Triumph, 17-8, In Game Of Mistakes

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31123, 28 July 1966, Page 19

Triumph, 17-8, In Game Of Mistakes

(Special Correspondent N.Z.P.A.) PALMERSTON NORTH Giving one of their most disappointing displays of the tour, the British Lions managed to squeeze a 17-8 victory from a disjointed combined ManawatuHorowhenua side at Palmerston North yesterday. The game was just a series of mistakes from start to finish, and as in so many previous games, the Lions had only themselves to blame for not amassing a bigger score.

They won a ton of ball and attempted to throw it around, but dropped passes, poor handling and a general lack of cohesion ruined many movements.

The Lions played nearly all the second half without their full-back. D. Rutherford, who left the field eight minutes after the half had begun with a broken right arm. The tourists scored three tries, through Hinshelwood (2) and Savage, while Rutherford kicked a conversion and a penalty and Young kicked a penalty. De Cleene scored a try and J. Taitoko kicked a penalty and a conversion for Combined. Incoherent Rugby The match had its bright moments, with both sides giving the ball plenty of air, but on the whole it was incoherent Rugby at its worst. Individuals in both sides played well, and none was better than the Lions’ insidecentre. Jones. He made some magnificent breaks but could not always connect with his outsides. When he did, the passes often went astray.

Inside him Gibson also made some beautiful breaks and it was disappointing so little came from them. He showed remarkable speed at times and left the opposition far behind.

The scrum-half, Young, had a bright match and made one particularly purposeful burst However, he was generally overshadowed by the combined team’s captain and halfback, McCaskie. In fact, at times McCaskie was a one-man band. He roved all over the ground and came within an ace of scoring at least two tries in the second half. 1 Hinshelwood was the more

impressive of the Lions’ wingers, but Jones normally elected to cut through the defence himself and gave the wingers few chances. Hinshelwood scored a fine try when he sprinted hard to beat the Combined winger, Kelly, to the touch-down, after a kick- ' through by Jones. ! Savage, who normally plays on the wing, was not happy at outside-centre. He could not keep his position and found it impossible to link; up with Jones. His handling, also, was poor. The Lions’ forwards were again a loose-knit unit. Gone was all the tightness that they displayed in the Canterbury match. The Combined forwards were alowed to stream through at will. Admittedly, the Combined team’s tactics was to play spoiling Rugby, and this they most certainly achieved. But the Lions should have been able to counteract it Splendid Come-Back Easily the best of the Lions forwards in the line-outs was Thomas. He jumped with . great skill and gained a lot of ball. It was a splendid comeback by the uncapped Welshman, who had not played since breaking two ribs in the Taranaki match. His countryman. Price, the recognised jumper in the side, was not so effective. He often hauled the ball out of the clouds, but then lost possession, and had a lot to contend with in the tall Strahan, who played a magnificent match for combined.

The front rows virtually cancelled each other out Murphy played a sterling match on the flank until he was forced to move to fullback when Rutherford retired. Before that he sped off from number seven in the line-outs and headed some fine rushes upfield. Pask was not the significant force he has been at number

eight. He was frequently bowled to the ground on gaining possession. Try Fine Effort None did more in the loose than the Combined flanker, De Cleene, and his try was a fine i effort. He swung away from ■ the line-out with ball in hand jand bumped off several defenders to score near the ’ posts. i McCaskie and Taitoko formed an elusive combination, although Taitoko often ran into a lot of trouble. The other Combined backs did not figure in play much, except for close marking of their opposites. Lundy made one break but it came to nothing.