High-scoring teams will dispute rugby lead

Press, Volume CXVI, Issue 34126, 12 April 1976, Page 23

High-scoring teams will dispute rugby lead

Club rugby will re- 1 turn to Lancaster Park ' oval next Saturday, | , when Old Boys and Lin-!, wood meet in a key match in the Canterbury Savings Bank Trophy i competition. , Both sides topped 40 'points in maintaining their: .unbeaten records at the) week-end, and next Saturday’s match will reveal' i whether Linwood will again rate as the chief challenger ;to the title-holder, Christ-I church. Five sides gained their! : second victories at the ! week-end, Christchurch, Uni- , iversity A, and Lincoln Col- 1 lege keeping pace with Old Boys and Linwood. I But Christchurch was for- , innate to hold off a vigorous ■Belfast XV, which dominated jthe forward struggle. One of Christchurch’s two tries came from a fine for-' jward move involving Dennis! 'Waller, Jerry Rowberry, and! 'Mick Powley. But ft ap-l ipeared that Waller’s pass to ' Roseberry was forward; the i referee (Mr A. R. Taylor)p ■was unsighted by a defender!: at the time. ;] i Christchurch deserved ! ! credit for holding out in the j ■ face of intense pressure. But|l lit also deserved censure for|i ; the kicking of the Belfast' l : captain, Bill Bush, as he lay j jon the ground. ” ■> Old Boys scored seven H tries against Hornby, Darryl'i

Parke touching down four times, and Linwood ran up ■ nine tries against Albion, Gary Overend, the half-back, ‘scoring three of them. Suburbs lost for the second time, succumbing to i Shirley’s forward power, and ’ Marist was unimpressive in beating University B. Bumside went down by one point for the second successive Saturday, but was i flattered by the margin, as iMerivale-Papanui played well. University A awoke from its lethargy in the second half to beat New Brighton, and Sydenham, seeking | an overdue win, lost to Lin-i coin College after leading! for more than half the 1 match. Results were:Chrlstchurch 12, Belfast 9. Shirley 22, Suburbs 3. Linwood 46, Albion 6. Old Boys 42, Hornby 3. Marist 10, University B 4. University A 21, New Brigh- ' ton 6. Lincoln College 24, Sydenham Merivale-Papanui 22, Burn-

UNLUCKY Belfast was desperately unlucky not to beat Christchurch after calling the tune for much of the match through stirring forward play. Last season’s title-holder displayed a great sense of selfpreservation, however, and clung grimly to a three-point lead for tl?e last 12 minutes to score r i shaky win. The Belfast pack, constantly inspired by the outstanding play of Bill Bush and Dave Thompson, forced Christchurch to back-pedal in scrums and rucks. Bush and Thompson were adept at splintering the defence at the forward fringes to initiate sweeping combined attacks. But Bruce Bennett, the Belfast half-back, was inclined to throw his passes at too high an angle, and the resultant pause in Amoves gave the Christchurch (defence time to position itself. Christchurch hit back bravely with two fine tries, although If appeared that a pass had gone forward In the first movement. There was little of the flowing Christchurch back thrusts in the game, principally because Tony Penny, at half-back, was under constant harassment. Richard Wilson and Murray McEwan played coolly and competently in the backs, and Dennis Waller and Frank Townsend were able forwards for the winner. Tiie side was unfortunate to lose Peter Coleman — who was jin good form — after 25 minutes, (but John Mill, the replacement. I was lively in the loose. Vivian Hahlpene, the No. 8, and John Freeman, the left wing, displayed splendid attacking form ( for Belfast. The side was unI fortunate to lose three players I with injuries. FIELD DAY I Four tries by a former Aucki land colts player, Darryl Parke, ’ contributed heavily to Old i Boys sweeping victory over J Hornby. Fairly well contained by I (Hornby in the first half — the I score was 11-3 at the interval —'

Old Boys found re<Ua- good form with the wind at their backs, and added a further 31 points.

xt was a one-sided business, and it was a pity its value was diminished by the futility of fighting and various other forms jx irritation.

Hornby tried hard to cramp Old Boys’ style by changes in the length of line-outs and a mixiurt >i gruboer Kicks and punts borne iy the breeze. In the first half, t courageous Hornby team alsc neid its own in the rucks and scrums. But in the second spell, -he Old Boys forwards, scrummaging with much more purpose, .nd with the fine loose forwards setting up play with swift expertise, opened a floodgate of scoring.

Park had a field day . Bill Grogan kicked a couple of fine long goals. and Terry Mehrtens directed affairs soundly. Stuart Purdon, Ross Mac Kenzie, and Alwy’n Harvey ran freely. Harvey being particularly impressive with his avid hunting of the ball and his eye for a developing situation. Dairvl Keast had a good game at full-back for Hornby and x A, JI kicked cleverly in the first spell. The forwards were never trounced, but were simply not good enough to con tain Old Boys, after the first 40 minutes.

RUCK DOMINANCE Relentless forward pressure an< *. dominance in the rucks enabied Linwood to beat 1 margin of 40 points at Rugby Park. the earnest efforts of the Albion forwards, the Linwood pack secured a steady stream of second phase posses Sion, setting up the ruck ably and driving vigorously over the man with the ball As a result, the Linwood backs scored mne tries, confounding the cover defence with swift passing and the Intelligent use of the extra man.

v ,°verend, Linwood’s new half-back, side-stepped jazzfl v to score three tries in the first half. ■ and also handled his basic role with competence. But he was given every chance by his for[wards, of whom John Phillips i played with great zest. John Ashworth. Wayne Louden and the rest pitched in with a will and their strong driving and rucking denied Albion a chance to get into the game. Although trailing, 0-28, at halftime, Albion refused to throw* in the towel, and a 60 metre movement which yielded a try was a rew’ard for constant endeavour.

Mike Eagle and Murray Davie were diligent forwards, and Alnsley Quested gave extra impetus to back moves.

However, the most astute player was Fergie McCormick, who did all things well—notably the scoring of one try and the setting up of tw T o others. REVIVAL A rock concert on the edfacent University campus appeared to have a hynotic effect on the University A side during the first half of its match against New Brighton. The score at this point was three-all, and in the preceding 40 minutes University had done little to suggest a spirited second half * revival was in the offing. New Brighton played its best rugby during tills period, with the forwards in particular show-: ing a co-ordinated and disciplined approach not matched by University. However, with the wind at its back in the second half University was able to lift its game. enormously and the backs in particular played extremely well. | The best of them was the i slightly-built left wing, Wayne! Lewis, who was given many opportunities and w’lth quick acceleration and considerable pace caused the New Brighton defence many problems. New Brighton continued to apply pressure in the forwards, but was let down by an ordinary looking back-line which seldom showed much initiative. The hooker, Bob Davison, was the best of an even New Brighton pack while the University prop, John Edmondson, added to a fine all round performance by kicking some good goals. WILTED Sydenham could not maintain Its early momentum and determination, and Lincoln College had an easy win. Using a stiff back wind to good advantage, Sydenham adopted kick-and-chase tactics for most of the first half. The Sydenham forwards, led by Dave Rhodes and Ivan Dale, worked, diligently and gave their side ai good deal of possession, and their first five-eighth, Ivan Williamson, with some long raking | kicks, took Sydenham on to the attack on numerous occasions.

The Lincoln College backs, although generally quicker and stronger than their counterparts, were given few early opportunities, and what chances they were given were often w*asted because of bad passing or handling. Sydenham led. 8-0 at half-time, but Lincoln came back, appearing stronger as the Sydenham defence withered away. Paul McFie, at first five-eighths for Lincoln, initiated many at-

tacking moves with swerving side stepping runs. But Sydenham was not finished. A fine movement, starting from its own line, resulted in a recapturing of the lead, but it was to be the last gasp. Lincoln scored three tries in the last 10 minutes.

Had the kicking of Sydenham’s Michael Williams been more accurate. victory might have been ’alned. But five scoring opportunities were missed. SQUANDERED Although billed as the main attraction at Ham, the MaristUniverslty B encounter produced rugby of mediocre quality, and only a spirited effort by University late in the game gave the spectators any compensation for braving the effects of an extremely cold easterly win for 10 minutes. With an abundance of possession, Marlst should have won ■his game convincingly, but it used this possession badly. The chief offender was the centre, v’ince O’Loughlin, who ran across ield so often that he almost put dis wings out of the game. Marlst was much superior in the forwards, with the strength of Kevin O’Gorman and Vance Stewart being decisive in the ucks and mauls. The loose forwards were more evenlv matched and the University flanker. John Allpress, took the eye with his clever anticipation and' uncompromising tackling. The Marist full-back, Brian McLean, handled the high ball most impressively and was an enterprising runner. However, I the most Impressive looking back was the University first fiveeighths, Chris Shearer. Despite i receiving bad bad for much of I the game. Shearer was able to break past Bernie Stewart several times with quick acceleration and a clever change of direction, and one such break set up Bill Lewis for his try. ONE-POINT difference Although Burnside went down to Merivale-Papanui by but a shjgle point, the Iff points Burnside scored In the last two minutes gave It a rather flattering result. Until that late stage, the match between these two one-point losers In the first round had been one-sided, Burnside, with a makeshift back line—four! regular players were out through! injuries—was never in the race.) Merivale-Papanui, powerful in | the forwards, enterprising and' confident in th** gave a sound performance.

Merivale had some big forwards. too good for Burnside in the line-outs as a rule and stronger and more proficient in , the rucks. lan Culpane and Grant , Furlonger sparked off some good movements. Merivale being a much more resilient team than Burnside. John Harwood, as well las his value in the line-out, kept i his team under firm control, j Bruce Stewart at half-back ga\ e good service, and outside him i Kuru Gray was a clever runner, , and a good handler. The three- | quarters were all quick to seize their chances.

Burnside fumbled and bumbled its way to a long deficit, but Roger Raines, a former Otago colt, looked likely at centre and Graham Church was the strongest and most reliable in the pack. In the last quarter, Burnside .had three penalties in swift sue- | cession on the Merivale line, and elected to tap-kick twice,. [without positive result. From the! j third one Neil Fox kicked .a! goal, and went on to make it five goals from five attempts. I Raines scored a good try, almost on time, and from the kick-off Paul McKay chased after; a Burnside punt, gathered in the ball and by resolute running! : went in for a spectacular try. ■ FORWARDS SHINE In a rather one-sided affair, ! Shirley trounced Suburbs at the latter's home ground. The i match was won for Shirley in j the forwards. Shirley proved superior in all aspects of play. From the open-i Ing whistle, the Shirley forwards drove hard, rucked tenaciously and packed low. Consequently the back-line was able to enjoy l a feast of the ball and on most occasions full use was made of it. On the few occasions that] Suburbs claimed possession its | backs proved to be a poorly; organised lot.

Full credit must be given to the Shirley number two halfback, Geoff Ormandy. In the earlier stages of the match Or-| |mandv, normally a wing, fidgeted; and fumbled, but he settled! down and delivered excellent passes to his Inside backs. He also shone with some fine tactical kicking and determined run-j ning. [ The other Shirley player! worthy of mention was the lock,! Stewart Mitchell, whose line-out jumping was clean and decisive, and this proved to be a vital factor tn the forward superiority that Shirley enjoyed. Like Shirley, Suburbs was without its top half-back. Lyn Davis. The substitute, Richard Cretney was in trouble, when under pressure. However, unlike his opposite number, Cretney had to contend with the thundering hordes of the Shirley forwards.

side 21. W L E A Pts Linw. — 70 18 <4 n.s.o.B — 49 6 4 Chch •» — 37 9 4 Univ. A . . 2 — 28 12 4 1 Line. Coll. . . 2 — 31 20 4 Belf. . . 1 1 2b 15 2 Shir. 1 l ;•* f 26 2 Maris t . . . . 1 1 13 11 2 Mer-Pap. .. 1 1 28 28 2 New Bri. .. 1 I 29 30 2 1 Albion 1 1 16 55 2 Burn. . . — •> 27 29 0 Univ. B o 16 34 0 Subs. — o 12 32 0 Syd. — *> 14 49 0 1 Horn. — 2 6 58 o !