All Blacks prevail in bruising match

Press, 22 October 1984, Page 28

All Blacks prevail in bruising match

NZPA staff correspondent Nandi The lock, Andy Haden, re-wrote international rugby laws on Saturday as New Zealand defeated a Western Division XV, 32-10, at Prince Charles Park, in Nandi.

Haden’s intercession in a violent incident, which resulted in an injury to the New Zealand captain, Jock Hobbs, led to the institution of the sin bin at international level, against International Rugby Board rules, and the exile there of the Western flanker, Maika Toga. Hobbs received a badly bruised nose nine minutes into the second half when he was kicked in the face by Toga while lying on the ground next to a maul. The incident occurred directly in front of the Fijian-born referee, Joe Korovaluvalu, who blew his whistle for a scrum and seemed set to overlook Toga’s indiscretion, which forced Hobbs to leave the field.

Haden’s first duty as captain in Hobbs’ absence was to convince Korovaluvalu that some action against the local player was necessary. He did not immediately realise, however, that sensitive politics surrounded the incident. While Hobbs received treatment, Haden stood with his hand on Korovaluvalu’s shoulder, discussing disciplinary steps. “I told the referee that Toga should be sent off,” Haden said. “I said what he did was bad enough for that but the referee couldn’t make a decision. “In the end the thing was political. People here feel that relations between the Western union and the New Zealand union are on a pretty . shaky footing because of the riot when we played Nadroga here in 1980. “The ref said that if he sent Toga off it could damage relations far more seriously and Western officials were concerned that if there was a sending off they might never get a match

against a touring team again. “So I suggested he put him in the sin bin and that pleased everyone, including the crowd, who might not have reacted well to a local player taking an early shower.” Haden’s part in the dismissal of Toga was not made clear until well after the match. The first impression of Toga’s sin binning was that Mr Korovaluvalu, controlling his first international match and one of only a handful of Fijian-born referees to officiate at representative level, did not have a strong grasp of international laws. That impression was enhanced midway through the second half when he appeared to allow the Western selection to field a third replacement, defying international rules which permit only two substitutions. Two replacements were on for the local side when the full-back, Jone Ratu, was injured and left the field. While the referee’s attention was taken by another injury, a third replacement, Netava Tamaya, came on. Local officials were alerted to the oversight and signalled Tamaya to come off. He did, and, confusing matters more, Ratu decided to return to the field. Mr Korovaluvalu said later that when he realised what had happened he asked Ratu to leave again. When he did, Tamaya, as confuted as most spectators by now, tried to return. How the matter resolved itself is not clear. Tamaya returned to the reserve bench for the remainder of the match and Ratu played out the game at full-back as Mr Korovaluvalu apparently decided there was no point in pushing things fur-

ther. Apart from his occasional divergence from the stipulations of international law, Mr Korovaluvalu controlled a fast and physical match well. Western Division played with a gameness which unsettled the All Blacks. The local selection won more ball than anyone expected, . beating the All Blacks to line-out possession with embarrassing frequency. Haden, at two, won most ball for the New Zealanders but his Auckland team-mate Gary Whetton, was given a pasting by his young Western opposite, Ifereimi Tawake, playing his first international. The home team had destructive backs who forced desperate defence from the New Zealanders on occasions. They scored the first try against the tourists on their short visit in a spectacular movement 11 minutes into the match. The second five, Viliame Tani, who was the best of the home team’s backs, received the ball from broken play and cut a swathe through the All Black backline, passing to Kaiava Salusalu who ran Etuate Gusuivalu in for a magnificent try. New Zealand replied with four tries, the first of which was scored by Haden, making his first tour for some time. Hika Reid, at hooker, was the best of the All Blacks, and outplayed Western at their own physical game. Scorers:— New Zealand 32: (Andy Haden, Alan Whetton, Kawhena Woodman, Mike Clamp, tries; Kieran Crowley, four penalty goals, two conversions), Western Division 10: (Etuate Gusuivalu, try; Jone Ratu, two penaltygoals). Half-time: New Zealand 16, Western Division 10.