Rugby leaders both beaten

Press, 17 July 1978, Page 17

Rugby leaders both beaten

The long-awaited encounter between the two leading teams, Christchurch and University A. next Saturday should revitalise the senior rugby competition — in spite" of the defeats both sides suffered at the weekend. Christchurch, with an urn broken sequence of 12 victories behind it, went down to a spirited Marist side, and the second-placed University A was well beaten by New Brighton. " But the positions of the leading teams remained unaltered. Christchurch is still leading in the race for the CSB Cup, University A is still second, and New Brighton, Marist, and the third contender for the championship play-offs, Linwood. all advanced in close formation.

Linwood and Marist are drawn to play each other in a crucial game next Saturday, and the loser might be put out of the running for the championship. New Brighton is expected to dispose of its next round rival, Hornby, without much trouble.

The Marist-Christchurch game, already transferred from Lancaster Park oval to the south ground, was switched again on Saturday — this time to Waltham Park. Marist played with great purpose in the forwards, took the initiative, and deserved its win. Bernie Stewart, Marist’s kicker, was not in his best form, but eventually he chipped over an easy penalty shot to bring up his century of points for the season.

The Christchurch fullback, Richard Wilson, scored his side's only points with a dropped goal and later unleashed a mighty torpedo kick to lodge the ball in the top branches of a tree. The players stood around helplessly while Dave Direen, a Marist reserve, hoisted a small boy up the tree in quest of the ball. The referee, Mr I. A. Lawrence, walked along the side-line, asking “has anyone got a ball?’’

Eventually the small boy managed to" shake the football out of the tree’s embraces, and Marist got on with its task of beating the competition leader. University A had eight players away with the New Zealand Universities squad, but New Brighton, too, was minus five regulars and still did very well against inexperienced opposition in the first half. University held its own in the second half on an excellent surface at Jellicoe Park, but the margin against it was too big.

Linwood marked the first senior game on its own field, Linfield Park, by turning on an impressive display of well controlled rugby to demolish Sydenham. The forwards and inside backs did their groundwork well and the result was an impressive tally of seven tries, two of them going to Terry Mitchell. who is now the highest try scorer in the competition. Old Boys bounced back to form, scoring six tries in overwhleming Shirley. Clive Currie, back from the New Zealand Juniors’ tour of ! Australia, was in good form and the Old Boys backs cut loose with some spectacular attacking. Albion, which had headed I off Linwood two rounds j earlier, failed to live up to its growing reputation and was downed by Burnside.

I After the loss of two play- | ing Saturdays through snow I and rain, most footballers I were keen to return to ac- | tion on Saturday. The enI forced lay-off had taken the edge off "some players’ form, 1 but the grounds were in reasonably good order and bore evidence of diligent restoration. Results were:— Marist 9, Christchurch 3. New Brighton 22, University A 7. Linwood 35, Sydenham 6. Old Boys 35, Shirley 6. Burnside 15, Albion 7. Belfast 14, University B 6. Lincoln College 6, Suburbs 6. Hornby 9, Merivale-Pa-panui 9. Points are:— W L D F A Pts Chch 12 1 0 199 75 24 Univ A 11 2 0 218 112 22 Linwood 10 3 0 242 103 20 Marist 9 22 213 75 20 New Bii. 10 3 0 188 S 3 20 Belfast 8 4 1 140 106 17 H. 5.0.8. 8 5 0 186 125 16 I Albion 7 5 1 143 123 15 Burn. 5 6 2 103 124 12 Line. roll. 4 8 1 84 135 9 Shirlcx 4 9 0 99 165 8 Suburbs 3 8 2 104 142 8 Syd. 3 9 1 115 197 7 itombx 19 3 7! 219 5 Mer-Pap. I 10 2 49 188 4 Univ. B 10 12 1 76 264 1 IRISH SPIRIT A large dollop of genuine Irish spirit and the admirable cohesion displayed by the forwards enabled Marist to make

Christchurch’s .; thirteenth game an unlucky one. Marist’s victory was thoroughly deserved, and the principal heroes were the forwards. They exhibited many, fine qualities, not the least of them being the brisk manner in which they reported for duty at the breakdown. This enabled the side to win a good deal of second phase possession, as Christchurch was inferior at driving over the ball as a unit. Marist also had a superior shove in the scrums, and this, added to the rucking and driving, placed Christ,, church in a state of siege for much of the game. Tony Penny, at half-back for Christchurch, was often back-pedalling as he received the ball and this placed his .fellow backs at an immediate disadvantage. Had it not been for the excellent fielding of Richard Wilson at full-back, Christchurch might have been beaten by much more. Wilson was thoroughly reliable under the high ball, and his tackling and punting were sound.

Christchurch’s ball control left a lot to be desired, and its lack of success in the second phase encounters tempted players to drift offside too much. However, the side was reprieved, for Bernie Stewart missed four penalty kicks and Mick Bradley failed with a further two.

Vance Stewart played assertively in a willing Marist pack, and was able assisted bv Kevin O’Gorman and Pat O’Byrne, at the head of the rest. Terry Peterson was attentive in the loose. The best of the backs were the two smallest men, Adrian Young and Brian McLean. Young cleared the ball well and both he and McLean showed plenty of initiative on attack. Christchurch, on the other hand, seldom sparkled, and Murray McEwan’s fondness for the infield cut was anticipated by Marist’s defence.

SWEET REVENGE New Brighton was on the end of two heavy wallopings by University A last season, but the 1977 C.S.B. Cup champion erased some of those memories with a clear-cut ; win against its higherI placed rival. Both teams were sorely j depleted for their important! clash on a good surface at! Jellicoe Park, especially Uni-;' versity which lost half of its original team mainly through commitments to the. New Zealand Universities; XV. However, nothing could detract from New Brighton's decisive win. New Brighton’s constant hounding, terrierlike tactics threw the students’ backs into disarray in the first half and by capitalising on the hesitancy among the University backs and some, fortunate breaks that went its way, the seasides had a useful 15-point lead at half-time.

University’s approach to the second half was admirable. The forwards did their job extremely well and deprived New Brighton of much possession. The backs ran and passed the ball on most occasions, but it was to no avail against a Brighton cover defence that was highly impressive. Although New Brighton seemed to relax its endeavour in the second half, the power and purpose of its effort in the first 40 minutes was the telling factor of the match. New Brighton employed the right tactics of harrassment; keeping the ball behind the University backs and pursuing and pressurising its opponent. John Te Amo was a disruptive force in the loose and the frontrow trio, Paul Bell, Bob Davison and Devon Power, wrestled the ball back to Graeme Ellis who passed and kicked astutely.

University won most possession and did most attacking after the interval, but it was faced with an endless wave of yellow jerseys and obviously missed the experience and flair of several prominent players.

David St George, replacing Doug Heffernan, had a solid game at full-back for University. and Chris Stevens had several probing runs, but the usual decisiveness and impetus was lacking.

Mark Hammond was a constructive flanker for University and lan Stewart and Nick Frankish did much to gain some control for the University forwards in the second spell. But New Brighton’s allround concerted effort brought the result which it deserved. GOOD CHRISTENING Purposeful forward play backed up by strong running and sure handling backs gave Linwood a convincing win over Sydenham and the cause to celebrate the first match on it’s home ground, Linfield Park.

The ground was in fine condition considering the recent wet weather, and must have given great satisfaction to the Linwood club officials who had worked consistently for the last few days to pump water off the surface. Linwood was clearly superior. The forwards worked efficiently in the tight to clear the ball cleanly and support was always on hand when play became loose. John Phillips was always prominent, caring well and linking with the backs, and he received sound support from Gary Hogg, while Robert Johns and lan Mallard worked well in the tight. Given good service by the half-back, Gary Overend, the Linwood backs were sharp and eager for work. Terry Mitchell was in fine form, fully deserving his two tries and playing a major part in the scoring of two more. Dennis Andrews was a capable first five-eighths and Shane Gibbons an exciting centre. The confident running led to some entertaining movements. Colin King was a tower of strength in the beaten Sydenham pack and was impressive both in the tight and loose. Bernie Ryan also played well, but the forwards were no match for Linwood in the tight and were found wanting in defensive play. The Sydenham full-back. Ken Taylor, ran strongly to give the backs some punch, but generally the play was disappointing. There was a marked lack of speed and handling errors spoilt the few opportunities that came Sydenham’s way.

HONOURS EVEN A converted try apiece was a fitting result when Lincoln College played host to Suburbs, although the determination and aggressive attitude shown by both sides could well have resulted in more points being scored. The first half belonged completely to the students. Their forwards excelled themselves, especially in the line-outs where Rob Crawford, Don Gillanders and David White all worked well for some clean and valuable ball. The Lincoln backs ran the ball at every opportunity, and although Graham Shacklin was inclined to sometimes run too far, the movements were often well executed and promising. Lincoln was most unlucky not to have scored during the. first, half, but the scales were balanced during the second when Suburbs missed a number of opportunties. Suburbs won more ball up front as the half progressed but some sound defence from Lincoln prevented points being scored until 15 minutes from the end. The students came back in the dying minutes however, with an 80m movement being completed bv the side’s coach, Allan McLellan, who was filling in for an injured plaver. For Suburbs, the loose trio of Craig Whale, Eddie Cutts and George Humm was industrious, while Lincoln College’s full-back. Brett Codlin, was as sound and intelligent as ever.

ALBION UPSET In a game notable for a large number of line-outs and fluctuating fortunes, Burnside scored an unexpected win against the higher placed Albion. For most of the match Albion enjoyed superiority in the line-outs and the backline looked more dangerous on attack. The Burnside loose forwards, however, kept the Albion- attacking opportunities to a minimum with some sure tackling and speed to the loose ball. In the last few seasons Burnside has earned a reputation as a determined bunch of footballers. Saturday’s performance did nothing to change that reputation. From the opening whistle the forwards were up with the play, often causing Albion headaches with able rucking and determined tackling. The Burn-side backs, however, were unable to capitalise on this when they ran the ball. Passes were often dropped and the outside backs seemed more intent to run sideways. When the first five-eighths, John Lindsay, hoisted the up and under it was a different tale.

The first half was even with both teams intent on gaining territory by kicking. In the second half, Albion seemed to come to life and was rewarded with an enterprising try. Burnside bounced back and scored near the corner. From this point on, Albion seemed to be a disillusioned side. For Burnside, a flanker. Struan Ley and the front rankers. Graeme Church and i Ron Grossi, produced the I most notable performances. ! Ley was particularly fast to I the loose ball and his tackling was sure. Grossi and I Church wrested a lot of the

ball from the mauls and set it up for their half-back. For Albion, Mike Gee and Murray Straight made some good takes in the line-outs. IN COMMAND Belfast commanded the ball for much of the match at flam, but was unable to build a score in keeping with the amount of possession. Some dedicated defence byUniversity B was one reason for this; another was the lack of finish to Belfast’s moves, brought about by tardy backing up.

I But some of Belfast’s drivI ing play won admiration from the loyal supporters. Dave Thompson and Bill Bush, the team’s Canterbury forwards, relished the opportunity for match practice and played with a will in the tight. The big mobile loose forward, Andy Karatea, and the shrewd and nippy half-back. Teddy Davis, complemented these efforts by starting several promising moves. Karatea scored one of Belfast’s tries; the other went to Chris Morgan, the club’s three-quarter gain from Christchurch.

University B struggled on gamely. but Belfast’s strength up front was too high a hurdle. UNINSPIRING Hornby gained its third draw of the season and Merivale-Papanui its second after an uninspiring slog at Lyttelton. The match followed a predictable course, with Meri-vale-Papanui exhibiting a formidable front in the forwards, and Hornby’s enthusiastic backs moving the ball in an attempt to outflank the defence. But the side’s only try — and the only one in the match — came as the result of an unplanned situation. Neither side achieved a consistently reasonable standard of play, and the general lack of progress was prob-

| ably responsible for an outbreak of petulance. This cul- ■ minated in the ordering off of a Merivale-Papanui forward. Jeff Greed, for fighting. If Old Boys was a trifle lucky to enjoy a half-time lead of 10-6. the hard luck stories of the Shirley supporters were quickly forgotten as Old Boys turned in a brilliant second-half performance while adding a further 25 points. For most of the match the Old Boys forwards had to play second fiddle to an industrious Shirley pack but I the backs used their 40 per I cent of possession admirabI ly, and scored some wonderful tries. i The best of these were scored by the left wing. lan Mather, who showed both blistering speed and ability to beat a man with a clever body swerve. Mather’s performance was greatly assisted by the ability of those inside him to create an overlap, usually by bringing Clive Currie into the back line from full-back. Currie also had a fine match and his handling of the high ball under pressure was faultless: the Old Boys backline benefited greatly from the experience of first five-eighths Terry Mehrtens. whose ability to judge when to kick and when to pass took a great deal of pressure off his outsides.

The Old Boys forwards were seldom in command, although Alan Croad gave an excellent display of lineout jumping. Once again the Old Boys scrum looked the side’s most vulnerable feature. The Shirley pack worked extremely hard but was let down by inept backplay. Bill Boyd was in the thick of the rucks and mauls and was well supported by Graham Pulley. Only Norm Chase, on the wing, showed much penetration in the backs and he suffered from a lack of good possession.