KIWIS BEGIN AUST. TOUR Riverina Beaten In Last Minute

Press, Volume CVII, Issue 31381, 29 May 1967, Page 3

KIWIS BEGIN AUST. TOUR Riverina Beaten In Last Minute

(From

J. O. COFFEY,

N.Z.P.A. Special Correspondent)

WEST WYALONG. The acting-captain, J. D. Ellwood, converted a try after the final bell had rung to give the New Zealand Rugby League team the narrowest of wins, by 21-19, over Riverina at West Wyalong yesterday.

The conversion was for a try scored by the loose forward, A. Kriletich, who crossed near the post after P. Schultz had beaten the Riverina defence with only seconds remaining.

It was the second match of the 17-game tour. On Saturday, the Kiwis were well beaten, 14-7, by Newcastle.

New Zealand deserved to win against Riverina but handling and passing errors, and another disappointing goal-kicking performance by R. B. Tait, nearly cost the Kiwis dearly. They led on only one other occasion in the game, at 16-14, and even then Riverina went ahead again after five minutes.

New Zealand had plenty of possession but there was little variation in play. Riverina accepted every opportunity it was given and tackled strongly throughout. Many of New Zealand’s mistakes were made by the younger players who were obviously nervous in their first international appearances. Too often, R. L. Carey, R. Ballantyne and W. P. Noonan threw the ball when off balance, thus cancelling out L. S. Morgan’s 25-20 hooking margin in the scrums. The Riverina centre, R.~ Foley, who has now represented his division against Britain, France and New Zealand, scored three tries and played a fine opportunist game. Inside him, R. Townsend proved nippy on attack while the big wing, J. Bonetti, proved too much for the diminutive Ballantyne bn occasions. Irvine Withdrawn New Zealand suffered two blows. The selected scrumhalf, R. S. J. Irvine, had to withdraw from the team because of a boil on his neck and was replaced by Schultz. Then just before half-time, Schultz moved to the centre when the other serum-half, G. Brown, came on to replace L. Mills, who suffered a rib injury.

The play was fast throughout, with sudden changes in domination by the teams. Many of New Zealand's attacks were begun by Ellwood, who twice ran 70 yards from the dummy half position before being caught by the cover defence. He set Mills up for his try when he played the ball forward near the line and flicked it to his fellow centre.

For New Zealand, Elwood,’ Mills, Baker, Danielson and Krilitech scored tries. Elwood (two from three attempts) and Tait (one from three attempts) kicked goals.

Foley scored all three tries for Riverina and Snowden kicked five goals from seven attempts. “Graveyard” Again The Newcastle ground lived up to its reputation as the “graveyard” of touring teams on Saturday. New Zealand showed promise and its attacking and defensive play lacked little in comparison to Newcastle’s. However, Newcastle completely dominated the scrums in the second half to cancel out New Zealand’s advantage of playing with the brisk wind.

The Kiwi full-back, Tait, had an unhappy day with his goal-kicking. He was successful with an easy conversion and a 30-yard penalty but missed four good chances. In comparison, the Newcastle loose forward, J. Gill, kicked four goals—three of them into the wind—from seven attempts. O’Neil Scores Try Newcastle led 9-5 at halftime. The New Zealand try came after 13 minutes when F. R. Christian beat his man and sent the ball to the unmarked C. E. O’Neil. The hooker just reached the line before the defence caught him. Newcastle’s tries were scored by the wings, W. Yeomans and R. Horne, the first resulting from a wild pass • hich was Intercepted by Yeomans 40 yards from the line with the defence completely beaten.

Horne’s try sealed the match eight minutes from time when Gill drew the Kiwi wing, W. P. Southern, and gave the ball to the unmarked Home. Christian was the most dangerous Kiwi back; on one occasion he ran 70 yards down the touch-line and just failed to find Woollard with the vital pass. Tait and P. F. Schultz were deceptive while W. Whyte tackled strongly.

New Zealand worked several fine moves between the scrum-half, G. Brown, and the loose forward, B. E. Castle. O’Neil played extremely well in the open, tackling and backing up throughout, while J. K. Dixon was the most powerful runner from the rucks.