Marist overcomes slow start

Press, 19 April 1982, Page 21

Marist overcomes slow start

Marist overcame a slow start — it was 10-0 down after 20 minutes — to convincingly beat Old Boys. However, so poorly did Old Boys play that Marist coold hardly have done any differently. Old Boys’ biggest problem was lack of possession. They hardly won a line-out until the last 10 minutes and there seemed a

strange reluctance to throw the ball in'the vicinity of their chief jumper. Don Symon. Marist, once it got warmed up, looked very competent. The forwards. led by Pat O’Bryne and the new No. 8, Gary Hooper, were most efficient on the drive and Kerry Flood made sure that the backs were never left without cover.

However, it was the Marist backs who shaped the game. The five-eighths, Bernie Stewart and Phil Gibson, pul down a few early passes, but later they gave their speedy three-quarters plenty of chances and once they had space in which to work the three-quarters were hard to contain. especially Steve Hansen. Marist was also well served by

its new half-back. Steve Baker. He used the short side expertly and once Marist had the forward battle won he varied the play cleverly to render Old Boys even more uncertain. Baker left the field late in the game with a cut over an eye and his replacement. Paul Hayes, made his presence felt with a lovely break in the closing stages

which set O'Bryne up for a try. Gary Fuller tried hard to inject some life into his pack, but the response was not there. Hugh Flaus battled his way into the clear a couple of times and Rob Pope had quite a good first half. Old Boys owed much to .their half-back. Phil Thomas. He did as well as could be expected with the set-piece possession be received — and what little he got was stow in coming — and he excelled in cover-defence. Towards the end when Old Boys had to score twice to win, Stewart was in his element. He nursed his forwards with little kicks for them to run on to. although by this time it was apparent that Old Boys had nothing much left. It was a pity their backs did not get more chances, as Simon Brown. lan Mather, and the fullback, Mark Wheeler, all seemed eager for work and Brown made the best break of the game when he grabbed, the ball himself in broken play. SEQUENCE BROKEN The last two encounters between Belfast and Linwood both went Belfast’s way, but the determined green and blacks made certain that the bat-trick was not achieved at Rugby Park. Ru Koha and his Linwood forwards had a pronounced advantage over the Belfast pack, both in mobility and cohesiveness. and a Belfast back-line containing two All Blacks was kept in bondage for much of the match. Although both sides expended a good deal of energy, neither was able to make much of an impression constructively. Many of the second-half forward exchanges were scrappy, even tedious. and back moves foundered through poor or ill-timed passing. An exception was Wayne Smith, strangely stationed at second five-eighths for Belfast. His long, accurate passes gave the Belfast three-quarters some chances, but generally the backs suffered the heebie-jeebies through being confronted by a speedy Kevin Price rocketing off tne back of the line-out. In a second half punctuated by stoppages for injuries and minor infringements. Linwood produced a dazzling move which clinched the victory. Mark Cantwell brought off a superb break, found Sam Hale in support, and then Koha galloped off to draw the. last defender before sending Terry Mitchell away for a try,

a Cantwell stamped himself as a [‘splendid prospect with his assured play, and the side's new i! hooker. John Mills, had the speed 8 to bob up in many exchanges. [ invariably applying himself ably, i Smith, for his passing, and Bill ! Bush, for his scrummaging. I showed their class for Belfast, i but Jack Oldridge was al pains to get the side as a whole performing adequately. A missed penalty kick by Mardy Vincent from the front of the posts just before half-time summed up Belfast's fortunes. RUNABOUT Christchurch’s constant pressure in the second half enabled it to turn a seven-point deficit at half-time into an eight-point victory against New' Brighton on Lancaster Park oval. Neither side played impressively and too manv basic errors were committed by both teams. New Brighton, winning twice as much possession, had much the better of the first half and its lead at the interval was well deserved. But the second half belonged almost entirely to Christchurch and. although it did not take the lead for the first time until 10 minutes before the finish, it seemed inevitable that its persistent pressure was going to reap rewards. Christchurch received 11 penalties in the second half compared with New Brighton's solitary one and Robbie Deans had 10 attempts at goals from penalties. He finished with a 50 per cent record. Fittingly, the Christchurch try which brought it level with New Brighton was scored by Paul Shannon. The left wing was the most impressive back on the field, running aggressively and tackling tenaciously. Christchurch, in a remarkable turnabout, won a feast of possession in the second half and seldom was New Brighton able to get within its opponent's half. Jock Hobbs and John Mill were eager workers in the Christchurch back and Shannon and Robbie Deans, at full-back, were not found wanting when put to the test. New Brighton has a talented find in its young lock, lan Boyce, who scored a try in his senior debut and jumped high .to win clean, line-out possession. Peter McLaren was at his best in the second half when -other teammates were struggling for breath. Dave Smith made the best break of the game and he and the new full-back. Russell Pyne, emerged on the credit side. LINCOLN IN CONTROL After running up a lead of 19 points by half-time, Lincoln College relaxed the grip and allowed Hornby to score two tries and make some impact on the . game. For the first forty min. Lincoln looked a very competent team. The big locks. Albert Anderson and Chris Steven, dominated the line-outs and the pack was a cohesive unit in the rucks and scrums. Given good service by the half, Tony Beverley, the backs handled well arid ran with confidence and put Hornby under extreme pressure. A feature was the support play and the backing

up and speed to the loose ball was noteworthy. Lincoln lost the impetus in the second spell, the forward playloosened and the Hornby backs, whose role had before been almost wholly defensive, showed some flair bn attack. Albertson and Stiven received solid support from Brent Pope in the Lincoln eight while Chris Connolly, at second five-eighths, gave thrust in mid-field. Graham Rule ran strongly from full-back and Craig Pulla’r and Mark Macintosh were speedy and resourceful wings.. Howard Wilson and Brian Newlands were the best of the Hornby forwards with the half, Neville Wilson, and first five eighths. Steven Bloomfield, making the most of their limited opportunities in the backs. TANTALISING For 76 of the 80 minutes of its game at Rugby Park, Sydenham had prospects of starting its centennial year in a grand manner by claiming the prized scalp of University A. But a gallant side was forced to surrender its lead, and the match, in those last few minutes.

Sydenham started splendidly moving the ball eagerly and using the extra man to create opportunities. A shaken University side made errors under pressure and Brent Nicol! hammered home the advantage with sound goal-kicking to give Sydenham a half-time lead of 123. With no shortage of ball from rucks, as well as a steady supply from the set pieces. University made a bolder showing in the second half. Two or three chances went astray through selfishness on the part of the ball carrier, but with Warwick Taylor distributing the ball well in midfield the Sydenham defence was under strain. Victor Simpson, a replacement centre for the last 40 min., scored the try which broke Sydenham’s back from a swift, smooth second phase attack, and then Ross George kicked a booming dropped goal. It was hard luck for Sydenham, but the side should win several games if it continues in this vein. Gavin Fuller and Tom Chandler were prominent in a spirited pack, and Simon Bloomberg. Trevor Patterson and Kieran Flynn ran the ball with a will. Bloomberg and Patterson formed a well controlled unit behind the scrum, and when solid tackling was called for, Chandler and Darryl Flynn were not found wanting. Andrew McMaster played solidly at full-back for University. and John Edmondson and lan Stewart were at the heart of a strong forward effort in the tight. GOOD TRIES Apart from the quality of the tries — all seven were good ones — the game between MerivalePapanui and University B did not generate much excitement. Merivale-Papanui. with its young backs, perhaps, trying a little too hard, was very disorganised for the first 20 min. but there was never much doubt that the forwards were going to carry the side to a comfortable win. Later the backs did settle and there was some good individual play from a number of them, in particular the half-back, Alan Lindsay, and the centre. Paul Karena. Karena was easily the best back on the field, turning a number of half gaps into full

gaps by the speed with which he took them. John Johannson. a 20-year-old wing, had a good first senior game, scoring two tries and landing some difficult goal kicks for a tally of 13 points. Merivale-Papanui's new fullback. Tony Te Amo. marked his arrival in senior rugbv with a memorable try. He ran more than 70 metres to score it. University B bumbled its way through most of the first spell, but improved appreciably in the second when its backs came more into the game. The half-back, Mike Watson, kept himself busy and outside him. Craig Bunyon did well considering he never had a lot of time to sort out his options. A replacement win, Owen Button, also looked quite useful. . University B had a couple of sturdy props in George Nikora and John Buchan and a rangy No. 8 in Derek Lardelli, but Merivale-Papanui had too much over-all strength for its pack to ever be overshadowed. John Harwood and Roger Powley had full control of the line-outs, while Dennis Skipper, Ken Smith and Pat Brown were

prominent in other theatres of activity. Merivale-Papanui hardly played well enough to suggest that it will be a top contender this year, but it clearly has a lot of raw talent and if it can lower its error rate then it could well pose a threat. PRESSURE TELLS Increased pressure and a territorial dominance- in the second half took Shirley to a reasonably comfortable victory over Suburbs at Hoon Hay Park. But although Shirley kept Suburbs pinned in its own 22 for long periods in the second spell, it was not until 7 min. from the end that the blues were able to go out beyond a slender threepoint advantage. Suburbs led 4-0 at half-time after the backs had engineered a grand try for the left wing. Chris Taylor. First, there was a sweeping 60m movement which ended with the ball held up over the line: then, from the 5m scrum, the backs passed quickly along the chain to put Taylor clear for the comer. At 15 minutes into the second spell, a try by Neville Brown put Shirley into the lead after Wayne

Simpson had earlier kicked a penalty goal. It was a good try, from a well-executed set movement. Steve Scott ran wide from a scrum close to the Suburbs line, the full-back. Brown, arrowed in on the burst, and shot straight through to the line. Roger Smith. Stuart Mitchell and Waka Ama gained a marked line-out ascendancy for Shirley but no pattern emerged from the other possession statistics. There was a remarkable tight-head •count of five-four in favour of Shirley. Mark Young played an especially valuable game’ for Shirley as a flanker who was fast, wideranging and constructive on both attack and defence, Tony Pugh played a good general’s game as' No. 8 and captain for Suburbs but the man to really catch the eye in the home side was the right wing. Lou Wynyard, who was fast, aggressive', and elusive whenever he handled the ball. BURNSIDE UNLUCKY Two late tries brought respectability to Burnside’s score against Albion in an ill-tempered match at Lancaster Park South. However, it was an injustice that Burnside should find itself 621 down starting the last quarter.

It played with great zest in the first half and should have turned round with a useful lead. A runaway try by lan Taylor from an intercept inside his own 22m line in the closing minutes of. the first half gave Albion a fortuitous six-point lead at halftime. Little went right for Burnside and with Albion gaining the advantage in the forward battle, the points accumulated against Burnside. The Albion forwards, with' Murray Straight and lan Kennedy to the fore, found many ’ holes in the Burnside line-outs’ and Ralph Robertson and Nicky.' Dierck directed plav well in their vital positions at half-back and first five-eighths, respec-’ tively. The Burnside backs w : ere ham- : ' strung by the uncertaintv of their first five-eighths, John' Lindsay, but the three-quarters, • showed pace and all embarkedon good runs, only to lose support. David Farra'nt made some, ■ fine weaving breaks from" full- ‘ back. At times. Burnside looked for-' midabie in the forwards but they went in fits and starts, although,. Colin Stokes, the captain, gave a\ whole-hearted effort.