Deans stars in Canty’s win over Counties

Press, 14 August 1989, Page 21

Deans stars in Canty’s win over Counties

From

BOB SCHUMACHER

in Pukekohe

Robbie Deans set a new provincial record, Canterbury got the win it wanted to start its national first division campaign and a pall of gloom descended on Counties at its home rugby stadium on Saturday afternoon as it slumped to its third championship defeat. The precision and timing normally associated with Deans’ goal-kicking were missing but one of Canterbury’s favourite footballing sons was still able to contribute 20 points to his team’s 35-3 victory. He scored two tries and succeeded with five out of 11 shots at goal. When he slotted a simple penalty goal 12 minutes into the second half, Deans became the highest points-scorer in Canterbury rugby, passing Fergie McCormick’s total of 1297. By the game’s end he had advanced that to 1307.

A fine day and firm ground gave promise of an exciting, entertaining spectacle, but the crowd stayed away. Maybe Counties had not delivered what the spectators ordered earlier in , the season or maybe the truants had had a premonition that the match was to lack flow and fluidity.

The error-rate was too high, especially by Counties, and it could least afford to blunder because it won precious little quality ball from set phases. Canterbury took the first half lineouts, 13-4, and the scrums, 9-3, and although

possession, was more evenly distributed in the ' second spell, Counties was unable to conjure up any tricks to fool Canterbury. Both coaches, Frank, Jack, of Canterbury, and Andy Dalton, considered the final score a fair reflection of what took place. “Canterbury played very well, their control was vastly superior to ours — we lost too much ball in the tackle and were not given the same leeway,” Mr Dalton said.

While conceding there were grey areas, Mr Jack said that he did not want to sound negative or be too disappointed. “I thought Counties were pretty committed. They stuck in there and ran it at us. I was impressed with the tackling of the three-quarters, Maunsell, Bale and McCormick, and I thought our scrum improved in the second half.”

“There are areas to work on, ball attention is one, but we stuck to our game plan pretty well,” Mr Jack said. The tactical kick was part of Canterbury’s policy and it paid dividends twice in the first half. An uneventful and unproductive ■ first 17 minutes ended when Andrew McCormick chipped a little kick for Wiremu Maunsell on the left wing. The ball sat on its end and was overrun by both Maunsell and his marker, Grant Nolan, but Robbie Deans was rewarded for his diligent following-up with a favourable bounce and a try

under the posts. Nine minutes later Stephen Bachop’s searching punt found no takers and the Canterbury forward prospered, driving Counties back to its line and freeing the ball to Bruce Deans, whose swal-low-dive carried him over the line. A late penalty goal by Robbie Deans and a dropped goal by Stephen Bachop had Canterbury comfortably ahead at the break, 16-3, but it should really have established an even greater gap, such was its dominance against an opposition which was without genuine pace in the three-quarters and which formed a defensive screen of sieve-like appearances. When Canterbury added 13 points in the first 17 minutes of the opened half the Pukekohe pessimists talked of a thrashing similar to the 67-0 one meted out to Counties by Waikato, but the home team had more character and backbone than that and Canterbury was restricted to just one more converted try late in the piece when Counties unsuccessfully tried to turn defence into offence. The earlier two tries of the half, however, were good advertisements for support play. Paula Bale, deceptively x quick, devoured ground down the right flank, lobbed infield when challenged and Bachop and Bruce Deans both flicked on passes for Andy Earl to seize upon and cross unopposed. Three minutes later Robbie Deans wiggled out of a weak tackle by Brett Coates to record his

second try, but the movement was founded by Murray Henderson and Rob Penney and drew strength from Bruce Deans, Bachop, Warwick Taylor and McCormick before Deans fulfilled the cause.

Counties attacked sporadically but without spontaneity, and Canterbury’s tackling was quite deadly when it was in danger, Bale, Maunsell and Penney all lowering the ball-carrier on occasions when they were the last line of defence.

Maunsell, in his finest match for Canterbury, made consecutive tackles in the dying minutes to effect the disharmony along the Counties backline on which Bachop capitalised.

Chris Earl, effective at the front of lineouts, big brother, Andy, John Buchan and Penney all warmed to their tasks in the pack, while the backs, competently directed by Bruce Deans, still had the measure of a ponderous Counties chain.

Carl Murray, whose side-stepping at speed worried the French earlier this season, was easily the most incisive of the Counties backs, while Derek MacDonald, a soldier with the Army club, battled gallantly with Junior Paramore in the warfare up front. For Canterbury, Robbie Deans (2), "Bruce Deans, Andy Earl and Stephen Bachop scored tries; Robbie Deans kicked three conversions and two penalty goals; and Bachop kicked a dropped goal. For Counties, Stu Hollier kicked a penalty goal.