Luck contributes to All Black win over Llanelli

Press, 23 October 1980, Page 30

Luck contributes to All Black win over Llanelli

From

KEVIN McMENAMIN

in Llanelli

It is hard to decide whether the All Blacks had j a great win, or just a lucky one, when they beat Llanelli, j 16-10, in the second match of their Welsh tour early i yesterday morning (New Zealand time). ;

Luck was certainly with them when Llanelli failed to translate a tremendous first half into more than 10 points, and so well did the “Sospans" control the play in the first 40 minutes that New Zealand’s chances looked well nigh hopeless at the interval.

With hundreds of children butting in on their half-time team talk it is hard to imagine that the All Blacks were able to work out some new formula, but nevertheless they were a very different side in the second half, especially in the early stages when it took them only five minutes to score seven points and draw level at 1010.

The winning points were scored mid-way through the spell when after a set scrum move went wrong Bruce Robertson scooped up a loose ball and raced with .almost unbelievable ease to score a try behind the posts. Doug Rollerson, who played a fine aggressive game at full-back, scored New Zealand’s first try when he took a pass from Mark Donaldson on the short side a minute into the second half and he also contributed five further points from the conversion of Robs ertson’s try and a penalty goal. A lovely dropped goal by Murray Taylor brought the other three points and these were the three that levelled the scores.

It was, despite the sensational ending, a game of considerable . quality and generally played in a good spirit. Most of the quality, however, came from Llanelli. Few teams at this level play 40 minutes as well as Lla-

nelli did in the first half. The forwards were magnificent as they shut the All Blacks out in most of the ball winning areas, the ruck count at the interval for example, being a remarkable 13-4 in favour of the home side.

The All Blacks came back to square the line-outs in the second spell, but of the six they won before halftime four were from . short throws to Rod Ketels. If the game revealed just one lesson it would be that the All Blacks at the moment simply cannot afford to rest Andy Haden. It was the forwards, nevertheless, who sparked the All Blacks second-half recovery. John Spiers, Frank Oliver and Geoff Hines were the three who contributed most, and Spiers, in particular, got through an enormous amount of work. The backs were still rather left out in the rain, which followed the milky sunshine of the opening fifteen minutes, but the inside men had enough ball to change the face of the game long enough for the All Blacks to score some points. But it would have been no injustice if Llanelli had been beyond reach at half-time. It missed at least two tries by narrow margins and between them three goal-kickers missed five attempts.

By the same token, however, Rollerson landed only two out of six although he was unlucky to strike an upright with the conversion attempt of his own try. But the star of the game would still have to be a Llanelli man — the outside half, Phil Bennett. With his forwards rampant in the first half, Bennett was Sur-

perb and it was his running and kicking that loosened the nuts and bolts of the usually reliable New Zealand defence.

It was, not surprisingly, Bennett who made Llanelli’s only try. He slipped between two defenders on the blind side and set up his right wing, Mark Jones, for a fine try in the comer. In spite of the victory, it was not a good day for some All Black reputations. Stu Wilson’s hands again let him down badly while poor Fred Woodman, on the other wing, received barely a pass.

Bill Osborne was another fairly anonymous figure, and while Graham Mourie, playing his fiftieth match for New Zealand, kept the cover defence on the alert, Bennett got away with far too much to suppose that this was one of Mourie’s better games. In addition to Bennett, Llanelli had a number of other fine players. Derek Quinnell, Russell Cornelius and a replacement, Phil May, were dominant figures, while both the half-back, Mark Douglas, and the fullback, Martin Gravelie, had excellent games. The Welsh are of the opinion that in recent years the rub of the green has invariably gone New Zealand’s way in its matches in Wales.

On this occasion they could well be right.

For New Zealand, tries by Doug Rollerson and Bruce Robertson, Rollerson a penalty goal and conversion, Murray Taylor a dropped goal.

For Llanelli, Mark Jones a try, Phil Bennett a penalty goal and Martin Gravelie a dropped goal.