Linwood suffers first toss

Press, 31 May 1982, Page 17

Linwood suffers first toss

The uncertainty of picking a winner of the C.S.B. Cup in the senior rugby competition became even more pronounced on Saturday when the last of the unbeaten teams. Linwood, was brought down by New Brighton at Lancaster Park. Outgunned in the battle for possession, but predictably seizing its scant chances avidly and defending superbly. New Brighton deservedly carried off the most prized scalp in the senior field. New Brighton's success enabled Christchurch to draw level with Linwood in the lead of the

big round-robin contest. And there are four other sides pressing them closely. New Brighton foremost among them. The others are Marist and Shirley, which are level with Brighton, and University A. one point behind. It was again a day of big scoring, with Marist tallying nine tries against Belfast, ant) University A and Christchurch securing six apiece. The New Zealand juniors and Canterbury full-back, Robbie Deans, continued in his brilliant kicking and running form to contribute 22 points to Christchurch and bring his ag-

gregate in eight matches to 92. The Canterburv wings, Bill Anderson and Garry Hooper, scored five tries between them for Marist. and Andrew McMaster kicked 18 points — including an impressive six out of six success in conversions — for University A to raise his aggregate to 70. Burnside won its way back into the top eight by a significant victory over Old Boys, and with four tries to show for its efforts. The Bumside coach, Mr lan Rodger, said it was a great "first" for the team to beat such a traditionally strong side as Old Bovs so convincingly. “I told the boys during the week that we had a great chance to topple Old Boys, who have been having a lean trot this season." he said. "We certainly did that, but I was very surprised by the score." Burnside won, 30-12.

Suburbs had reason to rejoice because it gained its first win of the season. But its display in beating University B was not an excuse for letting off fireworks. Merivale-Papanui also had a rare victory, and scored two tries into the bargain - twice as many as it had tallied in the previous six matches. But in other respects it did not fare so well; Lincoln College played the more attractive rugby and enjoyed the thick edge of a 16-7 penalty count. Meanwhile, Sydenham and Albion, two sides which promised much better things this season, and the usually powerful Belfast team, all have cause to overhaul their tactics and their application. The three sustained body blows to their prestige on Satuf-

day by being on the receiving end of big scores. Old Boys is in the same category, but they were already wailing at the wall. The points position is:

W D L F A Pt Chch. 7 0 1 147 46 14 Linw. 7 0 1 129 46 14 New Bn. 6 0 2 183 40 12 Marist 6 0 2 128 64 12 Shir. 6 0 2 116 91 12 Univ. A 5 1 2 182 88 11 Burn. 4 1 3 140 91 9 Albion 4 1 3 99 112 9 H.S.O.B. 4 0 4 118 137 8 Belf. 3 1 4 95 125 7 Syd. 3 0 5 87 161 6 Vler-Pap. 2 1 5 82 82 5 Line. Col. 2 0 6 66 112 4 Subs. 1 1 6 81 140 3 Hom. 1 0 7 41 187 2 Univ. B. 0 0 8 44 216 0