Fitting climax to centenary

Press, 11 June 1979, Page 30

Fitting climax to centenary

By

R. T. BRITTENDEN

It would have been even more satisfactory had Canterbury won; but the 25,000 spectators at Lancaster Park on Saturday may remember Queensland’s handsome, 19-6, victory as a fitting climax to the Canterbury Rugby Union’s centennial celebrations.

Can a Canterbury loss, against anyone, be regarded as suitable fare for any staunch Canterbury supporter? It should be: Queensland, in the second spell, played supremely well, displaying all the skills which keep rugby pre-emi-nent among New Zealand team sports. And it was a centennial of rugby which was marked by this hardfought but attractive game. It was not simply a measuring rod of the present Canterbury' team. Canterbury will have great days this year, next year, soon. It has had many in the past, there are many ahead.

So if the home players were disappointed at their defeat, there must be some consolation in the knowledge that they were wearing proud colours on a momentous occasion. To the 5000 youngsters under-15 from their clubs — with the country ones well represented — in a march on the ground in early afternoon. the Canterbury players will still be heroes. They have always been, especially to the young. Were there any ghosts on the ground, among the lengthening shadows late in the game? What would Million, and Balch, and Deans and Hart have thought of it ail? They would almost certainly have been in accord with the grey heads among the spectators, those who have played for Canter-

bury, or have enjoyed its desperate successes as spectators, in the belief that wearing the red and black is a signal honour. They might have wondered at the changes in the skyline, the massive stands. But still the smoke belches from the gasworks chimneys, in a Vaticanlike progression, it still wafts away from the embankment, there is still the roar of a Canterbury crowd.

In all the 100 years, there could hardly have been a better day for rugby. The air was crisp, there was little wind, the sun shone, the firm turf was emerald green. What a fine crowd it was. Notwithstanding the understandable desire for a Canterbury victory, it was generous in its applause for Queensland, and its appreciation of the visiting team’s last try was unreserved. Canterbury crowds have not always been like that.

Rugby at Lancaster Park is still not quite 100 years old: there must be another celebration ahead. But Saturday’s match added to the lore of the game in the province. The sense of drama was inescapable. Perhaps it was a pity that the Canterbury team could not respond, at the crisis, to the urgings of its supporters. But it was beaten by a better team, and there is no disgrace in that. It was a great occasion, and it is not every day that there is a Hazelhurst pot, a Mayo try, to send spectators home, in a state of euphoria. Canterbury rugby has a proud record, especially against visiting teams. Saturday’s loss? Just another chapter in the story of a game well played, well served, over a century.