ALL BLACKS SELECTION SHOCK Selectors discard sixteen and demote captain

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33512, 18 April 1974, Page 20

ALL BLACKS SELECTION SHOCK Selectors discard sixteen and demote captain

(From J. K. BROOKS)

WELLINGTON.

The French nuclear tests at Mururoa Atoll were merely dull thuds compared with the shattering effect produced by the announcement last evening of the All Black Rugby team to tour Australia in May and June.

In the biggest selection boil-over the game has known in the country, the national panel, Messrs J. J. Stewart, J. Gleeson, and E. A. Watson, dumped 16 All Blacks (11 of them internationals), demoted the 1972-73 captain, I. A. Kirkpatrick, to the ranks, and created 15 fresh New Zealand representatives.

Mr Gleeson was right when he said no sportswriter in the country would pick the side. He could confidently have included gurus and clairvoyants in the mystified group. The shock waves were still spreading from Athletic Park late last evening. With the announcement of the 25-strong team, S. M. Going was joined on Rugby’s scrap-heap by such celebrated players as A. J. Wyllie, A. R. Sutherland, S. C. Strahan, H. H. Macdonald and J. D. Matheson. Nine members of the; ill-fated side which lost to England in Auckland last! September were among those dropped. Provincial veterans | Among the new men called! to the colours were hardened veterans of the provincial scene in K. J. Tanner. A. J. Gardiner, R. J. Barber. J. E. Morgan, and A. R. Leslie. And Leslie, who is only vicecaptain of Wellington, wasi appointed captain Heads have certainly rolled j in New Zealand Rugby this year with the dropping of Mr' R. H. Duff and Going and the i demotion of Kirkpatrick. Pack clean-out The selectors effected a i wholesale clean-out among the country’s top forwards,' leaving only four with test match experience to tussle with the Wallabies. But they retained the nucleus of the 1972-73 back-line and added five new men, all of whom had good trial performances. Only three players from the early game won selection. Thev were O. D. Bruce, the capable Canterbury man who was sharp and decisive in all he did: B. M. Gemmell, the national Juniors’ captain and half-back, and J. S. McLachlan, a small but determined wing. Strong tackler The other new backs are G. N. Kane, a strong-running centre and one of the country’s best tacklers. D. J. Robertson, a first fiveeighths, who gained the reward which was denied him last season, and Morgan, a crusty second five-eighths from North Auckland. The backs should produce

I many exciting displays in I Australia, for a great collec- ! tion of talent has been assembled for the trans-Tas-•man trip. But it is difficult to follow the reasoning of the selectors in many of their forward choices. Mr Stew'art • said last evening that the s panel had chosen men who i would do the job of winning and controlling possession 'with competence in Australia. Panek indicted ' But the discarding of so many forwards in the same age group who have carried •out this task with no little Success in previous seasons iif a serious indictment of I past selection panels, of which ■ Mr Gleeson has been a member. There are, as a consequence, many lucky new All Blacks among the forwards. One of them. Barber, a Southland flanker who has played ini Christchurch, was overcome by emotion. “I just can’t believe it. I was on the field for only 20 minutes and I’m an All Black. It’s unbelievable," he said, red-eyed and shaking. He was so right Seasoned group The other new forwards from the well-seasoned group, Tanner, Gardiner, G. M. CroSsman and K. A. Eveleigh. 'seemed stunned by the news. But the two 24-vear-olds who> were promoted. J. A. Callesen j —the best line-out forward of the trials—and L. G. Knight—whose father was an All Black forward in 1925— beamed happily.

Six loose forwards Only two specialist locks were chosen, Callesen and P. J. Whiting, at 6ft 6in and 17st 81b, the biggest members of the party. Whiting did not play in the trials because of injury, but has received a medical clearance. Six loose forwards were chosen, none of whom has played more than a game or two at lock. But Knight, who is 6ft 3in and 15st 121 b, might well be tried tn this position on tour. Knight was only a reserve for the trials, but by a stroke of fortune he was called on to the field as a replacement

,Bmin before half-time. He (produced a convincing dis- ! play to clinch a place. | W. K. Bush outscrum- • maged his Canterbury collleague, Tanner, and earned his place through solid endeavour. But Lambert, considered the No. 1 prop, gave away many penalties in the line-out, and this might have counted against him. Biggest surprise However, another Manawatu forward, Eveleigh, was also penalised heavily for offside play, yet made the team. His selection was perhaps the most incredible of all, for the team already had one diminutive flanker, the industrious K. W. Stewart. Macdonald, who injured a calf muscle, and Matheson who broke his nose, both disappeared early in the first trial, and G. L. Coiling, who had an injured ankle, did not play at all. But Mr Stewart said no trialist had been ruled out of consideration because of injury’. Not spectacular Neither trial match produced a particularly pleasing display of Rugby. The earliness in the season and the lush grass of Athletic Park took their toll of the trialists’ stamina. One of the fastest dashes of the afternoon was produced by a schoolboy i streaker along an untenanted embankment. Scores:— Early trial.—Possibles, 20 (B. R. Ford (2) and L. J. Jaffray, tries; J. J. Gardiner, conversion and two penalty goals), beat Probables, 14 (McLachlan (2) and C. T. Jacob, tries; R. S. Cleland conversion). Main trial.—Possibles, 28 (Leslie, Knight and B. J. Robertson, tries; Karam two conversions and three penalty goals, Williams a penalty goal), beat Probables. 8 (T. G. Morrison and R. N. Lendrum, tries).

Israeli tennis.—Miss J. Connor (N.Z.) teamed with an Israeli. Miss J. Strauss, to beat the Australian sisters. Misses N. and D. Estbum 7-6, 7-6, in the women’s doubles final of the Israeli international spring tennis championships in Tel Aviv.