Able rugby men return

Press, 27 April 1984, Page 15

Able rugby men return

Two prominent Canterbury rugby players returned home from Europe this week, both keen to pull on the red and black jersey again this year. For one, Robbie Deans, selection at full-back is automatic. He has been Canterbury’s most valuable asset in the last two seasons and his goal-kicking alone offers every hope of another successful Ranfurly Shield campaign. The other man is Gary Barkle, and he faces the difficult task of winning back a position which was in very safe hands last winter and for which there are a number of worthy candidates. Barkle had only just turned 19 when be became the Canterbury half-back in 1978 and now, at 24, his best years should still be ahead of him. But Barkle is realistic enough to accept that he is going to have to play exceptionally well to replace Bruce Deans, and although he knows of them only by reputation he has heard sufficient to be wary also of Allan Lindsay and Steve Baker. “Things have changed a lot since I left Canterbury two years ago,” said Barkle. “The shield hadn’t been won, and hope was about all the side had going for it.

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Obviously, under Alex (Wyllie) hope has given way to performance and although I would love to get back into the team I know it’s not going to be easy.” After leaving Christchurch, Barkle had a winter in Hamilton, but never rose beyond Waikato B. “I didn’t play all that well up there and I didn’t deserve any better,” he said this week. From Hamilton Barkle moved to the northern Italy town of Piacenza and he has just completed his second season there with the Lyons club. “When I got there Lyons was in the second division and this year we finished in the middle of the first division. They did look to me a bit for direction and it would be nice to think that I was of some value to them.” Barkle said that the experience had been good for his own game. “It was certainly very enjoyable and because a lot was expected of me I had to think very carefully about what I was doing.” The standard of the teams, said Barkle, did vary considerably, but the better sides, he felt, would hold their own in senior rugby in

KEVIN McMENAMIN

Christchurch. “They like to move the ball a lot among the backs and this suited my style.” Before he gets too anxious about a call from Alex Wyliie, Barkle has two more immediate concerns. The first is winning back his place in the University senior side and, because of a residential qualification, it will be at least another week before the club can play him. “They did okay without me last year, so I can’t expect to just walk into the side,” said Barkle. However, if his pass is as long and as

quick as it used to be this concern should soon fade. The other is finding a job. “I am sure it is about time I settled down and did something with my law degree and if at all possible I would like to live in Christchurch. I just hope someone wants an inexperienced lawyer in his mid 205,” he said. Deans went on to France after he had toured England and Scotland with the All Blacks last October. He joined the Grenoble club and although he played only about 10 games he still managed to score a century of points. Deans has no worries about having had too much rugby. “I don’t think I have ever been fitter and I am certainly as keen as I have ever been at the start of a season,” he said. Deans was most impressed by the depth of French club rugby and he liked, too, the way individual flair was encouraged. “They are more prepared to take risks than we are in New Zealand, and they have the players to make a gamble worth while.” This was Deans’ first experience of French rugby. He could have more before he is much older, as the All Black full-back in two home tests against the Tricolours in June.