Coach, players patch up their differences

Press, 12 May 1981, Page 30

Coach, players patch up their differences

PA Auckland Dave Jones, the Thames Valley rugby coach and half the team he left in Australia, have patched up their differences. Mr Jones yesterday afternoon announced his team to play Counties at Paeroa tomorrow, and it includes ten of the 21 players who went to Australia last month. Last week the squad voted not to play for the Valley under Mr Jones as a coach and asked for his resignation from the position, but now half of them have done an about face and will turn out in the “Swamp Foxes” colours for their opening home match of the season. Only four of the side selected are new caps, the remainder of the team having had considerable representative experience for the Valley. There will be a lot of pressure on the young first five-eighths, Bruce Mehertens, who will be playing his first representative game. Mehertens' toured Australia

last month, but the four matches did not make •players eligible for caps. The other new players, are the No. 8, Irvine Campbell, the lock, Gerard Hodges, and the prop, John Shine. A former Thames Valley flanker, John Corbett, who also had a few games for Counties when he played his club rugby at Maramarua, has been recalled into the team. ■ The forwards trained last evening in their final preparation for the match, while the backs had a run yesterday, when several of the forwards were involved with the Thames Valley Maori team’s match against the Bay of Plenty Maoris. The Thames Valley team to play Counties at the Paeroa Domain on Wednesday is; K. Millington; K. Hanley, M. Butterworth, S. Leach; Q. Goldsmith, B. Mehertens; D. Morrison; I. Campbell; J. Corbett, D. Parfitt, D. Hodges, G. Wilkie; J. Shine, K. Tuhoro; L. Fox.