Stern test for Papanui men

Press, 4 August 1977, Page 32

Stern test for Papanui men

By

JOHN COFFEY

Six of the seven Papanui members of the Canterbury rugby league squad, Kevin Williams, Eddie .Kerrigan, Gary Taie, Peter Tain, Ken Tait and Mike Godinet, have two important football assignments ahead of them during the week-end.

Their captain at club and representative levels, Rod Walker, will be alongside them when Papanui attempts to restore its confidence against Hornby at the Show Grounds tomorrow, but was not available to lead the Pakeha XIII in its match with Canterbury Maoris at Kaiapoi on Sunday.

Papanui was upset by Sydenham, 10-5, last Saturday to suffer its first loss in 36 inter-club games, and has had little time to correct its errors before being confronted by Hornby, its closest pursuer in the contest for the Canterbury premiership. In spite of the moderate form shown by the Papanui

back-line in many of its appearances this season, the provincial selectors (Messrs Trevor Bisman, Gary Clarke, and Mel Clinton) have been very generous to the club when choosing their sides for the recent matches against West Coast and Wellington.

The composition of the Pakeha XIII indicates that Williams will be retained at full-back — with the World Cup player, Michael O’Donnell, in the centres — for the vital southern zone semi-final of the Rothmans tournament at Greymouth on August 14.

Tait, now recovered from a hand injury, has the chance to reclaim the scrum-half role. The promising Tairi has shown potential at stand-off half and centre, and the more experienced Kerrigan and Taie are capable of alternating between centre and wing. But only a considerable improvement in their teamwork, particularly in taking advantage of Williams’s momentum when joining in back-line attacks, would persuade most observers that

Canterbury will not have to rely too heavily on its forwards if it is to again reach the Rothmans final.

The outstanding efforts by Mutu Stone (Addington), especially, and Wayne Bunn (Hornby) in the last few club rounds must have pressed their bids to earn promotion from the reserve forwards’ bench when Canterbury meets West Coast. It is therefore up to Godinet to prove that he should hold the hooking position, with the World Cup hooker, Alan Rushton, staying at prop. Godinet and Rushton will be in direct opposition at Kaiapoi on Sunday, and the scrummaging statistics will no doubt be studied closely by the Canterbury coach, Mr Bisman. Rushton. is fortunate in that he will have the assistance of three other members of the Canterbury A pack, John Greengrass, Terry Gillman, and Barry Edkins, while Godinet ironically has his challengers, Bunn and Stone, with him.

The centre combination ol

Kerrigan and Taie will come under scrutiny in the Maori side, and the Papanui pair will be faced by stem opposition from O’Donnell and Warren Wright, who were both forced to withdraw from the last provincial squad because of injury. If Tait and Wayne O’Donnell work smoothly in the Pakeha halves there would be a good case for having them together at Greymouth. Tairi is expected to be at full-back for the Maoris for at least part of the game, and it will be interesting to judge his efforts against those of Williams. A third match of considerable importance this weekend is the encounter between Sydenham and Linwood at the Show Grounds tomorrow. They are keenly disputing the fourth championship semi-final berth — Papanui, Hornby, and Eastern Suburbs have virtually clinched the other positions — and both teams have been close to their peak in the last few weeks.