BIG FOOTBALL.

Auckland Star, Volume L, Issue 213, 8 September 1919, Page 8

BIG FOOTBALL.

IKTEK-COI,ONXAI. LEAGUE. THE KIWI AND THE KANGAROO. AGAIS AUSTRALIA WIN'S. 15Y 11 POINTS IX r>7. MANY THOUSANDS SEE THIRD TEST. Somethin-r less than twcnty-iive thotisand people swarmed on to the Domain on Saturday afternoon to see the Australians beat tbe pick <>f New Zealand in the third League te~r luateh, by a marjrin of eleven points, the winners Bnishin*; "up on the big end of a 34-23 EC-ore. With the turf jrood and springy, ur.d conditions jrenerally entirely in favour of big football, the multitude ■went along 'with divided expectations. DCobodv cared to say exactly who would •win. and nobody could pick the issue until the last spell was far gone, for it ■was then, and not- till then, that a gap began to show and grow even wider between the totals put up by the opposite teams. The Australian backs were in a sent tie pivot of the game. They came here -with a reputation for speed and accuracy, and they did much to justify that name that las come here before them. The match may well be said to have teen hard and fast, with honours fairly even, for, whereas the Australians livened up the play because of their Setter handling in general, and the accuracy of their backs in particulas 2Cew Zealand, on the other hand, contrived to steady it by solid tackling that seemed to shake the confidence of the men from over the ■water, and the lead that came to the visitors was made in the closing- minutes when the defence of the black? went all to pieces, find the dreaded "dummy" -was much in evidence for the nn=t time during the afternoon. So far as the backs were concerned, New Zealand was not too ieavily handicapped by lack of pace. although the men with the kangaroo as their token were certainly the speedier of the two. The game showed that in the nick work the CNVw Zealand ios wards have the advantage over their opponents, but on the day's play this was very seriously -counteracted by the superiority of the Australians in the loose. This in itself i~ evidence of the longer experience our visitors hare liad st tie game. The forwards in general, and in particular Burge and Townsend. made very good backs when the opportunity came, as it did often.

In the beginning Xevr Zealand Lad all the defensive work they could undertake, and although rhey scored the first nine' points, these all appeared to come from occasions when their solid defensive had ■made a break through the attacking opposition. As a general rule, the New Zealand defence -.vas more .solid than that of the Australians, and their attack was iar less ably supported, a feature of the game being the manner in -which many of their pla-yers, both backs and. forwards, were handy in support of whoever iEianeed to get away. The teams lined out as follows:— ' Australia.— r. Fraser, H. Horder L Cuotrt. C. ThoroOTod. J. Robinson' \" Barge, J. Wattins.

Xew Zealand.—C. Dufty, G lies X liwersen, W. Davidson. (5.-McGregor, s! Bradley. TT. Walsh. .T. Haddon. S. W. Williams, S. Walters, E. Averv W.

Nss- Zealand kicked ont. and after a little looseness Horder -ot it and lonir panted i>urty forced. The Kangaroo peck made tae pace w:irm, but they got no further than the Xew Zealand iwonty-flve Here \\alsa sent to Bradley, to Davidson, who Eicneti. jhe acme pack rushed up. and fitter some fast loose j.lay Avery went over about l<'ryds in. Ifwersen kicked a fina £' :,al - Xothin.s happeneii then for a-while except two nnschccessful shots hy Horder j-urye goz it in the open, sent to Holloway, to ihoro-ood. l>ut Davidson grassed tie tall-baci within a yard or two of the line and the next Incident was lies" interception or a pass that put New Zealand past the mid-loe. Here Ifwersen kicked another goo-i goal. The Kangaroo pack began an attack, but it was broken, mainly hy the efforts of Bradley, Ifvrersen, and Davidson. TW.si! s«nt to Bradley. To Ifwersen who cut la and went away. HaiMou came uy and took the pass, lrax Horder caught hini. and as te was fallinj; his pass went forward. simosi within striking distance of the line yne defenders, were penalised, and Ifv>-er=ca again goaled.

_ j.ne Kangaroos immediately attacked and - josLDsxoa. passed on rbe frround. but Cubitt an<J Tuorot-ood missed, and Kobinson ~ath.- ' ered up. He sent to Enrge who went p»st a couple of men. and scored a try that iraser was not successful in noalinc- From a scrum at halfway Holloway worked the bUnd side, ana Horder ran. lonz Ducked and beat the defenders with a dire on to the ball. He scored near -the corner and nnsseo. tse kick. MacGrecor strodt wav tat Hubinson made short work of him and Ijnere -was no one hacd? to take Ms thus iJe Ausas twik the advantage, and both iiorder and Cubitt ran into difficulties down on the quarter. A free save relief, and the ,-lose until Watfctas saved. Jew iea.arji still pressed, and Haddon led tee crowd that took tne leather down toward the line. Walters separated himseif, and maae a g-ood try that was misled penalty came immediately, acd Holder ticked a rice soal, and the home team tooujnt the I>aU back to less dangerous I f*°tm<t wnere HoUoway came along- to Bobinson, Dufty alone stopping him less a yard from the line. Then? ws a eerom then, and a hit of loose play**nut Cubitt within reach of ihe ball. Burze was T.-ith him as usnal. and took his pas* return 1=!-' it cs be tackled, and the Australian centre three-quarter had no difficulty in grounding the ball under the bar Honier's tick pet tne visitors in the lead. Australia 13 Xc?.- Zealand !!"""! 12 "fen S brought back beyond the hall and penaliwu e , r l, ITas 1 a T) s^r !. in Australia's and Robinson to maie thin-, easier bj passia? hack to Fraser. the mil but ne -nras swanu.td. and alter a ruck the game ran loose, and Thorosood burst tarou ? h and went as far as hall-wav before He passed to Harder. The Aostialiai speed merchant strode u..y.n ihe line, but lie' Comtog across, met him and floored him. ami in the ensuins nick an Australian forward was penalteod. The tick did nut reUeve the ?.!?f >u^--'? lid wh, ' n lba «rn sg l e opened a fc';-:, > t '' Dlus i on ; ot , it- save a couple of Qnniiiiies.and scored nicely. Ilorder goaled The vMrois maae a smart progressive moTfr %£ trf-'l ha a IK -, U r !e tO Davidson snot d:1"-k t-, McUn-sor on the far line He carried v through, and the kick failed " The blacks pressed hard still, ana some <-raud caij.maj: amocj: backs and forwards "close to the line saw the leather go right over the beads of the stmu-gliiig ;,:.cks. and HcGregor touted it down l.efore it could go de°d. T ==- put the nouiis even. .N\-w 7ea'-ird Etl,l held[the advantage, with the lustra-1 lf-u,=. putting up a dojigcl defence until li-ivtrseii, standing up close to his" pack ' maue a mark in a handy position ami i Bradley kicked liis team Into leading poslsewratwl himself as if by ma-n ■ Hl . \%U Horte? aill- IS2 T ? L,a "' 1 -->«- then r; ijf r =*"Jd progress up, and far ifce v. J 1 ' 0, " 0 ?" 0,1 alons the -4

i and putting the g-anie even again. A long J punt went down to Dufty, and Kobinson hustled him so much that he took a chance up. Tlie speedy wins cut in and "through and round, and got his try, which he missed with a kick. Next came a forward fight, where the blacks had a slight advantage that did not last, for Johnston took it through. lie passed to Thompson, and when the bearer of the ball was in difficulties Cnbltt came along In the nick of timeV and mined a try, next door to the posts, ilorder goaled again. Slight on time, Ryan made a break away, and sent to Burge. lies grassed him almost on the line; there was a scrimmage, and Johnston burst ihrouirh and over. The kick failed, and the bell went, leaving the Kangaroos victors, by eleven points. The llnal scores were: Australia ~... 34 New Zealand _--- Mr. TT. Murray made an entirely satisfactory referee. CURTAIN RAISER. The curtain-raiser was played between City and Marist Old Boys seniors. The last-named team came out ahead to the tune of points to .f. SIXTH GRADE. Tonsonby 7, defeated City 3. By their defeat of City, l'oneonby annex the sixth grade championship. Moore scored for the winning team, and Jensen converted, while Cammlck added a Held goal.