RANFURLY SHIELD

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 70, Issue 257, 17 August 1950, Page 2

RANFURLY SHIELD

FOOTBALL

CANTERBURY DEFEATS OTAGO (P.A.) DUNEDIN, August 1,6. Canterbury beat Otago by eight points to nil at Carisbrook this afternoon to win the Ranfurly Shield. The match was played-in driving rain and Canterbury adopted a style of football to suit the occasion. After tentatively touching the Shield by holding Otago in a scoreless first half Canterbury tightened their grip and took possession of both the match and trophy in the second spell. It was a clearcut and meritorious victory. . Breaking swiftly from the scrums the Canterbury flank forwards gave the Otago inside backs no latitud;. The Canterbury backs were better served with the ball than Otago and successfully employed the high kick and follow-up. On the day the heavier Canterbury pack outplayed Otago and maintained a remorseless pressure throughout. Only in the dying stages of the match, when making desperate attempts to score, was Otago in Canterbury territory for more than a few minutes. Canterbury always held the upper hand and several times went close to scoring further points. Team Tackles Well P. Kearney, first five-eighths for Canterbury, played a heady game, scoring one try and making the other when he cut through to send Lynch over. He converted his own try with a brilliant kick with a sodden ball from the touch-line. P. Vincent directed the Canterbury attack from behind the scrum and his high kicks frequently but his team on attack. But the feature of the Canterbury backline was the determined tackling and opportunism. At full-back, K. Stuart gave an excellent display of handling and kicking. In the forwards, N. Dalzell was outstanding in the line-out and tight work. A. Couling and R. Duff were prominent in loose rushes. The Otago backfline sadly lacked the guiding genius of L. Haig and suffered further misfortune when C. Moore was carried off in the second half. D. R. Wightman and R. H. Bell were most prominent, but fierce tackling frustrated likely scoring movements. , It was in the forwards that Otago were surprisingly and convincingly beaten. In a pack which looked but a shadow of its former self, K. Skinner and C. N! Garden were ceaseless workers. Before this match Otago had successfully defended the shield IS times since winning it from Southland in 1947. Otago lost the Shield to a better team and none could quarrel’with the result.