Canty should beat N. Auck. in rugby

Press, 1 September 1982, Page 42

Canty should beat N. Auck. in rugby

By

KEVIN McMENAMIN,

from Whangarei

Canterbury should pick up another two national championship rugby points when it meets North Auckland at Whangarei’s Okara Park this afternoon.

For some time North Auckland has looked to be Canterbury's easiest away game in the championship, and the fine win against Auckland last Sunday should put the side in a confident frame of mind. However, consistency has not been one of Canterbury’s strengths this year and North Auckland, which has won three of its seven championship games, is never a side to be taken lightly on its home ground. The most recent of its wins was a 32-4 victory against Otago on Sunday. While this might sound impressive, the local view is that Otago played so abysmally that North Auckland could not help but win by a wide margin. One worry for Canterbury could be" the weather. Showers are forecast and Okara Park is, as always,

well grassed. Touring sides, both provincial and national, have found it very difficult to play up to their best when this surface becomes slippery. As expected. Garry Hooper and Warwick Taylor are both unable to play today because of thigh injuries. This has meant some reshuffling of the backline, and the Belfast pair of Wayne Smith and Kieran Keane will be together in the five-eighths, although their club roles will be reversed with Smith at first and,Keane at second. One change has been made in the North Auckland side which beat Otago. Charles Going, who is not available for Sunday play, replaces Chippie Semenoff at centre. The Woodman brothers, Fred and Kawhena, will be on the wings and their speed might be a threat if Canter-

bury falls behind in the possession stakes. Against Otago, North Auckland dominated the lineouts. The locks, Alastair Robinson (a former Canterbury Colt) and John Reid, clearly outjumped their rivals and the New Zealand Junior. Neil Ruddell, was a great asset at the back. So long as hard games are not taking too great a toll. Canterbury, through Albert Anderson and Kerry Mitchell, who is becoming more competitive in his jumping, should be able to subdue Robinson and Reid and while Dale Atkins does not always play two games alike, his Auckland form would make him at least the equal of Ruddell. The Auckland victory was a great boost for Canterbury: It was a win which was desperately needed after the frustrating loss to Hawke’s Bay and to come from so far behind (6-15 with 20 minutes remaining) showed that the team has the character to survive a crisis. The Canterbury coach, Mr Alex Wyllie, yesterday singled out fresh confidence among the backs as the most satisfying feature to him of the Auckland game, apart, of course, from the win, which kept Canterbury at the top of the Division One table. “Against Hawke’s Bay they (the backs) just didn’t seem to know what to do with all the ball they had. Against Auckland they got much less, but used it well and now they know, and I know, what they are capable of,” said Mr Wyllie. For the first time ever Larry the Lamb, that fluffy Canterbury rugby mascot who prances eagerly about Lancaster Park, will be at Okara Park this afternoon, courtesy of two members of the Canterbury Supporters’ Club who are following the team around the North Island. Larry should have more than just the long grass to feed off if Canterbury can carry on from where it left off south of the Auckland border last Sunday. The teams are:— Canterbury- Robbie Deans; Victor Simpson, Craig Green, Bill Anderson; Kieran Keane, Wayne Smith; Bruce Deans; Dale Atkins; Jock Hobbs, Albert Anderson, Kerry Mitchell, Don Hayes; Murray Davie, Gwyn Williams, John Ashworth. North Auckland.— Geoff Valli; Fred Woodman, Charles Going. Kawhena Woodman; Murray Southee, Eddie Dunn; Ariel Armstrong; Neil Ruddell; lan Phillips, Alastair Robinson, John Reid, Stuart Clark; Doug Burke, Evan Wright. Mike Smith.