Opportunist try vital in Wellington’s league win

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 32976, 24 July 1972, Page 5

Opportunist try vital in Wellington’s league win

(By

J. O. COFFEY)

A« opportunist try by the former Kiwi half. E. M. Carson, checked Canterbury’s chances of an outright success in the national Rothmans Rugby league tournament and provided Wellington with a 23-19 victory at the Show Grounds on Saturday.

Five minutes before full-time Carson led lus team deep into Canterbury’s territory and used a well-judged up-and-under kick on the fourth tackle. The defending full-back, M. W. J. O’Donnell, was unsighted and spilled the ball, enabling Carson to follow through, gather possession and touch down unopposed.

This was the climax to a quite enthralling match that produced 10 tries, much entertaining football and regular changes of fortune as each side held the lead on three occasions. After trailing by seven points, Canterbury closed the gap to 11-12 at the interval and two tries by the wing, M. P. Brereton, during the second half all but clinched two competition points for the home XIII.

However, it was Carson who had the final say and Wellington has now drawn level with Auckland — which beat Waikato earlier this month — in the round-robin series.

Perhaps a draw would have been the most satisfying result, for there was little between the two teams. Wellington prospered from the accuracy of its goal-kicker, A. Hoskins, and the 26-14 scrum dominance that C. E. O’Neil achieved over A. F. Clarke and J. H. Fisher. In the opening minutes Clarke held a 6-3 advantage in the hooking duel and Canterbury led 5-0, but O’Neil did not concede any of the other 10 scrums in the spell and was still in control when Fisher switched from prop 10 minutes after the resumption.

While Hoskins finished with an analysis of four goals from six attempts, O’Donnell kicked only the first of his six opportunities in the tricky wind conditions. W. R. Green then assumed the responsibility and scored from one of his two kicks. Tries for Wellington were contributed by Carson, R. H. Paul, A. P. Whittaker, P. C. Orchard, and O’Neil. Brereton (two), Green, S. Rolleston and W. Wright replied for Canterbury, the goal-kicking representing the difference in the totals. CLASH OF WINGS

Particular interest was taken in the clash between the test wings, Orchard and Brereton. The Canterbury representative gained a moral points decision when he bluffed the Wellington coverdefenders, R. Tupaea and M. Tupaea, to cross for his second try 15 minutes before the end. There were many frustrating moments when the forwards and inside backs failed to pass quickly enough to allow Orchard and Brereton

sufficient room to gain momentum. An outstanding break by the centre, N. J. Tupaea, gave Orchard a clear run to the try-line, while Brereton opened his account after a neat reverse pass by O’Donnell.

These efforts were sufficient to illustrate the strength and judicious positioning that has made Brereton and Orchard so effective at international level.

Wellington’s forwards were very proficient at making ground from the rucks, timing their movements to perfection as their Canterbury rivals tended to hang back instead of moving up on defence.

O’Neil slipped easily into his familiar distributing role at dummy-half, with Paul, R. Farrell, M. Rau’iri and the Tupaea cousins taking the ball at pace and supporting each other when partially tackled. On too many occasions the Canterbury players were able only to hinder rather than completely smother attacks.

When Canterbury directed possession to its three-quarters it threatened to shatter a Wellington defence that was already frail. All five Canterbury tries were the product of sending the ball along the back-line and out-flank-ing the Wellington cover. But, generally, Canterbury placed most of its attention towards attempting to progress up the centre of the field and this single-mindedness played into the hands of its opponents. The

halves, G. R. Cooksley and R. Taylor, were also guilty of seeking to breach the Wellington line close to the scrum when it would have been far more beneficial to pass. WtellingtoiVs three-quarters deserved praise for their ability to penetrate. Orchard and Whittaker—a brother of the Kiwi full-back, J. A. Whittaker—deserved their try each, while the centres, M. D. Edmonds (by using his weight) and N. Tupaea (depending more on deception), kept their markers, Wright and Rolleston, busy. The experienced Carson probed for any weakness in Canterbury’s line-up and his consistent half-back partner, Hoskins, was also extremely alert and took home a pair of boots donated by M. O’Brien and Company by winning the '‘player of the match” award. BEST BACK Brereton was once again the best of the Canterbury backs,

but it was unfortunate that Wright should be forced to retire at half-time after being dazed in a hard tackle. His absence caused a disruption in the formation, with P. R. Blackier taking over at scrum-half and Cooksley and Taylor moving to stand-off and centre, respectively. In scoring his try, Wright sprinted inside Whittaker and stepped around the full-back. S. McCullough. This signalled the start of a period of thrustful manoeuvres by Canterbury and it was not long before Rolleston had brought the team to within one point of the lead.

R. S. Walker made good use of the wind when kicking for the touch-lines and he and A. W. Thompson were the Canterbury forwards who appeared mostly likely to avoid the Wellington defenders around the rucks. J. Greengrass had one long run, but N. P. Beri, Fisher, and Clarke were required to consolidate in the tight exchanges. However, the combined influence of O’Neil’s hooking, Hoskins’s kicking and Carson’s leadership and all-round excellence—he made the vital final passes when Whittaker and O’Neil scored, in addition to his own match-winning try—were too much for Canterbury to overcome.