Canterbury thoroughly beaten by Mid-Canterbury

Press, 21 July 1980, Page 17

Canterbury thoroughly beaten by Mid-Canterbury

By

JOHN BROOKS

M i d-Canterbury 19, Canterbury 3 — and that is not a misprint. Because of the severity of this defeat at the Ashburton Showgrounds on Saturday, the Canterbury team forfeited a promised day off yesterday and went back to the scrum machine and the drawing board to analyse what went wrong. MidCanterbury, meanwhile, rejoiced over the most sweeping success it has had against its rugby big brother. The home side’s victory was as decisive as the scores indicated. Canterbury, with only two widely spaced matches behind it, was unable to cope with a businesslike, well-drilled unit which has now stretched its record to seven wins from eight starts this winter. Mid-Canterbury has no really big men and no brilliant individual performers who would attract the attention of the South Island selector who attended the game, Mr Alistair Tait. But asv-a combination the side was superb. The teamwork was -outstanding, and it was maintained at a high level of vigour for the entire match.

Canterbury was hustled and bustled when in possession, and not until the final quarter did a likely looking back-line show any ability on attack. But Mid-Canter-bury had a look of assurance about it, and the extraordinary application of its forwards, supplemented by the precise play of the

, | halves determined the trend ; of the game. “We thought they would : play it that way,” said the i Canterbury forwards’ selector, Mr Neil Cornelius, who ; began his own footballing - career in Rakaia, one of the i strongholds of Mid-Canter- , bury. “But they did it so i completely for 80 minutes, , and, apart from a few occa- . sions, they kept going forward.” Canterbury’s chief selec-tor-coach, Mr Gerald Wilson, remarkably calm in the face of defeat, paid tribute to the efficiency of Mid-Canter-bury. “They performed like a team that has played together before, whereas we‘ operated more in individual spurts until the last quarter, when we started to combine.” There was no crowing over the big win in the MidCanterbury camp. Mr Neville Goodwin, who, with Mr Brian Sampson, coaches the side, said simply: “It is good to beat a major union like that.” The forwards, he observed, were Mid-Canterbury’s main strength, but the co-ordina-tion of all 15 players was an important factor. “We are playing as a unit.” During the game, however, Mr Goodwin was more vocal. There would be loud calls of “put it over, Scruff,” or “get up Dude, you’re not hurt,” or “go : Parky, go,” as he responded to the urgency of successive situations. ; “You’ll lose your voice if

you carry on like that, Neville,” said a spectator. “I don’t mind,” replied the man who could sense MidCanterbury’s second, successive win against its northern neighbour coming up.- “It’s not every day we’re in this position against Canterbury.” Mr Goodwin summed it all up when he returned to the grandstand after the half-time chat with the players. “The beggars are hardly blowing,” he said, incredulously. “They’re just playing as hard as they have to.”

Two minutes later the most energetic player in an industrious pack, Bruce Parkin, made a strong run on the embankment side of the field, passed to Ray Church, a prop who had already scored a determined try from the front of a lineout, and then Steve McAtamney, a lock, carried the ball on to score. The movement covered 45m, but there were three other forwards abreast of McAtamney as he plunged across the goal-line. The conversion of the try by Murray Holmes extended Mid-Canterbury’s half-time lead of 10-3 to 16-3, and from that point onwards there was no doubt which side would win. Canterbury’s forwards were never r" cd to settle into a rhythm, and although Kieran Keane played sensibly and soundly

at first five-eighths and Paul Molloy and Victor Simpson, essayed some sharp cuts in midfield, the Canterbury effort was only spasmodic. Mid-Canterbury t to that. Their forwards kept Canterbury off balance by occasionally using short line-outs, screwing the scrums on Canterbury’s putin, and operating a most effective and unchallenged back row assault off their own scrum ball.

In this respect, Mr Goodwin’s impassioned call of “go Parky” was heard most

often, for the determined Parkin made a series of brusing bursts from the right flank after “Bigs,” otherwise John McLay, had run from his No. 8 position and engaged what passed for Canterbury’s close quarter defence. If there had been a player of the day award Parkin would have been a popular recipient. He played his role with the utmost dedication and when he was brought off the field, concussed, a few minutes from the end he deservedly received a hero’s tribute from a large and excited crowd. In fact, one veteran observer reflected that it was the first time in many years that he had heard an Ashburton football crowd roar at a representative match. Ranking fractionally behind Parkin was Murray

Roulston, who took over the captaincy from the new All Black, Grant Perry, and teamed splendidly with the ebullient Paul Williams behind the forwards. Roulston and Williams made every gain by their forwards count.

i If Perry was toasting his side’s success with a bowl of kava in Suva, he could not afford to ask for seconds. His replacement, Noel Sutton, scorned a bloodied nose to take six tight-heads to one in the forefront of a well-knit scrum which won the ball 36 times to Canterbury’s 14 from this source. Canterbury won the lineouts, 19-8, thanks chiefly to the former Mid-Canterbury lock, Jock Ross, but it did not do the side much good because of the pressure applied by Mid-Canterbury’s aggressive defence. Once, when Ross had won the ball in the air and fed it to fellow forwards who packed around him in copybook formation, it was the übiquitous Sutton who emerged from the maul with the ball. The Mid-Canterbury side did not have a weak link, and as well as the livewire Parkin, the reliable Roulston and the . blockbusting Church, the side was particularly well served by young McAtamney. His zest and ability could take him along the path once followed by his All Black i father, Frank. ; But what about the Canterbury players? If they are impressionable they will

have learned a great deal from Saturday’s experience. The lesson would not be lost on players such as Richard Loe, who toiled stoically in the front row, Robbie Deans, who made the best of a nightmare assignment at full-back, and Simpson, whose deft movements indicated considerable promise at centre. In the only Canterbury thrust of any consequence, Simpson beat four men in a corkscrew run, but Don Hayes’s pass to lan Mather was put down. The chance did not come again. For Mid-Canterbury: tries by McAtamney and Church; penalty goal and conversion by Holmes, two dropped goals by Roulston. For Canterbury;, penalty goal by Deans. The game was efficiently refereed by Mr Alan Lilley. He awarded 11 penalties to Canterbury and nine to the home side.