Ellesmere runs over Hurunui

Press, 16 August 1976, Page 13

Ellesmere runs over Hurunui

Twenty per cent of possession Is insufficient for a rugby team to make its presence felt, as the Hurunui senior side found to its cost in the Southbridge Shield challenge match against Ellesmere at Leeston on Saturday. The dominant team in all phases of play. Ellesmere successfully defended the trophy which it won recently from North Canterbury with a thumping 32-0 victory.

The Hurunui captain, Graham Hewett, hailed Ellesmere as one of the most efficient sides tn his experience. This was no exaggeration; for ball-winning ability and attacking flair, Ellesmere was in a class of its own on Saturday. Forced to play on the back foot for almost all the game, Hurunui placed its faith in Its marauding flankers and a fiat back-line defensive system. The only satisfaction the challenger gained from the game was that It upset the rhythm of the Ellesmere back-line on several occasions.

Up front, the struggle for the ball was one-sided. Mike Ryan, the Ellesmere captain and hooker, won tight heads almost at will. Bruce Farmer and Peter

Lankow dominated the line-outs, and Don Cameron and Grant Sanderson hit the rucks with such vigour that their fellow forwards had but to bind and heel for the ball to be won.

From set play, however, Ellesmere found Hurunut’s tight defensive formation hard to crack un“l Chris Rhodes, the first fiveeighths, began to force the gaps with spirited running. Rhodes made many lightning dashes in the second half, and although Hurunui effectively screened him from Ills supports, Ellesmere was always well organised to attack from second phase possession. lan Clark and Noel Simpson ran strongly in mldfieid, and Ralph Ogg, the right wing, made the most of his chances to cap three lively combined thrusts with tries.

Don Hayes and Barney Henderson. the Ellesmere flankers, w'ere quick to provide support when breaks were made, and Peter Kirk was a diligent link. However. Brent Elder was not his usual unflurried self at half-back because of the attention he received from Graham and Gordon Hewett, but several potential break-downs were avoided because of Rhodes’s good handling.

Hurunui had desperately bad luck with injuries; all five reserves were required to replace Injured players. Stewart Anderson, who replaced the full-back. Graham Twoose, after only five minutes, made a creditable showing under pressure, and John McAuliffe, the replacement halfback, made bold efforts to put his side on the offensive.

But Hurunui experienced difficulties in clearing the ball on retreat, and Bruce Dunbar, the first five-eighths, had few chances to fire his back-line. Although he cost his side several penalties through Overeagemess, Joe Quigley was a zestful tight forward for Hurunui, and Andrew Harrison and Brian Twoose tackled well in the backs.

For Ellesmere: tries by Ogg (3), Clark and Stewart Bray; two penalty goals by Darryl Campbell; conversions by Clark (2) and Campbell. Results of lower grade matches between the two sub-unions were: Under-19 (Munro Shield): Ellesmere 39, Hurunui 6. Under-16: Ellesmere 18, Hurunui 7. Under--13: Ellesmere 18, Hurunui 0. Under-11: Hurunui 4, Ellesmere