Philpott to play for Teachers’ Colleges

Press, 7 October 1987, Page 24

Philpott to play for Teachers’ Colleges

The new Canterbury lock, Craig Philpott, is one of three Christchurch forwards chosen to play for the New Zealand Teachers Colleges rugby side against their New South Wales counterparts in Hamilton on Friday.

Philpott’s colleagues in the side are Graham Avery and Duncan Cavaye. The team has a strong Hamilton flavour, and four of the ' players, Andrew Strawbridge, Kevin Putt, Rodney Mclntosh and Warren Gatland,

are current Waikato representatives.

Notable victories in the past ’few years have included big wins over Horowhenua and East Coast and last year on the first overseas tour by N.Z. Teachers Colleges, a fine win against the Queensland C.A.E. side by 17-9. Players who began their careers with the N.Z. Teachers Colleges side, and who later made names for themselves in the big time, include Peter Kaua, the current Waikato captain, Grant Dickson, who went on to play for Auckland and the North Island, and Derek Stirling, a very promising wing who gave up rugby to concentrate on cricket where he reached New Zealand status. The history of the New Zealand Teachers College side goes back to 1979 when a national side was fielded for the first time. This pioneer side played most attractively in defeating a strong Waikato XV by 1613. Since then the Colleges side has played against an Auckland XV in 1980 as curtain-raiser to the Fiji v. All Blacks game at Eden Park, losing 6-9.