A rugby season without many magic moments for Canterbury

Press, 12 October 1988, Page 44

A rugby season without many magic moments for Canterbury

By

BOB SCHUMACHER

The loss of the South Pacific championship, sixth placing in the national first division championship and a heavy defeat in its bid for the Ranfurly Shield all contributed to a largely forgettable season for the Canterbury rugby team. Post mortems took place during the season and will no doubt continue for some time yet, but just where Canterbury fell down is a question for debate. Fingers will point at the coaches, Doug Bruce and Andy Holland, two men with Canterbury’s rugby interests deep at heart and who must have been acutely hurt by some of the barbs thrown at them. Mr Bruce, without the charisma and imposing features of the man whom he succeeded, Alex Wyllie, was never one to adopt strong-arm tactics; whether a more belligerent approach would have drawn a more positive response from his players becomes arguable. Mr Bruce maintained that he could detect no attitude problems at training and he was nonplussed at the sudden inattentive periods which befell Canterbury during many of its matches. These times of neglect, often defensive lapses, invariably cost the team points which it was unable to peg back. What could have been a satisfactory fourth placing for Canterbury in the National Mutual championship went wrong when it dropped both of its last two home games, against Otago and Counties, with less than 2min remaining. Failure to do the fundamentals correctly denied Canterbury maximum points from both games

and it would be a fair assumption that under the Wyllie regime the offending individuals would have been severely castigated and perhaps banished to an Omihi farm for a day of dagging sheep. Canterbury’s lack of disipline on field was one of its biggest downfalls. Coaches cannot be held responsible for players kicking out on the full, failing to find touch from

penalties and getting offside repeatedly within kicking range of their own posts. The amazing thing was that Canterbury never changed its errant way, it reached the point of recidivism. A player turnover of 40 for the 20 games was hardly conducive for team building, although Mr Bruce was fairly rigid in his selections, rightly or wrongly, when the national championship series started. The season started on the wrong foot for Canterbury, three losses in the South Pacific series consigning it to equal third

position and the loss of the trophy for the first time in three years. The crippling injury to Dale Atkins, a central character in the Canterbury cast, against Wellington in the last of the games was a tremendous blow. Atkins was not the only established player lost for the season. Two survivors of many hard campaigns, Murray Davie and Vic Simpson — with a collective total of 237 Canterbury A appearances — bowed out and work commitments removed another vital cog from the front row firing line, Chris Earl. The five representative matches before the national championship were all won, but after a convincing victory against West Coast and a record score against Mid-Canter-bury, Canterbury found South Canterbury (in the second half), Marlborough and Southland causes for consternation. There were signs in those games that Canterbury was not functioning as a co-ordinated unit and seldom did it run smoothly for 80min during the National Mutual 10-match programme. Three matches at Lancaster Park gave Canterbury a far easier draw than it had struck the previous season and all were duly won; North Harbour being seemingly overawed until it was too late in its debut on Lancaster Park; Bay of Plenty playing with refreshing vigour but committing more mistakes than Canterbury, and Taranaki succumbing to the wiles of Bruce Deans and the

accurate goal-kicking of Shayne Philpott. Once away from Lancaster Park, however, Canterbury immediately received a sharp reminder from North Auckland as to the necessity of limiting one’s own errors while forcing mistakes from the opponent. North

Auckland scored a record win at Okara Park, but Canterbury won kudos three days later by bouncing back and deservedly downing Waikato in one of its most spirited displays of the season. Wellington’s constant forward waves swept over Canterbury, but Manawatu was comfortably disposed of at Palmerston North before the rekindled Canterbury flame was dampened by losses to Otago and Counties and completely doused by Auckland. Canterbury rugby is not bereft of talent but it has to be more effectively harnessed next season.

Shayne Philpott, whose form slumped towards the end of the season, Mark Vincent and Andrew McCormick had the aggression and determination to succeed at the highest level, but it was unfortunate that Warwick Taylor, whose vast rugby knowledge was readily absorbed by the younger backs, was not completely free of injury. Andrew Simcock, ungainly gait and all, and Richard Connell were generally decisive in their actions, but Stephen Bachop’s topsy-turvy season ended bleakly with his omission from the Ranfurly Shield match. Deans, whose seven tries represented his best total in seven seasons with Canterbury, was invaluable on defence, brave under the high ball, but the strain of so much rugby in the last 18 months took its toll before the season’s curtain fall. Andy Earl was the dominating influence in the Canterbury pack. The All Black utility forward sustained his excellent form from the Australian tour and only Zinzan Brooke had his measure. Apart from assisting Albert Anderson, Grant Mickell and Robin Penney to establish authority in the line-outs, Earl was the focal point on which Canterbury based much of its forward play. He started and supported many impressive rolling drives by Canterbury which did not always bring the rewards it warranted. Stephen Dods, always willing to hurl his body into the fray, utilised his speed advantageously and the team had no better tackler. Penney and Anderson were steady rather than spectacular, Mickell was in his ele-

ment when play opened up, and the props, Tala Kele and Brent Harvey, managed their unenviable tasks adequately without ever establishing firm control it was surprising, however, that the specialist loosehead prop, Kerry Pauling, should be used so sparingly. His mobility was missed. Whereas some of the Canterbury players were tired — and played like it

— as the season came to a close, the hooker, John Buchan, found a second wind and he played outstandingly well against Auckland. Still perhaps not the swiftest of strikers in the scrum, Buchan’s all-round ability kept the fiery former All Black, John Mills, on the reserves’ bench most of the season. The worthy performances of Canterbury B and Canterbury Colts this season would suggest that there is light at the end of the tunnel for the province in the next few seasons. But a lot of groundwork remains to be done; how and by whom have yet to be answered.