RUGBY TITLE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 190, 14 August 1933, Page 13

RUGBY TITLE.

TWO TEAMS LEVEL. PONSONBY AND 'VARSITY. SATURDAY'S GAMES REVIEWED. Tn the race for the Auckland Rugby Union's senior championship Ponsonby and University are now running level, with Marist Old Boys and Grammar Old Boys close behind. The main game on Saturday between Grammar Old Boys and Ponsonby attracted a large crowd to Eden Pari;. The contest was largely a forward one and was not productive of a great number of thrills. The teams finished up with three points each. Marist Old Boys ran away from Grafton to win by 19 points to nil, and University always looked the winners against Technical Old Boys. Play at the Showgrounds, where Manukau beat College Riiles by eight points to five, was fast but scrappy, and at Stnrgcss Park Otahuhu played well to defeat Training College. Positions of the teams:— Toints. Ch.

HARD FOUGHT DRAW. A hard fought draw was the result of the keerily anticipated game between Grammar Old Boys and Ponsonby.. The whites scored an ""converted try and the I'onies registered a penalty goal. The game was not highly spectacular, much ol the plav being confined to the forwards and neither side being prepared to take:risks. Grammar set the pace at the start nnd hoisted the first points when Slyfield mad a good opening which paved the way Yuan unconverted try by Buckley. 11k whites held their lead until almost the end of the first spell, when Solomon equalised with a penalty. With both teams striving for the lead, play was keener in the second spell, particularly near the finish. Once Slviield made a good opening and Lendrnm drew the defence cleverly, hut when a try looked certain Savory mulled; ' When Ponsonby were making their last flutter to get the win Jamieson was badly obstructed by Matheson, nnd a likely chance of a try was lost. The penalty kick "iven in compensation for the obstruction also went astray. The best thrill of the match came right .on time, when the Grammar backs raced into action and Buckley tried determinedly to reach the corner,' only to be thrown over the Hag as the bell rang. , The Grammar forwards played well together, with Lockington a lot in the picture Clapham, at first five-eighth, was uncertain in his handling at the start, but later came through with some good work. Slvfield made several fine openings, and continually troubled the defence, while Matheson was sound, his fine line kicking getting his side out of trouble on a number of occasions. The Ponsonby rearguard saw even less of the ball than Grammar, and the three-quarters had a very quiet afternoon. Kerr-Taylor, at full-back, took the ball cleanly, but seldom gained much distance with his kicks. Jamieson and campwcll were the most prominent of the other backs. All the Ponsonby forwards battled hard. Play was frequently pulled up by the whistle, and at times some of the players appeared to be at a loss to understand the rulings. EASY WIN FOR 'VARSITY. On No. S ground Technical Old Boys were outclassed by University, who won all the way and finished up 14 points to nil. Technical had an off-day and their backs seemed slow and stodgy by comparison with the University cracks. D. Keane at full, was particularly unfortunate, nnd, on the day, could do nothing right. The wings, Couper and Common, made good use of the side lines in the first half, when a strong wind favoured them and the work of the green pack was quite satisfactory. Tli-? Technical defence was excellent, and l.hev did well to keep the score down to 14 points. As already indicated. 'Varsity's victory was never in doubt. The whole of Hie back division was in excellent trim, and they gave some beautiful cxhi'o'tions of smart, snappy-runs and short, quick passes that had the -opposition guessing most of the time. were wall held by Technical in < the first spell, but in the second -the blues had the better of Hie scrums. .Tries' .were secured for 'Varsity by.Kedgley, Caughcy and Milllken. One was converted by Bush, ,yho also kicked; a penalty goal. University ■'. .-. .'; f. 14 Technical Old Boys' 0 Mr. C. Schnauer was referee. SLIGHTLY BETTER PACK. By onlv three points were Manukau belter than College Rifles, out at the Showgrounds on Saturday. There was little between the teams, but superior play in the loose, won the day. In the set scrums the heaten team secured the ball in the great majority of cases. But though that is true, the winning try by Hatfield came from one of the very few times when Manukau hooked cleauly from a scrum. Pepper Khone in the loose, especially in breaking through from the line-outs—but he might have done more in the tight. Wiklund, Constable and Kereopa, though not so conspicuous, in the open, worked hard. The Manukau backs showed more daßh than their opponents, but they lacked finish. So did College for that matter; and though the pace was past, it was a case of much ' ado about nothing. Berridge did a' lot of running about, but he tried to do too much. Hatfield scored a fine solo try. Heazlewood fielded and kicked • well, but he' should remember that a full-back's place is not in the middle of the pack. Several times conspicuously, the combination of the hacks was ruined because Berridge had to fall back to do Heazlewood's work, when Heazlewood was nowhero-in particular. The College hookers did their, job solidly all day. and the pack as a whole held its own in the tight. .Ross and Turgis shouldered a good deal of. the burden. The rearguard plaved fairly well. There were no outstanding failures, though Kirk, so sterling, on defence, does not whip the ball out fast enough from the scrum. ; Frankham judged his stab kicks nicely at times. J. Kirk at full-back played a fine positional game, particularly as the- fast-breaking Majtukau pack gave him some trouble. *>' OTAHUHU WIN ACAW. Aftpf having defeated Otahuhu 21—0 . In" the first • round. Training College was '.expected' to put up a much better perfor- ■ Jjiance ; tban the one registered by it out at Sturgess Park on Saturday, when the suburban'fifteen won Otahuhu put up a fine showing,,in spite of the fact that several prominent players could not take the field, viz., Clarke, Ross, and Heath. To add to the team's misfortunes, Evans had to retire with a head injury just after the contest opened, and Inglis was carried from the field suffering from a severe head injury received in the second spell. On the day's play, Otahuhu was the better team and deserved its win. Mason, the winners' custodian, pleased the crowd with an impressive, and sometimes brilliant, display. Gladding, right wing, was right on form, and When he moved in behind the scrum he sent his transfers out well. Pearson made some fine openings, from which points should have resulted. There was not much wrong with Inglis' performance behind the pack. Fred. Arnold turned out again, and considering that he was not in training played a wonderful game. His deadly tackling and fine leadership were an inspiration to the pack. How he retains so much of his old form after all these years is an absolute mystery. O'Hnra also appeared again and played well. The remaining six were opposed to opponents about their own weight, and each one played up to form. Perhaps two or three deserve special mention, but every one gave of his best, and could do no more. Tries by White and Williams made up the six points. For the Teachers, Lewis, at full-back, made an inauspicious opening, but as soon as he settled down his defence was good. Fuller, centre, was the brightest star in the three-quarter line. Townscnd is capable of a better display. Neither he nor Dare could get through. .They were well watched l>y Hill and White, as well as the Otahuhu irenkaways. Inglis gave his backs every ivailable chance, and defended well. The forwards were a very even lot, and worked Ske Trojans throughout. Their handling was very good, and near the end one movement started by them in their own twentyive transferred play to within a few yards 'ft the Otahnhu line. Gunn, Reeves, Skipper and Sayers were probably the pick, llaxwell scored the only try.

MARIST'S REVENGE. Beaten C—3 by Grafton on the King's Birthday, and again S —7 in the opening round of the Jubilee knock-out competition on Saturday week, Marist Old Boys did not spare the feelings of the magpies in taking their revence by three goals (one penalty) and two tries to nil. It must be said, however, that although the scoreboard made the double-blues out to be n nineteen points better side, there was certainly not that actual difference on the general run of the play. There was a dour struggle between the forwards, with ttie Grnftbnians generally carrying the scrums, and Marists superior in the loose and more than holding their own in the tight. It was rather paradoxical that with their backs going better than at any time this season the magpies suffered their heaviest reverse of the season. But the luck of the game clearly ran Marist's way. The first try should have been stopped, despite the initial blunder which led to it, and the only other score before the interval was a penalty goal. Meantime ltyull (in particular), Wilkes, Moore and Stuart had been doing some good work which went for nothing, ehietly because of the sturdy defence of the double-blues. With the breeze to help them six points did not seem too stiff a* handicap for the Graftonians. However, immediate disaster overtook them. l'aton, not wishing to risk another penalty, let go the ball, and that smart forward Arthur Toye pounced on it for a converted try practically from the kick off. That settled it, as there never appeared a chance of the magpies now making up the leeway of eleven points, especially after this gift goal. Battle along bravely they did, but Marist defended desperately, and after Cnrrey, Crump (the dashing 19-year-old Fellding forward, back after a month on the injured list), and Halls narrowly missed tries, Grafton never had a hope. When Marist rang on another goal and a try in the final few minutes' play the magpies wore not only eliminated from the championship, but had been given the worst thrashing of what had been a hectic career since they had to fight to retain their place in the senior division. Wliile Marist had the better luck in the run of play, the side had two misfortunes in the way of injuries, losing first Poland and then Mailer—they were replaced by Irvine (did well) and I.oombe (the latter converting Ihe semi-final try). The victory of Marists 'put them definitely in the running for tub Gallaher Shield, and the recapture of the title of champion club of Auckland after a lapse of ten years would be one of the most popular sporting gestures of the year. MANUKAU SUB-UNION. The Grafton Rugby colts visited Papakura ou Saturday and played the Manukau seniors. The game was very even the work of the visiting backs 'being much admired. The game ended in favour of Manukau by 20 to 10. A factor in the success of Manukau was the quick work of the forwards in spoiling the back movements of the visitors. Other results were • tranklln juniors beat Manukau 13 to 0Manukau thirds.beat Pukekolte 10 to G. GRADE GAMES. SENIOR B GRADE. Grammar Colts 17, beat North Shore 3. Eden 14, bent Technical 0.8. 0. l'arnell 9, drew witli Manukau B 9. SECOND GRADE. College Rides 8, beat Technical Colts 3. University A 14, beat Technical 0.8. 3. i Waitemata 13. beat Grammar B 0. Ponsonby 22, beat Suburbs 8. Grafton Colts 21, beat Northcote B 3. Manukau 9, beat Y.M.C.A. 3. Grammar A 3, beat Otahnhu 0. Tamaki 14. beat University B 3. Northcote A 18, beat Papatoetoe 13. THIRD OPEN. Newton 10, beat Oratla C. THIRD INTERMEDIATE. Eden B 3. drew with Northcote 3. Eden A 35,. beat Y.M.C.A. 3. University 10, beat Waltemata 3. North Shore 3, beat Dilworth 0.8. 0. Suburbs 17, beat Manukau B 7. College Rides 0, beat Marist 3. FOURTH GRADE. Northcote 12, beat Oratia 3. Grammar A 22, beat Suburbs 4. Ponsonby 6, beat Otahuhu 5. Technical 0.8. 8, beat Grafton 3. ■ FIFTH GRADE. Manukau 8, beat Grammar 0.8. G. -Ponsonby 9, beat Marist 0. Suburbs 9, beat Eden 3. SIXTH GRADE. Marist 9, beat Ponsonby 6. Suburbs G. beat Grafton 3. Manukau 20, beat Northcote 0. Eden 13, beat Technical 4. GAMES IN THE PROVINCE. , WHANGAREI. Harding Cup.—Whangarei 23, defeated Otamatea 0. Senior Knock-out. —City drew with Ngunguru, 3 all; Horahora defaulted, with Old Boys; Mangakahia defaulted to Hikurangi. DARGAVILLE. Kalhu Valley 13, beat Southern 3. and ■win the championship. Foy (2) and R. Romers scored tries for Knihn, and Pocklington and Bnrkhart converted one each. For Southern Ross scared n try. Junior.—Dargaville 11, beat Awakino Point 8. TAURANGA. Te Puno 19, bent Cadets Old Boys 11. Matakann 3. drew with Rangataua 3. Juniors.—Cadets Old Boys 11, boat Country 5; To Puno 34, beat Athletics 0; Matapihi 18, beat Rangataua 0; Baptist defaulted to Matakaua. WHITIANGA. . Brock Cup.—Mercury Bay 20, beat Thames 11. ' '•■ . TAUMARUNUI. Waikato 6, beat King Country 5. WARKWORTH. fKaipara 12, beat Rodney 6. ; PUKEKOHE. Mt. Albert Grammar 15, beat Wesley College 3. . Piikekohe Juniors 13, beat Waiuku 6. South Auckland Primary Schools 17, beat Technical High seconds 12. TAEROA. Junior Reps, (for Sharebrokers' Cup).—■ Waihl 11, beat Paeroa 8. Primary Schools (Vancouver Cup).— Thames Valley (holders) 13, beat Thames 0. The cup was presented by Mr. J. W. Silcock, past-president of the Thames Valley Rugby Union. HUNTLY. Seniors.—Cambridge 14, beat Taupiri 11Primary Schools. —Taupiri Reps. 6, beat Hamilton Reps. 0. Third Grade.—Morrinsville 18, beat Huntly High School 14. WAIHI. Poland Cup.—Paeroa 6, beat Walhl 5. GAMES IN THE SOUTH. WELLINGTON. Old Boys 19, beat Marist 3. Petone 17, beat Poneke 11. Hutt 17, beat Wellington 7. Athletic 7, beat Oriental 3. Eastbourne 19, beat St. Patrick's 9. Championship Points.—Wellington College Old Bovs 23, Poneke 20, Hutt and Wellington 18, Petone 10, St. Patrick's College Old Boys 12, Marist Old Boys 11, Eastbourne, Oriental and Atuletlc 10. Second Division. —University 45, beat HU " °" WANOANUI. Taihape 17, drew with Wanganul 17. The match was for the Pownall Trophy, held by Wanganui. PALMERSTON NORTH. Fellding Old Boys 28, beat St. Patrick's Kia Toa 14, beat Old Boys 11. United 16, beat Fcilding 0. GISBORNE. Y.M.P. 12, beat Old Boys S.Celtic 10, beat High School Old Boys 9. GREYMOUTH. Seddon Shield.—Final: West Coast 16, beat Nelson 11. NAPIER. Lane Cup.—First round: Napier Old Bovs 15, beat Hastings 14. Pirates 6, beat Hastings Old Boys 5. Celtic 14, beat Tamatea 11. h Technical Old Boys 5, beat Marist 0. NEW PLYMOUTH. Southern Division.—Final-. Waimate 13, beat Patca 6. ..£,_. OAMARU. North Otago 10, boat Marlborough 6. TIIIARU. Old Boys 14, beat Celtic 11. Star 3, beat Tcmuka O. Pleasant Point 6, beat Zlngari 3. CHRISTCHURCH. Challenge Cup.—Final: Merlvale 11, beat Christchurch 9.

P. XV. I;. D. P. A. Pts. University 14 11 3 — 196 !)S 22 ronsonby 14 10 2 2 189 100 J2 Marist 14 10 4 — 157 93 20 Grammar .... 14 9 4 1 192 105 19 Grafton 14 8 5 1 101 147 1. Training-Col. . 14 4 S 2 128 148 10 Otahuhu .14 4 9 1 100 ljJ 9 Manukau 14 3 0 2 ;S1 141 8 College Rifles . 14 3 10 1 120 101. < Technical .... 14 3,11,7- «5 154 G