LIONS SHOULD HAVE EIGHTH WIN TODAY

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32634, 16 June 1971, Page 30

LIONS SHOULD HAVE EIGHTH WIN TODAY

(From J. K. BROOKS)

GREYMOUTH. The winning sequence of the British Lions should be extended to eight matches at Rugby Park, Greymouth, today, but the men of the West Coast-Buller Combined team are determined that the game should not develop into light relief for the tourists between the Otago and Canterbury fixtures.

To achieve this aim, the Combined forwards must hunt the loose ball relentlessly and the backs will have to tackle in the torpedo style which West Coast displayed against Canterbury earlier this season.

But the Combined side’s task appears to. be much harder than it was at first sight G. L. Brown, who has ear and sinus trouble, withdrew from the Lions team yesterday, and the reshuffled pack has a greater look of competence about it than the orginal selection. Front row M. G. Roberts has been switched from prop to his customary place at lock, J. McLaughlan has been moved from hooker to prop and J. V. Pullin is restored to the side as hooker. This will be Pullin’s fifth match on end, but he is a sturdy farmer on whose shoulders the heavy burden of responsibility should sit lightly, and he will be heartened by the reminder that A J. Van der Merwe, of the 1956 Springboks, played 10 games in succession in New Zealand while the side’s second string hooker, M. S. Hanekom, was injured.

Another defection from the Lions team is the right wing, J. S. Spencer, who has strained a hamstring. His fellow English three-quarter, D. J. Duckham, will take his place and will thus make his fourth appearance in as many matches.

Two of the chief points of interest for the Lions will be contained in the perform-

ances of A J. Lewis, at flyhalf, and P. J. Dixon, on the side of the scrum. Lewis has been out of action since the Waikato match, and he will be trying to pick up the threads while endeavouring to establish himself as a dependable substitute for B. John.

Lewis, C W. W. Rea and S. J. Dawes form a strongrunning trio behind the Lions’ scrum and they will sorely test the Combined team’s de-

fence, particularly now that F. N. Jack’s services have been lost.

Most of the conjecture about the composition of the Lions team for the first test is centred on the side-row positions and Dixon, a clever attacking forward, has been switched from No. 8 to advance his claims.

No side yet has got the better of the Lions in the lineouts, and with W. D. Thomas, Roberts and Dixon playing to-

day it appears that this supremacy will be undisturbed. The coach of the Combined side, Mr T. P. Bird, of Greymouth, recognises this and has pinned his faith in his forwards reaching the loose ball quickly and rucking purposefully. “I know this is a tough task, for second-phase possession is the hardest to obtain,” he said. “But our forwards average about 14 stone and have been picked for their mobility. Our backs have got to tackle really well, and I hope they make a better job than Wellington of marking the Lions. We want to copy Otago.” No misgiving Mr Bird, who was a No. 8 for the West Coast between 1952 and 1958, has no misgivings about the eight West Coast and seven Buller players linking effectively today.

The front row, of B. Hearsay, J. R. Tacon and D. G. Bryce, formerly played together for West Coast, the loose forwards, J. W. Halsall, D. M. Stevenson and A. Fussell, are comrades in the Buller pack, and, behind the scrum, M. McQuillan, K. J. Beams and B. N. Stewart have formed a close understanding in their games for the Greymouth Marist Club. Beams, whose talents have been ignored outside his own union, is a shrewd and capable first five-eighths who will direct the Combined team’s attack ably. He played for West Coast-Buller against the 1966 Lions.

The Lions yet have to have a wet-weather match on the tour, and their good fortune might continue today, for the rain eased off yesterday morning and the forecast is for clearing weather. The ground at Rugby Park has not been used on wet days, so the surface has not been cut up. The teams are:— British HIM,—R. Hiller. Duckham, Dawes (captain), Rea. A. G. Biggar, Lewis, R. Hopkins, D. L. QulnneU, Dixon, Thomas, Roberts, J. Taylor, J. S. Lynch, Pullin, McLaughlan. West W. Hart, C. Skates, B. L. Halsall, R. Alexander, Stewart, Beams, McQuillan. J. W. Halsall (captain), Stevenson, R. Forsyth, D. Evans, Fussell, Hearsey, Tacon, Bryce.