A. E. Matheson's rapid rise to fame

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32430, 17 October 1970, Page 9

A. E. Matheson's rapid rise to fame

(By

K. J. McMENAMIN)

'THE 1970 Rugby season is one the University A and Canterbury loose forward, A. E. Matheson, should remember for a long time. At the start of the winter he was regarded as little more than a useful club player, yet by the end of it he had proved himself not only worthy of a permanent place on the side of the Canterbury scrum, but also to the extent of being preferred ahead of the 1970 All Black, A. J. Wyllie. Just how late Matheson developed as a footballer is shown by the fact that although he began Rugby at an early age he did not succeed in gaining a place in the St Bede’s first XV, even though his period at the college included a year in the upper sixth form. Throughout his schooldays, Matheson was a front row prop, and he says it was perhaps his lack of size which prevented him from making a mark on the St Bede’s playing fields. Matheson left St Bede’s in 1963 and went to Lincoln College, where, still as a prop, he played in the under-20 side. The following year he entered Christchurch Teachers’ College and played Rugby for the University dub. That season he again played in the under-20 grade and the following winter moved up to senior reserve. By now he had filled out sufficiently to hold his own in the front row, but the game had lost much of its appeal for him and he decided to take a spell. The retirement lasted two years and during this period Matheson hardly saw a game of Rugby, When he decided to play again last year he could not have predicted, even in his wildest dreams, the rosiness of his Rugby future. Matheson found himself again in the front row when trials were held to select the University senior sides, and the turning point in his career came when he caught the eye of the A team’s selector-coach, Mr G R. Hockley. Mr Hockley recalled this week that it was the positive approach Matheson had to his play, plus his vigour and mobility, which influenced him to bring into the A squad a player about whom he knew very little. For the first four games of the season Matheson was a reserve, but for the fifth —and important fixture against New Brighton—one of the established side-row

forwards was injured and Mr Hockley took the risk of giving Matheson his first senior game in a position which was foreign to him. University A was beaten that day, but Matheson had an outstanding game and in the new role of flanker he

commanded a permanent place in the team for the remainder of the season. Matheson’s next major break came when his performance for Canterbury University against Otago University was noticed by a New Zealand universities’ selector. This effort propelled him into the South team for the inter-island universities’ match, and another fine game carried him into the New Zealand universities’ team which toured Japan last March. It was on this tour that Matheson made giant strides as a loose forward, and although he returned to New Zealand as one of the side’s outstanding players, he was still relatively unknown to the Canterbury Rugby public. His inclusion in the Canterbury representative squad last June reflected the quality of his club play, but at this stage it was generally felt that C. J. Read was the “find” who would be the caretaker flanker until Wyllie returned from South Africa. There was some surprise

when Matheson was preferred ahead of Read as S. E. Cron’s side row partner for the first Ranfurly Shield challenge by South Canterbury, but on Canterbury’s North Island tour in August Matheson clearly showed that he was the man for the hard matches which lay ahead. As the shield challengers came and left with thoughts of what might have been, Matheson’s play went from strength to strength, and

even when Canterbury had an off-day his stature was never harmed. In the opinions of many judges his consistency at this time should have won him a place in the South Island team. Such was the importance of Matheson’s role in Canterbury's playing pattern that when Wyllie did return it was Cron, an All Black trialist and South Island representative this year, who was asked to stand down. For the final challenge by Wellington, Cron was recalled, but still Matheson remained. Wyllie could have been excused for wondering just what manner of man was this Matheson, who, from being hardly known at .the start of the season, was now considered good enough to keep him. a current test player, on the sideline. Matheson, himself, has no simple answers to this question. He says his twoyear spell from Rugby did him tremendous good, for when he returned he was far keener and far more analytical in his approach.

He pays tribute to the assistance given him in learning the role of a loose forward by such people as R. T. de Cleene, the Manawatu loose forward who was on the Japanese tour, Mr Hockley, I. H. Penrose, the Canterbury captain, and Dr J. D. Stewart, the Canterbury forward selector-coach. This year Matheson played in 14 of Canterbury’s 17 matches and missed only one of the eight Ranfurly Shield defences. It was probably his dynamic running with die ball in hand which made him a favourite not only with the selectors, but also the Lancaster Park crowds. The manner in which he harried opposing inside backs and swooped upon the loose ball gave the impression that he was a forward of rare speed. However, he says he is not naturally fast and it is possibly the concentrated efforts he has made to put more spring into his leg action that makes him look swifter than he really is. For Matheson, who begins full-time teaching next year, the last eight months have been crammed full of Rugby triumphs, but, at 24, with even further improvement in his play anticipated, this year could be just one of the early chapters in a remarkable success story. Footnote. Any player wishing to emulate Matheson’s sudden entry into top Rugby may find it helpful to know that he began his rise to prominence at about the same time he commenced growing the moustache and beard which now make him so easy to distinguish on the field.