Cantabrians beat Pontypool 22-15 to achieve their own 'Grand Slam’

Press, 26 March 1979, Page 30

Cantabrians beat Pontypool 22-15 to achieve their own 'Grand Slam’

NZPA Pontypool, Wales Alex Wyllie’s Cantabrians, many of them the grand old men of New Zealand rugby, achieved their own “grand slam’’ on Saturday, when they ended their British tour with a weary 22-15 win over Pontypool.

The strain of the last week of their eight-match unbeaten tour — a week in which they played half their itinerary — told in the second half on Saturday when a very tired Cantabrian team left the field. The prop, Kerry Tanner, summed it up for many of his team-mates, “Well, that’s it,” he said as he slumped down in the dressing room and threw his boots away. "I won’t be needing them anymore.” Most of the Cantabrians’ action in the match, in this famed Welsh valley town, was confined to the first half. Although they were down 3-0 early after a Pontypool penalty, it took them only llmin to score their first try and three more followed, Bernie Fraser getting two and one each to the two Stewarts, Ken and Vance. Fergie McCormick could not convert any of them but he did get a penalty, Pontypool was without its International front row of Graham Price, Bobby Windsor and Charley Faulkner, the flankers, Terry Cobner,

and Jeff Squire, and the; half-back, John Robbie. In the first half, Pontypool only remained in the game thanks to a penalty try awarded by the Welsh referee, Don Hughes, when David Thomson pushed Pontypool’s centre, David Williams, away' from the ball when a try looked certain. At half-time, the Cantabrians led 19 points to 12 and a runaway win for the New Zealanders seemed assured. But mistakes and leg-wea-riness crept into their game in the second half while the Pontypool players — steamed up by Cobner at half-time — found a second wind. The rangy No. s, Eddie Butler, who took good ball against the All Blacks when he played for Cambridge last year, provided the platform for a string of Pontypool attacks, stopped only by stiff Cantabrian cover defence. A measure of the change of pace and style in the game in the second half was that each side could only add a penalty. The Cantabrians were still able to show their class, however, and the crowd of 6000, packed into the picturesque ground, forgot its partiality when any of the old masters displayed their special magic. Sid Going and McCormick were the special favourites of the crowd and Duncan Robertson’s immaculate hands and snappy kicking won murmurs of approval from Welshmen used to seeing class in a first fiveeighth.

“We wanted to finish on a high scoring note,” said lan Hurst, “but we just ran out of steam. I'm pretty sure all the boys were tired towards the end and glad it was all over.” All Pontypool’s points, apart from its penalty try, came from the boot of the full-back, Peter Lewis, with penalties and the in-front conversion of the awarded try. i