Telfer Fifth Lion To Captain Team

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31118, 22 July 1966, Page 13

Telfer Fifth Lion To Captain Team

(By

I. J. D. HALL)

The British Lions chose its fifth captain of the New Zealand tour when it named the Scottish No. 8, J. W. Telfer, to lead the team against Canterbury tomorrow. However, Telfer’s appointment is a relatively minor surprise compared with the switching of positions involving the centre, M. P. Weston and the first five-eighths, D. Watkins.

Weston will play at first five-eighths and Watkins at centre—the first time either have occupied these positions in New Zealand.

But not too much should be read into Telfer’s appointment as captain. A. E. I. Pask and N. A. A. Murphy, who have already led the side, were not scheduled to play against Canterbury, and the touring captain, Campbell-Lamerton, was not available because of a leg injury. Weston could have been the other possibility but probably It is better at this time to have a forward leading the team.

The excellent debut by Stewart Watkins against West Coast-Buller at Westport has earned him another match, and the honest efforts of the prop, D. L. Powell, has given him a place in the front row.

Watkins, for all his brilliance, has not been able to get the other backs moving smoothly and Weston, described with C. M. H. Gibson as the best giver and taker of a ball in British Rugby, may be able to fulfil this vital task. But such is Watkins’s flair on attack that it is understandable why he has been moved further away from the firing range of the loose forwards.

The seemingly indestructible K. W. Kennedy will again hook as F. A. Laidlaw is still bothered by a leg injury. Those who may have not taken much account of the game at Westport may well note that six of that pack— Mcßride, Price, Lamont, Prothero, Powell and Kennedy—have been chosen for tomorrow’s game. The team is: S. Wilson; S. J. Watkins, D. Watkins, C. W. McFadyean, D. E. I. Bebb, M. P. Weston; R. Young; J. W. Telfer; R. A. Lamont, B. Price, W. J. Mcßride, G. J. Prothero; D. L. Powell, K. W. Kennedy, C. H. Norris.

Telfer, although he has become fifth in succession, is no stranger to the duties of leading an international team. Last season he took over as pack leader of Scotland for the last two internationals and, oddly enough, replaced M. J. CampbellLamerton as pack leader.

Hour’s Training The Lions arrived in Christchurch at 5.15 p.m., last evening and then went out to the lighted training grounds at Christchurch Boys’ High School. Under the urgings of the coach (Mr J. D. Robins) they went through a solid hour's training on the frosty ground. A great deal of attention was paid to line-out drill and the drive from No. 2 at the line-out. Although this was tried quite often it never quite achieved the concerted thrust that Mr Robins may have been hoping for.