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Saturday, September 7, 2013
Ashburton Guardian 27
In brief
■ RUGBY
Quade ready for Boks
Carter’s star-power on the line BY GREGOR PAUL Finally back in his All Black No10 jersey, Daniel Carter faces the entirely new challenge of knowing he needs to deliver an emphatic performance tonight to stay in it. That’s supposedly always been the case but Carter, having been blessed by angels, has never been subjected to genuine selection pressure since he shifted to first-five late in 2004. Even when he was hopping about on one leg in the ill-fated 2007 World Cup quarter-final, the selectors backed him. The sight of a pale Graham Henry saying Carter had been ruled out of the last World Cup’s knockout rounds and the angst and near panic that followed were confirmation there hasn’t been a No10 remotely close in ability. That was then - a time when there was serious doubt about whether the All Blacks could
win without Carter. Whenever he was injured between 2004 and 2011 it was always shut the eyes and hope. The All Blacks scrambled through his broken leg absence in 2005 with Luke McAlister and Leon MacDonald. They weren’t so lucky in 2009 when Carter missed the first six tests and they lost three. A one-point victory in Sydney in 2010 when he was having ankle surgery merely highlighted the gulf between him and Aaron Cruden and when he didn’t go to South Africa in 2011, the All Blacks lost.
They played 27 tests without Carter (after his debut) between June 2003 and the eve of the 2011 World Cup. They lost six of those - a 78 per cent win ratio as opposed to the 89 per cent win ratio when he did play. But the World Cup changed everything. Somehow the All Blacks scrambled to victory: they felt the fear and did it anyway. They won the biggest three games in recent history without Carter and are no longer held hostage by their own doubts when he’s not there. As proof of that, the statistics of the
past two years tell a different story. Since Carter’s groin ripped in Wellington on the eve of the pool clash with Canada, he has played only 10 of 23 tests. The All Blacks have won 21 of those - their only defeat and draw coming when Carter played. Which means he runs out tonight no longer cast as the knight in shining armour brought in to save the day. His mission between now and the end of the year when he signs off for a sixmonth sabbatical is more subtle, more challenging and open for debate: he has to prove the All Blacks are a discernibly better team when he plays. It simply needs to be an evening of quintessential Carter: immaculate goal-kicking, impeccable decision-making, effortless passing, crunching defence and, probably most important, undeniable signs of his running ability making a difference. - NZH
■ GOLF
Quade Cooper makes his longawaited return to the Wallabies No.10 jersey tonight a changed man. But the mercurial five-eighth insists he’s still the player who took the rugby world by storm in 2010-11, and is excited about the chance to prove it at Suncorp Stadium. Cooper makes his first Test start in 12 months when he lines up against South Africa looking like a more humble and respectful team man. It was last September when the 25-year-old labelled the Wallabies environment “toxic” - the tipping point after 12 months of pressure following a painful World Cup experience. And senior players are quietly impressed by a new level of maturity. - AAP
Otago gets thumped Shield fever has gone very cold for Otago, who were belted by wonderful long range strikes from Tasman who won 49-16 in Nelson last night. The ITM Cup championship division clash piled on the bad news for the southerners, whose Ranfurly Shield delight fell flat in the first defence against Hawkes Bay. Five days on, they were badly out muscled and enthused, their cause not helped by two yellow cards, the second for an ugly lifting tackle from Super 15 hooker Liam Coltman. A lopsided outcome was simmering in the first half, and hit a boil in the second with Tom Marshall usually the classy orchestrator. - NZH
Warriors need miracle Presuming the more likely parts of the last-ditch plan work out, the Warriors will be left hoping one of two giant upsets occurs in the final round of the NRL. Awful Parramatta will need to beat the Knights in Newcastle, or the almost awful Wests Tigers must overturn the of the coaching and filming North Queensland Cowboys if the deal. Warriors are to make the playoffs. One of the challenges of havGame over, according to every ing a segment of the golf show pundit. The Knights and Cowboys filmed at the club was finding have too much to play for. But wait someone willing to be filmed - a glimmer of hope. The Tigers are playing a signature hole, he a bogey team for the Cowboys - the said. Tigers’ outstanding record includes beating the Cowboys in the 2005 Young golfers who are wantfinal. The Eels are paying up to $9 a ing to take part in the clinic 246 Burnett St Ashburwin which says it all. If the Warriors running on September 15 need an Eels win to make the top 7700 should contact Mrton Williamson eight, they’d be better off relying on 308-8101 or Matt Davis2540 on 03-307 on a salary cap scandal, or Cronulla 308-9380. getting chucked out. - NZH
Drive to attract younger golfers Junior golfers from around the Ashburton District will have an opportunity to learn some tips from the top later this month when a top coaching team rolls into town. The ANZ Golf World team will be at Ashburton Golf Club on September 15, filming the course and players and running a junior coaching clinic. Among the top coaches will be Lydia Ko’s coach Guy Wilson and Craig Dixon from the
New Zealand Institute of Golf. Ashburton Golf Club president Jeff Williamson said the club had applied for a grant for junior coaching and had landed the filming deal for the golf programme as well. “It’s a real coup for your young golfers and we’re encouraging them to take up this opportunity,” he said. The junior clinic is open to golfers aged from five to 14 and will run from 10am.
This dovetails nicely with the drive by professional Matt Davis to encourage youngsters in the district to take up golf, Mr Williamson said. “He’s working his way now around the clubs and around the schools because for all clubs, the future of the sport has to be in getting young people into the game.” The Ashburton Golf Club will also score $1000 worth of junior golf equipment as part
SPORTS DRAWS AND RESULTS ■ Motor racing MotoGP World Championship Collated results from the MotoGP World Championships yesterday: 1. Jorge Lorenzo (ESP-Yamaha) 40min 52.515sec 2. Marc Marquez (ESP-Honda) 40:52.596 3. Dani Pedrosa (ESP-Honda) 40:54.066 4. Valentino Rossi (ITA-Yamaha) 41:05.748 5. Alvaro Bautista (ESP-Honda) 41:05.813 6. Stefan Bradl (GER-Honda) 41:12.742 7. Cal Crutchlow (GBR-Yamaha) 41:18.814 8. Nicky Hayden (USA-Ducati) 41:28.508 9. Bradley Smith (GBR-Yamaha) 41:28.634 10. Aleix Espargaro (ESP-Aprilia) 41:45.711
■ Tennis US Open Collated results from US Open yesterday (prefix denotes seeding). Men, Quarter-finals 1-Novak Djokovic (SRB) bt 21-Mikhail Youzhny (RUS) 6-3 6-2 3-6 6-0. 9-Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI) bt 3-Andy Murray (GBR) 6-4 6-3 6-2. Men’s Doubles, Semi-finals
2-Alexander Peya (AUT)/Bruno Soares (BRA) bt 10-Ivan Dodig (CRO)/Marcelo Melo (BRA) 7-5 6-4. 4-Leander Paes (IND)/Radek Stepanek (CZE) bt 1-Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan (USA) 3-6 6-3 6-4. Women’s Doubles, Quarter-finals Serena Williams/Venus Williams (USA) bt 1-Sara Errani/Roberta Vinci (ITA) 6-3 6-1. Semi-finals: 8-Ashleigh Barty/Casey Dellacqua (AUS) bt 10-Sania Mirza (IND)/Zheng Jie 6-2 6-2.
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■ Squash Celtic Squash Club Results from this week’s round of the Celtic Squash Club’s winter league competition: Paul Cousins beat Jock O’Connor 3-1, Ron Carlson beat Marie Kennedy 3-1, Phil Andrew lost to Di Ness 1-3. Steve Devereux beat Cath Blacklow 3-2, Chauntel Kentish lost to Chrissie Stratford 0-3, Lawrence McCormick beat Craig Campbell 3-2, Pat Summerfield beat Jordan Hooper 3-2. Jane Lowe lost to Mark Shera 0-3, Pete Blacklow beat Steve Devereux 3-1, Chris Thompson beat Aaron Leckenby 3-1, Billy Nolan lost to Mick Hooper 1-3.
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