RUGBY FOOTBALL.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 206, 31 August 1936, Page 13

RUGBY FOOTBALL.

JUBILEE TROPHY. CHAMPIONS BEATEN. ' OTAHUHU'S GOOD WIN. CLOSE CALL FOR MARIST. To the delight of their supporters Otahuhu scored a convincing and deserved victory over Ponsonby, the 1936 champions, in the main attraction of the Rugby day at Eden Park on Saturday, when the Jubilee Trophy competition •was continued. Games were pl,ayed on soft fields, with a high wind. At half-time in the main match Ponsonby held a 6—3 lead and at that stage there were grave doubts as to whether they could maintain the lead until the end. They had failed to take advantage of the high wind which was in their favour in the first spell. They had appeared listless, there was nrft the old gay dash and abandon about their play and they looked and played like an inferior side.

After the interval Otahuhu, taking full advantage of the wind, started to exploit their loose, open methods, and, with shrewdly placed high kicks, they had the Ponsonby defence bewildered. There were some fine forward movements by both packs, but honours on the day went to Otahuhu, whose forwards shpwed more speed and enterprise in the loose. Throughout the match there was an interesting duel 'between Hedge, _ the Otahuhu first five-eighth, and Jamieson, liis vis-a-vis. And Hedge won easily. He showed a return to the form which won him representative honours last season, with with quick and incisive dashes he made several clever openings, flashing past Jamieson with lightning side-steps and penetrating deep in Ponsonby territory. Only the quick covering of D. Solomon and the'Ponsonby forwards barred the way to Otahuhu success after Hedge had made one of his spectacular thrusts. Results of the matches were:— Otahuhu 14, beat Ponsonby 6. diarist 14, beat Manukau 12. Training College 19, beat North Shore 3. Grafton 6, beat Technical 3. University 21, beat College Rifles 15. NORTH SHORE OUTPLAYED. Once again North Shore showed that they rould not stay the pace when they met Training College on Saturday. The green and white forwards, quite a good pack, played well and held their opponents through the first spell, but seemed to fade In the second, and the Training College side had an easy victory to the tune of 10 points to S. The position was the same among the backs, the students having it all their own way in the second half, although North Shore made an occasional attack. There were four men in the North Shore team who stood out from the ruck, and played fine games; they were Jessup (the half) and Finlayson (the centre), who were always sound : and Massey and Fisher in the forwards. The latter two were outstanding. asking for no quarter and giving none. Official W. Laurie took the field as several of the Shore team failed to make an appearance and showed that lie still has a lot of run left in him. The game was hardly an entertaining one, and it was obvious from the first stages who was going to have the better of the argument. The College team combined well and should have piled up an even bigger score; 'but their forwards lacked dash. Armitage, Dobbin and Waddell were the best of the forwards, with Armitage, as usual, playing a line game. Waddell spoiled several nice movements by over eagerness, but played his best game this season by following up consistently. Silcock was fair at half, as was Hare, the full-back, while Shaw, the first five-eighth, sHtowed splendid form throughout, and was one of the few backs on the field to take his passes consistently all day. The winners' points came from tries by Armitage (2), and Hamilton. Hare kicked two goals and converted two tries. Hamilton's try was the result of a fine run In- Grant, the College winger; who, near the end of the game, swerved round his marker and sprinted to the corner before sending on to Hamilton, who had only»to run across the line. McKean kicked a great goal for North Shore in the opening stages.

FORWARD STRUGGLE. Though there were one or two bright flashes In the first half, the GraftonTechnical match at Takapuna resolved itself later into a forward-style struggle; it was hard going, but uninteresting to watch, for the outer backs seldom saw the ball and infringements were many. All the points in the 6—3 Grafton win came from penalty kicks in the first spell, two by Pearman and one by Lash. Killeen, with Pear in an in close support, •nade thrilling penetrations early In the -aine, and the growd realised something ot The All Black's brilliance as play weut on, even though opportunities were rare to any man. There was a fierce cross-wind throughout, and by sending high balls, astray and even blowing them well oft the field, this was a factor in the abseifce of chances to "shine." Tries were close, oil several occasions, but the movements seemed to lack the necessary finish. The final score gave an approximate indication of the superiority of Grafton when it came to territorial advantage and general enterP1 As play became more and more a forward struggle, it was evident that tlio packs were closely matched. K. Anderson, Bunting and Eergusson did strong work for Grafton, but Apps, Technical hooker, woii the ball again and again. In loose work Montgomery and Keaije were prominent. lechnical backs, like their opponents, saw comparatively little of the ball, but Byerley and Lash were often in the light. Rayment played a safe game at full-back.

MARISTS TOO SPEEDY FOR MANUKAU. For the curtain-raiser at Eden Park an uninspiring exhibition was given by Marist Old Boys and Manukau, the former winning by 14 points to 12. Marlsts were without W. Iladley and Butler and the absence of this pair seemed to have the effect of slowing down the whole pack, lhe back division were far from impressive as a combination, but they were too speedy lor the opposition. The Manukau forwards gave a characteristic display. In oilier words, they swept the field on occasion with line combined dribbling rushes and for the rest of the game were mostly individualists. The rearguard were well fed by McLaren, but failed to combine well and were rarely dangerous. Marists established a good load early in the game and at one time led 14 G but the Manukau pack made a determined effort in the last quarter of an hour and, keeping the game ciose, held the Marists in a close siege. Wiklund kicked a penalty and in a slashing finish McLaren scored almost under the posts. Even points seemed certain, but Wiklund missed an easy kick, leaving the victory with Marists. 1' or the winners tries were scored by loje, BellBooth, H. Irvine and Bailey, one being converted by Curtayne. Manukau's tries were secured by Pearce, Hankins and McLaren.

RIFLES DOWN. At Sturges Park 'Varsity had the luck with them to defeat College Rifles by -1 points to 15, as two almost certain tries lor the latter were missed through sheer hard luck. In one instance Duncan made a great run right through and touched | down and although the line umpire signalled | "Not out," the referee ruled otherwise. , Then Anderson put in a nice run and punted | over the full-back's head for Year to gain possession just a foot over the dead ball 'Varsity's scores were gained by Caughey, Drake (2), Cornes and Hayman, Cornes converting three tries. For College Rifles Vear notched a try and Anderson two, Wales converting one and Vear two. For the winners Patterson at full was sound. Mulviliill was the strength of the rearguard, ably supported by and Cornes. Caughey gave occasional bursts ot football, but was inclined to take things very easy. Drake, Shirley and Medhurst were the pick of the forwards. For College Rifles Anderson was the best hack on the ground, his strong rupning and fend being exceptionally good. Unfortunately for his side he had to go off about half-way through the second half. A ear plaved a great game, as did Wales ""U McCormack. Batty, Browning and Barker were the pick of the forwards. Mr. G. Peace was referee. all beack reserve. The star Grammar fonvard T. Lockington will travel to Wellington with the All Blacks, who play their first Test against Australia at Athletic Park next Saturday. Lockington will be first emergency forward.