RUGBY FOOTBALL.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 59, Issue 276, 4 September 1939, Page 2

RUGBY FOOTBALL.

WIN FOR SOUTH CANTERBURY. ASHBURTON DEFEATED 14 TO 8. South Canterbury on Saturday avenged their defeat last season by securing a win over the northern union by 14 points to 8. South Canterbury scored only one try, which was converted, the remaining nine points coming from penalty goals. Ashburton, on the other hand, scored two tries, one of which was converted. Three Waimate players scored all the home team’s points, Vucetich gaining the try, Lundy converting and kicking a penalty goal, while Murphy landed the other two goals, both of which were fine efforts. The game was not. one to enthuse over, play for the most part being scrappy. Both teams tried to make the game open, but the handling of the inside men was patchy, dropped passes spoiling many movements which gave •promise of being spectacular. There was one movement staged by South Canterbury worthy of mention, for it revealed that the team profited by the encounter with Southland last week. Following the breakdown of' an Ashburton movement the home forwards snapped up, fanned out rapidly, and indulged in classy short passing. '.I be backs moved up on the flank, and carried on, and but for a. poor transfer the movement might have ended successfully. The crowd responded heartily but the effort was not repeated in such spectacular form. However, while the standard of play did not reach exceptional heights the team performed creditably, and deserved its win. The scrummaging on both sides could have been improved. Ashburton enjoyed a fair measure of success in this department, and had the five-eighths been able to penetrate, the team would have achieved more. Kelly and McCormack made occasional openings, but lost their supports. The loose play of the visiting pack was good, a feature of their efforts being their good backing up. •South Canterbury were spasmodic in this direction, but when they did decide to lend, each other a lwnd they generally gained a fair amount of territory. Ashburton were always triers, and on several occasions went very close to scoring. Over-eagerness was a big failing, leading inevitably to faulty handling in favourable positions. Their serum work- was costly, also, six points being registered for infringements by the front row. All the South Canterbury forwards, including Polhill, who replaced Fitzgerald at the interval, worked hard, and showed a big improvement in their

packing following line-outs, adopting the Southland principle cllcctivelv. Apart from handling lapses, the backs went fairly well. Horgan figured at lullhack, and performed very -.roditahly, his kicking being both powerful and accurate. McKenzie proved a very able ica lor in the Ashburton pack, R. Doig. A. Doig and Mathieson also working well. White gave good service from the scrum, and never hesitated to go down to rushes. McCandlish went away well on the right wing, showing pace and determination. Vessey was very safe as the last line of defence. For Ashburton, McCandlish and Hart scored trios, and White converted while Lundy kicked a penalty. Junior Match Result. Ashburton defeated South Canterbury juniors by 13 points to 10, the game being of a poor standard. For the winners tries were scored by Smith (2) and Wilson, two tries being converted by Jordan. For South Canterbury Andrews and Scott scored and Ryan lacked a field goal. MATCHES INI ASHBURTON. Spiritless football was seen in the only senior grade fixture held by the Ashburton Rugby Union at the Domain on Saturday afternoon. The Ashburton senior and junior representative teams were engaged in matches against South Canterbury and there was a shortage of senior players. Methven won by 25 points to 3 from Technical Old Boys, having a comparatively easy win. Neither team put in much serious work. Methven forwards did good work in hooking and the backs were fairly quick to get away. Technical Old Boys did some solid work in the loose, but their offensive was not consistent and the opposing backs were frequently able to break through. D, Lemon made some bright runs from the wing for Methven, while W. Lock and H. McNeil were at times prominent. S. McKenzie played a sound game at full-back, while G. Wiitson, and J. Mclntosh were the best forwards. H. and C. Pritchard were prominent in the Technical Old Boys’ attack, while M. Wall, L. Muir, W. Murphy and R. Hill were also active. Scorers for Methven were D. Lemon (3) T. Harrison (2), B. Newman, and P. O’Reilly, while L. Watson and H. McNeil made conversion’s. V. Cobden kicked a penalty goal for Technical Old Boys. Mr R. Rose was the referee. Third Grade. Technical 12, Old Boys 0. Technical Old Boys 12, Tinwald 12. Methven 8, Celtic 3. Mayfield 20. Hinds 9. INTERPROVINCIAL MATCHES. Southland boat Canterbury 10-6. Taranaki beat Otago 8-4. Wellington and Hawke’s Bay drew 6-6

FIJIAN TEAM WINS AGAIN. AUCKLAND BEATEN 17-11. AUCKLAND, September 3. The. Fijian touring Rugby team had another win, in the fourth, game of its New Zealand tour, against Auckland on Saturday, and thus preserved its unbeaten record on the tour. The score was 17-11. The visitors delighted 1500 spectators with their ability to handle and their hard, straight running, and their swift tackling prevented movements by the Auckland backs from getting very far. Tries for the Fijians were scored by Voreqe (2), and Gavuilati, Korovulavula converting one. Korovulavula and Cakabau kicked penalty goals. Schubert scored two tries for Auckland, one of which was converted, and Hare kicked a penalty goal.