REP. RUGBY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 213, 9 September 1935, Page 12

REP. RUGBY.

SOUTHLAND BEATEN. AUCKLAND'S SCORING MOOD. SPASMODIC BRILLIANCE. Southland, although their forwards played magnificently in the first epell, could not break their long record of unsuccessful attempts to beat Auckland at Eden Park, when they met before, a largo crowd on Saturday afternoon. Auckland •won. by 26 points to 12. It was a inatchof two distinct phases. The first spell'produced forward play of the highest provincial standard, and there ■were many interesting manoeuvres on the part of both packs. Half-time came with the score, Auckland 10, Southland 3, and there were many who believed that Auckland, faced in the second-, spell with a strong wind which blew diagonally across the field, would be in serious difficulties. 1 It was a reasonable assumption, after watching t£e trend of play an the first." spell, and after seeing the periodical devastating work of the Southland pack. Play opened with "great pace in the second spell, but the half not very old when the Southland forwards began to fade as a concerted forc,e.; : Then they changed their tactics, and started breaking quickly from the pack, and that was their undoing. It was the beginning of the end. Every opportunity that came the way of Auckland was seized with confidence by both forwards and backs. Auckland were soon swinging along according •to traditional style, moving into swift attack with forwards and backs collaborating.. The display of the Auckland side in the second half was encouraging in view of the two major matches to come—Otago and Wellington. Southland Backs Weak. But in praising Auckland, the circumstances of their exhibition must be remembered. They did well in the first spell, and moved with more smoothness in the second. On the surface their backs were combining with niore effect than in any other match, but they were opposed by a eet of backs that completely lacked initiative on attack, and was always uncertain on defence. The Southland backs were hardly up to inter-provincial standard, and that factor probably made it appear that the Auckland backs were better than they really are. If was in the last quarter of an hour that the Auckland backs showed' up in most favourable light, and in that-period they functioned with real success. There was plenty af incident in the. game to keep the crowd cheering, ■jvith a touch of individual brilliance here- and there. There were times when the Southland forwards surged down en masse, only to be driven back with a fine loose hand-to-hand passing rush by the Auckland eight. There were times,.too, when, the Auckland backs moved along with the precision for which the selecter has searched so long. The reshuffle of ; the inside backs for the ■■ day was notea iJtXK- per cent success, I but the material is there, and they are capable of better things.

Beyer's Display. ' Beyer gave one of his-ibest displays at full-back for-Auckland, fielding faultlessly and kicking -with fine length and judgment. .It was well for Auckland that he was in goal kicking mood, and in that connection he gave- a high-class display. On the wing "Moises gathered his few i passes cleanly, and ran with fine determination. Fletcher and Haelam played eolidly in the middle positions, Curtayne made a very satisfactory five five-eighth, while from the base of the ecrum Inglie got the ball'away well. Solomon got through a big day's work in good style in his own übiquitious way. Most of the time he played right off the scrum, and occasionally in the five-eighth line. This rather overcrowded things at times, and on the occasion that Auckland brought off their best try Curtayne, in order to speed the movement up, cut him right out and passed to Haslam. The best Auckland forward was Anderson, whose form has been strikingly impressive through the rep. programme, while good games were played by Bond, Lockington and Knight. The Southland forwards took the honours amongst the tourists, Metcalfe being right up to All Black class. The George brothers showed up all the way •until the last stage, when the Southland pack was a very tired lot, and unable any longer to pull the team through. The Southland backs were very disappointing. There were times when Purdue and Thomas flashed into the. picture, but there was a general lack of combination, and they fell a long way short of the best Southland back division of some former years. One player who did really impress was Thornbtiry at wing three-quarter. His elusiveness and ekill stamped lym as an attacking wing of distinct possibilities. Nesbit, at full-back, was fair only, but as a goal kicker he was the outstanding player of the day on the Southland side, and his four penalty goals, one an exceptional effort from the side line, brought the • only points that came Southland's way.

WHANGAItEI BEATEN.

AUCKLAND EIGHT POINTS UP. (By Telegraph.—Own 'Correspondent.) WHANGAREI, this day. Outclassing Whangarei in the forwards, Auckland B on Saturday inflicted a 16 to 8 point defeat on Whangarei. The match ■was played on the muddy Kensington Park No. 1 area, and the cold -weather kept -the crowd away, for the attendance -was disaPJatoieson -was the star of the Auckland tack line, and although he did not score himself, brilliantly paved the way for the two second-half tries -which gave Auckland victory. Whangarei .started off well, and tries by R. Whyte~ and Pickering (the latter converting onß),igave them an early 8 to 0 lead "Within a.short time Auckland began to make up the leeway, and a rather lucky ene to Wales arid to Tearson , (converted by Wales) made tlte- half-time - score 8 all. Whangarei fared badly in the middle of the second spell and brilliant play by Jamieson paved the -way for;.trles by'Kelly and Fraser - Wales converted-the second and Auckland- won 16 to 8. v Fraser was the best forward, and played fine, football.

GRADE GAMES.

SENIOR GRADE B. Training College 9, beat University B 3. North Shore 14, beat Eden 3. JUNIOR. GRADE. Ponsonby 11, beat' Suburbs. 3., Graf ton 27, beat College Rifles 6. Newton 6, drew with Otahnhu 6. Northcote 21, beat Eden 9. THIRD GRADE. Grammar O.E. 49. beat Tamaki 0. Otahuhu 9, beat Manukau 8. Parnell 3, beat Ponsonby 0. Marist 36, tieat Suburbs 0. Technical 0.8. 27, beat College Rifles 0 v FOURTH GRADE. Grammar O.B:" li, v beat'.Takapuna' 6. Nor thcote 1 8, S beat Marist 0. Technical Ojß. 3, beat Suburbs 0. FIFTH GRADE. Technical 0.8. IS, beat Panmure 5. Suburbs. , 31> beat Takapuna 8. : SIXTH GRADE. Eden 58, beat Technical 0.8. 0.. Iβ, 'beat Takapuna -14. : Suburbs 31, beat Marist 0.8. 0. JUNIOR BOYS. SENIOR GRADE. Eden 7, beat Northcote 0. INTERMEDIATE GRADE. Parnell 27, beat Eden 0. JUNIOR GRADE. Takapuna 12, beat Manukau 0. Suburbs 3, drew with Newton 3. HOUSE MATCHES. St. George's (Epsom) 14, beat Refrigeratore, Limited, 10. ; ... , , , , ... ws

RANFTOLY SHIELD

■WESTPORT'S STRONG CHALLENGE. (By Telegraph.-—Press Association.) CHRISTCHURCH, Saturday. The Ranfurly Shield match betweeu Canterbury and West Coast was played in perfect weather to-day. West Coast wou the toss and played from the north end, with the wind and sun mostly behind them. Canterbury kicked off, but West Coast immediately started u loose rush. A neat kick by Hooper brought them within striking distance and Canterbury were penalised after a line-out. Nolan's shot missed. In a thrilling movement virtually all of the Canterbury backs and forwards joined. Behrns turned defence into attack and then in turn Milliken, Thompson, Sweeney, Bankin and MePhail -handled. The rush at one stage looked as, if it might break down, but Rankin came round again ftnd went over beautifully, just as two Coasters dived for his heels. Dearoll's kick missed. Canterbury .-..- . . -3 West Coast 0 The Canterbury backs attempted an attack, but Pilson could not get past Schroeder, and generally the Coast defence was very stout. At last', however, MePhail saw a gap and in-passed to his forwards. Deavoll handled and then shot the ball back to Mortlock. The latter wriggled his way clear of the press of his opponents, increased his speed and went like a flash as : far as Nolan. When tackled he passed back over his.head live yards from the goal posts. MePhail jumped for it, held it and raced over clears. Deavoll converted. Hughes made two brilliant openings for the Coast. With the second ,he got the , defence on the-wrong foot and before Canterbury quite knew what was happening, Schroeder, who had changed his 'position to' right wing, had touched down- near .the, right-hand corner flag. Cox's kick missed. The half-time score was: Canterbury 8 West Coast 3 Canterbury opened the second spell with a passing rush, but deadly tackling pulled them up. A great individual dash by Vincent and Swift, and a pass by the" same back gave Coast a chance and I'fahlert dived over at the left-hand corner while hats and newspapers went up in the air. M. Scandrett's kick missed. Canterbury S, West Coast C. - Mortlock and MePhail twice provided thrills and the Canterbury attack at last seemed to be getting more punch, though the tackling still had no flaws. After a scramble Mortlock raced away to the right as if to open up play on McPhail's wing, instead of that he feinted and sent a. scissors pass to Poison on his left. Poison went right through an easy opening, rah to the Coast full-back arid handed out to Kankin, who scored a fine try. Deavoll converted. Canterbury 13, West Coast 6. A brilliant Coast movement followed a line-out. -Mann- 1 snapped up the ball at halfway, raced:'past Poison, accelerated and finally swerved round Behrns to score a wonderful try. Just as he touched down Raskin came across surprisingly fast to grab him by the heels. Vincent converted. Canterbury 13, West Coast 11. Again and again Mann, who is a crack amateur sprinter, was dangerous. Another thorn in Canterbury's side was Nolan, the Coast full-back. From . three line-outs in succession the Canterbury backs got the ball and they made raids into the Coast twenty-five. The forwards joined in, and Deavoll and Innes actually got over the line but were called back for obstruction. In the closing minutes Dunshea, Deavoll and Innes were associated in a lightning dash. Innes scored a splendid try, the reward for smart backing up. The kick failed and time was: called with the scores: Canterbury ......v .-.. 1C 'West Coast'. IT. «..:.. 11 ■

OTAGO LOSES AGAIN

"WELLINGTON'S NARROW WIN. \ . (By Telegraph.—Press' Association.) WELLINGTON, this day. | In a game which was exciting without producing football of a high standard the Wellington representatives beat the touring Otago team at Athletic Park on Saturday by 6 points to 5. Wellington had the ■ better .backs and its ■ forwards obtained more fof the ball. The ■ Otago players were" possibly batter individually, but almost every concerted movement broke down. . Wells, and Barry broke through the rOtagb. "forwards and the ball was brought r,ight down to near the posts, where it was whipped out smartly • from the ruck, and Kilby, Baldwin and Fleming handled, the last-named playiir going over. Lamason missed •the kick. ; - ; Otago established a territorial advantage and kept it for a long time, but several promising individual movements broke down through lack of support. The young ; Wellington \ full-back, O'Connor, showed to advantage in several dangerous situations and his line-kicking was one of the best features of the match. Quaid, Parkell and Niven were doing very solid work for Otago, and the inside backs, Gillies, Martin and Taylor, made several smart runs, but the wings, Watt and Proctor, were starved. There was no further score at half-time. Wellington made a thrust at the start of the second half, but Otago's defence proved sound until Pollock attempted a field goal from a difficult angle. The'bali went across the -whole Otago front and McGreevy flashed up' and scored an easy try. O'Connor failed at goal. Otago made the game very lively and Wellington was kept strictly on the defensive, but several brilliant movements broke down at the last moment. Finally Martin cut through and passed to Parkell and Niven, who scored between the ijosts, Trevathan converting. Otago attacked hotly, but 'was unable to break through, and the game ended: Wellington 6, Otago 5.

Otaffo plays at Eden Park next Saturday and Wellington a week later.

FRANKLIN SPEED.

AUCKLAND GO DOWN. (By Telegraph.—Own Correspondent.) ONEAYHERO, Saturday. Fast, open and spectacular Rugby football was provided at Onewhero to-day when Franklin senior reps, beat Auckland, colts by 20 points to 11 before an attendance of 200 people. Perfect conditions prevailed, and Aucklan-d was defeated by a superior team. The Franklin backs combined magnificently, while the fast following of the forwards frustrated almost all of the visitors'■ movements. For Franklin -tries were, gained by Passan, Moore," Whiskey, P. Cathcart and Rata (two). Rata : also scored 11= points -by his kicking. - Tries for..Auckland were scored by Fitzpatriek, Toye ,and Roddick. The last-named' also converted 'one try;.

GAMES IN THE PROVINCE.

TAUMARUNUIv. Taranaki B 13, beat King-! Ccjuntry 8. PUKEKOHE..- :. Senior B.—Pukekohe 40, beat Mangatawhiri 6. Juniors. —Franklin 6, beat Pukekohe 5. , i TE. AWAMUTU. I Bi'nnie Gup.—Kereone-Morrinsville 3, beat Rovers (holders) 0. Juniors. —Waipa 16, beat Cambridge 14. MATAMATA. Rugby Peace Cup (penultimate ca^ne). — Matamata (hoirters) 14, beat Hamilton (challengers) 12. .... THAMES. White Shield. —Hui Mai 40, beat College Old Boys 9. '. Juniors. —High School 15, beat Hui Mai 12. ■ , ■ . . ... . . . i ' ' TAURANGA. Rangataua 14, beat Matakana 6. Juniors.—Tauranga 6, beat Technical College Old Boys (Auckland) 0; Omokoroa 9, beat Country 0. DARGAVILLE. Third Grade.—Central i Cup knockout competition : Dargaville 11, drew with High School 11. HELENSVILLE. i I Auckland Referees .6, beat ■ Kiapara Junior reps, 3; : HUNTLT. Taupiri Union Representatives 20, beat Manukau 8. Juniors. —Huntly 17, beat Taupiri 8. WHANGAREI. .;, „ , Auckland B 16, beat Whangarel 8. Junior. —Final: Hikurangi' 24, beat Manjrakahia 3. Junior knockout. —-Manaia 6, beat City 0; Horahora 14, beat Pirates, 5. .-•■ •- WAIHI. High School 0, beat Manukau B (Auckland) 5. Junior Knock-out Final. —Mataura 6 beat High School 0.8. 3. :