Ward shows Sydenham red light

Press, 20 July 1987, Page 25

Ward shows Sydenham red light

Sydenham experienced a driving blitz of a different kind on Saturday when a traffic officer, Nigel Ward, motored through its defences to score three tries for High School Old Boys in the first round of pool games in the senior rugby championship. It was a tough match for Old Boys, which trailed, 3-0, at half-time, but the rangy Ward, at No. 8, was their saviour. Recently posted to Auckland in the service of the Ministry of Transport, he flew to Christchurch for the game, and his hat-trick of touch-downs was instrumental in his side winning, 24-3. The club will continue to fly Ward from Auckland each week-end in its bid for the Trust Bank Trophy, the championship award. Ward is the highest tryscoring forward in the competition, with 14, one more than the University and Canterbury No. 8, Dale Atkins, who is temporarily oft the scene with a damaged hamstring. Easily the top try-scorer is Marist’s right-wing, Mark Vincent, who on Saturday gained his twenty-second touch-down of the season to equal the record set 92 years ago by Joe O’Brien, of Linwood. Marist was ailing in the first half against Belfast, which drew considerable inspiration from the effervescence of Wayne Smith and consequently led by seven points at the break. But after Smith’s departure, through injury, Marist swept into the lead, Steve Hansen playing a persuasive role in midfield. The only unexpected result came in pool two, where Albion produced six tries to topple a Linwood team weakened by injuries. Grant James scored in four different ways for Albion, to bring up his century of points for the season. Another player to attain this mark on Saturday was Marist’s Kelly Hansen. Although none of the losing sides earned a point through being within six points of the winner, they all performed stoically. Points are:—

Old Boys 24, Sydenham 3 Old Boys: N. Ward (3), R. Leggat, R. Henderson tries; J. Whelan two conversions. Sydenham: M. Timms penalty goal. Half-time: 0-3. Referee: Mr K. N. McCrea. Old Boys had to absorb a spirited assault by Sydenham throughout the first 40min of the main match at Rugby Park before taking command in the second spell. Nigel Ward put Old Boys in the lead 2min after the break with a pushover try, and he was across twice more, through strong running, before the end. Had there been a "player of the day” award made, it would surely have gone to Ward, although he was only one component in an increasingly dominant Old Boys pack in the second half. The two locks, Don Symon and Ken Pope, also had outstanding games, Symon most notably in the line-outs and Pope in driving play where he was consistently fiery. Mike Cunningham showed up surprisingly often in the open for Old Boys, usually to good effect. Richard Leggat’s strong build helped him to play effectively as a ninth forward as well as fulfilling the normal halfback’s duties, and he showed a good turn of

pace in scoring Old Boys’ second try from broken play.

Neil Mayo, steady in defence at fullback and hard to hold on attack, was probably Old Boys’ best back, apart from Leggat. Sydenham’s effort in the first half, when it placed Old Boys’ under pressure right from the start, was first class. Mark Hudson led a peppery pack well, but the most noteworthy performance up front came from the diminutive open-side flanker, Mark Flynn, who bristled with aggression and was most effective.

The Sydneham backs showed some good attacking skills at times, but their forte was defence. Dennis Trembath was kept in check by bootlace tackling before he had developed a full head of steam.

Mark Timms was again cool and skilful at fullback, and there were other good performances from Laurie Seinafo, Andy Kingi and Peter Williamson. Hugh Nixon, who had the job of marking Trembath, emerged unscathed and with honours. He was never lacking in allies in his defensive task. Shirley 27, Hornby 3 Shirley: N. Katae, M. Young, E. McAuley tries; C. Williamson three conversions, three penalty goals. Hornby: S. Bloomfield penalty goal. Half-time: 12-3. Referee: Mr M. Powell (Queensland). While Shirley always looked the more polished side, Hornby played far better than the score might suggest, and was desperately unlucky not to pick up a try in the final lOmin, when it did play extremely well. However, for the most part, Shirley was able to control the play through its bigger forwards. What little chance Hornby had of upsetting last year’s champion disappeared in the lOmin either side of half-time. In this period Shirley scored all four of its tries. The most spectacular of them was the last, to the right wing, Eric McAuley. He scooped brilliantly on a Colin Williamson cross kick to dot down in the corner. This try gave Williamson his toughest kick at goal of the afternoon, but he was not found wanting and for the second successive week he finished with a perfect kicking record, a run of something like 15 successive goals. Williamson was also a very skilful first five-eighths, his little kicks into the "box” being a constant worry for Hornby. The fill-in halfback, Greg Fletcher, also had a good game, and while Shirley tried to use its backs, the Hornby defence was generally sound and the side was not slow to take up counterattacking opportunities. Until the last lOmin, when they found a new lease of life, the Hornby forwards were pushed around quite a bit, but Lamen Hohaia and Neville Wilson stuck to their tasks well and became even more prominent towards the finish. In the backs, Hornby was well served by the Bloomfield brothers close to the scrum, and two or three times the line moved the greasy ball very sweetly. But only in the last minute when the fullback, Sam Hales, appeared to score did it carry a movement all the way. Bill Anderson was a forceful right-wing for Hornby, although he had his hands full at times keeping tabs on Gordon Ngatai. In the forwards, Na Katae, especially in the first half, John Mitchell and Barry Hammersley had good games for Shirley, with Mitchell, perhaps, lasting better than most of his colleagues. University 31, Suburbs 8 University: E. Peterson, P. Treves (3) tries; Treves three conversions, three penalty goals. Suburbs: N. McKay, T. Metcalf, tries. Half-time: 19-4. Referee: Mr G. J. Anderson.

Playing hard, committed rugby, the courageous Suburbs team carried on the improved form by making University work hard for the

23-point win on Lancaster Park south.

University’s effort was almost a one-man affair, for the first five-eighths, Paul Treves, scored 27 of the 31 points. But his performance was almost overshadowed by the tenacious Suburbs’ defence, which never allowed University to settle into a dominant pattern of play. Much of the play was made by Suburbs. The possession won was used to advantage, the backs always willing to run the ball, but lack of speed and handling errors prevented most forays reaching fruition. The Suburbs forwards worked tremendously hard, and although lacking the strength and skill of the opposition, still made their mark on the match.

University mounted some well developed rucks and mauls and the ball was delivered tidily to the halfback, Garry Barkle. Gary Jones was always near the ball, Merv Aoake was a force in the tight, and Ekeroma Luaiufi dummied and swerved like a back to give Evan Peterson his try. Treves played steadily, but the strong Suburbs defence forced the back-line into frequent errors. Both wings, Peterson and Craig McDowell, showed speed but the inability of those inside to give them possession meant their talents were wasted. For Suburbs, the back to catch the eye was the solidlybuilt second five-eighths, Todd Metcalf, who ran strongly and defended well. Neil McKay at fullback was another always willing to mount attacks. Barry White led the Suburbs’ forwards by example in the tight and loose and he received consistent support from Tahu Williams. Marist 32, Belfast 17 Marist: M. Vincent, S. Hansen, A. Kennedy, H. Hinton, C. Hay, tries; K. Hansen two penalty goals, three conversions. Belfast: J. Patrick (2), K. Boyd, tries; M. Vincent conversion, penalty goal. Half-time: 6-13. Referee: Mr D. J. Winton. It takes two halves to make a whole, but it was the second half that made a whole lot of difference to Marist when it overwhelmed Belfast at Sheldon Park. For the first 40min of the match, Belfast, belying the heavy conditions, ran the ball in dazzling fashion at a more reticent Marist XV. It gained some good early line-out ball through Hud Rickit and displayed sharp handling and combinations in its back-line to deservedly end the half up, 13-6. But things went wrong in the second spell. Belfast’s supply of ball dried up to a trickle. Its combinations fell apart when the first fiveeighths, Wayne Smith, was forced from the field injured and Marist opened up its game to run in five tries. Impressive as always was Mark Vincent on Marist’s right wing. Steve Hansen at second five-eighths stood out as the architect of Marist’s second-half revival as he went on several dashing runs and punched many gaps in Belfast’s defence.

But it was the strength of the Marist forward pack, especially in set play, that set the platform for the win. Its front row gave Belfast a torrid time in the scrums, and Tom Coughlan and Mark Connell earned Marist a big line-out advantage by the end of the match.

For Belfast, Smith was having a superb game before he left the field, and Mardy Vincent, at centre, got through a power of work both on defence and attack. Jeff Patrick gave his marker a hard time on the right flank and was rewarded with two good tries. Although Belfast’s forwards were outplayed in set pieces, they managed to put together some committed rucking and mauling, with Rickit, Alister Bolt, Barry Robertson and Kelvin Holland to the fore.

Lincoln College 25, Lyttelton 3 Lincoln College: R. Lough, H.

McGregor tries; R. Pound, conversion, five penalty goals. Lyttelton: J. Kottier, penalty goal. Half-time: 19-3. Referee, Mr J. Shuttleworth. The scoreline gives no indication of the progress of this game which, contrary to forecast and previous performance, was in no way a walkover. Lincoln College, resplendent in its alternative strip of black with a thin red stripe, was disappointing, and but for the boot of Rob Pound and a little less good fortune, could have been embarrassed by the outcome. In possession, Lyttelton was on a par; thanks to excellent work by Craig Prier, the port team dominated the decisive lineouts by more than two to one. It also held its own in scrums, but let, itself down in the rucks and mauls by giving away too many penalties. With a kicker of the calibre of Pound against it, this proved damaging. Lincoln College won through superior team work an better finishing. Apart from Pound, few individuals showed out. Aaron James made some penetrating dabs in mid-field, but spoiled many of them by holding on too long. In the forwards, Richard Wilson and Trevor Mitchell had good tight games, while Dougal Murray was effective at times in the lineouts.

In contrast, Lyttelton was more individualistic and consequently many promising movements failed to succeed. John Kottier was clearly the best of the backline, and he constantly punched holes in a somewhat tentative Lincoln defence. Brian Bachop also had a good game and John Crimmins could feel quite pleased with his first game in senior ranks. After Prier, who had an outstanding game, Shane Gallagher was the pick of the Lyttelton pack. Albion 34, Linwood 10 Albion: S. New (2), D. Kett, R. Robertson, G. James, P. Riordan tries; James two conversions, penalty goal, dropped goal. Linwood: K. Seinafo, G. Jones tries; T. Wells conversion. Half-time: 18-0. Referee: Mr T. M. Hannan. A severely depleted Linwood side was never allowed to settle by Albion in the curtain-raiser at Rugby Park, and the Albion pack drove horn its superiority as Linwood struggled for answers elsewhere. Albion effectively took control of the match in the first 15min, scoring 12 points in that time, and the side led, 18-0, at half-time. A short, obviously to the point, halftime talk by the Linwood coach, lan Mallard, produced quick results in the form of a try to Kose Seinafo, but Albion was in no mood to relinquish command. The power of the Albion scrum was evident in the fact that four tries came directly from scrum pressure close to the Linwood line, two from pushovers, one from a tighthead, and one when Linwood was heaved back on its own put-in and the feed to the halfback was upset. To add to Linwood’s woes, the Albion halfback, Ralph Robertson, was a ball-robber of startling audacity around the scrums. Albion’s forward advantage came very much from the pack operating cohesively as a unit, although Phil Riordan stood out for a fiery display in the loose. Craig Taylor was in magnificent form in the lineouts, giving Albion a big advantage in this sphere. In the Albion backline, Tim Palmer was a feisty customer, running hard into the tackles, and Brent Winks ran intelligently, always looking for work from the wing. Grant James’s “bombs” had Linwood under a lot of pressure, and if his goal-kicking was not up to his usual standard, it was, for once, of little concern to the team. Linwood showed flashes of its former prowess, but the upheaval caused by the eight changes to its advertised lineup was clearly evident. Mark Chrlsco showed up occasionally up front for Linwood and there was a wholehearted effort by Fred Brown. Tony Wells made the

best of a losing battle with his rear-guard actions, but there was little he could do about the Albion forwards driving en masse to the line. Burnside 12, New Brighton 0 Burnside: J. Preston four penalty goals. Half-time: 12I. Referee: Mr P. R. Jellyman. This Jellicoe Park encounter was rather like an irresistible force meeting an immovable object: Burnside attacked frequently, Brighton defended heroically, and no tries were scored. However, the use of that analogy is a little extravagant when applied to this game, because the standard of play rarely rose to an acceptable senior level. A reasonably cohesive Burnside pack won lashings of possession from the gallant but outgunned New Brighton forwards, who must be getting used to being pushed around. But the many probing attacks, two or three of which were well devised and executed, were snuffed out by a wide-ranging Brighton defence, which also dealt with the many predictable moves with ease. The dominant figure in the Burnside team was Robin Penney, who created the impression that he was involved in every movement. He started several, with bursts from the back of the scrum, and backed up incessantly. He received strong support from Danny McGuire, who also distinguished himself with some spectacular tackles, and Jon Preston, who displayed considerable ability, even under trying circumstances when yet another Bumside move had come unstuck. The seasiders never stopped tackling, and the defence was so reliable that Dale Schwaiger’s eyes often strayed from the bail — which spelt the end of several attacks directed towards his left wing. Ross Adler was a good general of Brighton’s struggling troops, and he and his men seized hungrily on the few fleeting chances of coun-ter-attacking off the scraps. Lance Stevenson performed well at centre, and Paul

Harrison had a fine all-round game at fullback. Christchurch 32, Merivale 7 Christchurch: P. Shennan (2), S. Barclay, R. Latham, L. losefa, M. Treweek tries; Latham, four conversions. Merivale: L. Slo try; D. Kale, dropped goal. Half-time: 184. Referee, Mr A. R. Taylor. The second game at Denton Oval was basically a scrappy affair. There was too much kicking, too many indecisive scrums and not enough clean lineouts to lift the game above a "ho hum” exhibition. Not that players in both teams didn’t try hard enough; they did. But both teams appeared to play the thing out as if the result was a foregone conclusion which, in ail honesty, it was. Christchurch played only as hard as it had to. Unfortunately, much of the good ball fed to the backs was kicked away, and while Rod Latham could not be faulted in the length and accuracy of this, it spoiled the game as a spectacle and must have been frustrating for the eager outside backs. Max Bremner fired out his passes quickly and accurately, and more use could have been made of Paul Shennan, who showed impressive pace and good finishing skills when opportunities arose. Mark Treweek, although earning a talking-to from the referee for over-robust play, had a fine all-round game. His main support came from Craig Philpott and Tim Smellle. When given clean ball, the Merivale backs were an adventurous lot and moved excitingly at times, without having the necessary finishing skills to consistently trouble the opposition. However, with a pack in front of them which was heavily outweighed, chances were few. Dennis Kale and Dave Stringer combined well in the five-eighths. Laf Sio was a nippy threequarter. The Merivale forwards were outgunned for most of the game, but, as usual, Robert Meek, Barry Baillie and Lionel Fergusson stood out, both on attack and defence.

Pool one W L F A Pts University 1 0 31 8 4 Marist 1 0 32 17 4 Belfast 0 1 17 32 0 Suburbs 0 1 8 31 0 Pool two W L F A Pts Albion 1 0 34 10 4 Chch 1 0 32 7 4 Linw. 0 1 10 34 0 Meriv. 0 1 7 32 0 Pool three W L F A Pts Line. Coll. 1 0 25 3 4 H.S.O.B. 1 0 24 3 4 Syd. 0 1 3 24 0 Lytt. 0 1 3 25 0 Pool four W L F A Pts Shirley 1 0 27 3 4 Burn. 1 0 12 0 4 Horn. 0 1 3 27 0 New Bri. 0 1 0 12 0