Country grasp chances for second tour win

Press, 11 May 1984, Page 28

Country grasp chances for second tour win

Special correspondent Blenheim The Canterbury Country rugby team took full advantage of the chances offered to beat Marlborough, 24-6, at Blenheim yesterday in the second match of its brief northern tour.

Country scored three tries to none but for much of the game did not look 18 points the better team. Possession was evenly shared between the two sides, with Marlborough, if anything, creating more clear-cut scoring opportunities. However, whereas Country finished clinically, Marlborough often floundered with the try line beckoning. Several times during the match the home team created definite openings but the final pass was either not given or put down, allowing the defence to scramble clear. On one occasion in the first half, Marlborough’s first five-eighths, Paul Karena, actually crossed the Country line but lost the ball in the dive.

They did, three minutes from the end, when Bruce Deans, who had been a marvellous general behind the Country pack, crashed over in a sea of bodies after a ruck near the Marlborough line.

In a match which never really flowed, the forward battle' remained intense throughout, with honours finishing about even. The Country locks, Alby Anderson and Thorpe, were a tower of strength, engaging in a fierce line-out battle with Jim Love and Frank Marfell. Marlborough often resorted to two-man lineouts in an attempt to win more ball but the Canterbury pair still held a 13-10 advantage at the end.

Marlborough again started strongly in the second half but with a similar lack of suc-

Country took an early lead after seven minutes, when Tony Thorpe took the ball from a Marlborough drop-out and fed it quickly through the backs. Robbie Deans was up from fullback to slice through outside Craig Green and the well-timed pass gave the wing, Gordon Ngatai, a straight run in at the corner. Deans converted from the sideline. Country then had to withstand a period of sustained pressure. The Marlborough forwards drove vigorously to provide good secondphase ball, but try as they might, the backs could not penetrate. At half-time the points difference was still just six points, with Country leading, 12-6.

cess. The game was then taken beyond Marlborough’s reach in controversial circumstances. After 14 minutes Deans had a shot at goal from 30m, which missed, and it took some time for the Marlborough players to secure the ball. The fast-following Craig Green made a desperate lunge and the Blenheim referee, Mr Ross Neal, ruled that he had got the touchdown ahead of the defending full-back, Peter Marfell. Deans’S conversion stretched the lead to 12 points. As Marlborough’s play became marked more and more by indecision, Country took control and it seemed inevitable that more points would come.

Marlborough’s powerful scrum, headed by the young props, Richard Loe and Kent Hart, often had the Country pack twisting or moving backwards, but it did not prevent the Country hooker, Dave Burrowes, from winning the tighthead count, 3-0. The battle in the loose was even.

The Country backs generally had a quiet day, rarely running the ball, although Ngatai and Kevin Eder both showed plenty of pace on the wings on the few occasions they were called into play.

Scorers: Canterbury Country 24 (G. Ngatai, C. Green, B. Deans tries; R. Deans three conversions, two penalties), Marlborough 6 (P. Marfell dropped goal, penalty goal).