Canterbury in shock defeat

Press, 29 July 1976, Page 30

Canterbury in shock defeat

By J. K. BROOKS “We were just running a ‘stumer’ to fool the North Island teams,” joked a Canterbury rugby player after his side’s shock defeat by Mid-Canterbury, 21-17, at the Ashburton Show Grounds yesterday.

But neither he nor his fellow players were under any misapprehension about the real cause of the loss — Mid-Canterbury was simply the better side on the day, and laid bare several serious deficiencies in Canterbury’s play. The Mid-Canterbury' No. 8 forward, Ken Ludeman, is shown above feeding the ball from a line-out. At the right is the Mid-Canterbury flanker, Murray Walsh.

It was Mid-Canterbury’s first win against a Canterbury A side for 17 years. Two men at the match had special cause to remember the last upset, Mr Chris Lysaght, the present coach of Mid-Canterbury, played for the winning side in 1959, and Mr S. R. Williams, the manager of the Canterbury team, was a line umpire on that occasion. But the Canterbury piay-

ers could hardly accuse Mr Williams of being a Jonah. Their own crass error, their failure to appreciate the needs of the situation, and their want of firm resolve contributed largely to their defeat.

Mid-Canterbury played remarkably well, and both Mr Lysaght and the captain, Peter Keenan, said that the spirited performance was a product of the team’s West Coast tour last week. This was Mid-Canterbury’s first tour for eight years, and the benefits were readily apparent yesterday. The result prompted Keenan to suggest to MidCanterbury officials that the team should be sent on tour more often.

Mid-Canterbury attacked eagerly in the first half, taking advantage of good lineout possession won by John Ross and Peter MacGregor. Canterbury had a steady supply of ball from scrums and rucks, but failed to make good the advantage because of some witless passing, and also because it underestimated the quality of the Mid-Canterbury defence.

Down, 3-18, at half-time, Canterbury persisted with the running and passing game, in apparent disregard for Mid-Canterbury’s posting of the No. 8, Ken Ludeman, to a deep defensive position. Ludeman’s exceptional covering, Geoff Bryant’s sharp saves, and the reliable defence of Keenan and Alan Edge in midfield broke up most of Canterbury’s hopeful advances.

Canterbury’s over-con-fidence contributed to its downfall. It appeared to believe that victory was there for the taking; too late it realised that Mid-Canterbury had stolen a march on it. The home team scored three tries in the first half, one a spectacular solo effort by Murray Roulston, who controlled the ball splendidly during a 50m kick-and-chase burst to the goal-line. The move started with the interception of a Canterbury pass. This happened too often for Canterbury’s comfort. Once, when Canterbury had a three-man overlap, Bryant, the last defender, knocked down a pass to save the situation. Bryant played his best

game for Mid-Canterbury for a long time, and his two tries took his tally for the union to 37 — only four from the record.

His first try culminated a brilliant passing movement, which began when Paul Williams, the half-back, caught Alex Wyllie as the latter broke clear of a maul. Williams’s harassment of Wyllie upset Canterbury’s control from the back of the scrum.

High punts by Doug Heffernan brought Canterbury back into the match in the second half, and the side narrowed the gap to 14-18. But the lesson was largely ignored by some of Heffernan’s fellow players, and passing movements continued to founder.

A penalty goal kicked by Mike Tapley in the twentysecond minute gave MidCanterbury a lead, 21-14, which Canterbury again narrowed but failed to close.

Greg Prendergast, in what might prove to be his hundreth first-class match, hoed in vigorously for MidCanterbury in the tight, and had the earnest support of the other home forwards.

Canterbury played without Bryan Higginson, John Munro, and Dave McGuigan, all of whom were injured, and substituted Vance Stewart, Peter Cook, and Don Stewart. In the twentyeighth minute, Geoff Brain limped off with a hamstring injury, and was replaced by Randall Scott.

Stewart Cron applied himself conscientiously in all facets of play, but the Canterbury forwards produced only one of their fearsome charges, and were unable to afford Cook much protection. The back-line failed to settle down, and mistakenly tried to run itself out of trouble. That was just what Mid-Canterbury wanted.

For Mid-Canterbury: tries by Bryant (2) and Roulston; three conversions and a penalty goal by Tapley. For Canterbury: tries by Wyllie and Andy Jefferd; three penalty goals by Heffernan.