Chance for Roberts

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32661, 17 July 1971, Page 42

Chance for Roberts

/Prom EARLE READ. N.Z.P.A. staff correspondent) NAPIER. M. Roberts, the darkhaired Welsh lock, aged 25, has suddenly become a figure of some interest in the I joes team. So far on tour he has had little more than the scraps. Today,, against Hawke’s Bay in Napier he has been selected for the first time for a Saturday game. This comes after a thorough drilling in scrummaging technique given to him during the week. It suggests that, suddenly, the Lions relectors want to see his potential as a test front-ranker. If Roberts were to please them it certainly would be a rags-to-riches story. For, until today, the closest he had come to appearing in the top 15 was when he had a brief flutter against Taranaki as a replacement for G. Evans. If he were to make the third test team and nothing seemed more remote until after the second test —he would go in at the expense of the fiery Irish publican, S. Lynch. Roberts is not among the most enthusiastic trainers, and until he was named for the Wairarapa-Bush game after the test it seemed he was doomed to a fairly obscure existence. He would markedly increase the Lions ball supply at the front of the line-out. He came to New Zealand as a lock, and was pushed into the front row when the lock Evans was named as replacement for the prop Carmichael. Roberts stands 6ft 4lin and is a specialist jumper.

M. Roberts, the darkhaired Welsh lock, aged 25, has suddenly become a figure of some interest in the I Jons team. So far on tour he has had little more than the scraps. Today, against Hawke’s Bay in Napier he has been selected for the first time for a Saturday game. This comes after