Humiliating defeat for Kiwis in second league test

Press, 17 July 1978, Page 15

Humiliating defeat for Kiwis in second league test

I*l’olll

JOHN COFFEY

in Brisbane

The vast gap between the standards of rugby league in Australia and New Zealand was embarrassingly evident as the Kangaroos humiliated the Kiwis 38-7 in the second test at Lang Park, Brisbane, on Saturday.

Australia certainly did noti given an error-free display, but the professional attitude and superior skills of its players were in sharp contrast to the comparatively amateurish approach and tac-| tics of the tourists. When Australia scored! four converted tries in thei third quarter it seemed that' the eventual winning margin would hop a half-century of s points. Ironically though, the final act of the match had the Australians standing under-, neath their own cross-bar! when the referee (Mr Eddie! Ward) awarded a penalty try to the kiwis. The left wing, Dane! O’Hara, had kicked a loose! ball through to the Austra-j lian in-goal area and was 1 blatantly obstructed as hei attempted to set off after it.! Such had been the in-1 effectiveness of the Kiwi at-1 tacks that it was appropriate! their only try so far in the] series should be the product! of an opposing infringement rather than a planned manoeuvre. Neville Glover, Australia’s new cap on the left wing, set the pattern for the test when in only the fourth minute he capitalised on an overlap created for him by his fullback John Dorahy, who was another to enjoy a memorable international debut. Frequent gaps appeared on the flanks of the first line of! New Zealand defenders. The Kiwi forwards failed toj smother the passes of their! Australian counterparts, and! no-one in the New Zealand side had the basic pace to, cover successfully once a break had been made. Glover was to claim a second try before the inter-!, val, slipping through Shane! Varley’s tackle and sprinting! 50 metres to touch down. | After the resumption the! spotlight swung to Austra-i;

ilia’s other wing, Kerry Bou-i stead, and the Queensland; spectators were not disappointed. Both of Boustead’s tries followed long runs and the [play-the-balls. Ray Price, the I seems assured of an extensive and illustrious inter-j i national career. If Australia prospered; most by attacking along the; (side lines, it also had its 'notable moments around the! lay-the-balls. Ray Price, the! loose forward joined Glover; and Boustead as a double ! try-scorer, exhibiting an eluIsiveness more in keeping with the style of an inside; !back. ! The Australians were i given a firm base upon ! which to construct their ! offensives by the 14-7 hook:ing domi e of John Lang.; iNew Zea...nd won only one; jof the seven scrums in the! isecond half and it was per-! ! haps inevitable that its defence should crumble in thej i very warm conditions. j Apart from the penalty try in the last minute, New Zealand seldom threatened Australia’s try line. Olsen Filipaina made a magnificent break in the thirty-first minute, but John Smith, backing up in support, was collared less than a metre from his goal- New Zealand reached Australia’s 22-metre area on no more than half a dozen occasions in the (whole game. It was the Canterbury ! hooker Alan Rushton who j was the most prominent of the Kiwis, but for somewhat 'questionable reasons. He was! twice cautioned for head-! high tackles — one of which; !stunned Price so much that) he had to be eplaced. Mr I Ward must have seriously .‘considered dismissing RushIton. Australian observers do not rate their present test pack very highly, but it still .achieved a marked ascen-

dancy over the Kiwi for-1 wards. Rod Reddy, the rangy ’ second rower, was the re- i cipient of the “man of thei match’’ award, being quite i outstanding in running on to the passes of his team-mates and in bolstering the sturdy Australian defence. ! Price and Lang were j others who should have i clinched positions in the Australian team to tour Britain iand France later this year, j while John Donnelly advanced his prospects' with ‘some surging bursts- ; New Zealand’s most effective forward was again Tony Coll, and Filipaina impressed as the only back with sufficient penetration to trouble Australia. However, even they were sometimes guilty of seeking to move from standing starts and the (Kangaroos quickly disi covered that they could (afford to assign additional (players to mark Coll and Filipaina. i The experiment of shifting

Ray Baxendale to prop went virtually untested as he was forced to retire with a hamstring injury after 10 minutes. His replacement, Whetu Henry, was among the worst offenders in making basic mistakes, and the Australian ratio of possession climbed as the Kiwis passed foolishly and handled untidily. The third test at Sydney next Saturday will now come to be looked upon by most Australians as a pointless exercise. New Zealand's rugbyleague financial resources, as well as its reputation, will suffer from the drubbing at 1 Long Park. For Australia, Boustead (two), Glover (two), Price (two), Steve Rogers and Reddy scored tries, and Mick Cronin added seven goals. A penalty try was awarded to New Zealand and Chris Jordan kicked two goals.