Test series level after referee rules no try

Press, 25 August 1986, Page 21

Test series level after referee rules no try

By

BOB SCHUMACHER,

in Dunedin

Whoever first proposed neutral referees to control rugby tests did the game a big service. The Welshman, Derek Bevan, in charge of Saturday’s second test between the All Blacks and Australia at Carisbrook, had a difficult decision to make six minutes before full-time.

His judgment went the way of the All Blacks; a torpedo dive by the Wallaby No. 8, Steve Tuynman, was ruled no try, and that spelt the difference between winning and losing for the All Blacks, who squared the Bledisloe Cup series with a 13-12 victory. It mattered not that from the ensuing 5m scrum, Australia received a penalty and Michael Lynagh converted it into three points. The Wallabies needed a try to tie the scores and they had no better chance than when Tuynman made his crashing charge. After the half-back, Nick Farr-Jones, had made a characteristic break on the short-side, he turned the ball infield to Tuynman. whose momentum seemed sufficient to take him over the line,. The All Blacks’ saviour was Craig Green, who left his wing and thrust an arm under the ball and body of Tuynman. Mr Bevan was close by, but on the opposite side of Green. No try, said Mr Bevan, and a disbelieving, irate Tuynman hurled the ball into the turf.

After the game, Mr Bevan stood by his decision, saying that he considered there were too many hands on the ball. “There was no doubt in my mind.”

It was an opinion not shared by too many other observers in attendance or in the armchairs. The Australian coach, Alan Jones, made plain his feelings.

"I thought it was a try, Tuynman thought it was a try, 28,000 people at the ground and the television viewers thought it was a try. But that’s irrelevant, the referee said it was not”

Thank goodness the arbiter was an impartial Welshman; accusations of bias cannot be fairly levelled.

If the try-that-was-not-a-try affair received widespread publicity, it was simply because there was precious little else to commend the match. It started at a furious pace, but it soon needed more fingers and toes on any one spectator and his

companions either side to keep check of the mistakes.

The ground was deceptive in appearance. Before Friday’s . rain, Dunedin had a week of fine weather and the Carisbrook pitch was very firm. The rain on Friday and the persistent drizzle on Saturday morning left the surface greasy, something akin to a skating rink without surface water. This caused slipping and sliding.

The ball was handled with the same enthusiasm as a person being the unsuspecting victim of those rubbery creepycrawlies available from magic shops and such.

When Mr Bevan sounded the whistle for the final time, seconds after Lynagh failed dismally with an attempted match-winning drop kick from 45m, the escaping breath of a tense crowd was audible. The cheer that went up was not one of exultation, but of relief. The All Blacks won the match in the first 20 minutes. They had the only try of the match after two minutes when Frano Botica swooped on a loose pass inside his own half and toed ahead. Andrew Slack was caught near his own line by John Kirwan and driven across it.

From the resulting 5m scrum, David Kirk ran the blind, linked with Kirwan, who did remarkably well to stand in a tackle and flick a pass outside to Kirk on the double round movement. Kirk crossed in the corner in Jeff Miller’s tackle.

Fuelled by that early success, the All Blacks, in spite of giving away a penalty and three points almost from the kick-off, went on high octane for the first quarter and a simple dropped goal from an indirect free kick by Greg Cooper and two successful penalty goals by the New Zealand fullback, had his team ahead, 13-3, after 20 minutes.

Ironically, the second penalty was against Tuynman for handling in a ruck. The All Blacks were not

to score again. The fuel system got fouled but there was enough energy in the tank to keep the Australians in reserve until the second half.

Then the blockage in the All Blacks pipeline became more apparent; the power was missing, progress was in the form of kangaroo hops, and it became a matter of whether the All Blacks could reach their destination before the supply was completely closed off. They did, but only just.

The one-point difference at the finish was a continuance of a remarkable sequence of test results between the two countries. The last four internationals have defied the law of averages and have been decided by the narrowest of margins. Saturday’s score was the same as that of the first test, except the roles were reversed. New Zealand has had the better of the close calls, having won three of them, and it has certainly had the better of tests played at Carisbrook. The Wallabies have never won there in eight tests.

Neither Mr Jones nor the All Black coach, Brian Lochore, had reason to feel satisfied with their teams, and they expressed their misgivings at the finish.

“We took options that were just foolish,” said Mr Jones, “we’ve been through them a LOO times, I guess we have to go through them 101 times. We had control of the whole show and lost. I just can’t believe it. There is no encouragement for Eden Park (scene of the third test) but that is the last place in my thoughts at the moment.”

Mr Lochore said: “To win tests you have got to get ball; our supply dried up after being in the driving seat for the first 20 minutes. It is all credit to Australia for that. There is plenty of work out there for me to do.”

Mr Jones admitted that he had been "ungenerous’’ to some of his players before the game. He mentioned the names of the key line-out men,

Steve Cutler and Bill Campbell, the hooker, Tom Lawton, and Tuynman. Mr Jones may well be advised to be ungenerous to all 15 players for the third test as that quartet played with animation and alacrity. Cutler and Campbell combined to give one of the most accomplished displays of line-out drills by any international side in recent years. Lawton, as thrower, was party to their spectacular success by the controlled pace and direction of his trajectories. The quick throw-in often caught out the All Black forwards who were still puzzling over whom they were supposed to be marking. Some of the early Australian feedbacks proved an embarrassment for Farr-Jones, but it was not long before he received protective service and it was the swiftness of the take by Cutler and the pass by Farr-Jones that allowed Lynagh to get his dropped goal soon after the interval.

It was not such a happy day, though, for the Australian backs. Lynagh, as he was in the first test, was uncertain of his line of attack and often bet the wrong way, and outside him Brett Papworth, while nimble of foot, was careless of hand. But the big Australian tragedy was Campese. The gifted attacking full-back seemed haunted by the ghost of the first test, where a senseless aberration led to New Zealand’s only try. He mistimed his entrances to the backline, caught air instead of the ball and ran into trouble instead of finding the free spaces.

“He had a horror game,” said Mr Jones. “I have the highest estimation of David Campese, I hope I don’t have to make any revision.” If Campese had a sympathiser outside of his own team it might have been his opposite, Cooper. The former Otago fullback, now resident in Auckland, had a barracker or two from the start, but the numbers swelled as he struggled to take the high ball and clear safely for touch. Bo-

tica was asked to take the line kick near the finish when the All Blacks were on desperate defence. There were plusses for the All Blacks, a lot initially, but many were erased by the end. The heavier bodyweight of the pack did not allow Australia to control the forward drive as it had in the first test, and the scrum, although sloppy on its own put-in, was able to meet, and sometimes beat, the Australians on the shove.

Gary Whetton won most of the New Zealand lineout ball, but Murray Pierce was confounded by the Australian tactics and was most disappointing. Jock Hobbs and Alan Whetton, outstanding in the loose in the first half, were overshadowed by the Australian flankers, Miller and Simon Poidevin, after the break. Mike Brewer, though keen enough, was ineffective when trying to make advances from the back of the scrum. Kirk too often received untidy ball, but his passing was laboured at times and Botica was a little slow in deciding his options. The tackling of the backs was generally very proficient. They might not have wreaked havoc to Australia’s planned backline moves, but they certainly brought discomfort. Cooper succeeded with two of his five goal attempts and Lynagh, also from five shots, kicked three of them.

David Kirk scored the All Blacks’ try and Greg Cooper kicked two penalty goals and a dropped goal.

Michael Lynagh scored all Australia’s points with three penalty goals and a dropped goal. Statistics: penalties, All Blacks 14, Australia 12; lineouts, Australia 30, All Blacks 19; tight-heads, All Blacks 1, Australia 1; scrums, All Blacks 18, Australia 18; rucks and mauls, All Blacks 18, Australia 13.