Country Unlucky To Lose 9-14 To Town

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30479, 29 June 1964, Page 16

Country Unlucky To Lose 9-14 To Town

Moral victories don’t count in the records, but if Country lost, 14-9, in the annual match against Town at Lancaster Park on Saturday, at least the sub-union players had the satisfaction of scoring two tries to their opponents’ one, and in providing most of the better moments in a lively, often exciting game.

Only over-eagerness cost Country a win which would have been warmly acclaimed by the crowd of about 10,000.

Penalties for frontrow scrum infringements and for off-side play cost Country dearly. Country certainly looked the better side.

Tradition demands that Country forwards should at least be able to challenge Town packs. On Saturday the Country eight ’ were magnificent. Srength and spirit were there in full measure, and there was genuine skill as well.

At times they surged all over Town in short-passing rushes, with six, seven or eight’ forwards driving together most impressively.

But it was in the backs that Country did much better than might have been expected, against a line which included three All Blacks. Misleading Margin The Country backs had unusual snap and purpose about their play, and the try contrived by the centre, R. Smith, and scored by the left-wing, Johns; was of the quality which sometimes lifts Rugby into the arts. All in all, Country gave its best performance, back and forward, for a long time, and the margin of its defeat was cruelly misleading. Teams:—

TOWN.— W. F. McCormick; W. J. Thompson, R. C. Moreton, R. Morris; R. A. Arnold, B. A. Watt; L. Davts; I. H. Penrose; D. J Graham, M. C. Meikle, P. F. Burns, P. Lee; C. R. Hockley, J. N. Creighton, E. Veal.

Country.— C. Anderson; P. Johns, R. Smith, J. Gardner; D. Kitchen, D. Wyllie; M. Reid: F. Meyer; N. Cornelius, A. Hdpkinson, J. Francis, A. J. Wyllie; J. M. Le Lievre, T. Norton, C. Delaveau.

For the crowd, it was a highly attractive match, for if the for-

ward play often reached ex: cellent standard, both sides also tried to run their backs frequently. Throughout the game, both teams used short line-outs, with very few Variations. Neither set of forwards tried to tap the ball back, and usually it was taken down by the players at numbers. three or four. From there Country sometimes tried to drive, and quite often succeeded, or used the backs. Tight Forward Play Town also threw in to the same positions more often than not, perhaps because of a lack of proficient jumpers further back. All this led to some very hard, tight forward play, but It meant that the backs, when the ball came to them, had more room in which to move. Town was very lucky indeed to be on terms, 6-all, at the interval, for the Country forwards, starting with tremendous vigour, had sustained the pressure admirably, and when Town was in possession, the Country backs displayed some dedicated tackling. In this spell, McCormick kicked two of his penalty goals, Country scored two tries, and A. Wyllie, after a tremendous solo burst, went in under the posts for a third, but lost the ball in a tackle as he was grounding it. At times there was a red blanket of Country jerseys over the ball, the Town forwards not showing the same concerted drive, or speed to the ruck.

The first try of the match was magnificent. In an orthodox movement on his side of halfway, Smith beat Moreton very badly. As the defence converged on him slowly, Smith ran Johns in perfectly and the wing ran in from the twenty-five with three Town players just out of tackling range. The break, and the timing of the pass, were perfect. Knock-on Try The second try was. not so Impressive. Kitchen appeared to have knocked on quite badly but the movement went on and Johns scored again. Perhaps it was justice that when Thompson scored Town’s try early in the second half, it- was after Moreton had knocked on. After that, each side kicked a penalty goal, but in the. main Country held the Initiative, and there were some tremendous assaults towards the end, with the Town defence standing up splendidly under sustained pressure. In these vital minutes the Country handling, back and forward. was often quite astonishing and It seemed a little cruel that so fine an effort should go without positive reward. For most of the last 20 minutes, Town had a trying task, and there were times when the forwards positively reeled. The inside backs were forced into much defensive kicking. But it remained, to the end, a most attractive match. Smith was a fine centre for Country. He made only that one memorable break, but his defence wax always sound and he tried hard to run his wings into position. Kitchen broke through snectacularly in a brilliant dash towards the epd. and with D Wvilfe—who showed considerable pace at times—he played competently. Reid was sound and Johns, on the left wing, made the most of his chances. Hopkinson Outstanding Outstanding in this fine Country pack—and undoubtedly the best forward on the ground—was the lock, A. Hopkinson. A snlendidly-bnllt forward, he led the pack time and again in the fierce rushes which so harassed the Town defence. In the line-out, the ruck and even in the open. Hopkinson was always a significant figure. His partner Francis was reliable and Cornelius played ’ a useful game on the flank

It was the other flanker, however. who caught the eye most often. A. Wvllie did manv things magnificently. He Is very young, but strong and fast, quick to snap up the loose ball, hard to tackle. He would have turned in a tremendous performance had he not so often been penalised for being off-side. It was costly overeagerness. At the back, F. Meyer showed intelligence and courage, and the front row was strong and purposeful, with Le Lievre clearly demonstrating that he is still in the top flight. Perhaps the most impressive of the Town forwards was the hooker, Creighton, who got a tremendous amount of work. He was heavily engaged because of the line-out tactics used, but he led somq fine' forward rushes, and covered ground with the eagerness of a colt. Meikle and Burns did not entoy all the success expected of them in the line-outs. Used Ball Well Early tn the second spell. Town appeared to have that particular problem settled, but after about 15 minutes Country again won ready possession, and used the ball well. Penrose, playing at number eight,

showed up here and there, but the game served to show clearly that the flanker, under the new rules, cannot hope to go forward much from set play. Graham’s skills were displayed almost entirely on defence. He was much more often dropping back—to achieve very useful saves when there was tactical kicking from Country—than forward on the offensive. Davis g a swift and accurate service from half-back, and he withstood the Country forwards gallantly. Outside him, Watt was not impressive, His Injured leg was still heavily bandaged, and he did not move with his usual freedom. Traces of his class appeared here and there, but in general it was his lack of punch which brought difficulties further out. Arnold made one magnificent run, but was very well contained otherwise, and Moreton, although playing a good game save for his one clear overthrow by Smith, could not create the opening, with the defence up on him so quickly The wings did have many chances. Thompson was given an overlap two or three times, but he lacked sufficient pace to turn them to profit. McCormick had one of his best days at full-back. He was sturdy in defence, he handled well, and his goal-kicking, on this occasion, was first-class. He scored 11 plonts, and twice missed narrowly with difficult kicks.

The referee was Mr A. R Taylor.