‘TOO COLD’ FOR FRENCH New Zealand has five-try victory

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33870, 16 June 1975, Page 3

‘TOO COLD’ FOR FRENCH New Zealand has five-try victory

(By

JOHN COFFEY)

No champagne celebrations, just a huddle of shivering players around a hot tea-urn was the scene in the New Zealand dressing-room after the Kiwis had beaten France, 27-0, in the Air New Zealand international championship Rugby league fixture at the Show Grounds vesterdav.

It was New Zealand's biggest winning margin at the expense of a French side, but the first thoughts of the Kiwis were to restore some warmth to their bodies after 80 minutes of football in chilling temperatures and driving rain.

New Zealand completely dominated the match, showing a far greater appreciation of the tactics required. It scored five tries and four other touch-downs were disallowed for minor infringements. The bitter memories of the ;decisive defeat at the hands of Australia at Brisbane two weeks ago were wiped out from the opening minutes, as the New Zealand team moved forward in . unison to snuff out the attacking capabilities of the French. When the Kiwis had possession—and they did quite frequently because of Tom Conroy’s 20-17 advantage in his hooking duel with Antoine Gonzalez, and the enthusiasm of the New Zealanders to dive on the loose ball—they were markedly superior in their handling, passing, and backing up. Tactical kicking The French also had to !bow to New Zealand in the (effectiveness of its tactical i kicking, a phase of the game That has often proved a trump card in France’s pack. But (the French stand-off half, Jose Calle, only incurred I further tackling assignments for himself and his team(mates because of the excellent positioning of the Kiwi (full-back, John Whittaker, land wings, Phil Orchard and Don Munro. In contrast, Dennis Williams achieved height and {accuracy with most of his {punts. France was always; {struggling to withstand the( pressure exerted by Williams; and the other Kiwis, who followed up diligently, and {the first of Bob Jarvis’s two ‘tries was a direct product of a slithering scramble in the i in-goal area. The New Zealand coach ((Mr G. Menzies) said after the game that he was very pleased with the manner in {which his players had kept to the wet-weather pattern devised at training. He also '{praised the united tackling That put '-'rance on to the de-

Tensive from the out-set, and was surprised that the French tried to solve their problems by indulging in so much indiscriminate kicking. “The weather was far too cold. Our players could hardly move or speak at halftime. We did not mind the 'wet ground, it was the temperature,’’ the French man-! ager (Mr R. Forges) said, andi the former test full-back. {Puig-Aubert, added that he; had never experienced such’ 'conditions in more than 201 {years of playing or selecting at test level. Four minutes after the start the French full-back. Francis Tranier, was left

stranded when Williams) tested him, but John O’Sulli-| van was recalled for a knockon as the Kiwis surged through. With the forwards tackling with sufficient force to drain the confidence of their rivals, New Zealand did not take long to wrest an ascendancy that it never relinquished. Dane Sorensen, the 19-year-old Kiwi prop, opened the scoring with a shortrange penalty after 12 minutes, and the French must' have had visions of an emerging Henry Tatana as Sorensen went on to kick six goals from seven attempts—his only failure was an impossible side-line task—and have a most succesful debut in the forward exchanges. Short-side attacks Almost inevitably, it was the spirit of Ken Stirling, the gallant New Zealand scrumhalf and captain, which left [France trailing by nine points at the break. Stirling scuttled to the blind-side from a scrum, dummied as if (to pass to Orchard, and [turned the ball back infield ito his Ellerslie club-mate,

{Murray Eade, who was bursting up the centre from loose (forward. Any patriotic urgings by the French coach (Mr A. Jiminez) as his men sipped their half-time tea were blunted seven minutes later. Again Stirling ran to the short side, this time giving Munro the chance to break a I tackle before being cornered ■ by Tranier inches from a try • in his first test. Stirling, ever > alert, slipped across from dummy-half and the outcome , was seated. 1 New Zealand continued to - move possession freely, the : sureness of the handling de- - teriorating a little and the ■ ball spurting from even tight I {grips as the French made . their last defensive stand. “ Eade (twice) and O’Sullivan II were called back for forward lipasses.

20-metre dash However, in the last 10 minutes the floodgates were opened. Jarvis was the quickest to Williams’s punt; three minutes later he was beneath the cross-bar at the end of a spectacular interception and 20-metres dash; and finally Conroy pushed off four or five exhausted and bewildered Frenchmen to touch down. Records were being set. reputations for fitness, team-work, and wetweather skill being enhanced.

I Whittaker and Orchard (slipped easily back into the roles they filled when New Zealand had its previous widest margin. 24-2, at Carcassonne in 1971 — when the field was firm. Whittaker was outstanding in his catching, and he sought a link with Munro and Orchard, gliding across the muddy patches and displaying a fine body swerve.

The momentum of Orchard.' even from a standing start, demanded that at least two, often three Frenchmen pool their resources to halt him. While Orchard charged. his way past his opponents, Munro wove around outstretched hands to make many metres, and he only just failed to hold a pass that would have sent him across the try-line just before the finish. Williams and O’Sullivan cancelled out the thrustful French centres, Andre Ruiz and Rene Terrats, and. moved far more strongly when the ball was relayed to the threequarters. Even before the backs emphasised that, man for man. they were the masters of the situation, the Kiwi pack had taken command around the play-the-balls. There were no more harder workers than the props, John Greengrass and Sorensen, and the occasional runs of Francis de Nadai and Gonzales paled into insignificance when compared with the penetration and supporting of Tony Coll, Ray Baxendale, Eade, and Conroy. New Zealand now moves north, probably to a very wet Carlaw Park, for its fixtures with England and France on successive Saturdays. Two repetitions of its display at the Shows Grounds would ensure that it is prominently placed at the completion of the first round of the international series. Understandably, the whole 17-man Kiwi squad has been retained. The only injuries in the | Kiwi camp were head gashes (suffered by O’Sullivan and Conroy. For New Zealand Jarvis (two), Stirling, Eade, and Conroy scored tries, and Sorenson kicked six goals.