Deans to rescue in mediocre display

Press, 30 August 1984, Page 36

Deans to rescue in mediocre display

From

KEVIN McMENAMIN,

in Whangarei

Like the Ail Blacks and Glenmark in recent weeks, the Canterbury rugby team must be thankful that it has Robbie Deans on its side. It was due largely to Deans that Canterbury finished with a comfortable, 27-9, win over North Auckland in its Lion national championship match at Okara Park yesterday.

Deans kicked five penalty goals from as many attempts, two from around 50m out, and he also converted the two tries Canterbury scored. Canterbury had a two tries to one advantage, but there should have been more and once again it failed to play with a great deal of authority. North Auckland, though, played with a lot of zest and an upset was on when it led, 9-6, at half-time. But Canterbury lifted its play, particularly in the forwards, in the second spell and it was fairly safe after Deans kicked his third penalty and then converted a try by Dale Atkins in the opening minutes. The Canterbury coach, Alex Wyllie, was again disappointed with the number of mistakes the side made, and he was also critical of the slow movement of ball away from scrums and rucks. “Maybe I am expecting too much, and today was another example of how teams which people have written off raise their game when they play Canterbury,

especially when they are on their home grounds. But there is no reason why we can’t lift our game, too,” said Mr Wyllie. Canterbury’s biggest problem yesterday was lack of line-out ball. With the 1983 All Black, Alistair Robinson, showing a return to form North Auckland took the line-outs, 19-10, and it was only in the second half when Albert Anderson got to some short throws that Canterbury’s possession was moved quickly to the backs. In other areas the Canterbury forwards played quite well. They used the rolling maul to good effect and they packed an excellent scrum, much too strong in the early stages for North Auckland’s. But North Auckland overcame the problem by moving the ball quickly and it mounted some bold attacks through its strong-running backs. The Canterbury defence at times looked very vulnerable and it was only some desperate regrouping that denied North Auckland another try or two before the interval.

For a start, Canterbury seemed reluctant to. use its backs and with Wayne Smith not always placing his kicks where he wanted them the line struggled to find any rhythm. North Auckland was well prepared for Canterbury’s blindside ploys, and the game was almost over before the backs moved the ball quickly enough through the chain for Andrew McMaster to score the sort of try which had long seemed possible. Canterbury should have had two other tries in the second spell. Victor Simpson was carried over the line with the ball by his forwards and he had the ball between him and the ground when the pile broke up. The referee, Mr Rex Soppett, of Counties, must have had an obscured view as he ordered a 5m scrum. The other try was missed when Barry White dropped the final pass after a superb movement, involving backs and forwards, which swept more than 50m. Andy Earl, the handler before White, could probably have scored himself.

Earl, if somewhat ignored in the line-outs, had another fine game about the field and Brett Dixon and Atkins were others to show up in broken play. Robbie Deans did more than just kick 19 points. He had an excellent defensive game and his kicking for touch was just as assured as when he was lining up the posts. Adrian Boyd ran with spirit on the left wing, and he, too, did some good work on defence. So Canterbury still has a long unbeaten record (29 games) to protect when it meets Auckland in what is obviously the big championship game of the season at Eden Park on Saturday. Mr Wyllie was not alone in thinking that Canterbury may need to raise its game several notches if the record is still to be intact on Saturday night. For Canterbury, Dale Atkins and Andrew McMaster tries; Robbie Deans two conversions and five penalty goals. For North Auckland, Willie Phillips a try; Mike Budd a conversion and a penalty goal.