Shay Deering's Compensation

The selection of Shay Deering as capptain of the Irish rugby team is some compensation for years of frustration and disappointment.

Deering first got an Irish trial 11 years ago - co-incidentally prior to a scheduled game against the All Blacks which never took place because of the foot and mouth scare - but got his first cap only seven years later. The delay in ! his attaining international recognition i was due to a combination of injury, ill-luck and selectorial cussedness, while players of obviously inferior ability were rewarded.

Deering showed promise as a young teenager at S10 Mary's College. He was on the senior team for three years and was captain in his final year when they won the Leinster Schools Cup. Gordon Wood, the ex-international prop forrward, trained that team and prophecised that Deering and Henry Murphy would make the international team - Murphy later played out half with both UCD and St Mary's.

During the summer interval between finishing secondary school and starting university, Deering broke his arm in London and was out of rugby for a year. However at the beginning of the 1967 season he was quickly selected for the UCD firsts and was chosen on the Leinster team that autumn along with such stalwards as Tony O'Reilly and Bill Mulcahy. He got a pre-Christmas trial, was ignored in the January '68 trial and Noel Murphy and Tommy Doyle were chosen on the Irish team at wing forrward.

Deering got another trial in '69 and was chosen on the Irish party to tour Argentina in 1970 but exam pressures forced him to cry off. He first played for Ireland in the unrecognised interrnational against Argentina in 1974. Stuart McKinney came on to the side for the next match, then Deering was recalled and finally McKinney returned.

He was kept out of the side in 1975 by McKinney and wasn't capped again until 1976. He played again for Ireland the following season and then was innjured in the tour of New Zealand and was out of the game all last year.

Deering is a courageous and commmitted player, he is fast around the field and strong on the burst. Mckinney was a better rucker of the ball than he, and it was this deficiency which kept him out of the team so long. Another prooblem has been the similarity of his style of play to that of Fergus Slattery, the other wing forward. Slattery was unmatched when at the height of his career, but there were many who argued that for overall consistency Deering was the better forward.

His experience as captain is slight Xhe captained UCD in 1971 when they were beaten by his current club, St. Mary's in the final and he has captained Munster on five occasions - he "opted" for Munster while playing for Garryyowen. However his appointment as capptain now is not entirely surprising for he lead the forwards during the 1977 season and was being talked of as a future captain before his injury in New Zealand.

Ironically, his getting the captaincy is probably due as much to politicking among the selectors as was his excluusion from the team for so long. While there were obvious doubts about Johnny Moroney's selection as serum half, it was generally believed that the challenge would come from John Robbie, who has greater potential and is swifter on the pass. However it seems that the Ulster two selectors were unhappy with having just one Ulster player (Gibson) on the team and Moroney was forced out, thereby leavving the captaincy vacant.

As Terry McLean points out in the accompanying article, in spite of their recent impressive performances the All Blacks are not invincible. Their forrwards are not of comparable calibre to previous All Black packs and if Moss Keane, Donal Spring, and Willie Duggan can gain superiority at the lineeouts, then Ireland could be in with a chance .

**************
THE ALL BLACKS

There are few in the touring New Zealand party who believe that the All Blacks squad merits the avalanche of praise and commendation that has been heaped on them during the opening stages of the tour. The side has had good wins but against almost pathetic opposition. Both Cardiff and West Wales, the latter side deemed to be at a bout international level, failed hopeelessly to live up to the standards set by Welsh sides of former years.

The All Blacks had an impressive win over London Counties, scoring six tries but the opposition was even worse than dreadful, it was deplorable. It was heartening however to watch Eddie Dunn, the Maori outside half, score that brilliant blind side try. And the other Maori, Robert Kururangi on the wing, also showed up well and in the process blasted the international hopes of the County's full back, Keith Bushell.

While the All Blacks back line is a positive joy and not in a long time have I seen such a fierce and efficient middfield tackler as Bill Osbourne, there are problems in the forwards. Uncharacteriistically, this All Blacks side has been unnable to operate on a guarantee of more than 50 per cent ball from the line-outs. In addition the side has been prone to conceding penalties and both these deefects could prove costly against Ireland.

We know something of the Irish forrward power since the last and indeed previous Lions tours. Willie Duggan won a mighty reputation for himself down under a year ago and we have been assured by Ian McLauchlan, the little Scottish prop, that in his opinion Moss Keane was the most outstanding forrward in Britain and Ireland last season.

This formidable Irish forward power, allied to Tony Ward's goal kicking abiliities, could make things difficult for New Zealand, who will be hoping to get enough possession to unleash their inspired backs .•