Easy victory to Canty despite erratic display

Press, 17 July 1986, Page 40

Easy victory to Canty despite erratic display

From

KEVIN McMENAMIN,

in Timaru

Against stronger opposition than it usually faces at Timaru, the Canterbury rugby team gave an uneven display in beating South Canterbury, 300, at Fraser Park yesterday.

In the first half in particular South Canterbury gave a lot of cheek and it was only a try three minutes before the interval that gave Canterbury a 13-9 lead at the break. With its forwards dominating possession more, Canterbury was in control for just about all the second spell, but South Canterbury stuck determinedly to its task and did well to restrict Canterbury to only three further tries. The home side was aided to some extent by some sloppy passing and handling by the Canterbury backs. Apart from the steadiness of the first five-eighths, Stephen Bachop, and the strong running of the full-back, Robbie Deans, the back play was very ordinary. The most remarkable feature of the game was how well South Canterbury competed for possession. Canterbury had greater height throughout the line-out, yet in the first spell South Canterbury won seven line-outs to Canterbury’s 12, and four of these 12 came in a rush just before halftime. The count was a little more lopsided, at 16-9, in the second spell, but even when Canterbury had the ball in its court it found progress hard to make on the drive. Nor did it receive a great deal of confidence in the ability of the backs to be any more penetrative. It was never a game to flow to any great extent, and neither did it produce any individual performance of special note. The Canterbury No. 8, Andy Earl, won the “player of the day” award, which was fair enough seeing as Earl played as earnestly and constructively as he al-

ways does. It was a level which no-one else really matched. Jock Hobbs probably came the closest to it, unfortunately marring his performance when he dropped a pass with the line at his mercy. Phil Cropper, in his Canterbury debut, was the liveliest of the Canterbury forwards, but the pack, as a whole, lost marks when it hammered away at the South Canterbury line for 20min in the second spell without posting any points. The South Canterbury captain, Greg Hand, led a pack which, even when down, was never out. It did remarkably well to hold Canterbury as well as it did in the tight, and there was some fine covering from the flankers, Mick Smale and Tim Coughlan. Nevertheless the backs were pretty capable of looking after themselves on defence, with the midfield pair of Paul Ryan and Ed Marfell keeping their opposites in tight check. There was also an excellent game from the full-back, Barry Gallagher. Canterbury attacked straight away and should really have had a try within the first five minutes. However, the chances were bungled and it took a Robbie Deans penalty, from 38m, to open the scoring. South Canterbury took the lead in the ninth minute with a try to Hand, after Canterbury had twice failed to get clearing kicks away. Alistair Stevenson converted Hand’s try and added a penalty soon after to put South Canterbury in front, 9-3. Canterbury closed the gap midway through the spell with a try by the

right wing, Roger Kilpatrick. It came about through South Canterbury thinking that Robbie Deans was going to kick a goal. Instead he tapped the ball, passed to his brother, Bruce, who put Kilpatrick over in the corner.

Half-time was almost up when Canterbury finally regained the lead. Bachop hoisted a beautiful high ball to the South Canterbury posts, Craig Green made the catch at full speed, and when he was stopped just short Hobbs was on hand to dive over.

A Bachop dropped goal and tries to Earl and Grant Mickell, the first from a 5m scrum and the second from a tap penalty, put Canterbury out of danger in the first 15min of the second half. Even the locals were of the opinion that Canterbury was going to pile on the points. However, despite being constantly on attack it was 20min before Canterbury scored again, Cropper being the ball carrier as the pack finally carried a surge all the way to the line.

In addition to Hobbs’s fumble, there were at least two other tries missed through bad handling, and the only times the backs got into top gear was when Robbie Deans came into the line.

For Canterbury, Roger Kilpatrick, Jock Hobbs, Andy Earl, Grant Michell and Phil Cropper scored tries. Robbie Deans kicked two conversions and a penalty goal. Stephen Bachop kicked a dropped goal.

South Canterbury’s try was scored by Greg Hand and converted by Alistair Stevenson who also kicked a penalty goal.