Don Hayes on trial for Canty rugby captaincy

Press, 9 May 1980, Page 20

Don Hayes on trial for Canty rugby captaincy

By

KEVIN McMENAMIN

The appointment of the Kirwee flanker, Don Hayes, as the captain of the Canterbury rugby team for its first match of the season, against .West Coast on Wednesday week, does not necessarily mean that he has succeeded Alex Wvllie.

However, the odds about his getting the job permanently must now shorten appreciably. The convener of the Canterbury selection panel, Mr Gerald Wilson, said yesterday that the captaincy appointment, like the 21-man squad he named on Wednesday night, applied only to the West Coast game.

“After the West Coast game we will have to concentrate on a Town squad for the Town-Country match (at Queen’s Birthday) and it will not be until midJune that the main -quad is chosen.” said .Mr Wilson. He said that he and his fellow selector, Mr Neil Cornelius, had given a lot of earnest thought to the captaincy and Hayes was the player they had agreed on. “It is now up to him to prove himself in the role.” At 24, Hayes, a Junior All Black to Australia two years ago, is the right age to take over the position so long held by Wyllie and he also maintains a tradition in Canterbury of having loose forwards as captain. Even so, he is a slightly surprising choice and would probably have ranked no higher than fourth or fifth pn most betting boards. He

does captain his Kirwee club side, but was passed over in favour of another young flanker, Ross Loffhagen (Glenmark), when the Canterbury Country captain was announced two weeks ago.

One strong point in his favour, so far as the present souad is concerned, is that he is one of the few forwards who can look ahead with confidence to being a first-choice selection all season.

The loss of three forwards, John Black, John Ashworth and Graeme Higginson. to the All Blacks, plus a number of injured candidates has left the ranks rather depleted.

It was true, said Mr Wilson, that the pack could be very different by the time the big games arrived in August, but by blooding new players now, back-ups were created for when the inevitable injuries struck at the height of the season.

Mr Wilson said that the squad was a starting point to the season and had not simply been thrown together to get Canterbury through one game.

“Canterbury is tremendously well off for young, talented footballers and they

have to be given their chance. There is a bit of a dip in the mid-20 age group and then we have a lot of very capable and experienced players around the 30 mark. It is not an unsatisfactory situation.”Mr Wilson said that he had thought long and hard about including Rod Latham, who is just 18 and has played only five senior games. “I am well aware of the dangers of bringing young players into representative rugby too soon, but I am confident that Rod is mature enough, both physically and mentally, to withstand the pressures. And after watching him in the night game on Wednesday I am more convinced than ever of his ability.”

There were still some players he wanted to see more of at the club level and they could be contenders to places later, said Mr Wilson. He mentioned the Hornby wing, Bill Anderson, as one player in this category.

“I had heard he was playing well, but when I went to see him play he was injured. I would hate to count the number of players who had

to be discounted because of injuries.” The squad bears little resemblance to Canterbury sides of the last few years and gone, probably for good, are two long-serving players, John Phillips and Murray McEwan.

Phillips first came into the side in' 1972 and he bows out, if in fact, he has permanently, just four games short of 100 for the province. McEwan made his debut away back in 1970, although it was not until 1975 that he commanded a regular place. He has made 51 appearances.

Noteworthy also is that the former All Black wing, Terry Mitchell, has failed in his comeback attempt, while the Leeston centre, Donald Stewart, will be pleased to hear that he has been chosen as a mid-field player. His publicly expressed desire to play either at centre or second fiveeighths, and not wing where he has played most of his 16 games for Canterbury, undoubtedly contributed to his fall from favour early in the 1978 season.

The squad will train at Rugby Park at 10 a.tn. on Sunday, May 11. — Advertisement