Canterbury under pressure against Otago

Press, 19 August 1981, Page 46

Canterbury under pressure against Otago

By

JOHN BROOKS

One of the most difficult of rugby assignments is to achieve a successful tour of the porridge-eating provinces of Otago and Southland. The Canterbury team is discovering this the hard way at present.

The loss to Southland in the Invercargill mud on Sunday has heaped great pressure on the red-and-blacks for their encounter with Otago at-. the Carisbrook ground this afternoon. The Canterbury senior coach, Mr Gerald Wilson, yesterday described the contest as a "pressure game,’’and said that it was one which his side wanted badly to win.

Canterbury is treading the southern trail hard in the footsteps of the Springboks, and is finding the fervour generated by stirring home team performances undiminished.

“Otago and Southland are both cock o’ hoop because they played so well against the Springboks,” Mr Wilson said. “Unfortunately, we are getting the backlash from that.”

The lash could be all that harder today, because Canterbury, already deprived of Wayne Smith’s excellent qualities at first five-eighths, has also lost John Ashworth, the All Black loose-head prop. He suffered strained

arm ligaments in the test against South Africa on Saturday, and might even be doubtful for the CanterburyAuckland game in Christchurch on Saturday.

Otago, however, has taken the liberty of omitting the former All Black second-row forward, Wayne Graham, and has left the talented David Halligan — the fullback originally chosen to oppose Scotland this season — sitting on the reserves bench. Such confidence by the Otago selectors must be disturbing to Canterbury. But Mr Wilson hopes that the players will show greater resolve in this traditionally hard game and rid them-

selves of the “stupid” errors which contributed to their loss against Southland. “We would be a lot happier if we had won on Sunday,” he said, in between training runs. “We made mistakes at vital moments when tries were on.”

Mr Wilson denied that the Canterbury backs tried too many variations in their moves. Attempts were made to keep the attacks basically simple, he said, but the side was in strife because the delivery of possession, especially from the line-out, was poor. The half-back, Steve Scott, often received the ball under what Mr Wil-

son described as “intense pressure,’’and the attacks suffered as a consequence. A casualty of this pressure was Smith, who was hurt in the fifteenth minute. After the game he discovered he had played for more than an hour with a broken jaw. Otago is expected to play much the same type of game this afternoon. The pack has been strengthened by the return of Gary Seear at No. 8, and Keith Caldwell, at loose-head prop, and Phil Young, the blind-side flanker, have also been added.

The backs are unchanged from the South African match, and Canterbury’s most difficult opponents are

likely to be Gary Smith, a rising full-back, Dean Kenny, a nimble and enterprising half-back, and the 1976 All Black wing, Neil Purvis, who is said to be showing his long-promised ability as a mid-field back.

Canterbury will be strengthened by of the All Black lock, Graeme Higginson, who takes over from Mike Fransen. In Ashworth’s absence, Bill Bush will fill the loose-head prop’s position, and Gywnn Williams has supplanted Mick Powley as hooker.

In the back-line, Vic Simpson has been switched back to the wing — the position in which he represented South

Island with distinction — and Ricky Allen has been restored as centre. Rod Latham will replace Smith at first five-eighths. A strong north-west wind in Dunedin yesterday was expected to bring Carisbrook into good condition, but the conditions will be only a secondary consideration to Canterbury. In order to beat a capable, confident Otago side it will have to play with the spirit it showed belatedly in the dying stages of the Scottish match and with the skill it displayed in its first national championship game, against Hawke’s Bay. The Canterbury B team will play its Otago counter-

part in the curtain-raiser.

The teams for the main match will be:-

Otago.— Smith; Mark Nicholson, Shane Gibbons, Ralph Milne, 1 Purvis, Barry Wright; Kenny; Seear; Young, Andy Hollander, Gary Goodfellow, Dirk Williams; Caldwell, Ken Bloxbam (captain), Kevin Hill.

Canterbury.— Robbie Deans; Brett Oetgen, Allen, Simpson; Kieran Keane, Latham; Scott; Dale Atkins; Jock Hobbs, Higginson, Albert Anderson, Don Hayes (captain); Bush, Williams, Pat O’Byrne.