CANTERBURY'S BIG WIN

Press, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22196, 13 September 1937, Page 14

CANTERBURY'S BIG WIN

MATCH AGAINST NORTH OTAGO POOR EXHIBITION IN FIRST HALF In a rather mediocre exhibition of football, Canterbury beat North Otago on the oval at Lancaster Park on Saturday by 34 points to 13. The first half was a very dull display, in which neither team scored, Canterbury’s three points coming from a penalty goal, but during the second half both teams smartened up the pace and fast and open play developed. The ground was hard, and there was little wind. The attendance was fairly large. The scores give a very fair indication of the game. For the first half the Canterbury team, forwards and backs, were incapable of any organised work, and the game was little more than a scramble. The backs got very little of the ball, and the forwards were not following up. The North Otago forwards were much the better back for the first half. In the loose they showed greater cohesion, and in the scrums, when they did not hook the ball they broke fast enough to catch the five-eighths standing flat-footed. It was a disappointing exhibition from a Canterbury team, and there was not even incident enough to raise a stir from the spectators. In the second half the Canterbury team improved out of recognition. The forwards were definitely on top, and for most of the time reversed the territorial advantage which the visitors had held earlier. Under the hard attacks of the Canterbury pack the North Otago forwards started to lose their dash, and their forward play soon became akin to Canterbury’s in the first half, disconcerted individual efforts. The North Otago backs were at least as good as the Canterbury line in the first half, but in the second half they were outclassed, Brooks, Hooper, and Pawson running through them time and again. The Canterbury back line scored the side’s seven tries from purely orthodox back movements in which Brooks and Hooper shone in clever cutting-out of their opposing numbers. A Successful Experiment An experiment with the Canterbury team of having D. P. White at full-back was reasonably successful considering White’s lack of experience in the position. In the first half his positional play and handling were very good. In fact, throughout the match White did not fumble the ball once, but his kicking was not up to standard. He had a more powerful kick than S. Easton, the opposing full-back, but the advantage was largely offset in the duels between the two bv White's lack of direction, most of his kicks falling to snd touch In the second half White showed a tendeno to get among the backs, which was per* haps only to be expected of one who usually plays at five-eighths. Eathorne. Pawson. and Chinnery were not called on for much in the first half, but in the second half their greater pace eft their opponents little chance of stopping them after Brooks and Hooper had cut out their men. The two Canterbury fiveeighths gave disappointing displays at first, many times being ..caught standing with the ball, which, admittedly, was not coming cleanly or quickly from the forwards. Standing deeper in the second half, they simply played with the opposition. cutting through them time without number. Brown gave a solid exhibition behind the scrum once his forwards got orooerly to work. , . The attempts by the Canterbury forward; to screw the scrum ‘ n .. the first half were not successful, for the North Otago men. although slower on the whole than the home pack, were fast In breaking away and packed well to lirlng off many loose rushes, carrying them well into Canterbury s twenty-five. Milllkcn was lost on the back of the Canterbury scrum until late in the game, when he began to show up in the loose. con, Burke, and Pablecheque were the most consistent workers in the Canterbury pack. Herman worked hard in the lineouts but honours in this department were fairly evenly divided. Herman s kicking was brilliant. One try- was converted by him with a kick from right on the side-line. A Clever Full-back The outstanding player of the day was S. Easton, the North Otago full-back. Smaller than most on the field, he was fast, active, and accurate. Time and again he took the ball from the feet of the Canterbury forwards aod i nva rlab.y got a kick into touch before being tackled. His brilliant saving runs brought the crowd to its feet on several occasions. Once he took the ball from two Canterbury forwards over his own goal-line and ran through the backs to put it into touch inside the Canterbury The North Qtago back line was not up to the standard of the forwards They got a fair share of the ball in the first half, but were unable to handle successfully dropped passes and over-running spoiling their efforts. They were depending for success chiefly on opportunism. Carrodus. Miller, and Low were • the best of the visiting pack. Carrodus, a tall solidly-built forward, was in the van on most attacks and gathered in more than his share of the ball bne-outs. Miller was a solid worker, but he retired with an injured shoulderearly in the second half, and was replaced by w. Watts. Carrington’s hooking was better than that of Fleming for the first half, hut later the Canterbury men put in more weight and pushed North Otago off Se ball Herman’s counterpart was found in the North Otago forwards J. Easton putting on five points for his side with two good shots. The teams were:— Canterbury D. P. White, n Chinnery, J. C. Pawson, G. B. Eathorne. J A Hooper. W. A. Brooks. L. Brown. J. O. Hattersley, W. Fleming, H. Burke, D. Herman, R. Sneddon, W. Coll, C. Pablecheque, H. Milliken. North Otago S. Easton. G McKenzie, D. Gillies, M. Perkins. R. Hamllli T. Dwyer. R. Hunt. R. Miller. H. Carrington, J. Easton. J. Johnston, W. Low, E. Strachan, H. Carrodus, L. Ludeman. The Scoring Movements From the kick-off North Otago went on to the attack with a series of loose forward rushes. A penalty for holding on in the Canterbury twenty-five gave them a shot 10 yards from the slde-lme within the first five minutes. S. Easton s kick missed. Canterbury were kept penned in their ovfcn territory for some time, and another infringement gave S. Easton a kick which carried to the right as it reached the posts. There was an amusing incident half-way through the first halt. From a scrum following a line-out Hunt sent his backs away in a fast run. The extra ball had bounced on to the field on the blind side, and Brown and Milliken galloped Into the North Otago twenty-five until the lack

of opposition and the laughter from the stands pulled them up. After a period of scrambling play Fleming got the ball from a line-out in North Otago territory. He bullocked his way to the line and had the misfortune to lose it as he was grounded by S. Easton, the ball rolling out behind. Shortly after Coll, Burke, and Pablecheque led away from the North Otago twenty-five line, but were stopped for an infringement by a North Otago forward. Herman put the kick over from the middle of the field 35 yards out. North Otago set on the attack again and a penalty shot close to the Canterbury line missed. Twice, toward half-time. North Otago backs reached the Canterbury line only to be hauled down Just in the nick of time. Half-time was called with play in midfield. Canterbury 3, North Otago 0. Herman, Burke, and Pablecheque lead a determined attack on the resumption, but kicked too hard and allowed S. Easton to force down. From a loose scrum in Brown sent the backs away and Pawson ran over close to the corner flag. Herman put over a long kick. Canterbruy 8, North Otago 0. North Otago attacked again and S. Easton had two shots at goal in succession, but both failed, and North Otago was unable to keep up the pressure. From a line-out near half-way Brown shot the ball to Brooks, to Hooper, who cut out his man and came round Pawson to take it again and score. Herman converted. Canterbury 13, North Otago 0. Hattersley and Fleming lead a rush from the kick-off, but as they crossed the line S. Easton picked it from in front of them and running to half-way eluding two attempts at tackles, kicked out in the Canterbury twenty-five. The Canterbury forwards were definitely on top now, and from a loose scrummage Brown got the ball out to Brooks, to Hooper, who repeated his previous movement with Pawson, and scored near the posts. White converted. Canterbury 18, North Otago 0. White started a rush from his own line soon after, but the ball was dropped in the forwards. Pawson and Chinnery got ! away on the blind side from a loose ruck, and with the opposing backs out of position beat S. Easton for Pawson to score near the posts. White’s kick'missed. Canterbury 21, North Otago 0. Pablecheque came off the blind side of a scrum soon after and broke through, handing on to Eathorne, who scored. Herman converted. Canterbury 26, North Otago 0. Canterbury was getting a little careless now, and Gillies enatly intercepted a back movement started close to the Canterbury twenty-five to score without opposition. J Easton converted. Canterbury 26. North Otago 5. Soon after J. Easton put over a penalty shot a yard from touch on the Canterbury twenty-five line. Canterbury 26. North Otago 8. From midfield Brown started another back rush and Pawson cut out his man for Eathorne to score under the posts. Herman's kick missed. Canterbury 29. North Otago 8. In a similar movement from a line-out Hooper cut out a man and Pawson scored. Hooper converted shortly before time. The final score was;— Canterbury 34, North Otago 8. Referee; Mr E. A. Empson.

THE STANDARD OP REFEREEING KEEPING WATCH ON FORWARDS "Some of the South Africans told me that the standard of refereeing In South Affica Is much stricter than It is here, particularly on the fast-brealcing forwards. They say thev are able to do things here they cannot do in their own country. This statement was made on Saturday night by Mr A. E. McPhail. a member of the management committee of the Canterbury Rugby Union, at a dinner given for the Canterbury and North Otago teams. Mr McPhail was proposing the toast of the referee (Mr E. Empson), and he added that for New Zealand to cultivate the spectacular and fast back game of the Springboks. It would be necessary for the standard of refereeing here to be made stricter on the loose forwards. In the absence of Mr Empson. who had left for the north to referee the game between the Springboks and Hawke’s Bay on Wednesday, Mr R. J. G. Collins, president of the Canterbury Rugby Referees’ Association, replied.' Dr. W. S. Seed, president of the Canterbury Rugby Union, proposed the toast of the North Otago team, and Mr T. Dwyer, captain of the team, replied. Dr. Seed congratulated the southern union on the efforts it had made to send its representative team on an extensive tour. The toast of the Canterbury team was proposed by Mr Knowles, manager of the North Otago team, and responded to by Mr J. O. Hattersley.

TOURNAMENT AT GERALDINE HOME TEAM WINS IN SENIOR GRADE HIGH STANDARD OF PLAY The Geraldine senior team won the senior section of the Geraldine SporK Association seven-a-slde tournament on Saturday. The junior grade was won by Old Boys (Timaru), the third grade by Old Boys (Timaru). the fourth grade by Beckenham (Christchurch), and the fifth grade by Celtic (Timaru). The standard of play was bigh, although the entries were poor. Both grounds were in good order, but a strong north-west wind made conditions unpleasant. There was a poor attendance compared with previous years. At the conclusion of the tournament the Mayor of Geraldine (Mr, B. R. Macdonald) congratulated the winners and presented the trophies. Mr John Mcllroy. president of the Sports’ Association, expressed his thanks to the competing teams, also to members of the South Canterbury Referees' Association who controlled the games. The results were as follows; Senior First Round—Old Boys (Timaru) 5 beat Star 0, Geraldine 8 beat Temuka 5, Sunnyside (Christchurch) a bye. Second Round—Sunnyside 5 beat Old Boys 3. Final—Geraldine 6 beat Sunnyside 3. Winning team: K. Blyth (captain), A. Vincent, P. Callanan. H. Worner, G. Vial, C. Eathorne, and P. McShane. Junior First Round—Sunnyside (Christchurch) won from Zingari by default. Old Boys (Timaru) beat Temuka 3, Pleasant Point 3J beat New Brighton 3. Semi-final—Old Boys 8 beat Sunnyside 0, Pleasant Point a bye. Final—Old Boys 3 beat Pleasant Point 0. Winning team; N. RUey (captain), A. Cameron. N. Campbell, D, Parsons, D. Andrews, R. Morgan, and F. Moore. Third Grade First Round—Temuka 31 beat Cave 3, High School Old Boys (Christchurch) 13 beat Geraldine 0, Old Boys (Timaru) 6 beat New Brighton 0. Semi-final—High School Old Boys (Christchurch) 11 beat Temuka 3. Old Boys (Timaru) a bye. Final—Old Boys (Timaru) 13 beat High School Old Boys 0. Winning team; J. Clemens (captain), A. R. Morrison, H. S. Rendall, H. Emery. T. Austin. L. Andrews. A. Fourth Grade First Round—Sydenham 9 beat Celtic 3, Geraldine 4 beat Zingari B 0, Star 8 beat New Brighton 0, Beckenham 11 beat Old Boys (Timaru) 0, Temuka won by default from Merivale, Zingari A a bye. Second Round—Sydenham won from Zingari A by default, Geraldine 3 beat Star 0, Beckenham 12 beat Temuka 0. Semi-finals —Sydenham 8 beat Geraldine 0, Beckenham a bye. Final—Beckenham 6 beat Sydenham 5. Winning team; B. Kllworth (captain), G. Eddington, G. Eaton. C. Brownlie. RBlues, G. Allen, and F. Rodgers. Fifth Grade Only two teams were entered in this section, and Celtic won by default from Temuka. As Celtic had not had a game an exhibition match with a local side was staged. Winning team: E. Healey (captain). P. Scully. A. Clemens, R. O’Connor, M. Goddard, M. Sullivan, and E. Donnehue. IN OTHER CENTRES (fbess association telegbams.) AUCKLAND, September 12. In the final of the jubilee trophy Rugby competition. University beat Grammar by 11 points to 3 in a hard forward struggle. University meet Ponsonby, winner of the Gallaher Shield. WELLINGTON, September 12. Athletic won the National Mutual Cup by defeating Hutt by 18 points to 16. Do you want to sell your home? Read and use “The Press” Classified Advertisements. The quickest route between Buyer and Seller. 12 words Is, 3 insertions 2s 6d. —6