Wallabies score penalty in last moments

Press, 28 July 1986, Page 25

Wallabies score penalty in last moments

PA Palmerston North Australia recovered from an exceptional blunder to avoid a catastrophic beginning to its tour with a last-minute penalty and a 9-6 win over Manawatu at the Showgrounds Oval on Saturday.

The Wallaby first-five eighths, Michael Lynagh, redeemed a poor personal performance when he kicked a wide-angled goal for the winning points literally on fulltime. Lynagh’s kick, hoisted well from a sodden playing surface, split the posts from 23 metres, depriving Manawatu of a draw which once seemed the minimum reward for a day’s hard labour.

Manawatu dominated

forward exchanges for more than 60 minutes but foundered in a final quarter which saw its six-point lead trimmed and then erased. It crossed Australia’s line twice in the second half, but tries from both sorties were disallowed. It also avoided defeat in the final minutes when Australia tapped and ran a penalty, from about 23 metres.

Finally, it taught Australia about the demands of wet weather football, then saw its pupil grasp those fundamentals near fulltime to turn the tables. Australia muddled through the first half and only gelled in the final 13 minutes of the game. Then its forwards drove

effectively and laid ball back from set play which allowed the second phase to develop. It pounded Manawatu’s line but rebounded from thick defence to win finally on the whim of the referee, Keith Lawrence.

Mr Lawrence penalised Manawatu at loose play one minute before halftime with the scores tied. Before Australia collected itself and Lynagh indicated his intention to kick for goal, the Wallaby prop, Enrique Rodriguez, tapped the ball and drove towards the tryline.

The initiative of the former Argentinian front rower was thwarted after only metres and Manawatu’s supporters believed a crucial blunder had been made. The Australian coach, Alan Jones, summarised the incident wryly.

“I think someone took the tap,” he said. “I think it was a foreigner. “He thought the line was wide open and he laid the ball back beautifully but the rest of the team didn’t follow on with it.

“He took the edict of going for tries to the ultimate extreme.”

Mr Lawrence penalised Manawatu again a minute later and Lynagh ensured common sense prevailed, securing the ball for the vital kick. Fulltime was sounded as the linesmen’s flags were raised.

The captain, Gary Knight, the first member of the banned Cavaliers to meet the Australians on tour, felt the penalty was “unjustified.” “We were supposed to

have gone over the top at that maul but, in the conditions, there was little else we could do. “Forwards had momentum up and it was impossible to stop on a field as wet as that one. “We went over the ball but everyone remained on their feet I felt both penalties in the last minutes were questionable.”

Though Knight was unconvinced Manawatu scored at either melee on the tourists’ goal line, the local coach, Graham Hamer, accepted a majority opinion that the flanker, John Fisher, grounded the ball. “We believe we scored once,” he said. » “John Fisher went over 1 , at least two Manawatu forwards drove him over, and the guys say it was a definite try. But as far as they are concerned, it’s the referee who makes the final decision. He didn’t allow it and that’s the way it goes,” he said. ’ Knight loomed large in the Manawatu effort but no-one outplayed the fullback, Mark Finlay, whose penalties in the seventh and forty-sixth minutes all but won the game.

Finlay was Manawatu’s sturdy last line of defence. He prospered as Lynagh and his teammate, Brett Papworth, struggled to find touch with clearing kicks, aiding Manawatu territorially or kicking with keen tactical sense. Scorers: - '

Australia 9 (Michael Lynagh three penalties). Manawatu 6 (Mark Finlay two penalties). Half-time: Manawatu 3-0.

Other rugby, Page 26.