New coach, new captain

Press, 10 March 1987, Page 29

New coach, new captain

Deciding on a new captain will be a top priority for the Canterbury rugby coach, Doug Bruce, and his co-opted partner, Andy Holland, as they set about their first season together. Mr Bruce, of course, has taken over the position filled so successfully by Alex Wyllie for the last five years, and while it was never going to be easy for whoever followed on from Mr Wyllie, Mr Bruce, who was his coaching partner throughout these five winters, may have the best chance of keeping Canterbury on the right track. He can be expected to stick mainly with the players Mr Wyllie used, and nor is Canterbury’s style of play likely to change very much. Like Mr Wyllie, Mr Bruce is a great believer in successful rugby simply being an extension of close attention to the basics of the game. The retirement of Don Hayes, Canterbury’s captain since 1980, does leave a gap, and the shift to Wellington of Jock Hobbs

has robbed Canterbury not only of an Ail Black flanker, but also the man who was the obvious replacement to Hayes as captain. It has long been a Canterbury tradition for the captain to be a forward, but with no obvious candidate from this quarter the early favourite for the job must be the half-back, Bruce Deans. However, much may depend on the replacements found for Hayes and Hobbs, Grant Mickell, so long as he can overcome the knee injury which he suffered last year, and which is still bothering him, will probably take Hayes’ place on the blindside flank, as he did against Auckland last winter, and John McCaw must have the inside running to take over from Hobbs.

However, Mark Hudson’s shift to Christchurch could alter this thinking. He has played at both No. 8 and flanker for Wellington and must be a strong candidate for a place, somewhere among the loose forwards.

Dale Atkins, once he gets back from Italy, will undoubtedly take his place again at No. 8 and it will be widely hoped in Canterbury that this year Atkins wins the All Black jersey that he surely deserves.

Apart from the flankers and the captaincy posers, the only other major problem for Messrs Bruce and Holland will be finding a third lock to replace Tony Thorpe, who has returned to his home district of Poverty Bay. Pat O’Gorman, who would have been the obvious choice, is staying on in Europe this year. Otherwise, Canterbury should line out pretty much as it has for the last few seasons, although one can never be sure when a new selector comes into office.

The AGC South Pacific championship means that Canterbury will again have a very early start to the season. Its first two games in this series are home games, against New South Wales on April 11 and Fiji a week later. Then follow, at weekly intervals, the three away games, against Wellington, Queensland and Auckland.

Canterbury won the first South Pacific championship last year, and it would be a great start to Mr Bruce’s term if it could repeat the effort.

After the South Pacific series, there is a break until June, when Canterbury has its traditional away games with West Coast and Mid-Canter-bury. Two more, against South Canterbury and Marlborough, follow in early July.

The first national championship match is against Otago at Dunedin in midJuly and then there is a break of almost a month before the second, against Auckland in Christchurch.

In the latter part of August Canterbury makes a North Island tour, with games against WairarapaBush, Wanganui (non-

championship) and Taranaki. The next three, against Wellington, Manawatu and North Auckland, are all at Lancaster Park, and the team will then venture north again to meet Bay of Plenty and Counties. Canterbury fans will be hoping that their team is still in contention for the national championship

when it plays its last game of the season, against Waikato at Lancaster Park on September 30. The odds are against Canterbury getting a Ranfurly Shield challenge this year, and generally there are not the interruptions to the representative programme that have been the case in recent

seasons. This should allow the team to settle under a new coach and captain, and give full attention to winning, or, at least, a high placing, in the national championship. After the giddy times of the last five years, anything less would not be too well received by the Lancaster Park regulars.