Linwood clear leader in senior rugby competition

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33538, 20 May 1974, Page 15

Linwood clear leader in senior rugby competition

Linwood edged a little further ahead in the Harewood Trophy senior Rugby competition on Saturday when both its closest rivals were beaten.

Linwood was far from impressive in beating the bottom side, Merivale-Papanui, but other leading teams are cutting each other down, taking some of the pressure off Linwood.

Christchurch broke its run ■ of losses with a win against iAlbion, but it was hardly jconclusive enough to suggest | that Christchurch will be the 'team to stop Linwood. Albion, in fact, gave a very fine display in its first appearance in a main match at Lancaster Park for a number of years. four minutes from the end, when the Christchurch full-back, R. G. Wilson, raced 30 yards to scqre ; under the posts, then two ■ minutes later the w’ing, B. Teen, from an overlap scored wide 1 out. Wilson converted both tries, [and, with four penalty goals, he [ had a match total of 20 points, j University A, which with • [Albion had trailed Linwood by [ | half a point, was unable to with- 1 stand a second-half recovery by Marist and went down. 14-22. The Marist captain, B. N. Stewart, in a brilliant game, contributed 14 points, and now has 63 for the season, three more than Wilson and P. R. Jellyman (Linwood). 1 The other results were pre- [ dictable, although the round was : notable for the number of games ; which were decided in the latter 1 stages. Six of the winning teams, Christchurch, Linwood, Marist. Suburbs, High School Old Boys, and Shirley scored the bulk of ' their points in the second spells. Results:— I Christchurch 24, Albion 9. ( Marist 22, University A 14. i

Linwood 29, Merivale-Papanui 9. Shirley 24, Burnside 6. Belfast 25, Lincoln College 0. Suburbs 28, University B 18. High School Old Boys 21, New Brighton 3. Points are:—

Twelve points in the last four minutes gave Christchurch a bigger win than it deserved against Albion. Although it trailed by three points for most of the game, Albion put up a brave showing, and many times in the second spell looked on the verge of taking the lead. It was a fast and lively game, both sides narrowly missing tries. Christchurch gained an early advantage when its full-back. R. G. Wilson, landed two penalty goals in the first eight minutes. The most surprising feature of the game was Albion’s back play. '

However, for Christchurch. Wilson, at full-back, was invariably in position to clear Albion’s tactical kicks, and the first fiveeighths, P. E. McEwan, continually sent Albion back with superbly judged punts, bouncing the ball out. Christchurch enjoyed a useful advantage in the line-outs, in which its jumpers, W. J. Risman and P. Coleman, controlled the ball they won better than did their rivals, M. Eagle and M. Clifford. There was little between the packs. Some of the rucking was first class, and there was no lack of spirit about the wav the forwards on both sides went after the loose ball. The outstanding player of the game was the Albion full back. A. Quested. His handling was exceptional, and when he ran with the ball Christchurch had good reason to look to its tack-! ling.

1 The centre. L. Wynard. in his first full senior game, was impressive with the ball in hand, and he did a good job in keeping the strong-running B. Hedge in check. Hedge made one very attractive break in the first spell, but thereafter he found, along with the other Christchurch backs, that gaps were hard to find. This was in part because of the fine covering of the loose forwards, S. Anderson and I. Kennedy. Just as diligent in getting out behind their backs were the Christchurch flankers, J Rowberry and R. Barnett. ' GREAT RECOVERY Marist revived memories of its best days with a magnificent second-spell recovery which brought three tries and a thoroughly deservtd victory over University A.

Marist looked a beaten team at half-time. By then it had conceded two tries, and trailed 10-6. Rut in the last 40 minutes it was nearly all Marist, tire members of the pack playing like men inspired. The Marist first five-eighths, B. N. Stewart was brilliant in Ms tactical kicking, handling, running, and his anticipation of situations. But it was a team effort. The Marist forwards’ dedication wore down University in the close play, and thorough, proficient rucking brought rich rewards. It was a most entertaining match, with swift switches of play, and a fine try by P. Gill, who took a fly-kick on his own twenty-five as the ball neared the ground from a mis-directed pass, and he went after it, kicking ahead, and a lucky bounce brought the ball into his arms i at the line. i At first it was University which i impressed. Its light but mobile ; forwards, led by J. Edmondson, ; R. C. Scott and R. Seton, often ■ looked dangerous, and University looked much swifter and i stronger in midfield than Marist. i University’s forwards harrassed , the Marist half-back, K. Lawler. . and Marist looked a haggard team at times. It was different after the change-over. Marist’s forwards applied persistent pressure and the Marist backs began to run. Some attacks were sustained for long periods by eager backing up. and if there was occasionally a loss of direction, there was always someone on hand to begin again. B. S’tewart’s control of the ball was uncanny. He made a try for G. Hooper with a perfectlyjudged kick just wide of the defence. University’s forwards looked good going forward, and D. Ogle was efficient on cover-defence, but the pack lost a hard battle in the tight play, and conceded line-out ball regularly. z K. Jennings, the first fiveeighths, handled very well, and there were occasions when R. Gard, D. Faulkner, and R. F. Scott were able to show their speed and thrust. Only 10 penalties had to be awarded during the 80 minutes. SCRAPPY GAME As expected, Linwood won easily against Merivale-Papanui but it was not a victory of which It can be particularly proud. It was only in the latter stages that Linwood obtained the necessary points. For most of the match it was thrown off-stride by the disruptive tactics of Merivale-Papanui. There was much scrappy play in the first half as Linwood attempted to outrun its opponent in the backs. However, the backs were so closely marked that they could make little headway and in their passing they sacrificed accuracy for speed. Because of this the loose forwards, J. K. Phillips and I. Mallard, often had to come to their rescue. In the second half, when the Linwood forwards had control, the play was still very disorganised, a stream of penalties not helping. It was only in the final 10 minutes, during which the Linwod forwards showed their rucking strength, that there were any free-flowing movements. Linwood had the possession it needed, particularly from the line-outs, where D. Rowe and I. Stevens soared above their rivals. Merivale-Papanui wisely resorted to the short line-out on its throw-ins. Phillips had another very good game and the best of the Linwood backs was the hall-back. D. Andrews. He cleared the ball swiftly and surely and made some sharp breaks from the base of the scrum. The Merivale-Papanui backs were concerned mainly with defence and for a long time they filled the role most ably. The full-back, N. Tichbourne, was the only one who posed a threat on attack. The hooker, T. Rangihata, won two fight-heads and conceded none.

STRONG FINISH It took Shirley almost an hour to take a commanding lead against a dogged Burnside team in a usually interesting early match at Rugby Park.

Shirley won by a handsome margin in the finish, but scored 18 of its points in the last 25 minutes. The tackling of both sides was sometimes woefully weak, but this was not the worst feature of the game. There were three incidents involving the forwards, punches being flung furiously, rron.’-row friction led to the fisticuffs, but both sides were also guilty of working feet vigorously on opponents’ backs. Shirley led, 6-3. at the inter, val. two penalties to one. By mid-way through (he second spell, however. Shirley was running the ball successfully and the result was almost inevitable.

The star of the game was the Shirley half-back, S. Scott, a delightful runner. G. Anderson, the Commonwealth Games sprinter, showed ability, too. He scored a fry from a 90-yard run when he picked up a dropped pass and .found himself in the clear. G. Burrow set a fine example for Shirley in his driving play, and M. Jones was often prominent. A national rower, J. Gibbens, helped Burnside to win a reasonable share of the line-outs, and the half-back, D. Selby, was cool in everything he did. The best of the backs was M. Kalouniviti, a strong runner, and more reliable on defence than most of his colleagues. POSSESSION WASTED In spite of dominating possession for much of the game. New Brighton seldom looked capable of scoring enough points to defeat Old Boys.

Both sides played scrappy Rugby, and no tries were scored until 10 minutes from full-time, although the Old Boys backs looked dangerous on several occasions before this. i

The opening exchanges were (dominated by the New Brighton [forwards who gave the less-ex- : perienced Old Boys pack a lesson in rucking. New Brighton should I have taken a strong grip on the game, but, as in other matches [this season, its backs lacked [imagination and penetration and ’ much possession was wasted. Old Boys began the second-half with a lucky 6-3 lead, but once [achieving parity in possession they looked in little danger ot defeat, and scored two excellent tries late in the game. The first was scored by A. 1 Harvey, after a brilliant burst by the No. 8, S. Purdon. from a set scrum outside the New Brighton twenty-five. This capped a fine game by the Old Bovs (captain.

Although outplaved in the forwards, the Old Boys backs looked particularly dangerous in midfield, particularly when P. Buch joined the back line from full-back. The centre, B. McPhail. was the sharpest attacker on the field, but spoilt his game with weak tackling. The New Brighton forwards were well led by E. Leash, and R. Kelly showed himself to be e flanker of above-average ability, particularly on cover-defence. In the Old Boys pack, which looked weak on occasions, the best performances were b' the loose forwards, Purdon and Harvey. FINE EFFORTS Belfast, led, 22-0, at half-time, and Lincoln College had no answer to its sometimes inspired play.

Belfast went to a six-point lead from the kick-off when the firs' five-eighths. B. Harris, sliced through the defence to send T Rustbatch over. This acted as a spur to Belfast and for the rest of the game it played excellent football.

The success was founded on an impressive trio of loose forwards. Rustbatch, B. Kennett, and V. Hahipene, who harried the Lincoln College backs. Behind the impressive forwards was a competent half-back in B Bennett, who cleared the ball well and varied plav cleverlv. Harris handled surely, was an incisive runner, and his long passes gave jiis outsides ample opportunity for attack.

Although the score was only increased by three points after half-time, Belfast maintained the pressure, keeping Lincoln College confined in its own half. Lincoln College was outplayed in all aspects of the game and never appeared likely to score. M. Hall and D. Thompson were sound tight forwards for Belfast, and also gave good support in the loose. At full-back, D. W. Stead handled well and ran with good judgment. G. Kilday was a strong-running wing. D. Ussher and K. Shannon were the best of the beaten Lincoln College pack, and the second fiveeighths. B. Leslie, defended stoutly.

Suburbs pressed

Penalties flowing freely from the boot of B. Fauth kept University B in contention against Suburbs until well into the second spell. The first spell was highly com-! petitive in all phases, University gaining relief from the host of handling errors by the Suburbs backline. There were many stoppages for injury and such was the early tempo that alter one abrasive scrum University’s P. O’Connor left the field and Suburbs’ M. Cron was spoken to by the referee. Ball control was the key to this game, a fact finally recognised by, in particular, R. Bennett and S. Cron in the Suburbs pack, and G. Shearer at second five-eighths. Shearer had a fine game, being responsible for two of his team’s tries. M. Cron recovered much loose ball in the line-outs, and it was his quick feeding of the ball to L. J. Davis that had Shearer off on a carving run which put W. Meredith in the clear for the first try of the match. In the second spell, the Suburbs forwards played more as a unit and applied pressure which had the University defence scrambling. J. Baines was outstanding in the University forwards, and A. Trenberth and B. Fauth also had useful games. The match was spirited and enterprising, made disappointing for Suburbs by the loss of its former All Black, G. Sims, with a shoulder injury after only 15 minutes in what was his first appearance for the season. Later the side’s coach, D. A. Arnold, replaced the injured J. Fleming and displayed his customary verve.

University B drew frequently within range of the posts, and Fauth became a danger, but in the end it succumbed to the switches of play and outflanking movements of Suburbs. E. Cutts’s ■ tenacity earned him two tries and P. Molloy showed a fine turn of speed.

P W L D F A Pts Linwood .. 6 6 0 0 134 47 6 Univ. A .. 6 4 1 1 106 56 41 Albion 6 4 1 1 77 65 41 Chch 6 4 2 (1 120 64 4 Marist /. 6 4 2 0 98 83 4 Subs 5 4 1 0 74 46 4 Shirlev .. 5 3 2 0 80 69 3 H.S.O.B. .. 6 2 4 0 68 48 2 Univ. B .. 5 2 3 0 63 77 2 Belfast 6 2 4 0 58 52 2 Burn. ■ 5 2 3 0 48 82 2 Line. Coll. 6 1 5 0 47 119 1 N Bri. .. 5 1 4 0 40 88 Syd. 5 1 4 0 34 73 1 Mer. - Pap. 6 1 S 0 37 115 1 UNJUST IE SULT