Top rugby teams to meet

Press, 26 June 1978, Page 17

Top rugby teams to meet

The senior rugby competition for the C.S.B. Cup will reach its most interesting position next Saturday with the two top-of-the-table matches — Christchurch versus Marist and New Brighton against University A. Christchurch had its twelfth consecutive win in Saturday’s rain-lashed round, to hold its two-point lead over Universtiy A; Marist, New Brighton, and Linwood are locked in a desperate race for the remaining two qualifying places in the championship proper. Rain and mud combined to k:ep scoring low on Saturday, and University won the big match by a single point, 4-3. against Marist amid the drab surroundings of Lancaster Park south. At Nunweek Park, Meri-vale-Papanui had one of the biggest upsets of the season by beating Shirley. It was Merivale’s first win in the 1978 competition. University B also gained its first point, by holding Albion to a draw at Ham. Teddy Davis and Andy Karatea again showed out when Belfast beat Old Boys impressively, to catch Albion in sixth place on the points table. Results.— University A 4, Marist 3. Christchurch 8 Burnside 0. New Brighton 10, Lincoln College 3. Belfast 11, Old Boys 0. Linwood 8, Suburbs 0. Merivale-Papanui 6, Shirley 3. University B 7, Albion 7. Hornby 3, Sydenham 3.

CLOSE MATCH A strong driving forward effort by University A gave It the edge over Marist in a desperately fought encounter amid the rain and mud on Lancaster Park soui'.t. The cohesion and thrust of the University forwards had Marist tn difficulties several times, but Vance Stewart and his men displayed extraordinary resilience and managed to clear their line under intense pressure. Marist made occasional sorties into University’s quarter, but the best scoring chance was upset when John Black took a tight head in a scrum a metre or two from his own goal-line. Marist led. 3-0, at half-time after Bernie Stewart had converted one of his two penalty chances, but University moved Into the lead when Chris Stevens pounced on a cross-kick four minutes into the second half. That was the end of the scoring, although Stewart sliced a kick which was well within his capabilities after Mick Bradley had failed with a long range shot. The Marist forwards contested possession with a will, and had tome success at rucking and mauling. Adrian Young revealed courage and ingenuity- at halfback, but Stewart was not always as assertive in the wet as a Coaster should be. However, he did a few probing punts which would have etnharassed University had Doug J'-Te-nan not been steadfast at full back. Marist had moments of uneasiness when the ball was k* ked through sharply along the g mind University did not always clear U ’-'all swiftly enough to evade *' - st's marauders and several 1 :s were nartially charged c n. But Kieran Keane plaved f ily and sensibly at first five- • ths. finding gaps with his y nts and generally contriving, t keep the ball ahead of his i admi-able forwards. Stewart! C-tffiths. the half-back, revealed t ’e ability to weave a path I th ough the defence close to the forwards and this. too. kept the pack on the boil. DAVIS AGAIN The Belfast forwards, supported ably by their half back, Teddy Davis, were the deciding factor against High School Old Boys, and the 7-0 lead built I

up with tfie wind in the first spell proved an insurmountable hurdle for Old Boys. Belfast scored in the tenth minute, when it was still possible to run and pass with some measure of control on the slush)', slippery ground, and then increased the lead with a penalty on half-time.

The only score in the second spell came in the fifteenth minute, when Davis took a tap penalty on the Old Boy’s line and sent Roger Taylor in for a try. The Belfast forwards adapted well to the conditions. They outplayed Old Boys in the lineouts and rucks and made many surging rushes in the loose. They had much greater control and Davis was seldom under pressure. The burly back-row forward Andy Karatea, showed his strength when moving off the scrum and combined well with Davis to keep his side moving forward.

Davis was an able general whose variations of play kept the pressure on the opposition. He kicked astutely, ran with discretion, and timed his passes well. Outside him Taylor also had a good game, as did the wings, Dave Percaskey and Larry Brown. The Belfast backs handled better than Old Boys and the support play both back and forward was superior. It was not a day for running the ball and although the Old Boys’ backs tried consistently to break through, the holding conditions hampered their undoubted speed. Only the fullback, Mark Wheeler, was able to retain his pace in the mud and he made several impressive runs, dummying brilliantly on one occasion. But support was lacking and Belfast was able to smother the few promising movements. Alwyn Harvey and Allan Croad were the best of the Old Boys’ pack, but they were unable to contain the well drilled Belfast eight, well lead by Dave Thompson with solid support from Karate a. FORWARD POWER An impressive display of intensive forward pressure pieced Linwood in the ascendancy against Suburbs, giving it a huge territorial advantage and virtually shutting its rival out of the game. The first half was played almost entirely in Suburbs country. Linwood relented a few times in the second spell, but it was able to dictate play for much of the time because of its proximity to the Suburbs’ goal-line and the wealth of possession it commanded. A well-knit Linwood pack had Suburbs sliding backwards in the slush, and it was almost a one-way trade to the green and blacks from scrums and rucks. Gary Overend, back in the side at half-back after giving way to Graham Parratt at the start of the season, made many probing runs, but the Suburbs defence was watchful and massed quickly to check breakthroughs. Both Linwood’s tries were from scrums near the Suburb’s goal-line, lan Mallard diving swiftly for the first and John Phillips running strongly for the second. Dennis Andrews, a noted mudlark, found gaps with ease on two occasions, but both he and Overend neglected the “wiper” kick to Terry Mitchell, who had positioned himself to outflank the defence. Phillips played a game of considerable worth, and Ku Koh a was unrelenting in his efforts to channel the ball back for his side. Mike Cron and George Humm played stoically in a beaten Suburbs pack, and John Neilson handled and kicked well at first five-eighths. Inside him, Lyn Davis made a welcome reappearance to senior rugby, and although he had an unenviable task behind a retreating pack he contrived to clear the ball well, and showed flashes of his old elusiveness. STRUGGLE Although it was not one of its mors convincing matches, New Brighton survived a strong forward challenge by Lincoln College to win a hardfought game at Rawhiti Domain. Despite the weather, both teams tried to run the ball. Graeme Ellis threw out accurate, long passes to his inside backs, but they were unable to capitalise bn them because of poor handling. In the second half both teams were content to I kick to the opposing full-backs Ito gain territory. For the most part, it was a :forward struggle. Kerry Tanner! land Murray McCoubrey made ■ some fine line-out takes and the hooker, Bob Davison, often caused headaches for Lincoln College with some fine drives through the line-out. For Lincoln College, Dave White was the main source of ball in this area. Lincoln College had the i better of the play up front. Led

by Don Gillanders, with good support from Andy Hollander, the students frequently made a lot of ground with determined bursts. It was not a day for great goal-kicking. Dave Bowick, for Brighton, was successful only once from four attempts. Although Lincoln College’s Brett Codlin was not any more successful with kicks, his positional play was. He was rarely caught out of position from the Brighton kick ahead. The scores could have been a little closer had it not been for bad handling by Lincoln. Twice in the second half it was almost over, but failed to finish the movements. When Graeme Ellis drop-kicked the goal that put New’ Brighton seven points in front, the Lincoln effort declined. MUD WINS Both sides made bold attempts to overcome the atrocious conditions at Denton Oval, but in the end the mud was the winner. Sydenham and Hornby were able to muster only three points apiece. As the game progressed it more and more resembled a minstrel show; the mud not only covered the players completely,

but reduced attempts to play rugby to uncohesive antics. Hornby must be extremely disappointed with the result, after attacking for virtually the whole game. Although the forwards were beaten in the rucks and mauls in the first half, in the backs Hornby looked far sharper. Sam Hale was a strong attacker, while Anton Wils’ runs from full-back were intelligent and forceful. The second half belonged completely to Hornby. Once it drew level, the forwards lifted their game, bulldozing their opponents in the tight and beating them to the loose ball. Although Sydenham defended ably enough, it was really the mud that had the last say. Movement after attacking movement broke down for Hornby because, at the vital moment, a pass was dropped or a player foundered in the muddy mess. ALBION HELD Albion spent most of the second half of its match at Ham campaigning in University B’s half, and winning a good deal of ball. But it was unable to do better than draw with its previously unsuccessful rival. With wins over Linwood and Belfast this season, Albion was expected to breeze away from University B, but, once again, the mud was the leveller. University had to hang on desperately as Murray Davie, Mike Eagle, Dino Martin and the rest of the Albion heavy brigade came charging through, but with a little bit of luck and a lot of determination it held on to gain its first competition point. Albion generated a good deal of impetus in the scrums and rucks, which was not surprising after the pack’s impressive display against Linwood the previous Saturday. From one of these hefty pushes, Ralph Robertson slipped around the scrum to score, as he had done against Linwood.

The tall Albion forwards also held sway in the line-outs and lan Barr, at second five-eighths,

once again demonstrated his ability t. cut the line. But Hiroshi Yamashita and Phil Holstein cleared the ball well behind a retreating pack, and Kevin Wooster turned in another good game in the forwards. LATE TRIES Christchurch was constantly looking for points, but a determined Burnside defence kept the competition leader scoreless until the final 10 minutes at Burnside Park. In that final period Christchurch scored two tries—Tony Murdoch getting his sixth in as many games—to gain its twelfth successive victory in the competition. Burnside upset Christchurch in last season’s championship, and made a bold bid to repeat the feat by bustling the opposition and keeping the ball on the ground. But Christchurch is nothing if not inventive, and it deserved its eleventh hour win because it made most of the play. The century scorer, Richard Wilson, failed to kick a goal in the driving rain, and this set Christchurch back a little because Wilson had averaged 10 points a game until the previous round. So the side worked hard at its goal of crossing Burnside’s line and eventually, after a good deal of ebb and flow, Murdoch was put in the clear from a back move. CLOSE ENCOUNTER On a surprisingly firm ground apart from a little surface water in places. MerivalePapanui played its best game of the season to beat Shirley, 6-3. In the first half Shirley played into the strong wind and heavy rain, but it was Merivale who scored first, when after a lineout on the Shirley line the ball came loose and Bruce Stewart, the nippy Merivale half-back, picked it up and dived over to score the try, w’hich Graham Northage converted. For the rest of the half it was all Shirley. As in the past few games its forwards dominated the set pieces to gain a monopoly of ball but tenacious defence by Merivale stopped Shirley from scoring. The second half was much more even as the Shirley forward effort slackened and allowed the Merivale forwards to get back into the game. This was especially evident in the line-outs as the Merivale forwards were able to waltz through big gaps left in the Shirley line and place pressure on the Shirley half-back, Robert Kilworth, who was playing instead of the injured Steve Scott. Play see-sawed up and down the field, and Shirley scored its only points when John Hiddleston kicked a penalty from a handy position. Shirley had several opportunities to clinch the match in the second half but dropped or mis-timed passes prevented it from crossing the Merivale line. It was a day for the forwards, and the Merivale pack, led by Denis Skipper and Steve Barnden, who seems to be playing well every game, paved the way for their victory. Stewart and Paul Hammant were a very tidy inside back combination and managed, with intelligent kicking, to keep the ball in front of their forwards. Graham Northage. the fullback. was safe and ran strongly, but his job was made easier by the Shirley backs —who wasted a lot of good possession with badly placed kicks straight into his arms.

Roger Smith led the Shirley forwards by example and he was well supported by Kerry Mitchell and Graeme Pulley. Norm Chase, the Shirley right wing, who was playing against his old club, made several bullocking runs and came close to scoring the winning try in the second half.

Points table:— D. F. A. Pts w. L. Chch 12 0 0 196 66 24 Univ. A 11 1 0 211 90 22 Marist 8 2 2 204 72 18 Linwood 9 3 0 207 97 18 New Bri. 9 3 0 166 76 18 Albion 7 4 1 136 108 15 Belfast 7 4 1 132 100 15 H.S.O.B. 7 5 0 151 119 14 Bum. 4 6 2 88 117 10 Shirley 4 8 0 93 130 8 Line. Coll 4 8 0 78 129 8 Suburbs 3 8 1 98 136 7 Sydenham 3 8 1 109 162 7 Hornby 1 9 2 62 210 4 Meri.-Pap. 1 10 1 40 179 3 Univ. B 0 11 1 70 250 1