French players eager to prove test form against Southland today

Press, 10 July 1979, Page 36

French players eager to prove test form against Southland today

PA

Invercargill

The touring French rugby team’s match against Southland at Rugby Park, today, has assumed the air of a trial match for players from both sides.

The Tricolours, still haunted by Saturday’s 23-9 test loss will be looking very hard at the performances of the Oloron lock, Alain Maleig, the half-back, Jerome Gallion, and the fly-half, Guy Laporte.

The game is equally important for the man who Kicked New Zealand to a belated 13-12 victory over Wales last November, Southland’s captain and fly-half. Brian McKechnie, and the 1972 to 76 All Black flanker, Ken Stewart.

A good performance from McKechnie in front of the All Black selector, Mr Jack Gleeson, could see him sitting on the second test reserve bench at Auckland next Saturday and touring with the All Blacks to Australia later this month.

The rejuvenated Stewart, reported to be back to his best form, has all the credentials to play and, if need be, lead the New Zealand XV team in the two matches

against Argentina later this year. But the French selection panel will be viewing the match from a more shortterm perspective. Maleig, who has not played on tour since pulling a (hamstring in the opening fix-

ture against Marlborough at Blenheim, has been presented with an opportunity to prove he is fit enough to play in the Auckland test.

Similarly there will be much interest in the performances of Gallion and Laporte.

Good games from this pair could place the test incumbent half-back Yves Lafarge and the fly-half, Alain Caussade, under pressure of losing their test places.

The French coach, Mt “Toto” Desclaux, concentrated his attention on the work of his forwards in the team’s final light 75-minute training run at the Tweed Street ground yesterday morning. While the backs practised on an adjacent field under Mr Jean Pique, Mr Desclaux worked on line-out and driving drills. The move which yielded a try to the prop, Guy Colomine, in the Wellington match, and which was used again effectively in last Saturday’s test came in for considerable attention. The No. 8 for today, Patrick Saias, spearheaded several eight-man forward drives against some makeshift dirttracker opposition.

The run ended for the forwards with a session on the Rugby Park grandstand scrum machine. While the forwards scrummaged, Laporte practised his round-the-corner-kicking and projected one booming 55metre place-kick between the posts with nonchalant ease. The Southland team also had its final work-out for the match yesterday morning. Southland’s coach, Mr Gus Burns, who has directed the side for the last three seasons, has encouraged his team to play an attractive brand of rugby. His efforts this year have

been rewarded with wins over Mid-Canterbury and Otago, and Mr Burns is hopeful that the maroons might be able to pull off a repeat performance of last August’s 10-7 win over the Wallabies. With four All Blacks in the side, including the allinternational loose forward trio of the No. 8 Ash McGregor, and the flankers, Leicester Rutledge and Stewart, France will be hard-pressed. The teams are. —

France; Serge Blanco; Frederic Costes, Michel Duffranc, Patrick Mesny, Laurent Pardo, Guy Laporte; Jerome Gallion; Patrick Salas; Jean-Pierre Rives (captain), Francis Haget, Alain Maleig, Jean-Luc Joinel; Robert Paparemborde, Jean-Francois Perche, Daniel Dubroca.

Southland: Jeff Gardiner; lan Donaldson, Wayne Boynton, Garry Bennetts, Murray Mitchell, Brian McKechnie (captain); Wayne Tinker; Ash McGregor; Leicester Rutledge, Fergus Dermody, Murray Howe, Ken Stewart; Phil Butt, Dave Saunders, Doug Murcott.