Rugby title hopes for Wgtn closer

Press, 25 August 1980, Page 17

Rugby title hopes for Wgtn closer

By

KEVIN McMENAMIN

Wellington consolidated its front-running position in the Lion national rugby championship when it matched skill with experience to beat Canterbury, 26-16, at Athletic Park on Saturday.

It was only in the dying minutes that Bernie Fraser ran 40m to score his second try of the game and ensure a Wellington win, but not even the rough end of some questionable refereeing could blur the fact that the better team won. The referee, Mr Norm Thomas, of Manawatu, seemed to blue badly when Stuart Wilson scored a vital try for Wellington midway through the second spell. There was nothing wrong with the try itself — Wilson ( once again demonstrating his genius for getting the' ball down in situations where nine out of 10 wings would have taken it with them into touch-in-goal. In; this instance he left it behind as neatly as a milkman making a delivery. But .in the lead-up to the try half the Wellington side looked to be blatantly offside. There were other occasions, too, such as forwards getting found the scrum and in scrum pul-iris, after Canterbury had popped the ball out of a ruck that Mr Thomas seemed to be in error. i Be this as it may, however, Wellington scored four very good tries, to Canterbury’s one, plus a penalty try in which Mr Thomas was, if anything generous in applying the probability clause that applies to such tries. The Canterbury half-back, Gary Barkle, was certainly impeded by a jersey tug as he raced for the ball rolling wildly over the Wellington line. Whether he would have beaten a couple of Wellington defenders to it may have been more in the realms of possibility than probability. I The prospects looked bright for Canterbury when it went to a 7-0 lead in the first 15 minutes and considering it had to battle into a stiff northerly wind for the first 40 minutes was still; quite well placed at. 9-7 down at half-time. But whereas Canterbury played well into the wind,

Wellington played even better. The winning captain, Kevin Horan, said later that it was two incidents in quick succession fairly early in the second spell that stirred his side to greater deeds. The first was the penalty try, which Wellington was. far from happy about, and then a puncn-up which was ignited when Morrie Standish “did his bun” (his own words) at seeing a Canterbury forward run his sprigs ; down the back of another Wellington forward. ! “I told the boys to make their point by getting stuck ; in and winning the game.

And it worked,” said a de- ( lighted Horan who by his : own play set an example for 1 his team-mates to follow. There were a number of . “ifs” for Canterbury to mull ‘ over: if Richard Wilson had • kicked a simple penalty goal : in the first half, if Kieran ‘ Keane had passed when ( Canterbury had an overlap instead of drop-kicking for : goal, and, perhaps most regretfully of all, if Randal ' Soott had got a kinder . bounce from a Keane cross- , kick at a time when Canterbury deserved a try. But as in some of its earl- ’ ier games, Canterbury found ’ that forward control is pointless unless the backs ] are going to. turn the posses- : sion into tries. i The forward selector, Neil 1 Cornelius, put it in a nut- 1 shell when he said that s rugby of this level was all about taking your chances. < “Wellington took theirs and t we didn’t, so we can hardly i complain,” he said. p There was, however, some i very good football from the t Wellington backs, especially i the first five-eighths. Tup Wyllie, who quick-stepped I his way across the tacky, i field with deceptive ease. The Canterbury defence ; never found a counter to >

Wyllie’s lateral running, a , ploy which was made to look even better when the defence was no more efficient at coping with other backs running bn to Wyllie’s passes from a completely different angle. In fact, the worst feature of Canterbury’s play was its tackling. Not only were first tackles missed with great? frequency, but second and third were almost as com-i monplace. There could also be some questions asked about gaps left so often on the blindside, none wider than the one John Heale, the Welling-

ton half-back, took when he set Fraser up for his second try. There must be something about red and black jerseys that brings the -best out in Fraser. He had an excellent game, fast, aggressive and no hesitancy on defence either — a far cry from the Fraser who, to date, has been such a disappointing All Black, His first try was made a little easier for him when Wilson waited on his goalline to make the last-ditch tackle. Frazer simply ducked under him. The Wellington mid-field pair, Dan Fouhy and Jamie Salmon, also cut some merry capers, getting into position and moving the ball far better than their opposites. Canterbury’s main source of possession was rucks, where it finished with an impressive 16-5 advantage. What use all this ball was must be queried in view of the fact that it was well into the second half before the centre, Paul Molloy, had his gear noticeably soiled. Barkle was the best of the Canterbury backs. He was given a difficult time by the Wellington loose forwards,

but his passing rarely suf« fered. The dispatch, however, was not quick enough further out to stop these loose forwards, Standish and Paul Quinn in particular, from profiting elsewhere. Rod Latham kicked a lovely dropped goal into the wind and made one sparkling sideline break, but his general play was not as sharp as it has been and he never got off enough of his towering kicks to make the wind much of an ally in the second spell. The Canterbury forwards played their part well enough and none stood out more than Jock Ross, whose place in the team a week or so ago must have been in jeopardy. His running on to kick-offs was quite outstanding and around the field, too, he contributed greatly. Murray Hall scored a good try and generally kept himself fruitfully occupied, while the loose trio of Peter McLaren, Don Hayes and Barney Henderson were equal to nearly every challenge but stopping Wyllie before he got steam up. The loss was a big disappointment to Canterbury, which now faces an uphill battle to win the championship. There was no joy in the dressing rooms afterwards either when the players were confronted with cold showers. But perhaps the unkindest cut of all was an earnest plea from the Wellington captain, Horan, for Canterbury to assist Wellington’s pursuit of the title by beating the other leading teams. Canterbury might like to find other reasons. For Wellington, tries by Bernie Fraser (2), Brendon Gardner and Stuart Wilson; Alan Hewson two penalty goals and two conversions. For Canterbury a try by Murray Hall and a penalty try; Rod Latham a dropped goal and Richard Wilson a penalty goal and § ponyersion. ____ •