Taylor aims to win All Black place

Press, 17 May 1989, Page 64

Taylor aims to win All Black place

By

BOB SCHUMACHER

Warwick Taylor’s motto is to always aim for the top. The pinnacle in rugby for the Canterbury and New Zealand second five-eighths is to be selected for the All Blacks and that is his goal for the season.

Injuries have dogged Taylor for the last two years and the new season brought further frustration when a pulled hamstring forced an early departure from the field against Auckland in the South Pacific championship match at Eden Park on April 16. Taylor, aged 29, had his first serious test for his club, University, in the senior competition last Saturday and it was his typical defiant midfield defence which caused consternation among the usually smooth functioning backline of the unbeaten Marist team. Although Taylor was limping somewhat after a heavy tackle on the big striding and powerfully built Canterbury and Marist wing, Paula Bale, he survived the match well and had nothing more than a deep bruise after the encounter. “The hamstring felt good. It was really a matter of getting through the game and getting the confidence back,” Taylor said , last evening. “It was my first match for four weeks and I

needed to find confidence. I’ve had acupuncture from a physiotherapist, Brian (McKenzie), for two to three weeks but that’s finished and it’s now rehabilitation stuff and working in the gym.” A veteran of 40 matches for the All Blacks between 1983 and last year, Taylor was unfazed at missing the South zone team for the George Nepia Memorial Trophy inter-zonal series. “The club scene allows

me the chance to get confidence back and it is nice to have that opportunity. It would have been straight from the South Pacific and into the hard stuff otherwise and it is good to have something to build on.” With 24 tests behind him, Taylor is looking to extend his All Black career. “I always aim for the top and I’ll be giving it my best shot to return to the All Blacks.” Taylor is enthusiastic about rejoining the Canterbury team as well, but he added some words of caution. “That’s the other thing — I’m going to have to fight to make it back into the Canterbury team.” Although Canterbury dropped all five matches in the South Pacific championship, the results did not correctly reflect the standard of rugby played by the province. “Canterbury played bloody good rugby but it was not quite good enough. We know we still have a lot to do but the boys seem to be playing with a bit more confidence near the end so that augurs well.”