Brighton, Linwood upset favourites to reach rugby grand final

Press, 21 August 1978, Page 20

Brighton, Linwood upset favourites to reach rugby grand final

j The glorious uncertainty of • rugby was vividly illustrated 'on Saturday when the warm favourites, Christchurch and iUniversity A, crashed heav!ily at the final hurdle in the race for the senior championship. J Against popular predictions, the grand final for the , Canterbury Savings Bank it Trophy next Sunday will be J between New Brighton and : Linwood. I New Brighton, a team with- > I out one player in the CanterI bury A squad, swept ChristI church aside to win, 30-6, '(with an excellent display of determined, controlled footI ball. 1 The lively Brighton halfjback, Graeme Ellis, equalled a competition record by I kicking three dropped goals land his back-line partner. I Wayne Burleigh, kicked! ! another. ! | One of the features of the grand final should be the i clash between the rival No. | Bs, John Phillips (Linwood) > and John Te Amo (New! Brighton). Both men played; outstanding rugby in helping their respective sides to sue-! cess on Saturday. Linwood beat University A in the first-round competition through strong, highly disi ciplined forward play. It was the same story at the week- — lend, although this time Lin-i {wood won by a much wider! I margin. It was a galling set-back ! for University, which seemed ! set to retain the championi ship after an impressive win against Christchurch a week j before. But that extraordin- ! arily efficient Linwood for- : ward play, admired by many for years, again decided the ; outcome. I Linwood finished first in the championship roundi robin, with New Brighton and University equal-second. But New Brighton qualified for the final because of its superior points differential. In the D.C.L. Shield series. Old Boys and Albion lead their sections after three rounds. Albion drubbed University B on Saturday but Old Boys had little to spare from an enterprising Hornby XV. Sydenham lost to one of [the joint holders of the i shield, Burnside, but the ■ Sydenham full-back, Ken I Taylor, had cause for celei bration. He kicked 17 points I in the match to become the j fourth player in the competiI tion to reach a century of points this season. Results: C.S.B. TROPHY -

New Brighton 30, Christchurch 6, Linwood 26, University A 13. D.C.L. SHIELD Section 1 Old Boys 7, Hornby 6. Marist 19, Suburbs 13. Burnside 26, Sydenham 21. Section 2 Belfast 15, Shirley 9. Lincoln College 22, Meri-vale-Papanui 10. Albion 27, University B 0. Points:

BODY BLOW A brilliant try engineered and executed by i New Brighton’s two men | of the match, John Te Amo and Graeme Ellis, knocked all the wind out of Christchurch’s sails after 31 min at Rugby Park. From then on it was a matter of what New Brighton’s winning margin would be. From a 15-0 lead at halftime, New Brighton let Christchurch pull up to 18-6 before sprinting away impressively to pile on a further 12 points. In the first quarter Christ- , church attacked with considerable purpose in the backs. ’Murray McEwan exploited a i defensive weakness in the seasiders’ mid-field, Graham 'Sims came bursting in from

full-back to force further gaps, and Barry Thomas and John Collinson backed up in- ( telligently. ; But all these good-looking {attacks came to nought bej cause of Brighton’s superb cover, provided principally I by Te Amo. Then came the break- ; through. From one of the many short line-outs called (by Brighton to offset a big source of Christchurch pos{session, Te Amo made ( ground with a vigorous run. |He was caught but he man;aged to pop the ball up to a ■ fast-moving Ellis, who . evaded three bemused (defenders and scored behind {the posts. The wiry Ellis had a remarkable game. As well as ; his try and three dropped [ goals, he cleared the ball

well and attacked and defended with equal intensity of purpose. His raking line kicks were also valuable. Te Amo was magnificent. He was an outstanding figure on defence, which was just as well because Brigh{ton’s tackling in the backs

was often brittle. His spectacular high takes and strong runs also caught the eye but his best work on attack was accomplished in putting his team-mates through gaps with splendidly timed passes. Bob Davison, who took three tight-heads in the scrums and harrassed

Christchurch from the front of the line-out had a grand game and Paul Bell was a force in the tight. New Brighton developed some good driving mauls in which Bell and the old master, Kerry Tanner, were prominent. Wayne Burleigh and Dave Bowick played soundly in the backs and made their line kicks count. In contrast, i Christchurch miskicked (dreadfully several times as ' the side slowly succumbed (to Brighton’s unrelenting (pressure. The seasiders’ second try, scored by Ross Gibson came after Christchurch tried to run the ball from a penalty close to its own line and Collinson dropped a pass. By that stage Christchurch was 1 badly rattled and even threats of dire consequences from the forwards’ slave- ; driver, Tony Penny, failed to (mend matters. { Christchurch was without ■ (the services of its All Black • full-back, Richard Wilson, . and his substitute, Sims, rei; tired hurt after 28min. But ;(the presence of these playi ers would not have affected i I the result, such was the

power and purpose of the Ne Brighton pack. LINWOOD IN CHARGE With forwards dominating their opponents in every phase and backs who handled surely, tackled soundly and kicked safely, Linwood decisively outplayed University A. Generally, the match was entertaining, particularly in the first half when play was ( open. But in the latter stages the standard fell, with: University in particular making many basic errors. The game was a personal triumph for the Linwood {back-row forward, John Phil{lips. He was everywhere on defence, breaking up University moves with strong tackling and taking the high ball with confidence. On attack he was also an imposing force and it was fitting that he should score a try in the seventieth minute which put the issue beyond doubt. The other Linwood forwards suffered little in comparison. Three tight-heads went to the scrum and from rucks and line-outs the ball was delivered safely to the I -

half-back. They continually . harassed the University half, Gary Barkle, and possession j seldom went to University ' cleanly. . Gary Hogg played a useful 1 game in the loose and Robert Johns, as well as kicking accurately, was, with Rue Koha, a hard and tireless worker in the tight. Although not having the flair and pace of University, the Linwood backs played a competent game. Two fine tries were scored from movements and the defensive work could not be faulted. Gary Overend had a good day behind the scrum, never bustled and clearing well, and Dennis Andrews was steadiness itself at first fiveeighths. Terry Mitchell was looking for work all day and as a unit the backs impressed with their over-all competence and coolness. University was dis--1 appointing. Ray Scott did his best to rally his forwards and lan Stewart also played well, but they were no match for Linwood. There .was little protection for Barkle from line-outs and the scrum was frequently pushed back. The backs appeared to have the potential to do well, but most attacking movements broke down behind the advantage line.

On the few occasions when the line looked dangerous, handling errors spoilt the chances and the Linwood line was endangered only by individual efforts. Randall Scott ran with determination, as did Doug I Heffernan, but the rest; played sub-standard rugby. UNCONVINCING Old Boys did not look convincing enough to be the divisional leader when it beat Hornby by a point I in the first section of the D.C.L. Shield competition. In spite of a generous supply of ball, Old Boys; could score only one try; against a Hornby defence; which, after several trials; and tribulations since the Marist massacre on the second Saturday of the season, has settled down reasonably well. Hornby scored its try to-

wards the end of the game but earlier it was unlucky to | miss other chances. It did well, though, to limit Old Boys to seven points when the whites were at their best in the first spell. Alwyn Harvey was enthusiastic and efficient at the head of the Old Boys pack and the wiry Neville Wilson again performed wonders for Hornby at half-back. Marist appeared to lose interest in rugby after failing to qualify for the playoffs but on Saturday it shook off its depressed state to beat one of the front-run-ning teams, Suburbs. It was Marist’s first D.C.L. win and Bernie Stewart, who kicked 11 points and directed play ably from first five-eighths, had much to do with it. There was an amazing fluctuation of fortunes at Burnside Park, Burnside swarmed over Sydenham in the first half to run up 26 points, including five tries. Burnside has never been in such a spell binding position before. Inevitably errors born of complacency crept in during the second half and Ken Taylor kicked Sydenham closer and closer to its rival’s tally. Sydenham scored 21 points in the second half and a frantic Burnside was a little lucky to

BIG WIN Albion proved its right to be leader of the second section of the D.C.L. competition when it ran up a 27-point winning margin against a luckless University B. The Albion forwards (played well as a unit and ; exerted considerable pressure on a lighter, less cohesive University pack. Behind his advancing forwards, Albion’s Ralph Robertson had a fine game, with tidy ball distribution and sharp runs. [The other Albion backs gradually gained in confidence. with John Truman and lan Barr having good .games. ( But for the umpteenth J time Phil Holstein showed how cool and reliable he is for University at first fiveI eighths. Hiroshi Yamashita also gave a valiant perform- . ance at halfback and the > “never say die” attitude of jj Hugh Barries was evident up I! front. ji There was plenty of , I razzle-dazzle from Lincoln [College in the opening i stages and two tries in the J first few minutes hinted that > Merivale-Papanui was in for jia thrashing. But College J started to drop passes r j through too much haste and I John Harwood rallied his J troops, as he has often done, ' and got back into the game Lincoln won comfortably t : enough, with four tries in Jits total, and the backs madt '(several pleasing runs. In the ’ forwards, Andy Hollande, i and Dave White provider j stiffening and John Patersor , (was as busy as usual in the ’ I loose. ’ I Belfast gave Shirley its (first defeat in the com 7 petition but only after ; e last-quarter rally which pro n duced nine points, includinj cl the only try of the game b; Belfast’s gain from Christ n I church, Chris Morgan. -1 Roger Taylor (Belfast) an< si John Hiddlestone (Shirley II matched successes in goal f kicking and Dave Thompsoi -(was at pains to get the Bel o | fast pack rolling forward n i However, Shirley wa ■-1 sprightly and Steve Scott i-(the half-back, showed n o I little maturity in directm; nlav.

C.S.B. TROPHY ts W L D F A F Linwood 2 10 56 47 4 New Bri. 1 1 1 57 40 3 Univ. A 1 1 1 61 67 3 Chch. 1 2 0 54 74 2 D.C.L. SHIELD Section 1 W L F APts H.S.O.B. 3 0 49 21 6 Suburbs 2 1 40 41 4

Burnside Hornby 1 1 ■ 47 2 29 57 29 4' Marist 1 7 30 32 Sydenham 0 3 Section 33 48 0 W L F A Pts’ Albion 3 0 63 2n 6 Shirley A 1. 32 31 4 Belfast 1 44 35 4 Line. Col. o 1 60 47 4 Mer.-Pap. 0 3 23 42 0 Univ. B 0 3 16 58 0;