Canterbury continues its winning rugby form by beating Manawatu

Press, 27 August 1979, Page 17

Canterbury continues its winning rugby form by beating Manawatu

Canterbury offered a very simple recipe for winning rugby when it won its third successive national championship match by beating Manawatu, 19-8, at Lancaster Park on Saturday.

Canterbury did not play that wonderfully well, but it played to the conditions, with all credit to a couple of champion inside backs, Scott and Wayne Smith, and it took its scoring chances with both hands. Manawatu scored two tries to Canterbury’s three and the visitors were responsible for the best of the five. This was when Jim Carroll handled twice in an otherwise orthodox back movement and the left wing, Mick O’Callaghan, had the pace to capitalise on the overlap he was jiven. Terry Sole, a flanker, scored Manawatu’s other try in the last minute when he drove through a tired Canterbury defe-ce. It was of little account, apart from being a reward for Sole, who had laboured hard throughout, and an enormous letdown for a Canterbury supporter who had a jackpot entry of 19-4 to Canterbury. Canterbury’s tries were of a different hue, but each was a consequence of some-

one being alert to an opportunity. John Ashworth paved the way for the first when he made the first of the two surging runs that lifted his game above the level usually attained by a prop. From the resulting scrum Alex Wyllie fed the ball to Kieran Keane on the short side and Keane, side-step-ping like a matador, cut a clear path to the line. Scott Cartwright was true to form in scoring a try and he got the second. For a long time he must have wondered if Canterbury really needed him back again as he remained a lonely, and spotless, figure on the left wing, while everyone else gathered an overcoat of mud. Then Smith beautifully picked up a ball near his bootlaces, gave it a “nudge” and, after a ground kick by Shane Gibbons, Cartwright’s long white legs flashed into view and he was the first to the ball over the line. Steve Scott, who scored the third try, left the field covered in glory and. mud. It

was not an easy day for a half-back, as Manawatu’s Mark Donaldson also discovered, but Scott was most accomplished.

His kicking was his greatest asset and his try was a just reward for his diligence. He chased a long kick, more in hope than expectation. O’Callaghan had plenty of time to clear the ball, but it slipped from his . grasp, rolled over the line and Scott’s chase brought an easy four points, six when Richard Wilson added the conversion. Although the Canterbury coaches, Messrs Stan Hill and Gerald Wilson, later admitted to feeling uneasy

until after the interval (when Manawatu turned to play with the benefit of a decreasing wind), Canterbury always looked to be heading for another win. The side was 13-4 up at the break and thoroughly in control. The effort slackened in the second spell, when tackles were missed, line-out possession dropped sharply and the forwards lost some of their sting. But Manawatu had nothing fresh to offer and its tactics were not much help either. The side may have won the admiration of the

crowd (only about 1000) with its attempts to swing the ball through the backline, but on such a surface it was a suicidal ploy and more often than not ground was lost. Canterbury finished with a 26-20 advantage in the lineouts after being ahead, 17-9, at half-time. Vance Stewart heralded his return to the side with some lovely twohanded takes, and further back Don Hayes was another steady source of possession. Hayes had easily his best game of the season. He figured in a lot of broken play and with Barney Henderson (plus vocal support from the crowd) he made life pretty miserable for Donaldson. A little surprisingly, the “player of the match” award went to Wyllie. There was nothing wrong with Wyllie’s play: he has always been a good heavy ground foot- ' bailer. But Steve Scott and Smith were the pair that made Canterbury’s task so ’ easy and they also lifted the quality of the football above ’ the conditions. I Keane was not far behind , them. His try, considering the footing, was the game’s tru- ’ est gem and his tackling and . anticipation were faultless. In fact, he looked a better player than his opposite, Lachlan Cameron, who was . to pip him for an All Black : jersey. Gibbons, if still looking for

the performance that will restore his confidence, gave himself wholeheartedly to his role at centre, and Randal Scott had one of his better games, certainly in his tackling. Cartwright saw more action in the second spell and acquitted himself ably. It was an important game for Richard Wilson, with two All Black selectors keeping a close eye on him. He was not found wanting, although unlike his opposite, Alan Innes, he usually had ample time to make his clearances. Gary Knight, in the unaccustomed position of lock, Sole, Geoff Old and Graham Pike all toiled hard, and to good effect, in the Manawatu scrum. But their backs were unable to dictate the terms as were Canterbury’s and this was the big difference between the sides. Canterbury now has three wins from its three championship matches and the “high noon” of the season looks certain to be September 8 when Canterbury will face Counties, unbeaten in six games, at Pukekohe. It is a pity that on this day Canterbury will have seven players in Dunedin for the Argentinian "test” and Counties only one. For Canterbury, tries by Keane, Cartwright and Steve Scott; Wilson two conversions and a penalty goal. For Manawatu, tries by O’Callaghan and Sole.

By

KEVIN McMENAMIN