RUGBY'S SURPRISE

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIII, Issue 217, 14 September 1942, Page 5

RUGBY'S SURPRISE

DEFEAT OF M.T.P. GRAFTON PACK SUPERIOR • '"ii I'iin>Miibv ( iill: ;c*< 1 ;i surprise by • i i':r tin. colours of M.T.l\. tlie? leacl,!:l - ' n l ' ,( ' I»i• in<•;j»;11 (J.illiiher Shield I. " l im.ili-Ii ;11 Kilrn Park alter a keenly " ' • d match. Pla>intf with a fairly : ■ iikl In the 11•*. t spell. M.T.P. scored two uiiuiiiMTleil tries, while Grafton ' 1 f, » <>P (, n il.s account, in the second 1> he Grafton forwards assumed comi".»i -I .mil the s»lde scored three tries, two i-nr.f-rtrd. nnd two penalty goals to its opponent's nil, thus winning by 19 points i •• curtain-raiser resulted in an easy * • • Garri.-on. which took I he; honours i m technical Old Boy.» by a wide marU"' I" lhe outside tjame. Air Force No. ~ "I ;m even tu>-l»* with C.U.0., eventuw :11 ninvi by three points. I uits were:— r.r.4i ion-l'onsouhy H>, beat M.T.P. 0. (.arri.on 21, heal Technical Old Bovs 3. Air Force No. 2 1 (>. boat C'.K.O. i:\. M.T.l'.'h Third Drfeut.—Grafton-Fonsonby In--11;. *Ed tl>e third deteat of the season on M.T.P.. ' ,\c prcious successful teams being Garrison nnd M.< ' In spile of these reverses, however. M i* sMU maintains itr* lend In the champtonv with" a percentage of 7.J agulnst Grafton's »: Most ot the credit. for Grafton's success - 1 i"« '<> the lorwards, whose strong and successful if. <• i rihes had th* opposl'lon worried throughi>u' 1 he Grafton backs, too. gave able support, r ;i>rci 111 v In quirk covering on defence. An outs', Hiding forward In the CJrpfton park was Mo-Ay" Bowman, who was in the lend throughand once scored a tine trv after charging • n i kirk anrl dribbling on lo Rain the race !>»:* 'he touch down. On another occasion lie wen*, very close lo scoring. Thin former Hawke's rtrc. and All ni.'.rl; player Is at the top of his form a! Mie moment. Former Auckland captain nr«l centre, Alr.n VVllr.i, was also in good form and did a lot of effective work both on attack nnd defence. Grn fton-Ponsonbv scored a welleiuied victory and was the better team on the

ROOPE ROOSTER SEMI-FINALS Keen football was played at Catiaw Pink on Saturday, when the semi-finals cf the Roope Rooster competition were decided. P.exults were:— Marlst-Shore 15, v. Clt.v-Otnhuhu 14. Kiehmond 7, v. Ponsonby (>. Scores Fluctuate.—ln the principal match, between Marlst-Shore and CityOlahuhu. each team scored freely in the second half of the game, and the issue was In doubt rlijht. to tho end. MaristShore got a real hold on the game with two tries In quick succession, one being converted. Clty-Otahuhu rallied in a very spirited way in an endeavour to pull the match out of the fire. A try brought the score to a point below its opponents, but for the rest of the game Marlst-Shore put up a defence which could not be broken.

Chatham Thru*! fill.—One of the outgtarieHrll? backs for Marlst-Shore was Chatham,' Who played at second Jive-eighth last, season. On Saturday Chatham was at centre three-quarter, where he showed flna speed and initiative In attack, with all the advantage of getting a good service from the five-eighths, McVVilliams and Costello.

Outstanding Forwards.—The forward play was one of the best features of the match between Marist-Shorc and CityOtahuhu. The packs were evenly matched, both In the set scrums and loose play. Hawea Matalra was a great leader for Clty-Otahuhu. and got good support from N. Johnson and J. Johnson. For MaristShorc. Fleids and Hunt stood out with their clever play, good handling and speed in open play, while Skinner, a light forward, was well to the forefront in the raiding play.

Richmond Shade Fonannby.—Ponsonbv had a Utile tho better of the gamo against Richmond, which was lucky to emerge the winner with the right to play Marlst-Shore in tho final. Ponsonbv had a decided territorial advantage, but Its backs overdid tho unorthodox. The rc-appcarance of J. flatherley as nookcr for Richmond did a lot to clinch the side's victory. Maglll. at full-back, played one of his best Raines this season, and good fielding saved Richmond on several occanlons. Outstanding among the Richmond forwards was Crookall. Tha Ponsonby bncks were not a happy combination and. with the exception of Rapana. at full-back, and Nurse, on the wing, wero decidedly off form. Ileail'a Sine Kicking.—Jack tteml delighted the Wellington crowd which witnessed the Manu-*»u-Welllngton League game In Wellington on B*tu»4ay. Right at the start he landed his kleu-oa between tho posts. Of Manukau's 23 point*, Heml's tally was 11. He was responsible for » line solo effort which resulted In a try, and h, »iao converted. Anotw Solomon.—The most outstanding player In tha Manukau-Welllngton match was Mick Solomon — Davo'a cousin — who played at full'or Wellington. He fielded cleanly and ran hl» backs into position nicely and showed appreciation of positional play. A Jt°°d exhibition was given by Oordon Matson. the Wellington captain, both at flve-clghths and hair-Dack. Before ho retired Injured he played constructive football. Matson learnt his football at Otahuhu. where he went through the grades to senior ranks