Two shield challenges this season

Press, 20 September 1982, Page 32

Two shield challenges this season

Bv

KEVIN McMENAMIN

Winning the Ranfurly Shield on Saturday brought enormous relief to the Canterbury rugby team. The unbridled joy of the players when the final whistle sounded was proof enough of this.

But the coach, Alex Wyllie. made sure the team did not rest on its laurels for long. He had them hard at work

on the training field yesterday morning. Canterbury faces two challenges this season, the first will be from Counties next Saturday and. if this fails. Wairarapa-Bush will have a challenge the following Wednesday.

These are Canterbury's last two games in the national championship and Counties' loss to Waikato on Saturday has brought Canterbury right back into contention for the first division title.

If Canterbury beats both Counties and WairarapaBush it will finish with 16 points and only Auckland and Manawatu can do as well, and Auckland and Manawatu will meet next Saturday. It would serve Canterbury’s interests if Auckland beat Manawatu. as if two

sides finish first equal the champion is the one which beat the other; Canterbury beat Auckland and lost to ■Manawatu.

Auckland and Manawatu also have other difficult games. Auckland could find Wellington hard to beat on Athletic Park and Manawatu has an away game against Waikato. Counties cannot be counted out either. If • they win all their remaining games they

will become both the shield holder and the championship winner. In the last few weeks, the Canterbury team has thought of little else but its shield challenge. The players were brought together every day

last week for practices, meetings and video screenings of its own and Wellington's games.

Last Tuesday night is ranked by the players as a significant occasion. That night the former Canterbury coach. Dr Jim Stewart, and Alister Hopkinson. who was a member of Dr Stewart's shield-winning teams of the early 19705. spoke to the side.

"We gained an awful 10l from them." said one of the players on Saturday night. "They re-enforced what Alex had been telling us about the intensity of shield rugby compared with other games and how important this game

was 10 US." The manager of the Canterbury team. Owen Noonan, was another very relieved man on Saturday night: "With all the support we had from so many people I just hate to think how we would have felt if we had failed." he said.

It was a great day. despite some very anxious moments late in the game, for those in Canterbury’s corner, but for

confidence the prize must go

to the Canterbury side's chief sponsor. Fresh Up. The team returned to its dressing room with lights and camera all set up for a Fresh Up commercial to be made. “Would they have been there if the result had been different." someone asked.

"It never occurred to us that it would be." said the man directing operations. So the shield is back in Canterbury, for the eighth time. Now comes that tricky business of holding on to it.