Victory no surprise for Gordon’s Kiwis

Press, 23 October 1989, Page 32

Victory no surprise for Gordon’s Kiwis

From

KEVIN NORQUAY

in Manchester

There was time for quiet reflection among the elation after the Kiwis beat Britain, 24-16, in the first rugby league test at Old Trafford yesterday.

By the time the Kiwis threw their doors open to outsiders there was the calm after the storm. The dances of delight for a superb five-try win had been left on the field. The victory songs had been sung. In their place was comparative quiet. It was built out of the realisation that the test series was in the grasp of the Kiwis. There was Kiwi resolve to win the three-test series, to sew it up by winning the second test next week-end. There was Kiwi glee. There were plenty of smiles. But minutes after the first test had ended New Zealand were thinking about the second. Sadly for the British, the Kiwi coach, Tony Gordon, said his team of written-off outsiders had better to offer than the enthralling attacking football it produced at Manchester. “It’ll get better, a lot better,” he said to the throngs of the British press many of whom had dumped heavily on the Kiwis when they lost to Wigan 13 days earlier. It was hard to believe New Zealand could play a lot better, yet anyone who watched the Kiwis bumble to defeat at Wigan then saw them again yesterday would now believe in rugby league miracles. The Kiwis were better than Britain everywhere but in goalkicking. The British forwards were anonymous, tackled out of the game for the full 80 minutes. In the halves the British halfback, Andy Gregory, was completely outplayed by the man of the match, Gary Freeman, while the Kiwi standoff, Kelly Shelford, was able to run virtually at will. It was the same story wider out in the backs till the British coach, Mai Reilly, replaced his debut horror story centre, Andy Currier, with Shaun Edwards 14

minutes after half-time. If it had not been for the left wing flier, Martin Offiah, Britain would have scored only one try. Offiah twice slipped clear of his marker, Kevin Iro and the scorebeard ticked over twice for his side.

For the final British try, which brought Britain to 16-20 and precariously close to a win they would not have deserved, Offiah blazed almost the length of the field from dummy half. Yet Offiah came out behind his opposite wing, Iro, on points. Four minutes after Offiah had prised the door partly open for Britain, Iro slammed it shut with a thump. With 10 minutes to play the 95kg converted test centre took the ball on the blindside from Freeman. Iro had one metre between him and touch. He had 15m and three Britons between him and the try-line. It looked impossible. The centre, Paul Loughlin, was brushed aside. Offiah was swatted like a sandfly. Even the prop, David Hobbs, did not have the weight to knock Iro

as the big man plunged for the line. “I just went for it, it was the last tackle you have to. go for it,” Iro said, seemingly unaware his try was anything out of the ordinary. “I should have got Offiah when he scored. I had to get one back on him.” Neither Mr Gordon nor Iro rated the win as highly as the 1987 win over Australia at Lang Park. “It wasn’t as surprising as Lang Park,” Iro said. “No-one in the team was surprised.” Therein lay another reason for quiet acceptance of a result which restored New Zealand’s rugby league standing and ended a string of four straight test losses and which answered in style the critics Mr Gordon has had since the World Cup final last October. The Kiwis were not surprised to win. They felt they controlled the match. Even when Offiah worked his magic to close Britain to 16-20 the Kiwis were sure of themselves. It was only New Zealand fans who were saying "uh oh, the British are coming.” “Everyone just kept their heads,” said Kelly Shelford. “Any other winger wouldn’t have been able to score a try like that. The only way they could have come back was with another try like that,” he said. Shelford underlined the new found confidence in a Kiwi side which contained only five players from the XIII who started in the World Cup final just a year ago. It had to be confident to play the way it did. The ball was always on the move. Short passes, long passes, slip passes were all in there with great handling to match as the Kiwis set out to make the bigger British forwards run more than they

liked. The wing, Gary Mercer, and Iro, were used often and effectively from dummy half or carving into the backline. Again the British pack tired as it was forced to chase players faster than them. New Zealand spun the ball wide so Kiwi runners could run hard and fast at Offiah, the wing, Phil Ford, and the centre, AndyCurrier. The British outsides did not like the cold steel coming at them. They missed tackle after tackle. Freeman was man of the match. It could have been the hooker, Duane Mann. Mann was part of three Kiwi tries. Like Freeman he seemed determined to see as much of Old Trafford as he could as he charged here and there on attack and cover defence duties. All the Kiwis rose to the occasion with outstanding games. A rusty, out of touch, Britain, had no idea how to stop Shelford running from standoff. It had the same problems with Iro. Freeman simply mesmerised it. At one end of the long players’ corridor Mr Gordon stood saying there would be no changes for the second test at Eiland Road next week-end, unless injuries forced his hand. At the other end of the corridor the British coach, Mr Mai Reilly, suggested there would be some changes to a team which had been such a hot favourite that bookmakers had to offer 6-1 on the Kiwis before they could entice bets on them. Scorers: New Zealand 24 (James Goulding, Hugh McGahan, Kelly Shelford, Gary Freeman, Kevin Iro tries; Kurt Sherlock conversion, penalty goal) Britain 16 (Phil Ford, Alan Tait, Martin Offiah tries; Paul Laughlin conversion, penalty goal). Half-time: 16-6.