Rugby youth Sunshine for last round of rugby

Press, 16 August 1978, Page 30

Rugby youth Sunshine for last round of rugby

It was perhaps ironical that after such a wet and sometimes miserable season, that the last round of junior rugby should be played on firm grounds under sunshine.

In a fourteenth grade match between Hornby and Lyttelton, a number .of players appeared to find the ground conditions too hard and as a result three players left the field injured.

Hornby, with a height and weight advantage, converted this into a territorial advantage for most of the game and managed to hold off a plucky Lyttleton side. As well, the Hornby side was well-equipped in the forwards with the necessary skills in the scrum, rucks and mauls and the Lyttleton team found it hard to combat these strengths, especially in the first half.

Hornby went into the second half with a slim 4-0 lead, and it was to the opposition’s credit it was not more. With both sides scoring in the second half Hornby was able to go home with a 10-4 win, a very satisfactory result against such game opposition

For the Hornby side Brendan Jury was a tenacious half-back, well versed in the skills of his position, possessing a good pass.

David Mans.on got through a surprising amount of work on the side of the scrum setting up play well, while the prop forward, Marty Bremner, made several

solid runs at prop and was well rewarded with a try. In the Lyttleton side Micheal Wilson was an intelligent half-back and read the game well, first fiveeighths Graham Bishop looked a good attacking player, breaching the Hornby defence on several occasions while the flanker, Murray Williams, was a sound, competent player, especially in supporting his team-mates. In an under-12 fixture a luckless Albion side appeared to dominate its opponent from Cathedral Grammar for most of the game but was unable to register any points and yielded the match, 24-0. The principal reason for this was due to the freerunning Grammar second five-eighths. Maui Stuart, who was able to swerve, side-step and push players off at will. Albion should have realised this player’s obvious skill and watched him more closely. In the Albion side the prop forward, Philip Newman, used his size to good advantage in the scrum and made several forays deep into opposition territory while the first five-eighths, Reade Fuller, tackled and handled well. In the Cathedral Grammar side Stuart stood out in the backs, but in the forwards the players were more even, working hard to keep Albion at bay. But the Grammar prop, John Quigley, was a player who excelled’ in effort and dedication for the whole game. In the under-14 grade match between Old Boys

and Xavier College — Old Boys, after the first 20 minutes, began to dominate and gradually wear down its opponents. This was done by good scrummaging, mauling and rucking by the forwards and pressuring the Xavier inside backs. By half time Old Boys appeared too strong and added further points, including a penalty try to its 12-6 lead at the change-over, to win, 22-6. Xavier appeared to let up in the second half at several stages, thus allowing Old Boys to dominate further. This was evident in weak tackling and the number of mistakes made. Perhaps Xavier was lucky more points were not scored against it. But the flanker, Richard McLachlan, was one exception in the Xavier side. He toiled well in the tight and made a high number of tackles.

At half-back, the captain, Micheal Waters, played well considering the pressure excerted on him and Bernard Straker at hooker did well to hook several tightheads in the second half after conceding some in the first half. In the Old Boys side, prop Tony Currie scored two impressive tries using his weight to bullock over and was a tower of strength in the tight exchanges. Frank McKeag at flanker was an honest player, chasing everything and jumping well in the lineouts while the best back was Micheal Cairns who was safe and sure on attack and defence.