Canterbury uneven in rugby victory

Press, 24 July 1986, Page 46

Canterbury uneven in rugby victory

By

KEVIN McMENAMIN

The Canterbury rugby team and the clock on the scoreboard had something in common at Lancaster Park yesterday — neither functioned with their usual efficiency.

But if the clock failed completely in the second spell, Canterbury partly redeemed itself with a couple of late tries to win its National Mutual first division match against Wairarapa-Bush, 31-7. Canterbury had a reasonably good first half and with a 16-3 lead at the interval was in little danger. However, Wairarapa-Bush was more assertive in the second spell and with better goalkicking could have got itself into a challenging position. Its first-choice kicker, Mark Benton, retired injured early in the second spell, and the No. 2, Marty Berry, missed three penalty attempts before Canterbury ended a 50minute gap between its second and third tries. Between times, a couple of penalty goals from Robbie Deans helped Canterbury consolidate its position, but mistakes, particularly those which resulted in possession being lost, dogged the team throughout. The coach, Alex Wyllie, said afterwards that while

he was happy enough with the win he did not see the game as a good final outing before the match against Australia next month. “We made too many mistakes. I lost count of the number of times we had the ball, took it into rucks and then lost it.

There is a lot of work to be done in the next few

weeks,” said Mr Wyllie. If the team effort was disjointed, individually Canterbury did play quite well. Bruce Deans, who captained the side in the absence of an injured Don Hayes, was awarded the Quills "player of the day" award, and Deans, as he invariably is on a heavy ground, was a fine allround half-back. Andy Earl, for some lovely two-handed line-out takes, and Grant Mickell, for the excellence, among other things, of his support play, must also have warranted consideration. Except for one bad error, Warwick Taylor might have headed them all off. This was when he made a classic mid-field break in th first half, only to ignore the two men outside him a shade too long. Craig Green was as skilful as ever. He very nearly scored a tremendous try early in the second half, being rolled over the corner flag as he reached for the line. However, his “regulation” try did come in the final minute, and this was a try

in a hundred, even for a scorer as prolific as Green. He broke from the left side of the field, through a maze of defenders, to the far right, before his pass to John Buchan went astray. Wairarapa-Bush gained possession and it was a startled Buchan,

regaining his feet, who had a much better pass

tossed to him by the opposition. He returned the ball to Green and away Green scurried for the line. Mickell (two), and Bruce Deans were Canterbury’s other try-scorers. Deans got his in the second minute when . he literally spun his way over from a ruck close to the line. It was from a bursting run by Dale Atkins, with Earl and Jock Hobbs lending support that got Canterbury into a scoring position. The first spell was almost half over when Mickell got his first try. He ran on to a pass from Green, who had got outside his marker and then inside a couple of cover defenders. Mickell’s second try, 50 minutes later, was the best of the game. Atkins made a lot of ground from a perfectly executed scrum movement and when he went down Mickell was on hand to scoop the ball up and cover the last five metres. Wairarapa-Bush’s only try came just before Mickell’s second. The side

had been threatening for some time, and strong breaks by the three-quar-ters, Marty Berry and Michael Foster, had given the Canterbury defence some testing moments. . However, it was from a tap penalty by the big lock, Brent Anderson, that Wairarapa-Bush finally

got across and even from the handy position Berry

could not add the extra points. In addition to losing a lot of possession in rucks and mauls, Canterbury also fared unevenly in line-outs. The final count was 15-11 to Canterbury, with Wairarapa-Bush making up a lot of lost ground in the second spell. But here again the visitors often captured ball that Canterbury appeared to have won. It was not a game that will linger long in the memories of the crowd of about 4000. Lancaster Park crowds have come to expect more from their team, and while Canterbury did play well in patches they were too far between to cause much excitment. Apart, from Green’s try, with its touch of slapstick, the crowd’s best moment came when the referee, Mr Ken Chapman (Otago), played what must be one of the longest advantages ever recorded. It was so distant that the initial offence could barely be recalled.

For Canterbury, Grant Mickell (2), Bruce Deans and Craig Green scored tries. Robbie Deans kicked six goals, three conversions, three penalties, from nine attempts. One of his misses, a penalty from a fair-distance, hit an upright. For Wairarapa-Bush, Brent Anderson a try and Mark Benton kicked a penalty goal. Mr Chapman awarded 22 penalties, 11 to each side.