Leading four Rugby teams maintain places

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33520, 29 April 1974, Page 16

Leading four Rugby teams maintain places

Although only three of the 15 rounds have been played, the Christchurch senior inter-club Rugby competition for the Harewood trophy seems certain to become a four-cornered contest.

And the contestants are likely to be the top four teams of l‘>73 l.iimood, Christchurch. Suburbs, and Universitx A.

On Saturday, in bitterly cold weather, Linwood and Suburbs each sained their third sue-

cessive win to join Christchurch at the top of the points table. University A scored five tries in beating New Brighton, and is only half a point behind the j leaders.

■ Saturday’s games were I notable for the three tries scored by the Linwood and | Canterbury loose forward, IJ. K. Phillips, and for the 19 ;points scared by the Marist ;and Canterbury first- fiveeighths, B. N. Stewart. Linwood and Marist both won their matches handsomely, and Suburbs maintained its three-tries-a-match average in beating a disappointing Old Boys XV. Albion, which shares fourth place with University A, was fortunate to hold off MerivalePapanui by a point after losing the forward struggle. Shirley gained its first trophy point, at Sydenham’s expense.

Results were: University A 25, New Brighton 4. Linwood 26, Lincoln College 8. Shirley 13, Sydenham 9. Albion 8, MerivalePapanui 7. Marist 23, Burnside 6. Suburbs 12, Old Boys 0. Points are:

Pace and purpose

There was too much pace and purpose about Linwood's play for Lincoln College, and the ratio of six tries to two was a proper measure of the run of play.

The game was played on a good surface at Lancaster Park south, but the bleak weather and boisterous wind drove o(T all but the most enthusiastic spectators, though there were still some survivors at the end.

Linwood often looked very impressive. with strong driving by the forwards, swift passing and clever switches of direction among the backs. Just as often, mistakes were made, but errors were inevitable on such a day. P. R. Jellyman, usually a proficient goal-kicker, kicked two goals in seven attempts, the last from a poster, and Lincoln College failed with its two attempts.

Whatever Lincoln College's shortcomings, it was not lack of effort. Even near the end, there was blanket covering if the ball was not taken quickly to the flanks, and D. McGuigan once found himself at the end of a Linwood attacking line with about a dozen defenders in front of him.

Linwood’s backs had many opportunities, through the devoted efforts of the forwards. The trio, of tries to Phillips was no instance of greatness being thrust upon him. He seldom seemed more than a few paces from the ball. R. Thomas, tall and strong, was extremely effective in the line-outs.

The college hacks seldom looked likely to make effective use of the ball, but A. Jefferd, at second five-eighths, ran strongly two or three times, and on the right wing R. Davis looked a competent player in everything he did. In a pack which tried desperately hard but. which often had to yield ground, R Polson'stood out for strong defence and attacking ability. Although there was 'never any doubt about the outcome, it was an entertaining game. There were only a dozen penalties and a solitary exchange of punches to mar it. Mediocre match Suburbs scored two tries in the first five minutes and one in the last minute to beat High School Old Boys in the first game this year on Lancaster Park oval. The play between these scoring feats is best forgotten. Neither side performed adequately, and although the blt-ln,-iv cold wind affected the standard of play, members of ii teams committed avoidable blunders. The Suburbs forwards stuck devotedly to the task of winning the ball'. P. A. Cron achieving good deeds in the heart of the maul and S. E. Cron deploying

[himself usefully around the fringes. Old Bovs, too. won their share of possession, D. B. Smith show ■ng good form as a No. 2 lineout jumper. When the niood took them, the Old Boys' backs moved the ball erist.ly throug ’ the chain, but Suburbs' covedefence was well positioned, and (1. Stone effected some nimble clearances Most of the moves, however, were muffed through a combina tion of void and carelessness. There was also far too mill'll kicking, and B. A. McPhail. 'be Old Boys' second five-eighths, was one of the chief offenders. The match became a boring succession of straggling advances and retreats. Suburbs made far better use of the wind than Old Boys; J Fleming placed his kicks we.l and J. G. Matthews, the Old Bovs’ full-back, was often in trouble through his uncertain fielding. And in the first hail. Matthews and R. Stanburv between them missed four kicks at goal. Two players who rose abote the genera mediocrity were S I. Purdon, a most constructive loose forward for Old Boys, and N. Winsloe. Suburbs' strongrunning right wing, who made the most, of his fleeting chances. Big scorer Any chance Burnside had of beating Marist was lost when Burnside, mid-way through the second spell, elected to go for a try from a penalty awarded just out from its opponent's posts A kick at goal would almost certainly have been successful, and this would have made the score 11-9 to Marist. As it was, Burnside failed to score again, and B. N. Stewart took Marist comfortably dear with three penalty goals, which gave him 19 points for the match. Although the game was full of handling and passing errors, particularly by the Burnside backs, who were, in effect, their own worst enemies, it was played at a fairly solid din, and there were many abrupt switches from one end of the field to the other. However. Marist was a deserving winner. Its forwards worked better as a unit and they were most efficient in getting across

behind their backs and preventing Burnside from capitalising when the ball was on the ground

V. E. Stewart, in spite of the fact that he had some very tall men opposing him. made some superb takes in the line-outs, and P. O'Connor, in the tight, and the lively flanker. K. Cowan, were other Marist forwards who did much work. The Burnside forwards, led by G. Church and P. Smart, made some fine drives, especially in the second spell when they were playing into the wind, but seldom were able to get the ball to their backs auickly enough to test Marist’s disorganised defences.

Burnside was well served by its inside backs. D. Selby and G. Gemmill, but those further out were not so assured. The weaknesses were underlined whenever the ball reached the Marist three-quarters, particularly the right wing. G. Hooper, who combined speed and agility In most, attractive runs. In one. he covered more than 50 yards, and although he marred the effort a little bv straying away from his supporting backs. Stewart scored a try as a direct result. Paulin shines An energetic performance by W. J. Paulin (Shirley) was the highlight of his side's win against Sydenham amid the dampness and gloom of Lancaster Park south. Paulin played the first half in his customary position of fullback, and then moved into halfback after S. Scott was injured early in the second spell. From this point. Paulin always seemed to be in the centre of the action. As well as throwing out a long, accurate pass, he initiated several thrusts from broken play and covered ably. Shirley would have been struggling to win without him. The match was full of huff and puff, but it was not the sort to blow down houses. Shirley was hindered by its five-eighths, whose motto appeared to be. “what we have, we hold.” This was a great pity, for G. S. Anderson was full of dash and nenetration in two runs from centre. Sydenham was reasonably enterprising, but appeared to be a little disorganised at vital moments. On one occasion, when a special move was to be tried, a player had to be called into position—and this alerted the defence.

M Pepper. Sydenham - . xp< ■■>. eneed half-back, cleared tie- ball well and G strong runs. The most industrious forward was V Jones, a Shirley flanker who v.,s on the ball throughout the match Brighton Mill* It took University A a long time to score the points to qo with the superiority it had over New Brighton in a rather colourless curtain-raiser at Rugby Park. University held marked adv; ntages both in the forwards and the hacks; in the forwards it was yards faster than the cumbersome \i \‘. Br jhton pack, . d " backs it was again speed, backed up bv straighter running, which had New Brighton in difficulties. However, University ruined many scoring chances bv its own mistakes. By far the best movement of the match was a try after 10 minutes in the second spell by the right wing, D. Mathews. The fullback. J. Phillips, came into the line and slick passing and running gave Mathews a clear run in Tliis try doubled University’s half-time lead of 4-0, but from then it piled on the points and New Brighton managed to break out of its own half only two or three times in the second half For University, the replacement first five-eighths, N Mackie, gave a proficient display, and in the forwards J. E. Black took a number of tightheads, and. with G. Brown and C Donald, worked constructively in the tight. The loose forward. R. C. Scott, came to light with some sharp breaks towards the end. The New Brighton forwards lacked a sense of purpose; the only exception being the lightweight flanker. B. Gibson In getting hold of the loose ball and doing something worth while with it he put one or two of his bigger colleagues to shame. Albion slump* Merivale-Papanul was somewhat unlucky in losing to a disappointing Albion side, which produced little of the form it displayed against University A the previous week. Albion played into the wind in the first half, and although it was only four points ahead at the change-over, it appeared to be taking control of the game when O. Broomhall scored a try with the second half only smin old.

However, this was the signal for a vigorous and sustained effort by the Merivale-Papamii fon I irds; for the next JOmin they dominated the Albion park But the Merivale backs appeared to be embarrassed by the plentiful supply of ball. Much hardwon, second-phase posses ion

was frittered away through laboured passing and aimle.-s kicking, particularly by the halfback, M. Tangiarere. An exception was the Games athlete, M. Mene, on the left

wing. He was an aggressive attacker and his flair for the unorthodox was always apparent Near the end he sent a huge grid-iron pass across the field, unfortunately, it was about 20yd forward.

P. Thompson (MerivalePapanui) strove hard at lock, and the hooker. P. Rangihaeata. was rewarded for a sustained effort with a good try.

Although their pack was out played, the Albion backs man aged to show glimpses of their ability. T. Caidweil was an accomplished first five-eighths, and Broomhall was a clever wing, but was starved of opportunities.

P IV I. D F A Pts Chch 3 0 0 83 •12 Linw. 3 0 0 62 17 3 Subs 3 3 0 0 40 ■ i 3 Univ. A .. 3 2 0 1 50 20 2 J. Albion 3 2 0 1 31 17 9 Marist 3 •) 1 0 39 26 9 New Bri. 3 T 0 23 1 Shir 2 i 1 0 22 ‘>7 I Belf. 3 i ■’ 0 21 29 1 Univ. B 9 i 1 0 19 22 I Burn. 2 i 1 0 16 23 1 Line. Coll. 3 0 3 0 17 61 0 Svd. 3 0 3 0 15 53 0 II.S.OB. .. 3 0 3 0 10 23 0 Jleri-Pap. .. 3 0 3 0 7 0