Kiwis brilliantly defeat France

Press, 22 June 1981, Page 34

Kiwis brilliantly defeat France

From

JOHN COFFEY

in Auckland

A magnificent try just before full-time provided the perfect ending to New Zealand’s 25-2 eclipse of France in the second rugby league test at Carlaw Park, Auckland, yesterday.

That final positive act of the Autex international series was commanding proof of the confidence and superiority achieved by the coach (Mr Ces Mountford) and a squad of players who are entitled to be recognised as one of the finest of all New Zealand combinations. The Kiwis, already ahead by 18 points, would not have been blamed for cruising to an inevitable victory. But, from deep inside his own territory, Fred Ah Kuoi put through a little chip kick for Olsen Filipaina to recover. Support was quickly given by James Leuluai, Ah Kuoi chimed in again, and Howie Tamati. who had replaced Alan Rushton only a few minutes earlier, completed the 80m manoeuvre under the French cross-bar. That was New Zealand's fifth try 'of the match, the eleventh in its two encounters with the Tricolors. It Was a tribute to the attacking skills of the Kiwis that they had such a prolific striking rate against a side that had relied largely on firm defence for its international successes. France had all of the appearances of a team desperate to salvage some pride from the series. Its tackling was generally forceful, sometimes fierce and occasionally illegal, if lacking depth in cover once the faster New Zealands wrested the initial break. . For a time in the second quarter it seemed that simmering tension would boil over as the Sydney referee. Mr E. Greg Hartley, ignored the head-high defensive measures of the tourists. Tony Coll, Mark Graham, Gary Prohm, Filipaina and Ah Kuoi were all dazed, and it was to the credit of the Kiwi forwards that they refrained from retaliating. It was not surprising that

the Kiwis were guilty of a number of handling errors in that period — the instinct for survival had them attempting to anticipate whether their opponents would continue with further arm jolts or. as they did twice, use foot trips. France was then trailing by only five points — New Zealand's first try having been conceived and completed by Ah Kuoi in the third minute when he doubled around Filipaina from a scrum — and had threatened several times to wipe out that deficit. The Frenchmen thrive on opportunism and only outstanding covering by "Shane Varley. Prohm and Michael O'Donnell prevented Guy Laforgue and the very impressive French wing, Sebasticn Rodrigues, from scoring. Prohm. a loose forward for most of his career, displayed exceptional pace in racing from the far wing to tackle Rodrigues from behind only a metre or so from the Kiwi goal-line. However. New Zealand survived those moments of anxiety and virtually made the result safe eight minutes before the interval, when Mark Broadhurst, Leuluai and Graeme West combined to give the other wing, Dane O'Hara, a clear run, and their team a 10-0 advantage. New Zealand’s defence tightened considerably, and O'Hara snuffed out the one clean thrust made by France after the interval. Although France had prospered from a few flowing back-line attacks earlier., New Zealand had allowed no such leeway inside its own 22m area. The solidity of the New Zealand efforts round the play-the-balls coincided with the return to the pack of Ray Baxendale. His work-rate bore favourable comparison to that of Broadhurst, who

was chosen as “man of the match." and Baxendale was also prominent in extending the thrusts initiated by Broadhurst and West. Baxendale and Broadhurst clearly had the measure of the French forwards, and were given whole-hearted support by Coll and Rushton in the tight exchanges. West enjoyed his most authorative test display in this country, and Graham gave plenty of evidence of his penetrative skills. So dominant otherwise, the Kiwi forwards won possession from only four of the 13 second-half scrums, a factor which probably saved France from total annihilation and earned its hooker, Christian Macalli, the award as the best French player. Rushton had beaten Mcalli. 6-3. in the first half, but Mr Hartley later made no attempt to demand a clear channel into the scrums. New Zealands back-line manoeuvres were much more constructive that those of the French, although some were disrupted by lost possession because they were too optimistic. Varley had another fine match, although Filipaina claimed most attention with his sheer strength: he was seldom held in man-to-man situations.

Any chance that France had of recovering from its 10-point deficit at the interval soon vanished. Broadhurst drew most of the French forwards into a tackle. West accepted the gap that was left, and Leuluai loomed up alongside him to out-sprint the cover. West was also instrumental in creating Graham's try with his long strides and accurate passing. Inevitably, some will con-

tend that the French inadequacies showed New Zealand in too favourable a light, that the Kiwis cannot prove their class until they encounter Australia. But both coaches. Mr Mountford and Mr Roger Garrigue. were adamant that this is indeed a very accomplished New Zealand team. Maybe something was lost in the translation, but a dejected Mr Garrigue. in a brief after-match interview, rated it the best side that he had seen.

“The Kiwis have obviouslymade a lot more progress since the 1980 series in France, while our players looked as if they are still learning," Mr Garrigue said.

“France was much harder on defence this time," Mr Mountford said. "But this was probably the best defensive display by a New Zealand team for many years, and all of the five Kiwi tries were quite brilliant.'’

“New Zealand has a far stronger side than many people think, and. there is better to come. If Australia wants to have a look at us this season it will have to come to Auckland: We are not interested in any challenge matches in Sydeny Mr Moiintford said.

The Canterbury scrumhalf, Wally Wilson, might have spent most of the series on the reserves’ bench. But he received official Kiwi status when he replaced Varley late in the second half. Details:—

New Zealand 25 (Fred Ah Kuoi, Dane O'Hara, James Leuluai, Mark Graham, Howie Tamati tries; Olsen Filipaina five goals, beat France 2 (Andre Perez goal). Half-time, 10-0. Scrums, France, 12-10. Penalties, France, 13-12.