Jack's work in lineout crucial to victory

By WYNNE GRAY

National lineout king Chris Jack etched his name into NPC folklore as his aerial superiority pushed Canterbury towards the playoffs and eliminated Auckland from their title defence.

In a game which went to the bell at Eden Park on Saturday, where neither side was able to shrug off the other, Jack's impact at lineouts was crucial.

Backs regularly get most of the raps, their exploits being far more visible and glitzy than the down and dirty graft from their forwards. But in this sudden-death quarter-final, the Canterbury pack pressured and delivered their 28-20 victory.

While captain Richie McCaw was at his blistering best around the field, it was Jack who commanded the air as Canterbury pressured their opponents.

Lineouts had an unfashionable reputation. They were viewed as a dockyard brawl if Colin Meads, Mark Shaw or Steve Finnane were belting people or a messy interruption before the game resumed.

Andy Haden gave lineouts new meaning with his famous dive, lifting brought a different dimension and the professional era has made lineouts one of the most analysed parts in the game.

Memories of the fatal All Black lineout stumble in Wellington in 2000 still fester while Justin Harrison's sensational steal against the Lions the next year won the series for the Wallabies.

On Saturday, it could be claimed that two of Jack's lineout takes cemented his side's hard-fought victory.

Just three points adrift with 27 minutes left, Auckland ignored a shot at goal for the 5m lineout. It was a gamble but with All Black leaper Ali Williams subbed on, the odds encouraged skipper Xavier Rush.

From the middle of the line however, Jack rose to cut off Keven Mealamu's throw and Canterbury cleared the danger. Rather than wait to defend an Auckland charge, Canterbury had attacked the lineout.

Five minutes later, same situation but down the other end of the field, Jack made a tail of the lineout catch seem easy and Canterbury drove replacement lock Brad Thorn over the line. "He makes very big plays and that is what great players do," Thorn said of his colleague.

"He is class - head and shoulders ahead of anyone in New Zealand in the locking position from what I have seen. He is great to play beside and I have seen him do these things against the Wallabies. He will be a leader in the All Blacks."

Canterbury coach Aussie McLean acknowledged some of the lineout laments throughout the country and questions about why teams did not compete more on opposition throws.

"We have a policy of contesting lineouts, if you don't compete then they don't have to get too much right," he said.

Competing put pressure on every department from the thrower to lifters, jumpers and those making the calls. His side's title defence over, Rush acknowledged Canterbury's lineout menace.

But Auckland's scrum, with new loosehead Saimone Taumoepeau menacing again, gave the visitors a tickle-up in a game the players said had the ferocious intensity of the Super 12.

It made you wonder all the more where Auckland had been for the rest of the series.

Coach Pat Lam offered nothing other than the obvious "results did not come" when quizzed about where it had all gone wrong. He had learned a great deal and it was a matter of keeping on.

Early season skipper Angus Macdonald was in a similar mode. He said everyone believed in the structures set by the coaches, but basic mistakes in early games had hurt Auckland.

"We put pressure on ourselves to play up to the standards of the All Blacks who were away. We made basic errors and that was killing us from first-phase."

It was better on Saturday, although both Auckland and Canterbury made a number of handling errors in the frenzied and sometimes fractious start.

Jack and Carlos Spencer were sinbinned after the Canterbury lock objected to the five-eighth's rucking technique on team-mate Corey Flynn. No drama, said McLean, he would not tell his players to back down.

"Jacko does not take a backward step," Thorn said, "even if there is a bit of biffo and it is a contact game."

Auckland seemed to shy away from contact in the backline where Spencer spent much of the game bombing the Canterbury wings. It was a tactic which drew little reward and seemed to be more of a lottery than holding on to the ball in an All Black-laden backline.

"We had tactics to follow up kicks but also run," Lam said. "We just wanted to mix it all up."

Trouble was the mix spluttered and then Canterbury throttled Auckland for long periods in the second half. Both Spencer and Andrew Mehrtens had mixed tactical kicking matches but were backed by very heavy defensive screens.

Too often Mehrtens kicked directly to the Auckland back four to invite a counter-attack but both five-eighths were harried unmercifully all night by their opposing loosies.

Referee Steve Walsh slammed Canterbury for slowing the ball down in contact. It was a night when winners could smile, when Canterbury could contemplate a semifinal while Auckland were none the wiser and, many would suggest, finally put out of their misery.

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