Eveleigh bows out of NZ rugby scene

Press, 4 March 1988, Page 20

Eveleigh bows out of NZ rugby scene

By

BOB SCHUMACHER

Kevin Eveleigh did not experience the smoothest of passages first time at the helm of the Manawatu representative rugby team last season, but he was left to steer his team through its programme for a second season.

Eveleigh, however, opted out this week, returning to South Africa from where he had been based before accepting the Manawatu coaching appointment last year. A former All Black in the mid-1970s and rugged, no-nonsense flanker for Manawatu over many years, Eveleigh never quite fathomed why players of the next generation did not have his own uncompromising attitude. Before Manawatu met Canterbury in last season’s National Mutual first division championship match at Lancaster Park, Eveleigh dropped the Manawatu captain, Murray Henderson, from the squad and relegated the vice-captain, Matene Love, to the reserves.

Eveleigh’s pessimisticl view of Manawatu’s j chances against Canterbury could hardly have. inspired his team, nor} could the sudden sackings} of the on-field leaders, but' the match result vindicated his lack of confidence beforehand. For the first time in inter-provincial rivalry between the teams, Can-

terbury amassed 40 points as it overran its northern opponent, 40-16. Eveleigh was not available for comment after the hiding. Manawatu eventually finished ninth of the 11 teams in the first division, but he was reappointed for a second term last November. But on the eve of the first important rugby fixture this ■ season, the Fresh-up national sevens tournament in Pukekohe tomorrow,' Eveleigh handed in his resignation and left Palmerston North bound for South Africa. Eveleigh, aged 40, said that he was sad but not bitter at having to make such a decision. It was with deep regret that he left the place where he was born and raised. Yet he added that he had not received any support since coming back. “It has been a struggle the whole way. I needed a job and a house when I arrived and I did not get either. It has been very difficult to get on my feet and I am very disappointed with the support I have not had,” he said before departure. Eveleigh said that his first season with Manawatu had been a learning experience and he and the team had learnt a lot last year. “I was really looking ; forward to this season to lift the team up the national championship ladder. They are going to need a very, very good coach. They need to get back} in the middle of the national championship rankings otherwise relegation is going to be a real threat.” The Manawatu union chairman, Kevin Quigan, said that Eveleigh had resigned because he had not been able to resolve personal and business arrangements to the point where he could devote personal attention to the Manawatu team.