Junior All Blacks face hard battle for promotion

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33579, 6 July 1974, Page 4

Junior All Blacks face hard battle for promotion

"Undoubted talent lurks in the ranks of the New Zealand Junior Rugby team, at present on a barnstorming six - match tour of the country. The moot point is whether any of these capable young footballers can look forward to early promotion to full national status.

There are 55 All Blacks playing the game at firstclass level, and Mr J. J. Stewart might well display a sign: “No new players need apply."

There are, however, a few players in the Juniors side who, by the end of this season, might force more celebrated rivals into the shade through the zest-

ful application of natural ability. One of these is the Canterbury University hooker, J. E. Black, who is quick on the strike and equally swift about the field. In addition, he has a highly competitive temperament, and no occasion appears to be too big for him. It was one of Rugby’s minor mysteries that G. M. Crossman, until this year an anonymous figure, was preferred to Black as second string hooker with the All Blacks in Australia. The delay in promotion seems to have made Black more determined. Good locks mature with age. and it is perhaps too early in the piece to be discussing M. J. McCool as an All Black prospect. Yet this husky young man who, at 22, is 6ft 4in and 16st 91b, is the type of lock the All Blacks need: a vigorous, seemingly inexhaustible “engine room”

(By

J. K. BROOKS)

man in the style of H. H. Macdonald. McCool has already had two full seasons with Hawke’s Bay, and .is remarkably well versed in the demands of tight play, for one so young. However, G. E. Seear (Otago), the Juniors captain. seems too lean of build to develop into an international lock, although he has been placed in the position by Otago, the South Island, and the Juniors. As a constructive and intelligent No. 8, he could make rapid strides. He initiates attacks capably, deploys himself well on defence, and is a valuable man towards the end of the line-out. Among the backs, J. P. J. Carroll (Manawatu), a chunky first five-eighths, has prospects of going further, if only because of

the rapid turnover of All Blacks in his position. At this stage of his development, Carroll seems a little too enamoured of the tactical kick. But he is extremely sound in catching and passing, and is in the Brown-Herewini class as a snap drop-kicker. Last season’s national colts captain, J. M. O’Connor (Waikato) and G. N. K. Mourie (Wellington), a bony flanker, both played in the All Black trials this year, and must therefore be warmly regarded as prospects. Both players have the ideal physique for their respective positions, but they seem to want for consistent motivation. Perhaps this will come in time. I. G. Finlay (Bay of Plenty) is a big boy from the backblocks who could become a really useful prop; he lacks nothing in application. D. W. Neal (Marlborough) is bound to profit through his experience with

the Ranfurly Shield holder, but P. S. McGarva, who locks the Hawke’s Bay scrum with McCool, would be a better forward if he shed a stone from his 17st 51b frame. The Marlborough centre, S. W. P. Marfell, should like Neal, blossom in the shield atmosphere; a forthright tackler, he also possesses a sharp pass. D. S. Rollerson (Manawatu, second five-eighths) is inclined to run a yard too far on attack, and P. C. Gilbert (Bay of Plenty), who has startling acceleration, is suspect going back. Another Manawatu back, H. T. Blair, is a swift runner but lacks guile, and B. A. McPhail would probably serve the side best in his Canterbury position of wing than as a centre. When the Juniors opened their tour at Ashburton, considerable interest was shown in the performance of the full-back, B. W. Cederwall, who is offering J. F. Karam, the All Black, strong competition in Wellington. Cederwall is certainly an admirable extra attacker; he is fast, and his timing is first class. But in the more basic requirements of the full-back’s role, he has some distance still to go. In general, that comment might properly be applied to the majority of the young men in the team.