Team reshuffle gives All Blacks edge for Twickenham test win

Press, 26 November 1979, Page 34

Team reshuffle gives All Blacks edge for Twickenham test win

NZPA London The gamble of making changes in the AU Black test side paid off at Twickenham yesterday when New Zealand clung to early advantages and beat England 10-9.

The reshuffling paid off and even tie England captain, Bill Beaumont, said later that if the All Blacks had fielded the same side walloped by the North last week, he would be mak ; ; winning speeches. There was little doubt that the placing of Murray Taylor at first five-eights and Gary Cunningham and Stu Wilson in the midfield made major contributions to the completion of the All Blacks’ two-test victory on

their tour of England and Scotland. Taylor had his best game of the tour, revelling in expert direction and service from Dave Loveridge and even the New Zealand for-! wards — generally reckoned to be inferior to their pre-;

decessors — lifted their game to help New Zealand to its tenth win over England. No-one could call the match brim-full of scintillating, sparkling rugby. A lot of it was kick and chase, both of which the All Blacks were doing better, and in tha second half when the AH Blacks went through a bad patch for 15 minutes, it was almost boring. But test matches are not designed as crowd-pleasers

and even though the margin could not have been smaller, the All Blacks never seriously looked like losing. They had too fine a control on the match for that.

The All Blacks said their captain, Graham Mourie, played well in the tight and disrupted the pattern England were trying to impose. England were playing to

their strengths and the All I Blacks contained them. England thought their j strength was the same as I the North’s: the back row. (But what Tony Neary, Roger I Uttley and Peter Dixon (could do at Otley, Neary, Mike Rafter and John Scott co- ’ 1 not to at Twickenham. Neither Rafter nor Scott looked of international class and the All Black trio of Mourie, Ken Stewart and Murray Mexted was dominant.

Mourie acknowledged that it was a tough test for 1 is team, against a background ;of one defeat and much me[diocrity, “our guys were on trial in front of the rest of New Zealand today. We just had to show we had big hearts.”

The England selector, Mr B. Rogers, said he thought England had won eno- T ball to win, and certainly the second-phase possession England were getting was not much behind that of the All Blacks. But England were not in the All Blacks’ half long enough to exert a lot of pressure and Loveridge, Rogers said, would turn them back. “He had a fine, fine game,” he said. “His contribution was immense.”

During their bad period in the second half, the All Blacks were tight on defence along their left-hand touch. Loveridge, realising a breakout was needed, beautifully

(punted the ball down a fivemetre corridor deep into England territory and the crisis was past. Beaumont said the switch to Taylor at first-five

eighths was a masterly one. The object was obviously for him to kick downfield and wait for the mistakes, Beaumont said, and that is what happened. England did not make many mistakes, but there were enough.

The most vital was when wing John Carleton and the flyhaif, Les Cusworth, hesitated over who would go in for a ball hoisted by Loveridge. Their dithering led directly to the onlytry of the test.

Midway through the first half the All Blacks were exerting enormous pressure and won a string of lineouts and rucks within the England 22. Loveridge took the ball from one ruck but when he found his pass was blocked by Murray Mexted, he lofted the ball for Bernie Fraser’s corner. Fraser raced up and perhaps the sight of him bearing down on them caused Carleton and Cusworth to have second thoughts. The ball went to ground and sat up nicely for John Fleming who charged Ov into it and over the line.

Loveridge tried a similar kick late in the game when an All Black score would have shut England out with no chance. But the kick was not as finely-timed and it bounced over the dead-ball line.

Fraser almost got a try of his own. Andy Haden — who had gradually worn down his lineout opposition — and Fleming bulldozed the short side from a ruck and gave to Fraser who, when blocked, kicked ahead. He won the race to the bouncing ball but the bounce

went the wrong way and into touch just out from the corner.

The All Black backline, with the possible exception of Brian Ford who again had handling problems—but also some sloppy passes to receive — did all that was necessary. Richard Wilson got his 50 points for the tour with his first penalty two minutes into the game and he added another later. But he ran with purpose and once featured with Fraser in a second-half dash down the left wing in an attack that England never could emulate.

Stu Wilson at centre ran sharply and defended stolidly, and Cunningham, who would probably be the first to agree that he is not a second-five, kept the North’s crash-tackling centre, Tony Bond, virtually out the game.

Perhaps one of the most significant of the changes was Mourie, back to eight in the lineout, with Stewart moving up to six. Mourie had a fine game, making the tackle of the day on Steve Smith, but perhaps of more benefit was that he was in a much better position to read the game. His placement in relative open spaces meant he could see his backs better and therefore direct better, and the same applied to the forwards.

There were not many frills in the game, but there was a lot of safety.

Scorers — New Zealand: John Fleming, trv, Richard Wilson, two penalties. England: Dusty Hare, three penalties.