Wilson excels as All Blacks slay critics with fine win

Press, 1 December 1978, Page 20

Wilson excels as All Blacks slay critics with fine win

From KEVIN McMENAMIN in Newport

i The All Blacks went a' j long way towards silencing I those who have criticised their strength when they ! demolished a formidable j Monmouthshire XV, 26-9, at 'Newport yesterday (N.Z. [time). : It was an impressive win by any count but even more Iso considering it was shared by so many of the non-testi : players. j It was an especially mem-j orable day for Canterbury’s! Richard Wilson, who was! : having only his second game j 'since he joined the side as a I replacement full-back two !weeks ago. Wilson put the All Blacks on the road to victory with three penalty goals in the first 12min. He added a fourth later in the spell. All were beautifully struck kicks that soared high between the uprights. Between the third and fourth penalty New Zealand scored a try to Eddie Dunn and another just before halftime to Dave Loveridge gave the All Blacks a commanding 22-9 lead at the interval. ! The only scoring in the; second half was a try toj I Bruce Robertson in the! .sixty-fifth minute but New; :Zealand dominated the play’ in this half even more than i lit had in the first. The game began in a caul-1 Idron of excitement with al tightly packed crowd giving! 'full voice to its expectations of victory. Some Herculean crushes in the first two ! scrums added to the tensionj jand the mood of the crowd

i! soured towards the tourists when Stuart Wilson put . down the Monmouthshire full-back, Peter Lewis with a ; flying arm. The crowd wanted more than just the penalty the referee, John West, awarded but New Zealand soon had the ascendancy to match the points Wilson was reaping. ’ Lewis narrowed the gap to ;6-3 when he landed a penal,!ty that clipped the cross bar Hand tumbled over in the I ninth minute. But after I Dunn’s try after a kick for ! the corner by Mark Taylor in the twentieth minute put New Zealand in front the set-back of two more quick | penalties by Lewis to reduce ’ the lead to 13-9 was only temporary. Wilson added his fourth . goal and then after Taylor had made a strong burst I Dave Loveridge whipped around the scrum on a Moni mouthshire put-in and his . feet in the air were the first . clue that he had got hand to . the ball over the goal line. I New Zealand could probably have had another try i! midway through the spell if I Graham Mourie, who had an ’outstanding game in all! | other respects, had not de-: ' layed a pass to Bill Bush, 'who had the line open to| him. I Bush eventually got the ipass but it proved to be a; costly One when he came upj from the tackle with a dam-1 aged hamstring and had to I j leave the field. John Ash-j I worth was the replacement

• and he rose superbly to the j challenge of having to play ' on the foreign tight-head side of the scrum. The All Blacks scrummaging was not affected and around the field Ashworth - had his best game of the 1 tour. ' Taylor also featured in the movement that led to Bush’s ; departure and he received a 1 blow on the chest which made breathing difficult. He left the field but after the ’ doctor in attendance had : spoken with the All Black manager (Russell Thomas) jTaylor returned. I it was perhaps fortunate [that he did for as well las having a hand in both of New Zealand’s first-half tries he: ’also made the third possible, I for Robertson with a neat! [chip kick over the opposing ' three-quarters. j Robertson swept on to the I' bouncing ball and raced?

away to score unchallenged. Apart from the line-outs, which were for the most part untidy although New Zealand came away towards the end to win them, 1711, it was hard to find fault with the All Blacks’ forward play. The pack held its ground and sometimes picked up a metre or two in the scrums. Its cohesion in securing and controlling the loose ball was first class. With the game safe the backs were brought more into the play and although they managed only one try the breaks were made that could with a little luck have led to more. In only one position did I Monmouthshire have a player clearly superior to any All Black: the half-back, I Brynmor Williams. He cleared the ball capably i from difficult positions and when he elected to run the ; All Blacks’ defence was sorely tested. It was certainly a far better display than anything he : produced for the Lions in ' New Zealand last year. I Loveridge was not dis-; : graced, however. He too got away many good passes’ under stress and if not as I strong a runner as Williams he was just as quick. Dunn misplaced a few high kicks' early in the game but later seemed to gain in confidence! j as more ball passed through' 'to grab possession spilled | Wildly from line-outs. The rest o,f the line ran! [with pace and penetration,; •the latter being sharp as in'

any previous game. Both , Taylor and Robert Kururangi : gave their best performances r of the tour. 5 Richard Wilson, who fin- - ished with five goals from t seven attempts, discounting 1 two long-range drop kicks, was given a steady flow of 1 kicks to field and although i he missed touch a few times . his play was generally 1 sound. 1 But while the backs may > have scored all the points it * was the forwards who made ' this win one that the All I Blacks will be able to look > back on with pride. They i baulked at no challenge and while Mourie did the work I of two men in the loose the ■ others pounded away with ' relentless fury in the tight. , Brad Johnstone had ans other fine game, being the ’ equal this time of his prop--1 ping rival, Graham Price, ! while Ashworth, Andy > Haden, John Black, and the still-improving John Fleming ■ were just as valuable. •. It must be recorded that i one again the All Blacks did not concede a try, taking the ■irun now to eight games. Nor J did Monmouthshire ever ilreally look like scoring one. ;; What more needs to be :! said about the efficiency of lithe All Blacks’ defence? If lithe All Blacks can maintain •ithis sort of form for a few : | more games they will have i proved that they are every i bit as good a side as those which have preceded them ■ through Britain and that I should surprise a few ’people.