Thompson available for Canterbury

Press, 19 April 1979, Page 32

Thompson available for Canterbury

By

Kevin McMenamin

The bad news that Canter- ' bury will be without its All j Black prop. Bill Bush, for its first two games this winter | can be counterbalanced by i the good news that Bafry i Thompson is again available ifor all levels of rugby. Bush will be on tour in The Pacific with the New i Zealand Maoris when Canterbury plays West! Coast at Greymouth on May '9 and Marlborough at Bien-: iheim on May 23, the two' 1 lead-up matches for the big I game against Queensland at' [Christchurch on June 9. But with Thompson to fill in on the tight-head side of the scrum, as he has done so often in the past, there need be no fear of any power, or technical, loss. For family reasons, Thompson was unavailable for first-class rugby for much of last season, his three games taking his total for the province since his debut in 1970 to 54. His situation, in respect to his family farm at Oxford, has now eased and Thompson said yesterday that he would be available for Canterbury, "if wanted.” There is no doubt that the Canterbury forward selector, Mr Stan Hill, will be delighted to have him. Mr Hill, like a number of other com- . petent judges, holds Thomp- ■ son in high regard and as an i exponent of the rucking art

I there are few better forI wards in the country. Thompson’s great misfortune is that his career has run parallel to that of Bush’s. They are the same age (30) and with the right breaks Thompson could well have become an All Black too. He must have beeni close in 1977 when he replaced Bush in the Canterbury scrum and had a succession of outstanding games. Although an All Black jersey has escaped him, Thompson has at least had a big overseas tour. He was with the Cantabrians team that visited Britain and Italy, last month and he describes the tour as being the highpoint of his career. “It was great teaming up again with many of the players Canterbury had five and six years ago and it was a tremendous thrill for me to play alongside men like

lan Kirkpatrick, Sid Going and Joe Morgan. 1 have never really thought of myself in their league,” said Thompson. I The level of fitness he I reached on the Cantabrians ' tour is one reason why Thompson has decided to "have one more go" in repIresentative rugby, although | his greatest spur is a desire to make up for the disrupted •season he had last year. , For the last eight seasons | Thompson has been a par! lof one of the best front-rows in Canterbury club rugby. I the Oxford line-up which had Jim Stubbs and Hugh Taylor as the other memIbers. “Canterbury’s Pontypool.” someone once des« jcribed it. although the celebrated Welsh trio would be j well ahead on combined I ages. Anyway, the Oxford combination has been broken this year with the retirement of Stubbs, who although he never rose above Canterbury B was a loose-head prop who would have walked into the top team in most other provinces. Canterbury is extremely well off for props at present and it is, perhaps, unfortunate that one or two very promising youngsters may have to bide their time a I little longer. But with Bush | playing so ably and Thompi son a willing replacement I the tight-head side could not ■be more secure.