RUGBY FOOTBALL

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 64, Issue 212, 19 June 1944, Page 5

RUGBY FOOTBALL

NO BRILLIANCE ON SATURDAY. , —i— . THE COMPETITION LADDER. While there was no brilliant football in the Rugby Union’s competition matches at the Domain on Saturday, it must be borne in mind that conditions were not conducive to good Rugby, there being a strong, gusty wind. Air Force were held.to a draw by Technical Old Boys A in one senior game, while in the other Methven had a deserved win over Technical Old Boys A. The position of the senior teams for points in the competition is as follow, the allocation being one point for a win and half a point for a draxv:

Following are the details of play in the matches on Saturday:

Technical O. B. and Air Force Draw

Air Force had the advantage of extra weight in the senior game against Technical Old Boys A, but this did not give them the initiative, the score being six-all. A stiff north-westerly breeze hampered play somewhat—Air Force worked against it quite well in the first half and in the second (when it was in their favour) it had calmed down considerably. Play generally was ragged.

From the beginning infringements on either side caused an unusual number of penalty kicks, mostly because of holding on to the ball. It was with a penalty kick that S. F. Easton (fullback) made the only points .for Air Force in the first half. After a lot of scrums and line-outs, W. Slaven narrowly missed a penalty kick from a difficult angle for Technical Old Boys. For the next 10 minutes of play Technical held territorial advantage, but Air Force finally broke away, gaining considerable ground. Shortly before half-time there was an extra spurt, during which Technical Old Boys were awarded a penalty kick, W. Slaven being successful. Although by no means brilliant, the second spell was brighter and distinctly improved on the sluggishness of the first half. After a lot of loose scrums and line-outs, J. Foden scored a try for Air Force, which was not converted. Good forward play was evident at this stage of the game. C. Bradley and Webster played a good defensive game for Technical Old Boys. With only about 10 minutes to go a hard struggle took place in front of the Technical Old Boy’s twenty-five, and M. Dwyer finally managed to score a try which was not converted. The referee was Mr C. Wellman. Methven beats Technical Old Boys. A ragged game between Methven and Technical Old Boys B, marred somewhat by a strong w-ind, resulted in a win for Methven by 14 to f). Methven had the advantage of weight and were superior in the backs. In addition, they displayed more polished team-work than did the Technical ■ team. Technical lost many chances 1 through fumbling and haphazrd pass- j ing. j The forwards of both teams were ' about even. What Technical lacked in weight they compensated for in con- ‘

ccntration and enthusiasm, immediately pushing any advantage with determined following up and dribbling rushes. Risks were cheerfully taken by both teams. The game began badly for Technical when S. Cone was carried off the field after receiving a cut on the forehead in the first minute of play. Shortly afterwards, however, they secured the first score, when G. Soal kicked a penalty.

Play surged back and forth for the next ten minutes and then Technical forwards followed up a long kick for B. Barrett to score in the corner. The kick failed. Methven obtained their first try shortly after this, when G. Watson went over from a tussle near the line. He converted his own try.— Technical 6, Methven 5.

Technical continued to_ press the Methven defence to the limit by a series of fast thrusts, but at half-time the score wasi unaltered. Just before the interval R. J. Wallace (Methven) left the field with injuries to his back.* Early in the second half Methven scored when R. Kirdy, playing left wing, went over near the corner. The kick failed. —Methven S, Technical 6. Then a splendid run by W. Middleton, who took a pass from S. Williams near half-way and ran half the length of the field, increased M.ethven’s lead. P. O’Reilly failed to convert. —Methven 11, Technical C.

An elusive dribbling rush by Technical. followed, with N. Withell and D. Childs controlling the ball from Methven’s 25-yard mark to the line, where Childs scored. The kick failed. Just after this another accident occurred, L. Ashton (Technical) leaving the field with a knee injury. Technical continued on the defensive and Methven scored an unconverted try shortly before time, when T. McCloy went over from a line-out near the corner flag. The referee was Mr D. Woods. THIRD GRADE.

TECHNICAL BEAT TECHNICAL OLD BOYS.

Technical beat Technical Old Boys by a convincing score 20-5 in a fairly ragged, hard game. The forwards did some good work. For Old Boys, B. Barrett scored a try, which was converted by E. Soal. For School R. Blackburn scored two tries, C. Ibell scoring one try, one penalty, and one conversion and I. Kermode a try. The wind made the going hard.

High School Beats Methven.

High School beat Methven 8-3 in the other third grade match. J. Kelly scored and converted and K. Plunkett also scored a try for High School.

FOURTH GRADE. After a hard game and plenty of slogging High School and Technical Old Boys drew 3-all in the fourth grade match. J. O’Grady scored a penalty for School and F. Sullivan scored one for Old Boys.

Air Force Plyd. Won. Lost. 2 10 Dn. Pts 1 lh Methven 2 1 1 0 1 Rakaia .. . , 1 1 0 0 1 Tech. O.B. A 2 1 0 1 lh Tech. O.B. B 3 0 3 0 0