Great Strength In Waikato XV

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32386, 27 August 1970, Page 13

Great Strength In Waikato XV

•‘The Press’* Special Service AUCKLAND. Should Waikato play to the limit of its capabilities—at best a strong, mobile forward pack, nimble three-quarters and the menacing goalkicking boot of the fullback, N. A. M. Pickrang —it will beat Canterbury in the Ranfurly Shield match at Lancaster Park on Saturday. Whether Waikato can rise to inspired heights, such as Canterbury did against Hawke's Bay last September, is another question. Early in the season, Waikato demolished Taranaki and

Auckland with such powerful, < confident, 15-man Rugby that 1 no provincial side in New i Zealand would have been safe against it 1 This was the “new look" ; Waikato, a spirit engendered ’ by the new coaches, Messrs - A W. Edwards and D. R. J. ; McKenzie, who drifted away 1 from recent Waikato practice i and put their faith in mobile loose forwards and keen three- , quarters. , Since then Waikato has , beaten Counties, Thames Vai- , ley, King Country, Bay of Plenty and Hawke’s Bay, and suffered its only loss, to New ] South Wales, because the i Waratahs produced attacking , back play of international i quality. ; Few shield challengers of j recent years would have had | such apparently ideal pre- ;

challenge form. Yet, within the last six weeks or so, elements of doubt have crept in. The Countie? side was beaten by a last-minute penalty goal. Even modest Thames Valley had Waikato worried for much of the game and the three subsequent victories were gained with only a handful of points to spare. Waikato has been troubled both by injuries to key players and by the need to curb its early-season ideas of expansive, adventurous back play. Pickrang, with his goalkicking, and I. K. Begbie, the Waikato loose forward, might well be the key men in the Waikato challenge. Early this year Begbie, a chunky flanker, was in wonderful form on attack or defence. Since then he has been injured, but if he is back at his best form he could offset Canterbury’s apparent advantage in forward mobility. Pickrang is a solid young man who appears rather cumbersome. Appearances can be deceptive, for he is a strong runner and if he starts off hitting his place-kicks confidently, Canterbury should beware conceding penalties within its own half. With a strong front row in B. A. Forrest, G. W. J. Wright and J. L. Reeves, and with abundant power in M. R. P. Hull, J. J. Gillett and P. G. Anderson, Waikato might well take control in a slogging match up the side-lines. Whether it can match the Canterbury forwards in a free-flowing game is another matter, and will depend a lot on Begbie’s form. H. T. Schuster, D. Merito and B. A. Stephens represent a solid Waikato midfield. None would rival K. J. Gimblett for sharpness of speed or thrust, but if there should be slow passing or slow running by the Canterbury mid-

field backs, Merito and Stephens will be very dangerous counter-attackers. Happily for Waikato, G. R. Skudder, the former All Black wing, has returned to his best form—which is very good indeed. As Canterbury spectators will remember, W. M. Birtwistle is the supreme opportunist, often more dangerous 85 yards rather than five yards from the opposing line. Past shield history has shown that the most menacing challengers sometimes become the easiest victims. If Waikato muddle about as they have done recently, history will repeat itself. Otherwise Canterbury should face a very worrying afternoon.

Rugby Homlnus.—Two South Canterbury Rugby players, T. N. Uster, who is with the Al) Blacks in South Africa, and the present captain of the South Canterbury side, R. C. Vercoe, have been nominated for the South Canterbury "Sportsman of the Year” award. Vercoe this season played his hundredth match for South Canterbury.

Three members of the New Zealand team to compete at the world chess championships in West Germany next month took on all-comers in five-minute games yesterday. They were playing at the Montreal Street university book shop of Whitcombe and Tombs, Ltd. Although no-one took count of the score, most of their opponents were outclassed. At one stage during the morning two of the team, G. Kerr and B. Anderson, sharpened their technique on one another but again the tally of wins was not kept.

There were plenty of observers for most of the day and the third member of the team playing yesterday, A. S. Hollander, even took time to explain some finer points to some of the many children who attended. Members of the team will play at the shop again today and tomorrow, and on Friday evening they will play at the firm’s Cashel Street shop. It is planned that*the New Zealand grand .master, O. Sarapu, will attend some of the time. The photograph shows Kerr (left) playing Bernard Carpenter.