Throwing in a burden for ‘Duke’

Press, 1 June 1977, Page 20

Throwing in a burden for ‘Duke’

Every touring rugby side has its “characters” and the two warmest personalities among the 1977 Lions are the Welsh hooker, Bobby Windsor, and the Irish lock, Moss Keane.

Windsor, a 29-year-old steelworker, possesses tr.e sort of dry humour that is peculiarly Welsh. Not surprisingly, Windsor has picked up the nickname of “Duke.”

About the only time that Keane, a 28-year-old agricultural inspector, is not wearing a broad smile is when he is hard at work in the Lions’ scrum. Keane has the distinction of being the first Gaelic footballer to win a rugby cap for Ireland since the rules were relaxed four years ago. However, it is doubtful if New Zealanders will fully appreciate Keane’s delightful sense of humour. So thick is his Irish accent that when he talks quickly, as he is inclined to do, he is very difficult for the untrained ear to understand.

For Windsor .there was not a great deal to be cheerful about last week. As the player used to throw the ball into the line-outs in the Hawke’s Bay game, he took a fair proportion of the blame for the Lions’ disappointing play in this area.

In New Zealand, a hooker is first and foremost a possession winner in scrums. Co-ordination

between eye and foot to bring instant action once the ball enters a scrum is his prime asset. His use-

fulness as a forward is then taken into account. But under the British system, a hooker must also be adept at throwing the ball into a line-out. It is common practice at all levels of the game in the United Kingdom for the hooker to fill the role. The British like the idea

because it frees the wings to enter the backline from line-outs, or if necessary to drop back to cover the

full-back. All the, same, it does seem that, using a hooker to start the line-out is adding an unfair burden to a man who already has one specialised skill to worry about. By the very nature of their play, forwards do not get the ball hand-

ling experience necessary to consistently toss a football to a pre-determined spot.

There is nothing very graceful about fhe wav Windsor and the second Lions’ hooker, Peter Wheeler, throw a ball in. It comes from the front of the body, very different from the overhead arch actions employed by New Zealand wings.

Windsor accepts the jon he has to do at line-outs, although he is far from convinced that using the hooker in this way is the best method.

"It’s a big responsibility and we cop a lot of the blame when line-outs are consistently lost. If the scrums are lost its your fault and the game goes for the line-outs,” he said. Windsor also feels that throwing in the ball puts

the hooker out of the play and a lot can happen, especially on a short throw, before he can get to where he is most needed. In effect, it was seven men against eight, he said.

But, at the same time, Windsor says that if a hooker is placing the ball right for his line-out forwards then it is a form of repayment for the help they give him in scrums.

Last week Windsor has spent a good deal of time practising his throw-ins. He uses the cross-bar of goal posts as a target, which is about the height required to put the ball into the hands of a jumper at the top of his leap. Oddly enough, the Lions have encountered hookers who throw the ball into line-outs in both their last two games: Grant Allen for Poverty Bay-East Coast and Frank O’Carroll for Taranaki. Could the practice be catching on in New Zealand, with the likely test hooker, Tane Norton, now doing the job for Canterbury.