POPULAR CHOICE AS N.Z. LEAGUE COACH

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31113, 16 July 1966, Page 11

POPULAR CHOICE AS N.Z. LEAGUE COACH

'THE selection of Mr D. L. 1 Blanchard to prepare the New Zealand test teams for the series against Great Britain was a popular decision, although it came as rather a surprise that every provincial coach in the country was passed over. In the past it has been the custom for one of the national selectors to be appointed to the position of coach. On this occasion, however, only one selector (Mr E. Butts, of Canterbury) is a provincial coach and the dismal record of the Canterbury team would have done little to enhance his claims.

The convener of the selection panel, Mr W. Telford (Auckland), has coached New Zealand teams on several occasions since 1956, including the team which toured Britain and France last season, but he has been selected to manage the 1966 Kiwis. Mr M. W. Church (Wellington), the third national selector, is graded below the Wellington coach, Mr J. J. Campbell.

Mr Blanchard is the first New Zealand coach to be drawn from a province other than Auckland since Mr J. E. Amos (Canterbury) in 1954. The selection of Mr Blanchard is a further milestone in one of the most illustrious careers in New Zealand Rugby League history. His representative career spanned 12 years, from

1947 to 1958, the first two seasons being as a Canterbury Rugby Union forward in partnership with A. J. Atkinson, who was later to change codes with Blanchard and play with him for Linwood and New Zealand. Six inter-island matches, four tours, 61 international games, including 16 tests—--12 in succession—are among Mr Blanchard’s enviable list of achievements. The playing record has not been closed completely, for, at the age of 42, Mr Blanchard has twice this season taken the field as a replacement for Linwood. The selection and coaching aspects of the game won Mr Blanchard’s interest after his retirement from first-class football in 1958, after captaining Canterbury. He has been a provincial selector for some years and last season was a South Island selector. Mr Blanchard has coached Linwood and Canterbury B teams and, although the Canterbury board of control chose Mr Butts as its pro-

vincial coach at one of Its earlier meetings this season, it nominated Mr Blanchard for the position of Southern XIII coach only a few minutes later. Senior football has not been Mr Blanchard’s sole interest and schoolboys, particularly in the national under-15 tournament grade, have enjoyed the benefit of his experience. He will attend the national tournament in Greymouth soon after the second test against Britain. Mr Blanchard has had some success as an international coach, having been

the man behind the New Zealand Schoolboy Kiwis’ win over New South Wales in the first schoolboy international in 1963. The following year he toured New South Wales on a reciprocal tour and has been a South Island and New Zealand schoolboy selector.* A very popular personality, with a fine sense of humour—a vital attribute for a Canterbury Rugby League Selector this season —Mr Blanchard has the confidence of the players, some of whom he has been associated with since their schoolboy days.