OF RUGBY TRIALS

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32303, 22 May 1970, Page 15

OF RUGBY TRIALS

If the All Black trials i have been kind to G. D. Batty, they have been cruel to many other hopefuls.

K. R. Carrington, the 19-year-old left-wing who was the toast of Auckland after a brilliant representative debut earlier this month, must by now be a bewildered young man.

It was his misfortune to play in a shoddy North Island trial in which the wings were shamefully neglected. He received the ball four times in the game: on two occasions he was tackled before he had a chance to accelerate, he kicked once, and scored a simple try after being put in the clear 10 yards from the line. In the same category is G. R. Skudder (Waikato), a surprise choice for the rightwing in the second test against Wales last season. Apart from handling the ball once in the trial, when he

entered the back-line from the blind-side wing, he did not have a run. From being one of New Zealand’s Rugby elect last year, he is now deemed to be unworthy of a place in the final trial group of 68 players. Skudder and Carrington deserved another trial, alongside competent inside backs. Instead, they have been banished, and M. G. Duncan (Hawke’s Bay) and P. J. Strange (King Country)— neither of whom played at Palmerston N orth have been given a chance. The choice of players from outside the original group of trialists and the positional switches of other candidates bears Hie imprint of the convener of the national selection panel, Mr I. M. H. Vodanovich. The South Island teams were chosen by a panel under the chairmanship of Mr M. L. George; Mr P. T. Walsh was the guiding hand in the North Island selections. Now, Mr Vodanovich has joined the group and has forced a drastic reshuffle of players. The placing of men such as A. E. Hopkinson, A. J. Kreft and F. J. Colthurst in the first trial indicated that it is uo longer “the kiss of death”

to be chosen for the early game. But it is, nevertheless, a stern reminder that tour candidates such as these must play to the best of their ability to gain selection. However, the choice of I. :

N. Stevens (Wellington) for the early game is indefensible. He played a game notable only for its mediocrity at Palmerston North, and his method of passing straight for the hip of his first fiveeighths kept his back-line anchored throughout the match.

L. J. Davis, the Canterbury half-back, could feel chagrined at not getting Stevens’s place, and L. R. Dickson and B. F. Elder would also have been ahead of the Wellington player on their form this season.