RUGBY FOOTBALL.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 60, Issue 201, 3 June 1940, Page 2

RUGBY FOOTBALL.

THE ASHBURTON COMPETITION. OLI) ROYS AND METHVEN LOSE. There were many thrills in senior Rugby football in the Ashburton County on Saturday, when the leading team in the senior competition, Old Boys, and the side occupying second position, both suffered defeat. Technical Old Boys’ win against Old Boys at the Domain was thoroughly deserved. Although outclassed in scrum work the Technical forwards played splendidly in the loose and gave the opposing back line few chances of going into action. The Technical back division showed considerably more thrust than usual. An evenly-fought match at Rakaia saw the home team gain their second successive win by defeating Metliven 11-6. •• Celtic, Hinds and Methven obtained wins in junior-grade games. Results at a Glance. Senior Grade — Technical Old Boys 13, Old Boys 11. Rakaia 11, Methven 6. Junior Grade— Celtic 17, Old Boys 0. Hinds 32, Technical. Old Boys 3. Third GradeTechnical Old Boys 14, Mayfield 0. Methven 11, Hinds 9. Old Boys 14, Timvald 6. Fourth Grade — Technical 8, High School A 8. Rakaia 12, High School B 3. Fifth Grade— High School A 39, High School B 0.

SENIOR GRADE. OLD BOYS SUFFER. FIRST DEFEAT. The .result of the senior game between Old Boys and Technical Old Boys on Saturday at the Domain was a complete surprise, thei leaders of the competition suffering defeat by 13 to 11 in one of the hardest and most exciting games seen this season. Technical’s victory was due to the vigorous play of both their backs and forwards. Old Boys back division which is usually the chief factor*in their winning a match, were not playing up to their usual standard, the loss of several, of their key men being evident. L. .Muir, C. Bradley, M. Baynes, W. Murphy and M. Chilton were often prominent i the Technical back line.- The forward pack all played strenuously. For Old Boys V. o‘Donoghue and D. White played, well in the backs. White’s performance was a splendid one. The forwards exercised a definite superiority in tho scrum work.

There was some even, hard - fought play at the opening of the match, Technical having a slight territorial advantage. Some scrambling play followed Old Boys taking play down to the Technical line. Two free kicks to Technical relieved the situation somewhat. A penalty was awarded to Technical, but L. Muir failed kicking into the sun; Technical launched a vigorous attack, but Old Boys broke through, led by A. Saunders. Technical came back strongly, led by W. Murphy. D. White and S. Lemon broke through well, but Lemon’s in-pass went astray. Technical up to this stage had played energetically and had proved equal to all Old Boys movements. Saunders gained possession and passed to Fagan, who broke through and was brought down only a yard or two short of the line. From a subsequent scrum A. Ross scored for Old Boys. E. Jordan’s kick failed. The Technical backs started off well, but a dropped pass allowed A. Fagan to bredk through. O. Bradley put over a penalty kick frqm a very difficult angle. The Technical backs, with Baynes appearing prominently, broke through fast. From an aggressive movement near the Old Boys’ line Bradley scored right under the posts. He converted his own try. I>. White and E. Jordan made a promising! move which did not, however, come to anything. Technical were playing with vigour and thoroughly deserved the success which was attending their efforts. A midget seven-a-side game between Allenton and Borough, played during the interval, resulted in a win for the former side.

, Second Half. The second half opened with Technical on the attack. The Old Boys backs tried to break through, but Technical’s defence was sound. A. Ross missed two penalties in succession. Old Boys were getting the ball from the scrum and this was giving them a great advantage. There were some exciting moments when Saunders, Leith, Fagan and White moved fast in front of the Technical goal-line. Technical vigorously counter-attacked, play being intensely keen and even. O. Bradley missed an easy penalty kick. A pot by* an Old Boys man failed. G. Leith and S. Lemon made short, fast runs which were, however, of no avail. Old Boys were fighting desperately. A neat back movement ended in R. Walls going over. The kick failed. From a scrum near the line D. White passed to Leith,' who handed in to A. Saunders who cut in cleverly to score near the posts. 1). White converted. Old Boys continued to keep up a fierce attack. Old Boys was awarded a penalty near the Technical line, but

White’s kick missed. Technical came into the attack and Bradley attempted a pot. Baynes then scored and L. Muir’s kick went over, putting Technical in the lead once again by 13 to 11 and this was the score when the final whistle went. The referee was Mr S. Alexander. RAKAIA BEATS METHVEN. In an exciting match at .Rakaia the homo side defeated Methven by 11 to 6. For Rakaia J. Doig, J. Cromie and K. Cornelius were, the pick of the backs and K. Taylor and J. Tully were prominent in the forwards. Of the Methven backs K. McNeill at half played on excellent game. D. Rrooker and Hart showed up in the forward pack. Shortly after the kick-off Rakaia scored from a, free kick by IP. Gilmore. After a hard struggle in the forwards Kilworth scored a try, the kick missing. Methven 3, Rakaia 3. In the second half both sides opened up the play. From a scrum the ball passed along, the Ralfaia hacks for K. Cornelius to score. Rakaia 6, Methven 3. From the kick-off Methven forwards gained around. Rakaia were penalised and Hart’s kick succeeded. Methven 6, Riakaia G. Rakaia forwards took play into Methven’s territory, where K. Taylor picked up and seoredi and P. Gilmore converted. Rakaia 11, Methven G. JUNIOR GRADE. A fairly open game between Celtic and Old Boys resulted in Celtic winning by 17 points to 0. For Celtic A. Horgan scored four tries and G. Moore the remaining one. J. Roche converted one try. Hinds defeated Technical Old Boys by 32 to 3 on Saturday at the High School grounds. Methven defeated Springburn at Springburn on Saturday by 10 to 6. Dolan converted Methven’s two tries and G. Burgess and A. Lorgelly scored for Springburn.

IN OTHER CENTRES. ■Christchurch-—Technical 17, Sunnyside 8; Merivale 12, Air Force 3; Army 16, Southern 0; Christchurch 27, Old Boys 5; Liuwood 24, New Brighton 5; Albion 8, Athletic 3. Timaru—Makikihi 11, Old Boys 9; Temuka, 11, Zingari 4; Celtic IQ, Geraldine. 0; Southern 11. Star 11. Auckland—Marist 14, Grammar 6; Suburbs 14, Papakura Infantry 8; Ponsonby B', Otahuhu ; Grafton 9, North Shore 7; Training College 16, Papakura Artillery 3.

Wellington—Eastbourne 16, Johusonville 11; Wellington 29, Petone 6; Poneke 11, Oriental 7; Athletic 28, St. Patrick’s College 0.8. 14; University 3, Hutt 3; Marist Brothers 0,8. 10, College 0.8. 8. Dunedin—Southern 12, Kaikorai 6; Union 29, Dunedin 11; University A 17, Zingari 6; Pirates 19, Taieri 3; Alhambra 20, University B 20. '