Mourie seen as one of best of the All Blacks

Press, 30 November 1978, Page 32

Mourie seen as one of best of the All Blacks

From

KEVIN McMENAMIN

ill Newport

There are several candidates for any mythical “man of the tour’’ award among the 1978 All Blacks to Britain.

Stuart Wilson was an early favourite and while his standing remains high lack of opportunities for the wings has shaded his spotlight. Andy Haden and Mark Donaldson are other possibilities although inconsistency might cost each a few votes. The man who might head them all off before the tour comes to an end on December 16 is the captain, Graham Mourie. Mourie is an outstanding captaih, of that there can be no doubt. Even at the com-1 paratively early age of 26 he has already taken a place among the best New Zealand has produced. But it is not just for his leadership that Mourie will be remembered by the rugby people of Britain. He has also turned out to be a player of exceptional ability. The long serving All Black of the late 1950 s and 19605, Kel Tremain, has seen most of Mourie’s games in Britain and rates him as the best flanker he has seen for years. “The whole tour would fall apart withou' him,” said Tremain this week. John Buxton, another former All Black flanker of the slightly more distant past, I has much the same opinion: | he considers Mourie to be a great player. This is high praise for a man who up till now has been thought of more as a potentially fine captain than ar, a potentially great player. There is reason even to' suspect that it was his suitability for the leadership role that got him into the All Blacks in the first place on the 1976 tour to Argen-i tina. But as a player he has] come a long way since then.' A superbly fit man. he is almost perpetual motion on the field. An interesting exercise is to forget the play fo a while and just watch Mourie, so close does he I keep to the ball that not! much of the action is missed; anyway. His style of movement is as> worth noting. Fie glides

i about the field, hastening i only when the need is ur- ’ g-nt, with almost balletic ' grace. When he stops to talk • to the referee or a player > the exchanges are teleI graphic in speed and if his . tone is annoyance or concern he disguises it well. Alan Hosie, who refereed th< All Blacks’ game against I Midland Counties, described . Mourie as the best captain he had ever come across, a warm tribute from a man who, with seven inter- ) nationals to his credit, is , one of Britain’s leading refJerees. ,1 Mourie is the key man in

I the All Blacks’ tight defen-i Isive screen which has been] the most impressive feature I of the team's play. Not only is he a flanker who fills his quota o f tackles but there is i no-one in the side to match him in bringing order to broken play. >1 One experienced Welsh! commentator recently des-j 1 cribed Moruie as the per- ■ feet open-side flanker, fast ' and efficient. Off the field -I he is making an equally I favourable impression. ;| His leadership is as quiet ■ and unassuming as his own : character, virtues that have i won him the total respect : and loyalty of his players. He has made a good fist II of the taxing speech-making ' i side of his assignment, 'speaking with quiet sincerity |and never talking for too) long. Five minutes is the: limit he sets himself. : Mourie is also an in-'

>itelligent man and this is re- - fleeted in both his football; ; and his life style. He reads a ; lot: a British journalist: r interviewing him in his bed--1 room was somewhat peril plexed when he saw that a -book beside his bed was '“Zen and the Art of MotorI cycle Maintenance." The t Journalist thought All I Blacks, even All Black cap- ) tains, should tackle less: i; weighty subjects. J During three months in .France last year Mourie] ; picked up enough of the lan-j ’ guage to be able to converse) in it. He also has a fair j grasp of Spanish. These may seem strange assets for a rugby player but Mourie is a man of] many interests. His background of farming and uni-; versity study gives a clue to| this. To him rugby is just' the game he enjoys playing, certainly not his all-con-suming interest. He sees his future career, more in months than years. To the question of what it may hold he says he just! hopes that he will be se-l lected for Taranaki again next year. There is no doubt that the All Blacks captaincy is his, for as long as he wants it or I until such time when age] blunts his speed about the) 'I field. l | There need be no fear however, that Mourie will ' outstay his welcome: that is ; not his style. > There have been ex-j 1 pressions of opinion that ’ even if the All Blacks do | beat Scotland next week and| t) become the first side to! ■ complete the grand slam in ■•Britain they will still not i measure up as a playing I team to some earlier touring /sides. Given that such comt] parisons are unfair and can-) tjnot be substantiated there is !I possibly an element of truth; t|in them nevertheless. But if it should fall to) t Graham Mourie to be the ; man to lead New Zealand to) , this historic triumph the '•army might come to be )]judged more by the quality] Hof its commanding officer. 1 On that score this team has ■'every claim to greatness.