Penrose poised to join select group

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32703, 4 September 1971, Page 14

Penrose poised to join select group

The Canterbury Rugby captain, L H. Penrose, will soon Join the select group of men who have made 100 first-class appearances for the province. Penrose’s game against Nelson-Bays today will be his ninety-ninth for Canterbury. He will reach his century in the match against West Coast next Tuesday or, if he is rested for that fixture, against Otago on September 18. The team’s vice-captain, L. J. Davis, will also reach this milestone if he plays in all the remaining representative games this season. He has made. 96 appearances for Canterbury. Seven men have played 100 matches or more for the province, and the list is headed by the remarkable W. F. McCormick, who will take his tally to 161 today. McCormick broke the previous record of appearances, 139 by D. Young, two years ago.

The celebrated All Black forward, B. J. Fanning, a man renowned for his toughness, was the first player to make 50 appearances for Canterbury. He played 56 times for the province between 1895 and 1904. His record was bettered by the nimble five-eighths, G. D. Gray, who played 57 times between 1900 and 1914, and this mark stood until J. E. Manchester reached 58 games in the 19305. The long-serving flanker, D. H. Herman—the man who captained Canterbury in its 1950 Ranfurly Shield success—played 88 games and then another captain, P. B. Vincent, became the first player to reach a century of appearances. Vincent retired at the end of the 1956 season with 102 appearances to his credit, but one of his fellow backs, R. M. Smith, continued for another four years to set a new record of 137 games. This was the mark bettered by Young.

Besides McCormick, Young, Smith and Vincent, the other players who have reached a century of appearances for Canterbury are B. A. Watt (117), J. M. Le Lievre (107) and J. N. Creighton (100). R. H. Duff retired in 1957 only one match short of this total. Others with an impressive number of games for Canterbury are: Penrose 98, Davis 96, A. E. Hopkinson 94, S. K. Henderson 91, Herman 88, S. F. Hill 88, D. A. Arnold 87, A. E. G. Elsom 85, A. J. Wyllle 84, N. G. Cornelius 83, E. Hem 82. K. C. Stuart 78, D. J. Graham 78, J. G. Bond 76, N. Teague 74, R. C. Stuart 73, W. D. Cottrell 68, C. It Hockley 66, A. R. Coullng 64, R. G. Cochrane 64, J. F. Bums 63, K. J. Tanner 62, W. M. Birtwistle 60, M. F. Whltta 60. Manchester 58, Gray 57, C. A. McDonald 57, Fanning 56, G. N. Dalzell 56, M. J. Dixon 52, P. JBums 50, M. R. Perkins 50.