RUGBY Strong Mid Pack Keeps Canterbury At Stretch

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30219, 26 August 1963, Page 14

RUGBY Strong Mid Pack Keeps Canterbury At Stretch

A small crowd had little to enthuse over when Canterbury beat Mid-Canterbury, 17-8, in an undistinguished match at Lancaster Park on Saturday.

The strong Canterbury side always appeared to have the game in hand but Mid-Canterbury, with a vigorous, workmanlike performance, remained in the reckoning to such an extent that in the second half it out-scored Canterbury and was applying itself diligently and well in the concluding stages.

Mid-Canterbury soon made it plain that it did not intend to become a subject for Canterbury’s target practice.

A well-knit visiting pack denied the Canterbury eight dominance it could, justifiably, have expected and the backs, while lacking the overall speed and penetration of their opposites, showed commendable enterprise in broken play. These factors, coupled with the stout defence of the MidCanterbury players, placed limitations on the control which Canterbury appeared capable of developing. Sting Was Lacking There was an obvious desire among the inside backs to run and pass with alacrity but this was seldom satisfied. The hitting power of the forwards lacked its usual sting and there was insufficient sharpness in the service from the half-back.

The teams were:— Canterbury.—W F. McCormick; W. Birtwhtetle. D. A. Arnold, D. C. Leary; R. C. Moreton, B. A. Watt; G. A. Stanley; I. H. Penrose: D. J. Graham (captain). J. A. Francis. A. J. Stewart. N. G. Cornelius; 3 M. Le Lievre, D. Young. E. Veal. Mid-Canterbury.—A. H. A. Smith; B. F. O'Sullivan. D. J. Davison. Jchn Sampson; Jim Sampson. A. J. Farrell; B. J. Molloy; M. J. Hanham; P. L. Donald. L. S. Smith. R. G. Fraser (captain) A F. Cornelius; K. G Doig. L. T. Bell. P. F Prendergast. In the first half Canter- ' bury enjoyed a two-to-one majority in line-out possession and won a good share of the ball from scrums and rucks. The backs were given their head but their efforts were largely nullified by the speed of the former University and Canterbury three-quarter, Davison, who played at centre for MidCanterbury. Neutralised

In vain McCormick dashed into the backline to provide an overlap for his wings: each time Davison had sufficient pace to flit outside his wing and tackle the unmarked Canterbury player. The Canterbury backs attempted to counteract Davison’s speed by cutting out a man in the attack with a lofted pass. But this scheme never succeeded and was discarded after Mid-Canter-bury had narrowly missed turning it to profit. A far greater share of the ball was gained by the MidCanterbury forwards in the second half and this, to an extent, relieved the .Canterbury backs of the perplexities associated with Davison’s pace and the alert covering and foraging of Hanham, the Mid-Canterbury back row forward.

Stanley Great Trier But the problem of maintaining a sharp service to the backs developed in this half. Stanley, a great trier who frequently wrestled with the forwards for possession and who did his share on defence, did not move the ball with sufficient velocity for the efficient functioning of the backline. Several times the ball was fading in flight before it reached Watt.

Canterbury’s one grand back movement developed from a quick throw-in

What Mid-Can terbury lacked in skill and experience it balanced with its stamina and determination. Canterbury’s effort was a modest one. It started the match as. if to emulate the whirlwind assault which yielded Auckland eight points in six minutes on the same ground the previous week, but there was a wide gulf between intention and execution.

worked by McCormick and Birtwistle. Watt, Arnold, Moreton and Leary handled crisply at top speed and Leary’s centre-kick found the sure hands of Cornelius.

But Graham missed the final pass from Arnold when a try between the posts appeared imminent. Le Lievre was in a class of his own in the tight play. His red-blooded driving

always gained Canterbury ground and he was instrumental in winning some of Mid-Canterbury’s hard-won possession in the rucks. With Stewart closely watched, Francis assumed the leading role in the line-outs and did well, but Young, try as he might, could not win a single tight head from Bell. Moreton was the most penetrative of Canterbury’s backs and McCormick, restored to the full-back position, tackled venomously.

Hanham Plays Well Mid-Can terbury had sound service from all its players, but there was particular merit in the displays of Hanham and Smith, the fullback. Hanham. a longlegged flanker placed in the back row for this game, covered and tackled tirelessly, made a brilliant interception to start a movement from which Davison narrowly missed scoring, and scored Mid-Canterbury’s sole try from a line-out.

Smith, who converted the try and kicked a penalty goal, displayed a fine positional sense, which was supplemented by his powerful punting. Canterbury, which led 11-0 at half-time, scored from tries by Young, Cornelius and Leary, a dropped goal by McCormick and a conversion and a penalty goal by Leary. The referee was Mr M. R. Barrett, who awarded six penalties to each side.