Red faces as league B side beats A

Press, Volume CXVI, Issue 34129, 15 April 1976, Page 28

Red faces as league B side beats A

I By

JOHN COFFEY.

Canterbury’s Amco Cup rugby league team was thoroughly embarrassed in losing to the provincial B side. 21-15. at the Show Grounds last evening.

Even when Canterbury led by 15-2 and then 15-5 at halftime, it had been no more impressive than The Rest, and the collapse of the Canterbury defence in conceding 16 points in the third quarter must have a demoralising influence only a week before its Amco debut in Brisbane. If The Rest was the dominant team, then it also provided all of the individual stars on a night that was arranged to give Canter-i bury a full dress-rehearsal' before meeting Eastern j Suburbs of Brisbane. While) the first choices muffed their| lines, their opponents ran) away with all of the awards. Mr Gary Clarke, a Canter-; bury selector and the coach) of The Rest, made two casting coups when his squad lost players because of injuries. He brought in the Auckland imports. Wayne Robertson and Bob Jarvis, and both responded with memorable performances.

Had it not been for their [sheer brilliance, the contribujtions made by Murray Wright. Graeme Cooksley. I Michael O’Donnell and Mark ' Broadhurst might have been | even more evident. As it [was. they’ were clearly of a [class above that attained by Canterbury’. The first XIII simply had no answer to Robertson’s skills. He ran forcefully, the ball held confidently in one hand, and he invariably’ stood firm in the tackle and delivered his passes with astute timing and forethought. How Canterbury so badly needed a ball distributor and forward leader of his ilk. Jarvis provided a lesson in the requirements of stand-off half play, placing himself in gaps, moving possession only and always when his outside men could prosper, defending with his characteristic diligence, and being ever alert to covering errors. It was a moot point that Wright won the scrums by the same margin. 21-15. that [The Rest took the game. He [and Broadhurst were willing [attackers from the moves initiated by Robertson, and both achieved higher tackling counts than most of their rivals. The return of Cookslev to his old scrum-half position was a treat for the crowd of about 2000; little, if anv. of the old flourish had been left behind, and his experience showed through. Once again, O’Donnell — who returned from a business conference in Nelson only a short time before the kick-off — was clearly superior to any other centre. It was he who started the revival bv The Rest when he handled twice in an 89-metre thrust that shattered the

• Canterbury tackling resources and finished with Eddie Kerrigan scoring the best trv [of the match. i All of their team-mate-carried out their supporting roles very effectively. Which was only to be expected in la team that had Cooksley Wright and Jarvis to assist [Robertson in assuring that [every man had hi< shJre ■ ' the work In comparison. [Canterbury lacked imagines tion and combination [ Such was the feast pr vided by Robertson and biassistants. that only a few crumbs retrained for Canter bury. Lewis Hudson until h” injured a shoulder. and Mocky Brereton kent thcr reputations intact on the wings, even though starved by their centres. Mutu Stow never hesitated in his dtfence, and John Greeneras-. occasionally made The Rest's formation extend itself The Canterbury coach (Mr Jim Fisher) said afterwardthat he was not disheartened [by the result, and that it could act as a tonic in the [brief time left to prepare for the Brisbane fixture But only in the first quat [ter. when Hudson and Wavne ißunn gained tries, both converted hv Hudson, to a penalty bv O'Donnell did Canter[bury give any reason for conifidence. Another converted try by Hudson — with Kerrigan replying with his touchdown — had Canterbury in a flattering 15-5 advantage at the end of 40 minutes. The Rest had suffered from a number of near-misses. In the third quarter, these were transformed into points. Robertson scored twice in as many minutes, Jarvis and Bruce Murphv added tries, and O’Donnell’s two goals left Canterbury six points in arrears.