Injury forces top Canty lock out of All Black trials

Press, 2 April 1980, Page 44

Injury forces top Canty lock out of All Black trials

By

KEVIN McMENAMIN

The Canterbury and All Black lock, Vance Stewart, will be out of rugby until at least the middle of May. Next week Stewart will undergo an operation on the knee he injured in Britain last year.

I Stewart injured the knee i during a training session before the All Blacks’ first match of their tour of England and Scotland and was severely restricted by it in the six games he played. As recently as a month ago Stewart intended to continue this season without an operation, but the difficulties he has had with the knee in pre-season runs have persuaded him otherwise.

If the operation is successful Stewart should be playing for his Marist club towards the end of next month. However, the operation does mean that he will miss the All Black trials in Hamilton on May 3. Canterbury has made only 11 nominations for the trials, well down on the full team, plus a few reserves, that have been commonplace over the last few years. The Canterbury selectors, Gerald Wilson and Neil Cornelius, have obviously been more selective in their choices, although the smaller number' could be an indication that Canterbury is not as well off for players as it was a season or two ago. ■ Apart from Stewart, the most notable omissions are Bill Bush, who is due back in Christchurch from Italy on April 24, and Randal Scott, who was an All Black trialist last year. Ross Gibson is another who might have been considered. .

Bush indicated in a recent letter to a Christchurch friend that he is not particularly interested in playing in the trials anyway, although his chances of getting back in the All Blacks this year must depend on him capturing the attention of the national selectors. After the way they dismissed him last year they are unlikely to accept him sight unseen. Even without Bush and the now retired Barry Thompson, Canterbury has still put forward two props. One is the former All Blacks, John Ashworth, who is expected to be available for all levels of rugby this year, and Murray Davie, the 24-year-old Albion player whose opportunities to date have been limited because of the depth Canterbury has had in the position.

Shane Gibbons, a Maori AH Black and a New Zealand trialist in 1978, could also feel slighted by not being on the list. Gibbons has now moved to Otago, but it is the general practice for leading players to be nominated by the last union for which they played. Not surprisingly, Canterbury has nominated two half-backs, Gary Barkle and Steve Scott. Barkle captained the Junior All Blacks last winter, while'Scott was a reserve for the series against the Pumas., There are four other backs — Kieran Keane and Richard Wilson, both All Blacks last winter, and Wayne Smith and lan Mather, who, not widely known at present clearly have the potential to reach the top level. In addition to Ashworth and Davie, the forwards on the list are John Black, an AH Black each year since 1976, and the Country pair, Graeme Higginson and Don Hayes, both of whom have the credentials to be favourably considered for a trial this year. The full list is:— Backs: Richard Wilson, Tan Mather. Kieran Keane, Wayne Smith, Gary Barkle, Steve Scott. Forwards: John Black, John Ashworth, Murray Davie, Graeme Higginson, Don Hayes.