SPUR TO SOUTH XV? North Favoured To Win Today

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31772, 31 August 1968, Page 15

SPUR TO SOUTH XV? North Favoured To Win Today

(By

J. K. BROOKS)

In terms of strength and experience, the North Island Rugby team will cast a giant shadow over the South Island side in the annual inter-island match at Lancaster Park Oval today.

With seven test players in the pack, the skill and elusiyeness of S. M. Going and M. A. Herewini behind the scrum, and the speed and daring of M. W. O’Callaghan, G. S. Thorne and O. G. Stephens in the three-quarter line, North Island presents a picture of power as it seeks its fifth successive win in the big match of the domestic season.

A number of Rugby followers approached in Christchurch yester—all South Islanders—predicted to a man that North Island would win today. The winning margins they selected ranged from two to 14 points, and the average margin was nine points.

The South Island, they agreed, had a good sound side, in many ways a better combination than those of the last two or three years. But they could not envisage it overthrowing the near-test side stacked against it. This is the sort of situation which D. J. Graham turned to such good effect in whipping the South Island team of 1962 into a match-winning combination. It is human nature to try to disprove the people who say, in public or in print, that one has no chance. Double Precedent Lancaster Park crowds have seen this happen in each of the last two inter-island games in Christchurch. The South Island players have taken the field as the underdogs. They have scarcely missed a tackle, they have caught the high punts surely, they have harrassed the opposing half-back, and they have never been in two minds about what to do when they have gained possession. The contrasting attitude of players in the two sides was exemplified by an incident in th’ 1962 match. D. B. Clark, North’s massive fullback. delayed a clearing kick l a little too long as he looked with disdain at the approaching figure of C. R. Laidlaw, then a novice of 17 in his first senior season. Clarke’s action bespoke the confidence

of the North: Laidlaw’s seemingly hopeless chase illustrated the terrier-like persistence of the South. The outcome of this David and Goliath encounter had a profound influence on the result—Clarke kicked, Laidlaw charged the ball down, South scored. Shrewd Captain Laidlaw, a shrewd captain, will probably realise that South’s best chance of winning today lies in the constant application of all 15 players, and the eager snapping up of any possession.

North Island will have a considerable advantage in the struggle for possession. C. E. Meads, S. C. Strahan, K. R. Tremain and B. J. Lochore are capable of dominating the line-outs, B. E. McLeod should strike too swiftly for South in the scrums, and Meads and K. F. Gray have the ability to turn the rucks to North’s profit. In the back-line. Going and Herewini should put this possession to good use, and the fleet-footed young men outside them have the ability and the inclination to run with the ball. Niue All Blacks South’s display will not be as flamboyant, but it will be full of honest endeavour, based on the soundness of the forwards and the inside backs, and the heartening presence of W. F. McCormick at full-back. Last year a makeshift South side lost by 11 points; this year's team I represents a vast improvement—there are nine All Blacks included—and this should be reflected in the score. A. E. Hopkinson and his fellow tight forwards will wrestle strenuously for the ball, and Going may find it harder to escape the clutches of A. J. Wyllie and I. A. Kirkpatrick than it was to slither past the Frenchmen. Team Effort? Laidlaw, E. W, Kirton and W. D. Cottrell are well versed in each other’s play, and they can be relied upon to set up South’s attacks soundly and sensibly. The success of these moves, however, will rest with the unsung three-quarters. They have nothing to lose by adopting a bold front—and this, of course, applies to the team as a whole.