Wing, Mid-field Choices Wide Open In N.I. Trials

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32301, 20 May 1970, Page 19

Wing, Mid-field Choices Wide Open In N.I. Trials

(N.Z.P.A. Staff Correspondent)

WELLINGTON. The North Island Rugby trials at Palmerston North today should clarify positions at wing and mid-field in the All Black touring team.

Seldom in recent years have so many positions remained inconclusive so close to a major tour, despite the wide exposure of players in preseason games and other matches.

In most cases, the competition is strong. G. S. Thorne’s potential at mid-field is at last acknowledged and his appearance at second fiveeighths will add spice to these trials. He contests the mid-field berths with W. L. Davis, H. P. Milner and I. R. Macßae, from these trials, and W. D. Cottrell and H. T. Joseph from the South match. The switch of Thorne and the “rediscovery” of the former junior All Black, Milner, has made the competition in mid-field more intense than would have been expected 12, or even six months ago. There are any number of likely combinations for the main All Black trial on Saturday. Thorne may yet find

his way to centre for the Wellington matches, and Davis, Macßae and Cottrell are also favoured at this stage to play in inid-field in the main final trial". But Milner’s challenge is very real

He has filled out since his junior days, and is stronger and more robust in his play. He will be put to the acid test at Palmerston North against Davis, whose timing of the break is unequalled in New Zealand Rugby. Macßae is strong, the rock of New Zealand’s celebrated second-phase attack over many years, and because of his physique, would be invaluable in South Africa. But he will need to. assert himself against Thorne today, to inject more sharpness into his play. There are no dazzling riches on the wings. Even at this stage, M. J. Dick, a star of the 1963 tour of Britain and a tourist there again in 1967, is the only player with all the credentials. Other candidates at Palmerston include B. G. Williams, the raw but dashing young Samoan from Auck-

land, D. R. Panther, who, although only 25, is a veteran of trial Rugby, the dependable and versatile M. W. O’Callaghan, and 0. G. Stephens, who has had one test, against France. K. R. Carrington, a 19-year-old Maori from Auckland, adds a dash of romance to the wing candidates. The former schoolboy sprint champion will play in the , early trial, and this will be only his third first-class match. At first five-eighths, B. D. Furlong, the cool calculating tactician with a kicking boot on either foot, shapes up to young A. M. Watkins, the Junior All Black of last winter. They are duelling for a place in the main Athletic Park trial, opposite E. W. Kirton. In the forwards, B. E. Holmes, D. Kirkpatrick, M. C. Wills and A. R. Leslie will press their claims as loose forwards. with the present All Blacks, B. J. Lochore, 1. A. Kirkpatrick and T. N. Lister, and two other southern rivals • A 'J. Wylie and A. R. Sutherland.

The greatest single strength of the All Black forwards in South Africa promises to be in the side and back rows. There is every reason to believe the selectors will want more big and mobile men to supplement the present ones. In these circumstances Holmes is the most likely new All Black loose forward in today’s games. Like so many of his rivals, he could also double as a lock when required. Wills was a 1967 All Black in Britain and France, but is one of the fading breed of specialist, light-weight flankers. Kirkpatrick, an elder brother of lan Kirkpatrick, had an All Black trial as early as 1963. Now 28, he stands 6ft 4 Jin, but at 14st 121 b gives a stone and more to other candidates. B. E. McLeod’s, withdrawal because of injury is a disappointment but it has the compensation of giving G. J. Bacon his chance against the veteran, F. J. Colthurst in the main match. Colthurst has been on the fringe of selection for years and now, on a tour where the demands are for physical hardness, he appears at 31 about to become an All Black. At 15st, he is one of the biggest and strongest hookers in Rugby. But in a direct confrontation today with Bacon, his greatest rival as the secondstring tour hooker, Colthurst will need to be at his best. Bacon is an exceptionally swift striker.