Canterbury’s rugby form hard to fault

Press, 19 August 1983, Page 12

Canterbury’s rugby form hard to fault

Kevin McMenamin

With only one loss in 12 games so far this season, the Canterbury rugby team

is well on the way to fulfilling the high hopes that were held for it at the start of the winter.

The one defeat was at the hands of Queensland at Brisbane back in May. Queensland won, 17-12, and while Canterbury may have been a little unlucky that day, an unbeaten record in New Zealand is a goal that the side can still work towards. There is little doubt that Canterbury is a very good side this year. The 22-20 win against the British Lions was quite an achievement, and the five Ranfurly Shield victories in the last month have all been accomplished in style. The opposition may not have been anything wonderful, but Canterbury has still played consistently well and there was much to admire about the way it lifted its play in the two challenges, from Southland and North Auckland, that were still in the balance at half-time.

The easy games are now over. Next week the side heads north for three national championship matches, against Waikato, Bay of Plenty and Counties, and then it’s back to Lancaster Park for the last four shield defences.

To win all seven, and thereby match Wellington’s feat two years ago of a national championshipshield double, is a big assignment, but clearly one that is not beyond the side. Counties, Wellington and Auckland loom as the three major hurdles. If Canterbury has played up to expectations this year, much credit must go to the selector-coach, Alex Wyllie.

Mr Wyllie has not gone far beyond the players who rallied to his call last year, and he has juggled them so well that there is hardly a position where Canterbury looks vulnerable, even in the event of injuries. Craig Green and Andrew McMaster have developed so well as wings that the lack of class specialists in this position is no longer a worry. In fact, the one specialist, Garry Hooper, is struggling to hold his place.

The one area for concern is first five-eighths. Losing two such accomplished players as Wayne Smith and Kieran Keane in the space of just four days was a cruel blow, and the contest now lies between Rod Latham and Wayne Burleigh. Canterbury is fortunate to have two such able backups, and Burleigh will get a chance to press his claim bn the northern tour. Burleigh probably, has the sharper attacking skills, whereas Latham is an outstanding kicker, especially of the high ball. It may come down to what tactics Mr Wyllie has in mind, and, as when he had the choice of Keane and

Smith, he has the right players to do a particular job. It should be remembered, though, that Keane and Smith are All Blacks; Latham and Burleigh are, at the moment anyway, nothing more than club players. Comparisons are unfair.

If the backs give cause for confidence, and Robbie Deans only needs to be on the field for there to be plenty of this, the form of the forwards is even more encouraging. They were superb against North Auckland and South Canterbury in the last week, and there was a fair amount of size about both these packs. There are, obviously, bigger and better ones to be confronted in the weeks ahead, but unless Manawatu can climb back to the heights it has scaled in recent seasons it is hard to imagine that any pack in. the country is going to seriously disrupt Canterbury.

It is, perhaps, a shade early yet to get too carried away with Canterbury’s string of wins, although in terms of consistently good performances both by individuals and from the team as a whole there is a lot to suggest that the side might be something special.

The real tests lie ahead with seven North Island unions primed and ready to stop Canterbury in its tracks. To win all seven might take more than Robbie Deans’s kicking magic, but it would be selling the side short to give it anything but a good chance on its performances so far.