Taylor may be ruled out for match

Press, 12 July 1988, Page 48

Taylor may be ruled out for match

By

DAVID LEGGAT,

of NZPA in Townsville

The experienced All Black back, Warwick Taylor’s, already slim chances of being in contention for the second rugby test team took a sharp dip yesterday as the tourists prepared to head north to play Queensland B tomorrow.

The Canterbury second five-eighths, with 24 test caps behind him, is pencilled in to play Queensland B. It will be his first match in over a fortnight since breaking a bone in his right hand against Australia B early in the tour.

However, Taylor did not train with the All Blacks in Brisbane yesterday morning and the coach, Alex Wyllie, said there was still some doubt over whether he would be ready to play tomorrow.

If he is ruled out of the Queensland B match he is out of the running for the second test on Saturday at Ballymore Oval, Mr Wyllie said last evening. “His hand is still a bit tender and swollen. It’s not quite right. “We will be looking at it tomorrow and will be making a decision then.” In Taylor’s absence, an in-form John Schuster ran at second five-eighths with the team to play Queensland B. However, Mr Wyllie has other injury worries and did not specify Schuster as the standby for Taylor.

Schuster, who made his test debut in the opening Bledisloe Cup international at Sydney a week ago, is suffering general soreness. He has played in the last four matches. In addition four other players are struggling with minor injuries. The key back, Joe Stanley, who has bpen troubled with a bronchial infection for most of the tour, has a slight leg strain, and the No. 1 first five-eighths, Grant Fox, has what Mr Wyllie termed a niggling knee injury. The senior lock, Gary Whetton, is receiving physiotherapy treatment for a sore shoulder and twin brother Alan’s thigh strain, which kept him out of the bruising win over Queensland, has not completely cleared up.

“So we are in a bit of a tight spot at the moment — we’ll just have to wait and see how we get on,” Mr Wyllie said.

The team for the Queensland B match will be led by the Canterbury

lock, Albert Anderson. He' also had charge of the side against New South Wales Country at Singleton immediately before the first test.

There is a distinctly B look about the side, particularly in the forwards where only Michael Jones of the expected second test pack will play. Bernie McCahill gets his third game since arriving as an additional player to cover Taylor while the fullback, John Gallagher — undoubtedly the form player of the tour to date — will have his seventh match out of eight tomorrow.

Most interest will centre on the form of the respective wings, Terry Wright and Jasin Goldsmith.

Wright, the test encumbent, has been out of action with a strained achilles tendon since the first test, while the 18-year-old Goldsmith, throwing out a strong challenge, has improved steadily with every match on his first All Black tour.

A strong performance from Goldsmith coupled with a less than convincing display by Wright could produce a first test cap for Goldsmith at Ballymore on Saturday. Wright trained at full speed yesterday and came through without any recurrence of his damaged heel. The All Blacks practised under the assistant coach, Lane Penn, and the captain, Wayne Shelford, yesterday while Mr Wyllie, Fox and Allan Whetton spent the morning with the New Zealand Colts team, who began their three-match tour with a 22-14 loss to Queensland under 21 on Sunday. The tourists were due to arrive in a very warm Townsville last evening after spending yesterday afternoon as guests of honour at the New Zealand pavilion at Expo ’BB.

The All Black team to play Queensland B is.— John Gallagher; Jasin Goldsmith, Bernie McCahill, Terry Wright; Warwick Taylor, Frano Botica; Graeme Bachop; Zinzan Brooke; Mike Brewer, Andy Earl, Albert

Anderson (captain), Michael Jones; Kevin Boroevich, Warren Gatland, Ron Williams. Reserves: Joe Stanley, John Schuster, Grant Fox; Wayne Shelford, Murray Pierce, Steve McDowell.

• The Australian rugby fullback, Andrew Leeds, has been dropped to the reserves bench for the second test against the All Blacks on Saturday at Ballymore and the wing, David Campese, has taken his place. They were some of the shocks when the team was announced yesterday. The team is.—

David Campese; James Grant, Michael Cook, Lloyd Walker, lan Williams, Michael Lynagh, Nick FarrJones; Julian Gardner, Jeff Miller, Simon Poidevin, Steve Cutler, Damien Frawley, Andy Mclntyre, Tom Lawton, Mark Hartill.

Reserves: Andrew Leeds, Brian Smith, Brad Burke, Tim Gavin, Rob Lawton, Mark Mcßain.

Grant, the former St Stanislaus College Bathurst schoolboy star nicknamed the Orange Flyer, took Campese’s wing berth. And the Randwick and New South Wales centre, Gary Ella — the last of the legendary Ella brothers in the top ranks — lost his place to fellow clubman Lloyd Walker. Jeff Miller has returned to his breakaway spot after recovering from injury while the No. 8, Quirindi grazier David Carter, has lost his berth to the first test breakaway, Julian Gardner and has been dropped from the squad.

The All Blacks are oneup in the three test Bledisloe Cup series. A hobbling Lynagh was hopeful of facing the All Blacks despite a deepseated “cork” in his left thigh.

The Queensland and Australian five-eighths was forced off the field nine minutes before the end of Sunday’s game against the All Blacks which was won, 27-12, by the unbeaten tourists.

Lynagh said he was racing the clock with the test on Saturday and not Sunday, but said he hoped to train with the Australian team tomorrow evening.