BEBB'S LATE TRY IN LIONS’ 8-6 WIN

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31120, 25 July 1966, Page 3

BEBB'S LATE TRY IN LIONS’ 8-6 WIN

(By

I. J. D. HALL)

An opportunist try by the British Lions wing, Bebb, and a tense last five minutes as Canterbury strove desperately but unsuccessfully to regain the slender lead it had held for most of the match, failed to lift Saturday's match above the dull, boring spectacle presented to the crowd of 44,500 for the previous 75 minutes.

The Canterbury forwards poured through in fiery rushes; there was some hectic passing by the backs. McCormick was in the back-line but the Lions were grimly determined not to relinquish their two-point lead.

Two penalties eased the gruelling pressure being exerted by Canterbury and the final whistle finished a game that certainly will have no enduring memory for the spectators.

The Lions won by eight points to six from a try by Bebb and a conversion and penalty by Wilson to two penalties by McCormick. It was an important win for the Lions and no doubt they are gratified with the improvement in their forward play but the main memory of the match, marred again by brawling, will be of two teams grinding from line-out to lineout.

165 Stoppages There were 110 in the match and when to these are added 25 scrums and 30 penalties, it is no wonder that with 165 stoppages Rugby probably was the loser.

It was a mistake by Birtwistle when he failed put into touch a long angled kick by D. Watkins that gave the Lions the lead. Bebb, following up quickly, kicked the ball ahead and just managed to reach it when it rolled over the line as McCormick dived on to him.

But before that Canterbury’s negative tactics had given the Lions the chance to come back and win. Even with a six-point lead the ball was booted into touch regularly, by Davis and Watt.

When Wilson’s penalty j narrowed the lead to three' points, Canterbury did try to use its backs a bit more but they always seemed to be at; half-pace as if they were not ; quite certain they were doing' the right thing. Then Bebb scored and 75 i minutes of solid endeavour; was swept away as Wilson, I ,who had missed seven; attempts at penalties, con-1

verted the try and scored the winning points. Sadly once again a Lions game was marred by unpleasantness. There was punching, indiscriminate kicking in the mauls and one stiff arm tackle which broke McFadyean’s nose. The front row fought throughout the game. The first 10 minutes of the game was very tense. The referee (Mr C. McAuley) managed to calm things down from its boiling point but that just meant that the game and some of the players simmered from then on.

The very patient crowd was most generous in its praises for the Lions and Bebb’s try and Wilson’s winning conversion were greeted with delighted applause. The policy of the Lions was apparent in the first few minutes when W’eston, at flyhalf, steadied himself after getting a quick pass from Young and punted the ball as far as he could. And that, for the rest of the game, was the basic tactic.

There were variations, of course. Sometimes, mostly in fact, it was kicked out but occasionally there would be an up-and-under or an angled kick. Followed Suit Canterbury’s tactics followed suit, except that there was a greater degree of sophistication. Now and then backs would be brought into play, albeit it seemed a bit reluctantly. However, it is to Canterbury’s credit that it did try

•>to move the ball along the ‘ backs as far as Arnold. The r Lions backs passed out to tithe wing once and it reached tithe outside centre twice; not t what could be considered very ;! daring Rugby. | Still, it was an important i win for the Lions team which - has been battered physically , I and mentally on this tour, i For their own Rugby self- ■ I respect they had to win

against Canterbury and as far as they were concerned it was victory almost at any price.

For the first time on tour the Lions line-outs presented an almost impenetrable barrier to the marauding forwards on the other side.

Norris, Powell, Price and Mcßride showed that they had absorbed the lessons on blocking and binding harshly taught them by Southland, Wellington and the All Blacks, and the loose forward trio, Telfer, Lamont and Prothero, successfully and ruthlessly stopped any attempts by Canterbury to start attacking drives from the end of the line-out. Driving Lions The loose forwards were quicker to the loose ball, and they hounded Watt and Davis throughout the match. But what probably was the most encouraging feature of the game for the Lions was that they were successful in driving from the front of the line-out. In the first few minutes Mcßride, Norris and Powell surged through followed by a cloud of red jerseys. The movement went only 15 yards, but it showed that the team had, for this match, stiffened the sinews. Canterbury ' won the lineouts, 44-33, with another 33 indecisive. And they were indecisive for they degenerated into swirling mauls where punches were thrown, knees lifted and elbows worked vigorously. It was in these mauls that most of the unpleasantness occurred.