Davie eighth front-rower to play 100 games for Canty

Press, 12 September 1986, Page 14

Davie eighth front-rower to play 100 games for Canty

By

KEVIN McMENAMIN

Front-row forwards, by tradition, are not usually considered the brightest men in rugby. Brawn, not brains, is their essential requirement. It would be wrong though, to suppose that all front-rowers take their shoes and socks off to count beyond 10. Props and hookers, at least those in Canterbury, do appear to have one advantage over their more exalted colleagues — longevity. Tomorrow at Lancaster Park Murray Davie will become the eighteenth player to register 100 games from Canterbury, and he is the eighth from the frontrow to achieve the milestone. The seven to precede him were Dennis Young, Jules Le Lievre, Alister Hopkinson, Kerry Tanner, John Creighton, Bill Bush and John Ashworth. A century of games for Canterbury must have seemed an improbable goal for Davie in his early years in the Canterbury side. In his debut year, 1978, Canterbury had two All Black props, John Ashworth and Bill Bush, and also on the scene was Barry Thompson, who became an All Black prop in 1979. With only three games in 1978, and three again in 1979, Davie sat through quite a few matches, although a knee injury limited his availability in 1979. In 1980 Davie got more

chances. Thompson had retired and Bush missed almost the entire season after a major cartalege operation. However, he had a new rival in Pat O’Byrne, and with 10 games each they were on

a par. In 1971 Davie had a very brief season. After four early games for Canterbury a serious knee injury forced him to step aside, and with Ashworth seldom avail-

able, Bush and O’Byrne were the main propping pair. So by 1982, Davie had only 20 appearances to show for his four years in the Canterbury team. But since then he has hardly missed a game, certainly none of the big ones. With O’Byrne having disappeared from the representative scene, and Bush’s career drawing to an end, Davie finally found a permanent spot in 1982, as the tighthead prop. Although Davie, himself, claims no preference, most judges consider him more suited to the loosehead side. With Ashworth, a loosehead specialist, filling this role, Davie had no option but to pack down on the tighthead side. Through the three years from 1982 — years in which Canterbury resisted all challenges for the Ranfurly Shield — Ashworth and Davie were unchallenged as the top propping pair. They had their good days, and some which were not so good, but their commitment never wavered. ■ After Ashworth transferred to the North Island at the end of 1984, Davie switched over to the loosehead side of the Canterbury scrum, and this is where he will undoubtedly see out his days in the team. Davie, who is 31 next week, says he has no thoughts about retirement “I have had some

great times in rugby and so long as I am still enjoying it I will keep playing,” he said this week. Last year Davie had his best season ever for Canterbury. The responsibility of being the senior prop helped him lift his game to fresh heights, and he was considered unlucky not to win a place in the All Blacks for the tour of Argentina at the end of the season. He was an AH Black, though, in 1983, making the tour that year to England and Scotland. This winter he came close again by being named as a reserve for two tests, the one against France and the first against Australia, when the ranks of available All Blacks were depleted. Davie does have - a reputation for getting involved in the occasional dustupi and his nickname of “Rocky” was bestowed after he had sorted cut a few North Canterbury players in a game at Rangiora some five years ago. But reputations are sometimes exaggerated and to some extent, especially in club rugby, Davie has been the target of young bucks trying to make a name for themselves. So far as Canterbury is concerned, Davie has in the last five years been a tower of strength, both literally and figuratively. By the sweat of his brow he has earned his place among the centurions.