Canterbury Not In Any Trouble

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30213, 19 August 1963, Page 6

Canterbury Not In Any Trouble

(From Our Own Reporter) HUNTLY, August 18. Playing excellent tootbal! in atrocious conditions the Canterbury Rugby League team successfully repelled Waikato’s attempt to take the Northern Union Cup when the two sides met at Davies Park today. Canterbury won, 15-0, but if anything this margin flarttered the Waikato team, as there was no doubt about Canterbury’s superiority. The martch. the first between the two provinces for 15 years, was played on a waterlogged ground which deteriorated considerably as the game progressed. In some ireas players were up to theii inkles in water. The teams were:—

The teams were:— Canterbury: K. Harding: C. Preece. P White, B. Langton,

J. Bray; J. Walshe: R Irvine: M. L. Cooke (captain!; M Mohi, T. L. Bisman; G. Cooper. J. H. Fisher. I. Drayton. Waikato: C. Tarawhiti: G Dobbs W. Turner. E. Burke W. Deacon; G. Farrar (captain): M. Smith; K. Holgan: J. Puke A. Lindop; F. Davis, K. Brown, T. Millington. Five Good Tries

After a scoreless first half Canterbury proved Its superiority in the second spell by scoring five excellent tries. Although Fisher was slightly outhooked in the scrums Canterbury had a good share of possession, ‘nils was due mainly to the side's fine handling. Over-all. Canterbury gave a better display than it did against Auckland on Saturday The tackline was much better and the players seemed to move more freely Considering the conditions the tactics employed by the Canterbury side of throwing the ball around as much as possible could have proved foolhardy, but at no time did the side look like failing. Waikato threw away any opportunities it received by bad

handling; this fault costing the side at least two tries. The home side backs showed very little penetration and as a result lost ground w’hen the ball was passed along the backline. However, the defence of the home side was good and stopped Canterbury from scoring tn the first half.

Dangerous Player The best player in the Waikato side was the former Kiwi. G. Farrar. He kicked intelligently and bandied surely. An interesting replacement was the former Kiwi. A. Berryman. He made one delightful run and looked the most dangerous member of his side on attack

From full-back. K. Harding to half-back. R. Irvine, the Canterbury line functioned smoothly White made two delightful solo runs while his handling at times was magnificent.

As a unit it is doubtful if any Canterbury pack in recent years has gone so well. Blsman was always tn the forefront and his strong running split the defence wide open a number of times. Mohl stood out for his handling, while

Cooper and Fisher played better games than they did against Auckland. Drayton was sopnd on attack but his defensive qualities are still questionable. Cooke played even better than usual and showed up more m attack. Tries for Canterbury were scored by Drayton. Preece. White. Langton, and Irvine. The referee was Mr A. Taylor