Canty’s All Black test run coming to an end?

Press, 16 June 1979, Page 12

Canty’s All Black test run coming to an end?

By

KEVIN McMENAMIN

It is nine years and 36 tests since the All Blacks last went into a test without a Canterbury representative in their ranks, the occasion being the fourth test of the South African tour of 1970. That test was lost, 1720, and with it went the series. It will always be remembered as a strange selection, so much so that when it was announced by the assistant manager, Mr Ivan Vodanovich, one member of the New Zealand press corps, replied: “Good joke, Ivan, now give us the real team.” There is unlikely to be such bemusement when the All Black team to play France in the first test at Lancaster Park on July 7 is named in two weeks, but there is every prospect that again there will be no Canterbury names among the chosen fifteen. » Tane Norton, 27 tests, and Doug Bruce, 14 tests, have been the mainstays of Canterbury's test players through the ’7os and now that they have both retired there is noone who can automatically be expected to carry on the lineage. Barring shock selections, and they seem less likely then usual, only two Canterbury

players could even be considered in the running for test places against the French. They are Richard Wilson and John Black, and, if anything, there prospects have diminished in the last fortnight. Wilson, in spite of having quite a good game, had to bow to his Otago namesake, Bevan Wilson, at last month’s All Black trial and if the southern Wilson is fully fit, and he seemingly is, then there is little doubt that he will be restored as the All Black full-back. Black was a strong possibility as hooker so long as Andy Dalton was out of action, but last week-end Dalton returned to club football and apparently the collar-bone he broke early in the season is no longer a handicap. If so, and with time to achieve match fitness, Dalton is almost certain to continue as the test hooker. Black would not have helped his cause, either, with some recent performances that have been below his best. His hooking remains at a high level, but there is not the spark in his general play that there was last season. Bill Bush, like Black, could claim a place in the reserves, but so long as Gary Knight is in good health there is little likelihood of Bush

supplanting him as the tighthead prop. At most, there are probably only three test positions wide open, No. 8, first five-eighths and left wing. Canterbury has no-one challenging for any of these places, so unless the national selectors make a shock choice, or are influenced by injuries, the chances are very slim of Canterbury having a player in the first test. There could, at least, be one benefit in this, for Canterbury will pick up the threads of its representative programme about the same time as the French tests. The local selectors, Stan Hill and Gerald Wilson, will be happy to have all the players of their choice available at this period. Canterbury’s next game is against Mid-Canterbury at Ashburton on June 27. It then plays South Canterbury at home on July 10, with the first of its national championship games, against North Auckland, following a week later. Much has been made of the fact that Canterbury went into its match against Queensland last

Saturday poorly prepared. It is a legitimate excuse, although at the same time it cannot entirely exonerate the side. The players have had enough rugby this season to perform the basics better than they did.

The forwards, for a good first half, came out of the defeat better than did the backs and it will be interesting to see what changes, if any, the back selector, Mr Wilson, deems necessary. If he took notice of his critics, Mr Wilson might be encouraged to make wholesale changes in the line and it is undeniable that the side’s most urgent need is a sharper midfield penetration. Whether this might be more easily achieved by fresh players is debatable, but when Canterbury does swing back into action and begin its chase of the Rugby Cup it will be Mr Wilson and the backs he selects who will be under the most pressure. In fact, the key to Canterbury’s success this season may well hinge on the development of just one back, preferrably in mid-field, who can create, or capitalise on, scoring chances. With such a player last Saturday, Canterbury might now be basking in the glow of a great victory.