Jefferd returning north

Press, 9 June 1978, Page 24

Jefferd returning north

Canterbury’s hopes of retaining its provincial rugby crown this year have suffered a setback with the announcement by Andy Jefferd that he will be returning next month to his home province of East Coast. A sturdy and reliable back, either at second five-eighths or centre, Jefferd confirmed to the . Canterbury back selector, Mr Gerald Wilson, this week that he would be going back to his parents’ farm at Tokomaru Bay. Jefferd, who at 24 still has plenty of rugby ahead of him (although his opportunities will be more limited in East Coast), made his debut for Canterbury with one game in 1974, against West Coast. He established himself permanently in the side the following year and although that season was not a particularly good one for the

Canterbury backs, Jefferd’s reputation grew steadily and he finished it by being named as a reserve for the South Island. Jefferd had a very full rugby year in 1976. He began it by being on the New Zealand Universities tour to the United States, Ireland and Japan and later he was on the New Zealand Juniors internal tour. He was an All Black trialist as well, and had a full season with Canterbury. Last winter Jefferd was hotly challenged for his place at centre by the rising star, Shane Gibbons, and it seemed likely that their rivalry would be continued this year. It certainly started out that way, with Jefferd, because of his solidarity, being preferred for the recent game against Queensland. In all, Jefferd played 38

times for Canterbury arid scored 60 points—the most famous being the four he earned when he touched down at the end of a planned move the Canterbury backs brilliantly executed against the British Lions last year. In 1974 and 1975 Jefferd played his club rugby for Lincoln College, where he was doing a farm-manage-ment course. In 1976 he took a job on a Waipara farm and since then he has played for Glenmark, alongside the Canterbury captain, Alex Wyllie. While Jefferd is far from being a smooth runner, there is an aggressiveness about his attacking play that could sorely test the tightest defences. He also won a degree of renown for the certainty of his tackling. “Andy will be missed; there is no doubt about

that,” said Mr Wilson yesterday. “Even when in the reserves he is the sort of player who can contribute to a team’s performance. He inspires a lot of confidence and has been a source of encouragement to new players.” Jefferd is unlikely to play again for Canterbury before be moves, although he may be taken to Timaru for the game against South Canterbury on June 21 as a reserve. Mr Wilson said that he would be looking for a new midfield back to include in the representative squad when training’ began in earnest again next month and he added that he was also still on the look-out for a third wing. “At present I have no-one definitely in mind for either job,” he added.