Top four teams to contest rugby title decided

Press, 19 July 1976, Page 17

Top four teams to contest rugby title decided

Linwood, University A, Old Boys and Christchurch are the four teams which will dispute senior club rugby supremacy in the next three weeks. Christchurch kept its chances of retaining the Canterbury Savings Bank Trophy alive by beating Marist on Saturday to ga : i the coveted fourth place among the qualifiers. The champion club in three of the last four seasons, Christchurch had only one point to spare from New Brighton, winner against the third-placed Old Boys team on Saturday. The round-robin series ended with Linwood on top; it lost only once in 15 matches. The side’s conqueror, University A, will be its opponent in the preliminary final, while Christchurch and Old Boys will contest the first semi-final. Teams battled against a howling wind, rain and mud in the final qualifying matches, but University A made light of the conditions. It scored 11 tries in drubbing Bumside. 54-o—which gave Bumside the dubious distinction of having conceded 22 tries in its last two matches. Randall Scott's two tries in this game made him the try try-scorer in the competition. while Wayne Lewis, University’s other wing, touched down three times *o advance to second place, equal with Dave McGuigan (Linwood). The Marist hooker, Geoff Collins, who was chosen for the New Zealand Colts a few days ago. won the Fletcher Humphreys “Player of the Day” award on the strength r ’ his good game against Christchurch. Results were:— Christchurch It, Marist 4. New Brighton 4, Old Bovs 0. University A 54, Bumside 0. Linwood IS, Lincoln College Suburbs 13, Belfast 4. Shirley 4, Sydenham 3. Albion 14, Hornby 3. University B 4, Merivale Papanui 4. Points are:—

SWIFT CHANGE Three quick tries downwind bv Christchurch settled the Issue in the shortened match against Marist on the windswept south ground. Robbie Eastgate, the replacement half-back, seemed fortunate to be awarded his try, as he appeared to bounce the ball as he dived across the goal-line. But Mick Powley, whose supporting play was a feature of the match, twice burrowed under the defence for tries which

assured Christchurch of a place in the semi-finals. Marist was the dominant side in the first half; the relentless driving by the forwards had Christchurch reeling on many occasions. Kevin O’Gorman was an inspiring pack leader, and Pat O’Byrne and Geoff Collins were his most devoted supporters. But with half-time approaching, and Marist about to lose the advantage of having the wind at Its back, the team’s supporters became agitated about the need for more points. Although often forced to defend its line desperately, Christchurch managed to hold its rival to six-all in the first half. Then its mobile forwards ploughed through the slush to set up try-producing rucks and mauls close to the Marist line. Dennis Waler, Bob Hearn and Tony Porter stuck gamely to their difficult assignments for Christchurch, and Tony Penny and Murray McEwan exercised firm control in the backs. Richard Wilson, the full-back, produced some telling line kicks, and Marist’s Bernie Stecvart lived up to his reputation as an accomplished wet-weather player with his sound handling and adroit cross-field punts. PACK POWER New Brighton's situation looked anything but sound when, after having first use of the strong wind. It led Old Boys by only 6-0 at half-time. However, New Brighton made light of the wind’s importance by dominating play to an even greater extent in the second spell. The greasy under-foot conditions were tailor-made to bring the best out of the New Brighton forwards. They drove vigorously in the tight and had a far greater appreciation of what to do with the loose ball than their rivals, who, on occassion, lost possession through being pushed aside at line-outs and rucks. The power of New Brighton’s forward play was particularly evident in the middle stages of the second half. The pack had Old Boys defending desperately during this time and even when Old Boys got out of trouble bykicking the respite was brief. Old Boys were inconvenienced by not being able to run their backs—and this was not entirely due to the conditions. Even when the ball was cleared past the five-eighths, the New Brighton defence was not only able to quickly halt the move but also preside a base for its forwards to start another advance. New Brighton had another significant asset. This was the clever, and, at times, brilliant play of its half-back, Graham Ellis He showed excellent judgment in keeping the ball close to his forwards and some timely appearances in broken play put paid to a number of Old Boys’ more promising moves. Brian Lloyd, outside Ellis, also had a very useful game. He took the tackle with good results quite often, and his tactical kicking was rarely astray. Pat Nixon and Murray McCoubrey played leading roles in keeping the New Brighton pack in a steam-rolling mood and the side also ow ed much to the energetic covering and tackling of Bruce Gibson. Peter Buck and Terry Mehrtens handled well for Old Boys and both made intelligent attempts to kick their side out of trouble. The forwards, however, were never able to contain New Brighton for long, although Mark Harding and lan Webster gave themselves wholeheartedly to the struggle. INNOVATOR Fergle McCormick's Invention of the third five-eighths position contributed substantially to Linwood's victory against an eager Lincoln College side. Showing a keen appreciation of the difficult conditions, McCormick frequently took up station on the blind-side, parallel with his first five-eighths. From this position he was able to make manv significant contributions to the attack, notably a superb cutin, cut-out run which led to the

scoring of the only try of the game. Lincoln College gave a spirited display. The forwards contested possession vigorously, and Phil Hart and Andy Jefferd, the halves, stuck to their tasks conscientiously. But for the umpteenth time, the Linwood forwards dictated the trend of the match by their able control of possession. John Ashwortli qualified for the title of champion mudlark, but the others were not far behind him, and the excellent understanding between John Phillips, at No. 8, and Gary Overend, at half-back, ensured that the ball was usually kept just in front of the Linwood pack. Linwood probably set some sort of record by conceding three penalties in the space of 30 seconds—through obstructing a drop-out, tackling a man without the ball, and failing to retire 10 metres. Apart from those mad moments. Linwood had proceedings firmly under control. ELEVEN TRIES The strong University A side gave an excellent display of wet weather ruby when it demolished the jnjury-struck Burnside team. In scoring eleven tries, University equalled the record for the season, set bv Linwood last week against luckless Burnside. In bad conditions, this was a supreme effort. Unlike most of the other senior teams University based its game on the backs, and they attacked at every opportunity. Some brilliant footwork arid handling, coupled with some poor tackling by Burnside, paid handsome dividends as the students appeared to be able to score at will. Up front, continual short passing rushes were too much for the haggard defenders, while in the backs, passing, handling and clever footwork left Burnside floundering. In this respect, the wings, Randall Scott and Wayne Lewis, excelled; their ability to change direction at high speed brought five tries. The University half-back. Peter Cook, maintained a sound service and linked well with his forwards. Burnside’s chief failing was its tackling, which could only be described as miserable, and while University appeared to be at home In the conditions, Bumside was hopelessly out of its depth. DESERVED WIN Play in the curtain-raiser at Rugby Park went verv much with the direction of the wind. In the first half Suburbs had the advantage and scored 13 points and althounh Belfast attacked Just as hard in the second soell it could manage only one try. Nevertheless, Suburbs fully deserved Its win. The forwards gave a very tradesmanlike display and this gave them a clear advantage over a Belfast pack that was often too loose and too ambitious in its bids for the line to get results. The Belfast backs suffered both from rearrangements that had to be made because of injuries and a certain amount of indecision. On at least two occasions quicker and cleaner passing could well have brought tries. Suburbs played to the conditions and used its backs sparingly and then mainly as pursuers of the cross-kick. The inside backs, particularly the half-back Phil Thomas, were careful not to leave any openings for the Belfast loose forwards. Stewart Cron. Warren Hay and Roger Cumming were hardworking and constructive forwards for Suburbs and the side was saved more than once by the sound positional play of its full-back. Grant Stocker. Bryan Mustchin and Trevor Rusbatch featured in many of Belfast’s best forward rushes and the combined efforts of Dave Thompson and Mervyn Banks ensured Belfast of more than a fair share of line-out possession. SHIRLEY SURE In the mud, slush and driving wind and rain at Sydenham Park. Shirlev adapted better to the conditions than its opponent. Placing into the wind in the

first half, Shirley denied Sydenham the advantage and by keeping the ball at the feet of the forwards never allowed Sydenham to dictate play. In the second spell Shirley continued with the same tactics and although Sydenham fought back well, the six-point deficit was narrowed only to three. At times the forward exchanges became heated but the weather as much as the stern warnings of the referee. Mr P. M. Regan, cooled tempers. Peter Gray was a tireless worker in the Shirley pack and the captain, Graeme Pulley, was a constant inspiration to his team as well as quietening the more excitable members. Steve Scott controlled play well and Lindsay Thorn was an adequate full-back. The veteran. Allan Dunlop, was a solid last line of defence for Sydenham and Maurice Pepper came through a difficult day at half-back with credit. Colin King and Ralph Richards were the best of the forwards. HARD SLOG The weather dominated University B's game against Merivale-Papanui, with both teams adopting 10-man kick-and-chase tactics throughout. The game bore some resemblance to trench warfare; in the mud and the wet both sides were restricted to gains of a few yards as the game developed into one long, hard slog, with inspiring or exciting play being at a minimum. University had the wind behind it for the first period of play and spent almost the entire time on attack. In the second half it was Merivale’s turn to threaten the students’ line. John MeLay, at the back of the scrum for Merivale-Papanui, excelled himself with some strong driving runs, as wen as providing an excellent link between the forwards and his half-back. John Harwood and Barry Bailey were

also prominent for Merivaleproducing an advantage in the serums and winning valuable ball in the line-outs. For University. Craig Shearer gave a competent display, while the defence of Steve Fitchett was admirable. BULL INSPIRING Hornby was unable to take advantage of a strong wind in the second half, and its challenge was resisted by Albion. For most of the match it was a game of soccer, with Albion being better at it than its rival. Neither half-back, Joe Gee

(Albion) and Neville Wilson (Hornby), received clean ball from the line-outs. In the second half Hornby showed its frustration with flying fists and late tackles. The Albion captain and hooker, lan Bull, proved to be an inspiring leader. He succeeded in calming his forwards with some sharp talking and he set a high defensive standard. In spite of the fierce wind which made open rugby an impossible prospect, the Albion first five-eighths, Mike Dolian, picked up some erratic passes and endeavoured to run the ball where possible.

w D L F A Pts Llnw. 14 - 1 364 93 M Univ. A 13 1 1 312 101 27 U.S O.B. 12 - 3 320 77 24 Chch 11 1 3 277 154 23 New BrL 11 - 4 248 133 22 Subs 10 - 5 217 170 30 Marist 9 - 6 203 156 IS Belfast 8 1 6 268 187 17 Shir. 7 - 8 169 204 14 Univ. B 6 - 9 209 200 12 Line. CoL 4 1 10 141 271 9 Albion 4 1 10 130 221 9 Mer-Pap. 3 1 11 102 219 7 Burnside 3 - 12 142 349 6 Hornby 1 - 14 75 346 2 Syd. 1 - 14 67 363 2