Tempers short in senior rugby

Press, 26 June 1989, Page 22

Tempers short in senior rugby

Three current members of the Canterbury pack were punished by suspensions when tempers frayed in Christchurch senior rugby on Saturday. The most serious penalty was the ordering off of a Canterbury and Marist prop, Tala Kele, for an alleged head butt on a High School Old Boys opponent in the main match at Lancaster Park oval.

Two of Kele’s provincial team-mates, Rob Penney (Burnside) and Murray Henderson (Marist) were both banished to the sin bin on an afternoon in which five other senior footballers experienced a similar fate.

The burly Kele was ordered off by the referee, Graeme Anderson, immediately after Henderson was sent to the sin bin 2min from the end of the main game at

rugby headquarters. Mr Anderson ruled that Henderson had late-tackled the Old Boys' first fiveeighths, James Whelan. Seconds later, the Old Boys No. 8, Steve Ward, was felled, allegedly by a head butt from Kele, who was then ordered from the field by the referee. Kele was reluctant to leave the pitch, and it took some persuasion by Mr Anderson and the Marist captain, Steve Baker, to get him to go. With Henderson in the sin bin and Kele off the field, Marist was reduced to six forwards and was unable to prevent a last-ditch Old Boys’ try. Marist still won, however.

Other players sinbinned on Saturday were Barry Robertson and Chris Lee (both Belfast), Ted Forrester and Grant Bull (both Sydenham), and Dave Kennedy (Albion).