Most vital test of Lions tour

Press, 20 July 1984, Page 16

Most vital test of Lions tour

JOHN COFFEY

The youngest of all Great Britain rugby league teams has truly reached a sporting crossroads on its tour of Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea. Whether the tour is ultimately seen to be a success — and the turning point for a nation that was once dominant in the code — will almost certainly depend on Britain beating New Zealand at the Show Grounds on Sunday. Although the British were again 0-3 losers in the series against the Australians, they did not suffer the thrashings inflicted on their predecessors in 1979 or at home against the unbeaten 1982 Kangaroos. Reviews of the Australian section of the itinerary lauded the fitness, youth and dedication of the visitors and predicted they

would develop into a combination of exceptional quality.

The Australian club talent scouts were also quick to spot the emerging skills of the fleet-footed backs, Des Drummond, Ellery Hanley,

Garry Schofield and Neil Holding, and the very impressive forward, Andy Goodway. Brian Noble, the captain and hooker, also earned praise for his leadership and performances in and out of the scrums. Only one other game was lost in Australia, but it was generally agreed that the British could not afford to suffer another whitewash in the Autex internationals in New Zealand if they were to return home with their heads held high. In that context, the 12-0 defeat by Kiwis in the Carlaw Park mud last Saturday was the most disastrous result of the whole tour so far. Britain was unfortunate to have its leading stand-off half, Tony Myler, withdraw because of food poisoning a few hours before the kickoff and it no doubt had become accustomed to firm playing fields in Australia, but the Kiwis were just too dominant for those setbacks to be more than minor contributing factors.

Frank Myler, the British coach, was moved to comment after the Auckland test that conditions could not be as bad in Christchurch. His confidence would have been shaken had he seen snow falling during club fixtures at the Show Grounds the next day. But the Show Grounds has earned a reputation as a fast-drying ground, and the test pitch has been protected for several weeks. If the weather preceding the match is reasonably kind, the British backs might yet be given their opportunity to extend the Kiwi defences. There is no doubt that the

black wings, Drummond and Hanley, were the personality players in Australia. Drummond was quite dazzling in assisting Garry Schofield to become the youngest scorer in an Ashes Cup test at Sydney, and they repeated the effort in even more startling fashion at Brisbane.

It was Hanley’s turn in the third test, back at the Sydney Cricket Ground. The Australian defence was unusually, if monentarily, slack at a play-the-ball, Hanley had characteristically drifted infield, and even the fleet Australian wings could not catch him after he had broken through. Tony Myler had made the initial break for that try, and it was a tragedy for Britain that it did not have him and Holding at full fitness in the halves in all of the tests.

Up front, Britain has not had the forward authority to wrest control from the Kangaroos and Kiwis. But the Kick is not without assets — oble is a swift striker and an incisive runner, Mick Adams a slick play-maker, and Goodway an imposing attacker when given room to move.

As a unit the British backs and forwards restricted Australia particularly well. It was generally left to the individual brilliance of such players as Eric Grothe, Wally Lewis and Wayne Pearce to provide Australia with its winning points.

The days when British touring teams regarded their New Zealand matches as something of an anticlimax are now well past. The Kiwis started their own climb up the international rugby league rungs when they beat Britain in the third test at Auckland in 1979, continued to progress in Britain and France the next year, humbled the French at home in 1981 and finally broke through for a momentous win at Australia’s expense in Brisbane 12 months ago.

New Zealand has now beaten all four rivals in their most recent encounters — and now has new milestones to achieve. The Kiwis last won a series against Britain in England.

in 1971; it is 22 years since the last such triumph in this country; and New Zealand has never won three consecutive tests against Britain since such fixtures began in 1907.

At Auckland, even without Mark Broadhurst, Mark Graham, Gordon Smith, Graeme West and Gary Prohm, the Kiwis were quite outstanding. Only for a few early minutes was there any hint of rustiness, but New Zealand soon settled into an attractive and effective pattern devised by its coach, Graham Lowe, and enthusiastically carried out by the players. The props, Dane Sorensen and Kevin Tamati, secondrower, Kurt Sorensen, and the backs, Gary Kemble, Fred Ah Kuoi, James Leuluai and Olsen Filipaina, more than had the measure of their fellow professionals. If that was to be expected from men who make much of their livelihood from their football abilities, then it was perhaps even more heartening that the comparative newcomers, Dean Bell, Owen Wright and Hugh McGahan, proved themselves to be of the highest test class. New Zealand now has a depth of talent to equal that of any previous period in the sport’s history. Britain will need to realise its full potential on Sunday if it is to force a series-decider in the third international at Auckland on July 28.