OTAGO DOES IT AGAIN

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31090, 20 June 1966, Page 3

OTAGO DOES IT AGAIN

Great Hat-Trick Over Touring Lions Teams

(From Our Rugby Reporter) DUNEDIN. The Lions Rugby flag which had hung rather limply after the defeat at Invercargill slumped to half-mast at Carisbrook on Saturday.

A superbly-drilled Otago team beat the British Isles, 17-9, to complete the remarkable record of having beaten decisively the last three Lions teams to have toured New Zealand.

Apart from rejoicing at Otago’s fine win, the crowd of 25,000 had some good moments of Rugby to admire. All five tries were excellent efforts; the back play of Otago was smooth and entertaining and its forward play constructive and vigorous.

And when the Li their play from the mo: indecision into which il some sparkling movemi

However, there were also some unfortunate aspects of the match. The rough play which tainted the first two matches was again in evidence and, sadly, it seemed to be the Lions who started most of the trouble.

Perhaps they felt it was time to stop turning the other cheek for they certainly were an abrasive lot in the lineouts and rucks and seemed to be looking for trouble where none actually existed. Fortunately, there was no indiscriminate kicking but far too often there was the unedifying sight of players slugging at each other. Called Together Finally, after 32 minutes, the referee (Mr A. R. Taylor) called the captains together to ask them to quieten their players down. For Otago, Collins (two) and Edward scored tries. Henley kicked two penalties and a conversion. McFadyean, Gibson, and Jones scored tries for the Lions. There can be no excuses offered for or by the Lions. There was a marked improve-

ions were able to lift rass of inefficiency and t had sunk, there were ents from them.

ment in their line-out play but there was still a surprising lack of cohesion in the loose, driving play and almost a complete ignorance of the fundamentals of rucking. The backs had a most disappointing day. At times they moved well but there were far too many dropped passes, ill-directed kicks and weak tackles. Tactical Failure But over-all there was again this amazing lack of tactical appreciation by the Lions. They had greater speed in the three-quarters than Otago but instead of trying to chainpass the ball, alt manner of frills were tried without any success.

The three times the, ball reached the wings tries were scored. Perhaps because it was so obvious it was overlooked in ’ favour of a more sophisticated approach. Nonetheless, it should have been tried extensively. Otago’s success was all the more welcome because the backs played such an important part in the victory. It was refreshing to see a team holding with such old-fashioned views that it is possible to pass the ball out to the threequarters. But the foundation of victory was laid by the pack.

Well led by Morrison, the players moved as a unit; smothering attacks by the Lions, swarming after the loose ball, bustling into rucks with purpose and precision and rucking so scientifically that the eight Otago forwards could almost have been forming a set scrum. Never Flurried And behind them they had Laidlaw in outstanding form. This thickset young man was never flurried when the Lions crept around rucks: he just

concentrated on serving Kirton with incredibly long and fast passes.

In the second half there was one amazing pass: Laidlaw fired it out almost to centre-field. Kirton ran with it and when he and the ball met he must have been 30 yards from the scrum and running straight at the outside centre Weston. It was Laidlaw and Kirton with the help of their industrious forwards, who controlled the match. They kicked intelligently, ran and passed smoothly, and never once were the Lions’ loose forwards able to upset their felicitous rhythm. All this was in direct contrast to the Lions, whose pack went in fits and starts. Once it would be CampbellLamerton, then perhaps McBride, Murphy, Lamont or Telfer showing up, but never was their drive concerted. Unbroken Ranks The holes which previously gaped in the line-outs had been patched up to some extent, and Mcßride and Camp-bell-Lamerton gained quite a lot of possession with their

high jumping, but never were the Lions able to drive through the sturdy Otago ranks.

The Lions backs had some dreadful moments. Gibson’s customary coolness deserted him and his poorly-directed kicking cost the Lions dearly. At one stage he and Weston changed places. Outside of him, and inside also, the Lions had their problems. Lewis, often bustled, threw out some long fast passes but many, too, that were neither long, fast nor accurate.

Jones and Westen made many handling mistakes and Jones’s sharp side-stepping produced some embarrassing moments for his team when, finally, he was picked up by the defence without appreciable gain except in entertainment value for the crowd. However, when the Lions did remember their wings they produced some thrilling Rugby. In McFadyean, they had a player of great speed and instant acceleration who scored one excellent try and paved the way for Gibson’s. Rutherford was a cool and assured full-back but his goal kicking was weak and a missed conversion had a vital bearing on the match. Bebb had few chances but McFadyean again impressed as a dangerous attacking wing. No Protection Lewis was quick but had his problems through lack of protection. Lamont, who played under the handicap of a badly injured shoulder, was in great form at the start. Murphy was a wonderful loose forward and Telfer busied himself around the field.

Campbell-Lamerton was a fine lock and made a potent combination with Mcßride. McLoughlin showed he was not indestructible when he took some time to recover from a crash tackle but he was a power in the tight play and, with Williams, helped tidy up the blocking. Henley did well at full back for Otago and looked a player of promise. Edward was a rugged wing who exposed some tackling deficiencies and Collins made one delightful run. Peddie and Parin were steady backs who tackled resolutely. All of the Otago forwards played exceptionally well. Levido and Townsend were good in the line-out and enthusiastic in the loose. Pohlen was not overawed by McBride and Booth, Bendle and Duncan were a solid front row.

The referee awarded 12 penalties to the Lions and 11 to Otago.