Davison, in one of his many bids for the corner. Watson left the field, and the team played on with 14 men for a short time before D. Doake, the coach, went on as full-back. A courageous team left the field with

The first half and the beginning of the second half were very even, and it looked as if Merivale might be able to hold its 3-0 lead to the end. However, University had the better of the later part, and must have won but for the determined defence of the Merivale backs. B. M. J. Dineen also missed very narrowly several of his attempts at goals. The University backline always looked formidable and pacy, but it was allowed little latitude, and promising movements were. stopped abruptly with sure tackles. The half-back, M. R. Taiaroa. worked hard and most intelligently, the first five-eighths, A. F. Orme, was very quick off the mark, Dineen, outside him kicked well for his wings, and Davison looked the most likely to score tries.

The forwards got nearly all the ball from the line-outs, with RWells jumping well and B. R. Smithers did some fine things in the loose, linking up with the backs or starting off movements.

In spite of all this, the team was unable to get clear, and only once was Davison’s scoring ability really obvious. In that he had an almost clear run.

In the first half,- with J. Turner and I. GaUagher outstanding in the tight and Bourne in magnificent form again in the loose, the Merivale backs got plenty of possession, and were able to attack as much as their counterparts. Smith's try came after a perfect piece of chain passing with Gallagher in as extra man. R. Wilson, at first five-eighths, exploited the grubber kick well, and B. Young, on the wing, matched Davison in everything. In the second half their role became much more of a defensive one. as they tackled tenaciously and upset attack after attack. In addition, Watson used the line well, when he was pressed, and T. Gallagher iqarked surely under duress. Bourne was one forward who kept up with the play when some of the others were trailing. Mr R. Empson was referee. SYDENHAM BEATEN SUNNYSIDE - BPREYDON 21. G. Hughes, R. Payne (2), G. Kinzett, G Teller tries; F. Jones three conversions. SYDENHAM 5. G. D. G. Wade a try; J. D. Clark a conversion. On its home ground. SunnysideSpreydon showed its best form of the season to beat Sydenham. The team deserved its win, although Sydenham played better than the 16point margin would indicate. It was a mediocre game with the play, mainly in the backline, handicapped by waist-high tackling on both sides. " Much of the credit for Sunnyside-Spreydon’s win goes to the half-back. D Woods. Replacing R. Templeton, who was injured in the match against University the week before, Woods played an enterprising game and impressed with his fast and accurate delivery to the backline. Both sides were fairly even in gaining possession in the’ line-outs but, in the loose play, Sunnyside did not falter when on the attack. G. T elf er was the outstanding Sunnyside forward on the defence and attack. In the sunnyside-Spreydon back line, the second five-eighths, E. Tiplady and the left-wing, G. Kinzett, gave a very constructive display, with Tiplady making two speedy long runs. The Sydenham centre threequarters. G. D G. Wade, who scored his side’s only try. played an outstanding game, made a number of elusive runs, but lacked support. Mr R. B. Campbell was the referee. TECHNICAL WINS TECHNICAL 14: D. Taylor, M. Tyrell, B. Arthur, tries. B. Richards penalty and conversion. NEW BRIGHTON: 0. ’ Two tries from well-executed moves by the Technical backs and j a third from an opportunist effort ga »e this game colour. The forward | packs were evenly matched, in a ■ rugged display. Technical came close to scoring ■ after 16 minutes when K. Howison ■ cross-kicked to catch the Brighton full-back, B. Rossiter, out of position. J. Waine. who gave an excellent display at first five-eighths, picked up the rolling ball and dashed to the corner. He touched down, but had been pushed into the corner flag by B Boland. The useful B. Richards, who did not put a foot wrong all day at fullback for Technical, came into the back-line. outside Howison, and

burst through the opposition to give D. Taylor an easy try. Richards capped this effort by kicking a 4dyard penalty goal a few minutes 13 For the remainder of the first spell the Brighton forwards were right on top and hammered the Technical goal-line. The Brighton backs, however could not capitalise upon these efforts, and Technical kept its line intact after conceding three five-yard scrums in 6min • The Technical forwards improved considerably in the rucks in the secfond spell, and J. Taurua was the outstanding forward on the field. His • driving in the tight scattered the I looser New Brighton pack time and again. T. Egerton won most of the ball for Technical in the line-outs, and the Brighton forwards only held their own in the set scrums. Waine mi«sed out a man with a long pass in a back rush well into Technical territory. M. Tyrell had the overlap and ran 40 yards to score wide out. Then Taylor snapped up a dropped pass on his own 25yard line, and broke clear, passed to B. Arthur on being tackled from behind. Arthur scored near the posts. Mr R. W. Phizacklea was referee

P W L D F A Pts Chch 8 6 1 1 153 63 61 Lin 8 5 2 1 96 81 51 Old B. 8 5 2 1 100 68 51 Univ 8 3 1 4 44 37 5 Tech 8 5 3 - 83 46 5 Meri 8 4 3 1 61 51 4} S-Spr 8 4 3 1 70 67 41 Mar 8 4 3 1 76 57 4} Syd 8 3 5 - 64 84 3 NBr 8 1 5 2 26 76 2 Alb 8 1 7 _ 59 121 1 Bel 8 1 7 - 76 157 1