The Royal burst of temper

Press, 21 October 1983, Page 6

The Royal burst of temper

NZPA staff correspondent London Little in the way of New Zealand rugby know-how seems to have rubbed off on Prince Edward during his recent spell at Wanganui Collegiate. Since returning to Britain and starting studies at Cambridge University, the Prince’s rugby ability has been under close scrutiny during two outings as a

flanker for the Jesus College second XV. An exchange of punches with an opposition player at a scrum during ’’ls second game on Weunesday ensured that Prince Edward was widely featured in Britain’s tabloid press. And one of those newspapers, the “Daily Mail,” concluded that the Prince was unlikely to provide the spark for an English rugby

revival. I It sent its rugby cor- i respondent, Terry O’Connor, I to the game and he termed 1 the Prince “an honest 1 worker but lacking in the < ruthless approach essential < to succeed in the flank forward position at senior level.” i “Prince Edward played I little part in the 18-4 vic- 1 tory, handling only three 1 times. Technically, his posi- |

tioning was poor and consequently he frequently found himself trailing a long way from the action, but he leapt into mauls and rucks enthusiastically,” wrote O’Connor. The “Daily Mail” also reported thankfully that the bout of fisticuffs — the Prince was apparently retaliating — did not sour the game.