Rugby Youth

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31726, 9 July 1968, Page 18

Rugby Youth

WEEKLY REVIEW

Young Players Display Balance And Clumsiness

Young Rugby players who display exceptional balance and co-ordination are just as likely to show complete clumsiness in the same game. The talent is there but it has still to be tempered by experience.

An amusing incident for the spectators but obviously quite painful for the player occurred in a game on South Hagley Park when a young player took a wild swing with his boot at a passing ball, missed completely and collapsed on one knee after nearly dislocating the other. The movement which luckily injured no-one had all the daring of a ballerina in high flight, and the balance of a cow slipping in mud. Suburbs made the competition leaders Albion look a jaded side in the 6st 71b B grade match. Although Albion won the game, 6-0, the Suburbs forwards upset the inside backs in the difficult conditions and pounced on any mistakes. Robert Deaklns made many dashing bursts but made the mistake of not rolling off the ball or falling the right way when he was tackled. Another Suburbs forward, Kevin Armstrong took the ball well in the line-outs.

Tenacious Win Playing with only 13 men because two others could not be found the Merivale-Papa-nui team played splendidly to beat the Shirley A team in the under 6st A grade. Shirley are one of the better sides in the grade, but they could not counter the heavy tackling and crashing forward play of Merivale-Papa-nui. The twins Michael and Peter Vaughan were the driving force behind MerivalePapanui. The team led 3-0 after playing with the wind but uphill in the first half and held out the Shirley side when playing downhill in the secind. Team Travels The Linwood under sst B team will travel to Hawke’s Bay on August 22 to play against a Napier Technical

Old Boys’ team. The party will include 17 players, the coach, Mr F. C. Evans, and 11 parents. The trip, which will last five days will be used as an educational holiday as well. Most of the boys are 10 years old but the captain, K. Thomas, and the vicecaptain, S. Marson, are both nine years old.

Controlling eager Rugby youngsters is difficult enough on a Saturday morning, but the task of the parents and coach looking after the 17 boys away on holiday is awesome. Their courage is praiseworthy and it is hoped that their command is strong. Spectators are usually fairly rowdy at under grade matches but the crowd at the under-16 match between H. 5.0.8. B and Linwood attracted more than the usual vocal support. H.S.0.8. A who lead the competition by half a point from Linwood had a bye and the players, girlfriends and other willing supporters paraded along the sideline to spur the B team to a win.

The match was played at a hectic pace and considering the conditions the back play was commendable. Linwood’s first five-eighths Allan Tremberth kicked intelligently and covered well. It was a good day for loose forwards in the slippery conditions and Paul Lynch was one of the fastest loose forwards of both sides, and made the game difficult for the opposing first fiveeighths, Tony Bishop and the half-back Robert Going. Short Lineouts One of the most unfortunate aspects of the game was the adoption of the short lineout several times. It may be a passing fad but coaches who hate to lose may soon be using it as a regular move to unsettle a team that has better backs. Then it becomes

an issue of whether to play to win at all costs or just play to win and enjoy themselves.

The Sydenham under 6st A team had a comfortable win against Mairehau-Marist and much of their success was due to the penetration of the full-back, Stephen Cotton, who came into the back-line frequently. His line-kicking and catching were excellent with the slippery ball. Robert Coles, a loose forward with the team, did most of the tidying up in the lineouts and made sure that the ball went quickly to the backs. The Merivale-Papanui under sst E team were heard to remark at half-time that they were running over the Albion opposition. They were beating them certainly but they were only ambling and it was Albion who had the last say with a fine try by the posts on full time. The New Brighton under sst C team had little luck on Saturday in their game against Marist. They were down 0-3 with 10 minutes to go and camped on the Marist line. No matter how hard they tried they could not ground the ball over the line. Many times they broke through weak tackles by the Marist defence only to find a solid tackle at the line block the path to a try and victory. Wray Milner made many attempts to burst through for New Brighton and he was well supported by Stuart Dobson. Belfast under 7st 71b team have an elusive combination in their half-back, Stephen Scott, And first five-eighths, Keith Turner. Scott sent out quick passes and on one tremendous run sidestepped several tacklers, swerved round the fullback and scored in the corner. He had little room to move but made good use of his swerve.