RUGBY Close Finish To Senior Championship Likely

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29271, 1 August 1960, Page 14

RUGBY Close Finish To Senior Championship Likely

The 1960 senior championship of the Canterbury Rugby Union could have an extremely close finish. By beating Linwood very convincingly in the main game on Saturday, Christchurch earned the right to share the championship lead with Linwood, and University, with a win over Sydenham, is but half a point behind the leaders.

Christchurch, however, must now be favoured to win. In the last round to- be played next Saturday, Christchurch will meet Technical-Shirley, which has not been very impressive, and Linwood will meet University. If Linwood and Christchurch both win their games, they will be bracketed as joint winners of the championship. If both lose. University will win the title for the fifth successive year. The upset of the competition on Saturday was the defeat of the leader of the D.C.L. Shield, Marist, by the bottom team in the- competition, New Brighton. It was New Brighton's second win in 15 matches. Results:—

HAREWOOD TROPHY Christchurch 11, Linwood 0. Merivale 14, Technical-Shirley 9. University 14, Sydenham 3. D.C.L. SHIELD New Brighton 10, Marist 6. Old Boys 20, Belfast 12. Sunnyside - Spreydon 11, Albion 6. The position of teams at the conclusion of the fifteenth round was:—

Christchurch 11: C- Mullany, a try; G. Waterreus, two penalty goals and a conversion. Linwood o. Linwood suffered its third loss of the season—its second to Christchurch—when it was outmatched in the second half of this game. There were occasions in the first half and for a short period in the second when the bustling Linwood forwards stormed the Christchurch line in sorties that all but carried the goal-line. But Christchurch out-lasted this phase and In the second hall maintained a constant pressure on Linwood. Towards the end, Linwood instituted desperation measures which failed as the others did, and Christchurch finished looking by far the more superior team. It was in this match that Linwood reaped the harvest of having relied too much on its forwards on attack and not enough on the backs. The Christchurch line looked a more formidable one from the first whistle and when it overcame some bad handling faults in the first half went on to take its team to victory. Standing flat-footed and running across field brought the Linwood backs nothing but failure against very sound and low tackling. This did not improve when W. F. McCormick moved into first five-eighths and attempted to play Christchurch by himself. • Only one try was scored in this match, but there were three other occasions on which Christchurch crossed the goal-line but was recalled. On each of these occasions the Christchurch backs proved their greater ability. Had McCormick had better success with his goal kicking, however, the game might have ended quite differently. He missed with three shots at goal—two of them reasonably easy ones. At full-back G. Waterreus played well on defence for Christchurch, but his line kicking lacked length and accuracy too often. R. M. Smith was at the top of his form, making several fine runs and contributing much to the defence. C; Devine had very little to do- At centre, C. Mullany played one of his best games for some time. The manner in which he scored his try was superb and was one of the best individual pieces of play seen this season. D. Arnold added to his reputation with another sound display. His tackling was rtiost correct The outside backs’ success would not have been achieved without the quick service of E. Condor and the full pace at which B. A- Watt sent his line away. Watt made the opening for the only try. Until he forgot the cardinal precept that a full-back must tackle the man with the ball, McCormick played well at fullback. ’ R. Havill showed speed and initiative on the wing and J. Kerrigan, as well as tackling well, made one excellent run. RStubbersfield gave his usual correct and swift service, but too often B. Dailey was standing fiat footed. The outstanding forward on the field was D. Ellison. .He played a magnificent game in every phase of play. The movement which led to Christchurch’s try originated from him. S- F. Hill was another who played a great game. He and R. Abel had a very stern tussle in the line-outs but. Christchurch had superiority. J. Thompson, a very virile forward, and W. McCallum were others who stood out in a fine pack. The Linwood pack gained the upper hand early in the game but could not retain it, notwithstanding tremendous efforts by A- Mansfield. R. Abel and J. Havelh R. Tabb spent much of his time in covering play and was again highly successful Mr L. West was referee. Dull Match University 14: T. H. Moynihan and J. D. W. Pask tries, B. M. J. Dineen two penalty goals and a conversion.

Sydenham 3. R. Cotton a penalty goal. University and Sydenham did not give a good display at Rugby Park and spectators had little to enthuse about when neither set of backs functioned well. There was some enterprising play by some of the forwards some of the time and there were a few good individual breaks by backs. However, occasional patches of highstandard play were not maintained and the match was marred by too many penalties. The Sydenham kicker, R. Cotton, had an unfortunate day for of his seven attempts at penalty goals be was successful with only one. The teams were very even in the first half and at half-time, University led, 3-0, from a penalty goal by the full-back, B. M. J. Dineen. It was just after half-time that University showed its best form and two tries, one converted, took it quickly to 11-0. Returning to the side, the University coach, B. P, J. Molloy, threw long straight passes to R. D. Hoskin, and Hoskin made one or two fine breaks. His intelligent kick-through led to T. H. Moynihan’s try after W. R. Strang had followed up quickly. But when the ball went past Hoskin, the movements usually broke down on a strong Sydenham defence. About the only time the ball was passed right out the chain to the determined J. D. Pask on the wing, he beat several olayers to score. On the other wing B. M. Weenink tried hard to get through but was held up. The University forwards did not have quite the life they should have bad with so many representative players in the pack. Moynihan and Strang usually kept up with the ball and Creighton did a lot of solid work. But they did not overshadow Sydenham forwards like M. Lome, a very forceful runner, D. Bryson and B. Wilson. The Sydenham backs had no more penetration than their opposites, from set play but some strong breaks were made by J. Miller, at centre, after be replaced J. Whitehead for the second half. D. L. Gallop, the first fiveeighths, also made some good runs down the middle but although Sydenham several times got to the line and looked as if it might score it could not finish off. Mr A. R. Taylor was referee. Game Of Penalties Old Boy’ *° ! S ,‘ K Henderson four £ en AlS ,f oals and a conversion; R. O Malley and B. Freear tries. Wel ? s two Penalty foris, M. Coombs try; R. Holt field goal. In a game where 32 points were °* these came from ?’ Henderson to kick their penalties for them—there were of Penalties for both sides —Old Boys stood a good chance of winning. Both teams played hard, but there was too much rough handling especially by Belfast. Too many opportunities were given to the Old Boys team, and if it had not been for the recoveries of the fast Belfastionwards, the Old Boys' backs could have scored many times. The Belfast backs could have used the sp ?S d of T - Martlew, on the wing, with considerable effect. p - Gregg, at first five-eighths for Old Boys, cut through the defence time and again. His outside backs moved well, and only the constant, hard work of the home team kept the scoring down. The game looked t would alternate between the two halves in the first half of the game, with all the scoring coming from the kickers when R. O’Malley intercepted a pass inside his own twenty-five and ran the length of the field to score. . In the second half play remained for much of the time in the Old Boys half, and the try by M. Coombs was at the end of an unflagging drive. a moment, with the score at J* to I 2 - there seemed the possibility of a change, but another penalty goal by Henderson followed, and B. Freear scored a try close to tune. Mr F. Goodman was referee. Even Match Sunnyside-Spreydon 11: R. Payne, try; P. Owens, two penalty goals and a conversion. Albion 6: I. Lawson, try; A. Harrison. a penalty goal. Sunnyside-Spreydon won its match against Albion after a hard struggle at Sunnyside. Albion had the better of the first halt, and was unlucky not to score more than one try Sunnyside-Spreydon came back well in the second spell, and was well in control at the end of the match. Seldom has a team owed its success so much to one man as did Sunnyside to V. C. Sykes on Saturday. From his position at half-back Sykes dictated the run of the play with skill. His kicks were well judged, and he made some good runs. On defence also Sykes was always in position. P. Owens had a good match at full-back for Sunnyside-Spreydon. fielding the ball well and kicking accurately. Another good back for the combined side was C. inn, who showed enterprise from the second five-eighths. A. Heatley was outstanding in the Sunnyside-Spreydon forwards, gaining ground with crashing runs down the sideline. R. Hughes did best for this team in the line-outs, and E. Clarke gave good support. A. Harrison was adequate for Albion at full-back. He kicked an early penalty from the 10-yard line, but later shots at goal tram easier positions were astray. M. Morgan tackled well and handled poorly on the wing, and 3. Adams and G. Barr, five-eitfiths. did their best on attack and defence. G. Lee, the half-back, was always in the thick of the pig. Kidd did his best to hold together a rather disorganised pack of Albion forwards. Kidd himself gave a grand example of following the ball, and he was unlucky not to score at least once. In the lineouts 3. Morrison was a great trier: B. Bain was active in the loose play. The referee eras Mr 3. H. Stone. Merivale’s Win Merivale 14: T. Toomey a try and a penalty goal. CL Henderson a try and a conversion, R. Watson a field goal. Technical-Shirley 9: M. Tyrell a try, A. McNabb two penalty goals. Two evenly matched sides with tight cover defence turned this game into a battle of the full-backs —C. Henderson for Merivale and B.

Richards, for Technical-Shirley, who were their teams’ most formidable attacking players. Each made several long runs. Those by Henderson, which were better integrated with his team as a whole, yielded more tangible results. Towards the end of the game, just before he scored his try, Henderson was moved to second five-eighths. The half-backs were forced to clear hurriedly many times and in this phase of play M. Heinman, of Merivale acquitted himself well. Heinman’s reliability helped the first five-eighths, H. Edwards, to maintain an edge on his opposite—an advantage whch the outside backs, in the absence of J. Patrick, were unable to capitalise on. Apart from Richards’s forays from full-back, the Technical-Shirley backs were fairly subdued. Even so, S. Quirk played well with limited opportunities and M. Tyrell, who scored a determined try from broken play, was the only wing on the field who impressed. ,N. Teague gave the TechnicalShirley pack a solid and workmanlike core which enabled it to hold the Merivale eight at all times. His fellow lock, T. Egerton, also toiled mightily in line-outs and rucks. B. Loveridge (Merivale) was easily the best loose forward of the match. P. Nankivell and D. West did their best to deny Technical-Shirley possession from line-outs without ever really solving the problem of gaining it for their own side. The lineouts were a mess with perhaps one clean take in the entire match. Merivale conceded a disturbing number of penalties in the set scrums. However, good hooking by West won the tight head that enabled Henderson to score the deciding try. Mr R. O. McDowell was referee. Upset Win New Brighton 10: R. Bowick and F. Bishop try each, W. J. Harris two conversions. Marist 6: G. Laing try and penalty. In winning its s«!bnd game of the season, its first victory since the opening round. New Brighton thoroughly discomfited Marist, the D.C.L. Shield leader. From Marist’s point of view it was a game of mistakes and missed opportunities. In the first spell with the breeze behind it, Marist had 10 penalty kicks at goal. B. Reilly missed three, J. Collier one, and G. Laing five. Some of the kicks were from almost in front of the posts; Laing kicked one slightly more difficult attempt. These three points were all Marist could score until right on time when Laing scored a try, but missed the conversion. J. Le Lievre, K. O’Shannassey and B. Mann, a Canterbury front-row, with J. Burns outstanding in the line-outs, gave Marist plenty of the ball and the side held a marked territorial advantage throughout the game. But the outside backs dropped numerous passes, passed too early or too late, kicked too hard, and were finally completely upset by the tenacious and occasionally lucky New Brighton defence. Both New Brighton tries came from Marist errors. A pass behind Collier Outside the New Brighton twenty-five gave B. Boland possession. He gave a well-timed pass to R. Bowick who ran 45 yards to touch* down between the posts. Marist then threw the ball about desperately and blundered into difficulties on its own line. F. Bishop took a fly kick on the full, jinked past three defenders, and scored near the posts. All the New Brighton forwards hunted well in the loose, with T. Milesi, M. Le Beau and D. Collins getting through a lot of work in the tight. A. Louis, at full-back, had an excellent game and roused the crowd at Jellicoe Park with some exhilarating attacking runs. , Mr L. Hunt was the referee.

Auckland Team To Meet Wanganui

(New Zealand Press Association) AUCKLAND, July 29. The Auckland Rugby team to play Wanganui at Wanganui on Wednesday was announced today. It is;—M. Cormack; W. Morgan, P. Little, L. Russell; N. Brown, M. Herewini; A. Edgar; L. Fell, W. Nathan, D. Fenton, B. Thomas, B. Graham, G. Perry, C. Currie, H. White. Reserves: backs, D. Connor, D. McKay, J. Sibun, N. Bowerman; forwards. M. Reid F. Colthurst. The team will play Hawke’s Bay, at Napier, on August 6. The first Ranfurly shield challenge, that of Thames Valley, will be played at Auckland on August 13. LIST OF MATCHES IN N.Z. Tour By Australian Universities (N.Z. Press Association —Lopt/rtphtj SYDNEY, July 31. An Australian Universities* hockey team will tour New Zealand from August 8-25. It will be the second Australian Universities* team to visit the Dominion. The first toured in 1954. The main objective of the tour is to compete in the New Zealand Universities’ tournament at Christchurch from August 15-18. The Australian Universities also will play against provincial representative teams. Matches arranged are:— August 9. v. West Coast, at Greymouth; August 11, v. Nelson, at Nelson; August 13. v. Marlborough, at Blenheim; August 20, v. New Zealand Universities, at Christchurch; August 23, v. Ashburton, at Ashburton; August 24, v. Canterbury, at Christchurch. W. N. Gray Back In Form (NX Preu Astociatton—CopyrtfiM; __ SYDNEY. July 31. The New Zealand centre. W. N. Gray, gave a fine display of cover defence in helping Northern Suburbs to an 8-6 victory over Manly in a Sydney grade game yesterday. Gray, who suffered an injury early this season and was omitted from the Northern Suburbs side when he could not regain form, showed he was back to bis best yesterday.

Harewood Trophy P W D L F A Pts. Chch. 15 12 — 3 218 122 12 Lin. 15 12 — 3 161 80 12 Univ. 15 11 1 3 241 101 Hi Tech.-S. • 15 8 2 5 151 128 9 Meri. 15 8 1 6 159 143 Syd. 10 7 1 7 1(H 130 7* D.CX. Shield Mar. 15 6 2 7 187 137 7 O.B. 15 6 9 148 153 6 Bel. 15 4 3 8 160 203 5J Alb. 15 4 2 9 144 213 5 S.-Spr. 15 4 11 126 186 3 N. Br. 15 2 - 13 67 250 2 The Leac Shared