Shield Attempt Brings Honour But No Spoils

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31144, 22 August 1966, Page 3

Shield Attempt Brings Honour But No Spoils

(From

/. J. D. HALL)

AUCKLAND.

Canterbury’ again tasted the bitter-sweetness of a Ranfurly Shield challenge against Auckland. The result—an 11-11 draw brought Canterbury some honour, but not the desired spoils.

It was a tense, hard-fought match played in perfect conditions. For the first 15 minutes Canterbury was in commanding form, but once Auckland had blunted that initial fierce offensive it was obvious that Canterbury could not quite match the slickness and skill of the Auckland backs.

There were further periods when Canterbury looked dangerous and 13 minutes from full-time, Wyllie had a chance to put Canterbury to a 14-11 lead with a fairly simple penalty, but the ball slewed from his foot.

Laurie was given an easy penalty, which made the score 11-8. Canterbury struck back quickly when Wyllie, taking over from McCormick, kicked a 45-yard penalty to even the score at 11-11 and there it was to stay for the next 20 minutes. In that time it was basically the Canterbury pack against the Auckland backs. Well led by Cornelius, Canterbury began to get a slight superiority, not enough to take control but enough to ensure the backs of possession. But try as it might Canterbury never penetrated the Auckland defensive screen. No Flanie McCormick often came chugging into the Canterbury back-line, but even his appearance there could not fan the flickering attack into a flame. Ruthless tackling by Rangi and Fell, who somehow managed to get across, smashed nearly all Canterbury’s attempts to chain pass, and the counter-attacks launched by Auckland from these breakdowns seemed to convince Canterbury that it should resort to kicking for the wings. That was even less successful. The ball always seemed to be attracted to Laurie. His positional play was outstanding and, given some room by over-long kicks, he drove Canterbury back with spiralling punts of 40 and 50 yards. Frantically Canterbury tried to get into Auckland territory, but the line-outs became scrambly affairs and play bubbled along the side-line for the last eight minutes. When Meek dribbled the ball into touch there was a relieved roar from the crowd as Mr Murphy blew the final whistle.

During the last 10 minutes play hovered just inside the Canterbury half as the Auckland full-back, Laurie, who was in superb form, drove back all the desperate attempts to score with long line kicks. For Canterbury. Penrose scored a try, McCormick kicked a conversion and a penalty and Wyllie kicked a penalty. Patterson scored for Auckland and Laurie kicked two penalties and a conversion. Neither pack was able to dominate, so any issue of superiority was thrown to the backs and it was there that Auckland had an edge—not really decisive, but just sufficient to ensure Auckland of a draw. Davis provided an excellent service at half-back, but the backs outside him never really prospered. The passing was slightly sluggish and the vaunted speed of the Canterbury three-quarter line was not often evident. Aggressive defence by Tataurangi and Rangi drove back many of Canterbury's back moves and Patterson, the outstanding back until he was injured, and McKay had the measure of Arnold and Steel. Some Solace Canterbury can take some solace from its gallant bid for the shield. Its forwards played excellently and the backs, if lacking that flair for the unexpected which made Auckland so dangerous, tackled courageously and tried very hard on attack. The draw was a fair result. The teams were even, but that little extra polish in the Auckland side ensured that it retained the shield. If Laurie won most plaudits from the crowd of 22,137 for his cool, polished play at fullback, it was Rangi who was mainly responsible for Auckland coming back after Canterbury had gained a 5-0 lead. His crash tackling thudded Hatchwell and Cottrell back yards on occasions and his quick and decisive play often put Auckland on attack. For 15 minutes Canterbury looked an outstanding team. I Its forwards moved upfield in I savage thrusts, the backs were I quick and competent, and| Auckland was placed under tremendous pressure.

the overlap. Laurie's conversion from the side-line was a magnificent effort. A minute later Patterson stepped inside Arnold and then swung away from McCormick. but was caught by him a yard from the line. Play swung to the other side of the field and Fell was crashed into touch by Wyllie only feet from the line. That lead of three points was vital to Auckland, but it relinquished them after six minutes in the second half when McCormick kicked a 35yard penalty after Fell had obstructed Wyllie. This produced the best in the Auckland team. Nelson, Nathan and Fell stormed upfield. Rangi made two breaks and McKay danced infield in a dangerous move, but Canterbury held on. Then, after 16 minutes,

A determined try to Penrose, converted by McCormick, gave Canterbury a 5-0 lead, but then suddenly the pressure was relaxed. The flow of line-out possession was reduced to a trickle as Lindesay and Nelson took charge of the line-outs and a penalty to Auckland, which narrowed the score to 5-3, brought new life to the side. More Dangerous In the loose Auckland began to look more dangerous and precision kicking by Herewini kept Canterbury scuttling back on defence. Patterson made a 60-yard dash and was caught a yard from the corner. Fell and Lindsay surged to within feet of the line. Herewini missed two pots and Canterbury, no matter how hard it tried, could not struggle back to the haven of Auckland territory. A try had to come and it came in spectacular fashion. Herewini wrong footed the Canterbury defence with a curling grubber kick. Tataurangi swooped on it passed to Rangi. who gave Patterson