Sidelines

Press, 8 March 1989, Page 36

Sidelines

THE TELEVISED highlights of the Five Nations rugby championship at the week-end enabled us to see that nothing much has changed in northern hemisphere match officiating. Apart from the fact that England’s 11-0 win against France was its first against that country for seven years, the match at Twickenham was notable for the intrusions of touch judges stepping on the field with arm horizontal and flag out against the French. No doubt the All Black coach, Alex Wyllie, would have flashed a knowing smile at the sight of the frequent appearances by the sideline marshalls. A DRIVER, of the kind to power a golf ball off the tee, has proved successful in the hands of three of New Zealand’s leading amateurs in the last six months. Brent Paterson, Canterbury’s No. 1, was first to get his hands on the wood and he used it until Mark Street took a fancy to it and borrowed it with excellent results for Canterbury at the Government Life tournament late last year. From there it went back to Paterson and back to the supplier, Brett Tucker, before it became the property of the Waikato and New Zealand junior, Steven Alker, who used it to win the South Island championship at Timaru recently.