Anger at Queensland rugby win

Press, 7 June 1983, Page 14

Anger at Queensland rugby win

NZPA Brisbane An angry New South Wales coach, Mr Peter Crittle, blasted the referee and touch judges after Queensland won a tense inter-state rugby clash, 15-10, at Ballymore Oval on Sunday.

In a match which seesawed from the kick-off, New South Wales scored two tries to one, but missed a series of vital goal kicks. The win gave Queensland its eighth win over the Blues in their last 11 encounters.

“Queensland was allowed to get out of jail because the referee and touch judges were inconsistent regarding over-aggressive play,” Mr Crittle said after the game. The N.S.W. dressing room resembled an emergency war-time hospital. “Every time our forwards went strongly into a ruck the touch judges had their flags up like a semaphore. “But Queensland got away with a lot worse and when our boys retaliated to defend themselves Queensland was given a free kick,” said Mr Crittle.

The referee, Mr Dick Byers, of Sydney, and the Brisbane touch judges, Messrs Col Waldron and Kerry Fitzgerald, did not agree.

“We called the game as we saw it,” retorted .Mr Waldron. Mr Crittle claimed his prop, Ollie Hall, suffered a broken nose after being “king hit from behind and right in front of one linesman.”

Simon Poidevin had been deliberately trampled on in one fierce ruck, he said, pointing to the forward’s badly gashed face. The Queensland skipper, Tony Shaw, said it had been a tough physical match with both packs of forwards hitting each other with everything they had.

“But that’s the sort of rugby you expect at this level. We went out to win and we accomplished our

aim,” the State and test flanker said. The battle-scarred Shaw was mobbed by cheering fans at the end of the clash after he relentlessly drove his players to victory before a sellout crowd. Queensland started brightly with a penalty by Michael Lynagh after only ten minutes.

But the N.S.W. captain, Mark Ella, standing at flyhalf, showed he had the ability to turn a match in a split second when he suddenly cracked the Queensland rearguard and grubbed the ball through for his wing, Chris Stephandellis, to dive on over the try line. Yet Queensland was able to separate the 6-all half time score only 30 seconds after play resumed when the centre, Andrew Slack, was through the flat-footed defence too quickly to be caught and ended a 40 metre dash beside the posts. The swing to Queensland took the drive from the N.S.W. heavy artillery up front which seemed to be shooting with blanks and the home team coach, Mr Bob Templeton, said this was when the Maroon pack took control.

With N.S.W. showing congestion instead of cohesion, the Queensland fullback, Roger Gould, was able to create enough room to crack over a massive 70m field goal from inside his own half.

“That kick by Gould was very demoralising,” Mr Crittle said.

“It came just at the moment we needed to be the team to score.” N.S.W. was able to close the gap with an unconverted intercept try by Brett Papworth, after Lynagh’s attempted cut out pass was chopped off. “We were the better team for 70 per cent of the time but we hardly got a break all day. There’s no justice,” the disappointed Mr Crittle said.