Mixed day for Wyllie

Press, Volume CXIII, Issue 33263, 28 June 1973, Page 36

Mixed day for Wyllie

(By

J. K. BROOKS)

A. J. Wyllie was both hero and anti-hero when the North Canterbury Rugby team beat Canterbury B. 10-6 at the Rangiora Show Ground yesterday.

The All Black No. 8 scored both his team’s tries in grand style but marred his performance by an action which resulted in an opposing looseforward, R. I. K. Hart, being I carried from the field with bruised ribs. He was treated at Rangiora Hospital before rejoining the team. The incident, which occurred during a line-out, started a peculiar chain of events. The referee (Mr W. Eaglesome) awarded a penalty to Canterbury B, and then called Wyllie to his side. After talking to him, he patted him on the shoulder.

P. R. Jellyman, the Canterbury B captain, missed the kick at goal, but Mr Eaglesome penalised a North Canterbury forward for raising his arms during Jellyman’s run-up. This time the visiting captain kicked a goal to give his side a 6-4 lead with 15 minutes play remaining. But eight minutes from the end Wyllie scored a pushover try from a scrum on the Canterbury B goal-line to settle the issue.

! The Canterbury B team did

exceptionally well to lose by only four points, because the robust North Canterbury forwards dominated the game. They won 75 per cent of total possession, leaving only a few crumbs for Canterbury B in the line-outs and rucks. B. A. Thompson and H. H. Macdonald were the leading figures in this remarkably efficient forward effort. The North Canterbury pack was at its best in the rucks, holding its rival in a vice-like grip and squeezing the ball back to R. I. Grant, the half-back. But once the ball was cleared, North Canterbury’s problems started. Grant made several handling errors and twice lost his footing. R. Taylor, the first five-eighths, kicked too often and too far, and W. J. Whelan, outside him, seemed unable to throw a good pass. SOLO RUNS So North Canterbury’s back movements consisted mainly of solo runs by the solid Whelan and the sturdy Grant. Both were hard to pull down. Canterbury B’s defence was brittle. Grant and Whe-

lan were given too much latitude, and it usually required two or three men to halt their progress. When Wyllie scored his first try, he ran through half the team. But when he tried to score again near the end of the match, I. G. Taylor, the replacement left wing, tipped him over simplv by going in low for the tackle. Wyllie made several spectacular runs after positioning himself shrewdly to take advantage of Canterbury B kicks. Macdonald and Thompson both spared a little time from their labours in the tight to make strong bursts, and B. Higginson made a pleasing return to sub-union Rugby as Macdonald’s partner at "lock. The Canterbury B forwards! struggled all afternoon with-1 out achieving much, although J. S. Mitchell impressed as an improving lock. W. Dickson and K. Jennings played pluckily behind a beaten pack, but a-lack of pace in midfield and some indecision when a break had been made spoilt Canterbury B’s few chances. And when Taylor seemed certain to score after a good run, J. Stubbs, a prop, popped up unexpectedly in the corner to make the saving tackle. “GOOD SPORTS” There was a noisy outburst from the crowd when Mr Eaglesome awarded a penalty to North Canterbury after Macdonald had obstructed a Canterbury B player in his eagerness to position himself under a high ball. N. J. Dykes, however, missed the kick at goal, and this prompted one spectator to observe, loudly, that the North Canterbury men were “good sports.” Scorers:

For North Canterbury: Wyllie two tries; Dykes one conversion.

For Canterbury B: Jellyman two penalty.goals.