RUGBY Two Tries In Last Two Minutes Give France 14-6 Win

Press, Volume C, Issue 29588, 10 August 1961, Page 5

RUGBY Two Tries In Last Two Minutes Give France 14-6 Win

Pren Association) ‘ . ■ INVERCARGILL, August 9. Two tries in the last two minutes enabled France to turn what looked a dismal draw into a win, 14-6, against Southland at Invercargill this afternoon. Only seven minutes before they scored the winning points, the Frenchmen were staring a sixth defeat in the (ace. With the score at 6-6, Southland was given a free kick 20 yards out and straight in front of the French posts, but the Southland full-back, G. S. McKenzie, sliced his shot. Played in sunny, but chilly, weather on a ground that was holding, the match produced some flashes of brilliance, but was mostly an uninspiring and fairly scrappy display.

In all, France scored four tries (one converted) to two penally goals. France led 6-3 at half-time. One of the great disappointments was the play of the Southland back-line, whjch tailed to live up to the promise it had given p last Saturday in a match i against Otago. On that occasion, the Southland backs » passed the ball freely, but today the inside backs, the brothers W. R. and W. J ' Archer, overdid the kicking The French line, too. was disappointing in that it did not do more with the opportunities that came its way. The teams were; Southland: G. S. McKenzie; J G. Allison. K. F. Laidlaw. ft. W. Todd; W. J. . Archer, W. R. Archer (cap- > tain); A. J. Tait; A. J. Sloper; E. A. Gorton, J. B. Porteous, E. J. Hazlett, L K Fyall; H. W. O’Neill. G. G. Spencer, R. O. Jackman. France: C. Lacaze; J. Du- : puy, J. Pique, G. Boniface A. Boniface; P. Albaladejo; j. P. Lacroix; R. Lefevre; F. Moncla (captain), G. Bouguyon, M. Cassiede. M. Craute: P. Cazals, J. Rollet, ~. A. Bianco. Star of Match The star of the day was - the French centre, Boniface, who imparted more thrust to the mid-fieid backs than • the French have had for a long time. On the day, he outclassed Southland's test hope, Laidlaw. • • The forward struggle was on from the start, with the French winning a good ;• share of the ball in all dej, partment«. Their hooker, Rollet. won tightheads at eight to two, and must have gone a long way to strengthening his claims for a test place at Christchurch. A vigorous, hard-playing forward in the tight, Rollet impressed as rhe best of the Frenchmen, although the big lock, Cassiede. back after a soell since just before the first test, also played well He was the best jumper in , the line-outs. Most of the crowd of about 23.000 axe probably ’* still wondering how Cas- .. siede was able to get away wi*h his attempted charge- ' ’ down of McKenzie’s crucial kick at goal in the last stages of the match. The Frenchmen’s “gamesmanship” in constantly moving while a kick at goal is to be taken by the opposition has been passed over fairly lightly until now as Gallic exuberance, but this was a full-blooded charge by Cassiede, which possibly could have had something to do with McKenzie’s slicing of the ball. He was not checked by the referee, however The other French lock, Bouguyon, who was a late replacement for J. P. Saux, who had damaged his left shoulder in the tests at Wellington, was also in good form in the line-outs. Lefevre also lent valuable support at the end of the line. He was the most unobtrusive, and also the most valuable, of the French loose forwards. Both the other loose forwards, the captain. Monela, and Crauste (the latter fairly subdued after taking a heavy “dusting” in a ruck in the first half) were both inclined to get iii the yvay in the back-line—although it was from one of these efforts of Moncla that the French scored their last try. He broke up a Southland back rush to whip up the ball and send out a pass to the flv-half, Albaladejo. who in turn made ground before passing to the half-back. Lacroix, who scored At times, the forward struggle became a little too willing, with French and Southland fists flying in one "dustup” in the first half The captains had to be called together to be given a verbal “cease-fire” order. The French again proved themselves to be fairly learned tn the arts of obstruction. including jerseypulling So strong were they in this phase that the Southland lock. Porteous. had his jersey ripped in half The French half-back pair. Lacroix and Albaladejo. combined much better than in some of their recent matches although at one stage both were kicking for the line almost as frequently as Southland Albaladejo did some strange things on attack—once, towards the end of the match, he broke through . brilliantly, and was virtually »- in the clear Instead of making a dash for it. however » 5 he seemed to face the right- ’• hand touch-line and kick straight for it. raining per,r. baps one vard tn the manoeuvre Still. Albaladejo gave his centres some good chances which both Boniface and Pioue made the most of. Pique scored the first of • the two end-of-the-matrh g tries Rollet won a tirht- - head and with Moncla mak- £ jng the extra man In the line £ Mt first five-eighth and A Boniface erecting a second E o*erlan in the centre, the 9. ball shot along to G Bonies face bv now almost on the £ left-hand touch-line He • propped, and ran back to his right, where he passed to Pique, who “knifed" his way

through high tackles, and scored between the posts. It was one of the best French tries of the tour to date. Dupuy, qn the left wing, also scored a fine try In the first half, after a break by G. Boniface and Pique. A. Boniface, supposedly on the right-wing, but more often than not playing in the line, also scored a try. The Southland backs did not do themselves full justice. Had they run with the ball a little more often, instead of relying on kicking by the inside backs, they would have looked much better. As it was, on the few times that the ball was passed out, the Southland line was a smooth combination. The most dangerous In possession was this year’s South Island wing, Allison, who twice joined in the line between half-back and first five-eighths with good results The Southland captain, W R. Archer, withstood a matchlortg attack very well, and his covering play was of a high order. His liking for the touch-line, however, did not endear him to the home crowd. Laidlaw was given few chances on attack, and spent much of his defensive time clutching at the places which either Pique or G. Boniface had just vacated. He did make some of his well-known tackles, but generally played below the form which made him one of New Zealand’s best backs in South Africa last year. In comparison with the Frenchmen the Southland forwards were a fairly plodding lot although there was little that could be faulted in the thrilling massed attacks they made on the French line in the second half. With a little more luck

they could have forced at least one try when they had the French defences badly gapped. At that stage they had wrested the initiative away from the opposition to a great extent. Their forward leader, E. A. Gorton, had a good match from the side of the scrum, with locks Porteous and R. J. Hazlett, a nephew of the All Black, W. J. Hazlett, going well in the tight. These two were the most effective of the Southlanders in the line-outs. The Scoring The French opened the scoring after five minutes when Dupuy, who had come from the left wing, put the Southland defence on the wrong foot with a long run along the line. About 10 yards from the right-hand touch he passed to Crauste, who in turn sent on to A. Boniface, who scored near the corner. Albaladejo did not convert.

Then followed a period of extreme scrappiness, and it was not until the nineteenth minute that the score moved on. Five minutes before halftime, Crauste got in the way of a Southland charge, and went down injured. He was able to play on after attention, but was penalised for not getting away from the ball. This gave McKenzie a chance to kick a good goal. That made the score 6-3 to the tourists and it remained that way until half time. Nine minutes of the second half had gone when McKenzie evened the score with a second penalty. With time passing, it seemed the match could finish that way. But in the thirty-first minute McKenzie missed his easy shot at goal from in front, and then came the French tries in the thirtyeighth and thirty-ninth minutes.