RUGBY FOOTBALL.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 48, Issue 75, 9 January 1928, Page 3

RUGBY FOOTBALL.

ENGLAND DEFEATS WARATAHS. EIGHTEEN POINTS TO ELEVEN. • LONDON, January 7. England defeated the Waratalis by 18 points to 11. There were 60,000 people present at Twickenham, including the Duke of York. The weather was fine and the ground dry. There was a light wind. The teams were: — England—K. A. Sellar, W. J. Taylor, C. D. Aarvoll, J .V. Richardson* Sir T. G. Devitt, H. C. Laird, S. T. Young, T. Lawson, D. Turquand Young, E. Stanbury, T. Coulson, H. G. Periton, K J. Stark, J. S. Tucker and It. CoveSmith. New South Wales.—A. W. Ross A. C. Wallace, O. Towers, S. C. King, E. Ford, T. S. Lawton, S. Malcolm, J. W. Breckenridge, J. Ford, E. N. Greatorex, A. N. Fnlay, G. P. Storey, H. Woods, j G. Blackwood, B. Judd.

England won the toss and kicked off with the wind. The Waratahs were fiist on the defensive, but gradually made ground, obtaining the ball from Ihe scrimmages. King broke through close to the English goal, hut CoveSmitli tackled him almost beneath the 1 osts, secured the ball and touched down. The Waratahs were pressing when Young secured the ball, and brilliant threequarter play resulted, Tucker getting a try which Richardson converted. Within five minutes, from a beautiful passing movement,E. Ford obtained a try for tlio Waratahs, and Lawton converted. The game was fast and thrilling. England came with a great threequarter run. Young smartly picked up within the Wara•ahs’ twenty-five, enabling Taylor to score a. try, Richardson converting from a most difficult angle. England, greatly improving in the scrum, .pressed hotly. Laird, securing in a passing movement, ram in. The struggle continued to be most strenuous, only desperate tackling preventing scoring. At half-time the’score was:" England 15, Waratahs

In the second half the Waratahs fought valiantly and penned the Englishmen in their own half practically for the whole of the time. Only the defence’s vigorous tackling and excellent touch-finding kept out the attack. Periton obtained a try from a breakaway. The Waratahs were going their hardest in the concluding stages, and increased the pressure. Desperate combined runs resulted in Towers and E. Ford adding tries, Lawton failing to convert either. England was repeatedly in most difficult straits. Nevertheless, Twickenham luck held. Jack Ford’s injured ankle was troublesome, and prevented him showing his best form. The defeat of the Waratahs by England is the fourth reverse that they have suffered during their tour oi the Old Country, and their second in international matches. They were beaten ■by Oxford University, Pontypool and Scotland. This is the first win that an English team has had over a colonial Rugby team visiting ihe United Kingdom since England beat the New Zealand Native team in 1889 by seven points to nil. 'l iie 1905 All Blacks beat England by 55 toO; the Wallabies, the Australian team which went Home in 1908, heat England by 9 to 3; the .1912-13 Springboks v/on by 9to 3; and the 1924 All Blacks Avon by 17 to 11. The 19C6 Springboks dreAv Avitli England, 3 all.