EVEN FORWARD BATTLE; HOME BACKS SUPERIOR

Press, Volume LXXV, Issue 22812, 11 September 1939, Page 6

EVEN FORWARD BATTLE; HOME BACKS SUPERIOR

By 24 points to 6, the biggest margin inthe annual home-and-home fixture for many seasons, the Canterbury Rugby team beat the West Coast at Lancaster Park on The Coast team, considerably below full strength, held' Canterbury fairly well until the home backs, in the last quarter of an hour, capitalised their superior speed and cleverness in a series of spectacular attacks. Coast defended well and the forwards were always ready to fight back in the loose.

There was a large crowd, including many visitors from the West Coast who arrived on Saturday morning by excursion train. A sign of the times was the presence of military uniforms, officers and men of the defence forces, who paraded to the park from the Christchurch Technical College, being the guests of the Canterbury Riigby Union for the .afternoon. The weather was fine and sunny, the ground fast, aifd the brisk north-east breeze blew more across than down the field of play.

Early-comers at Lancaster Park had the choice of watching two lowergrade finals and a friendly match between the visiting Kumara (West Coast) team and the Lyttelton third grade team. Lyttelton won the lastmentioned game by 8 points to 3. Merivale won the third grade competition, beating University, 11-9. In the under 18 grade Technical and High School Old Boys battled to a draw, neither side scoring. ( Early in the principal game it became apparent that Canterbury would te able to match the Coast’s tradi'tzonajly solid pack and that Canterbury’s faster and cleverer backs would call the tune. That they did not dominate the game more completely was a tribute to the sound tackling of the Coast back line and the vigorous spoiling and cover-defending of the forwards. Canterbury scored six tries, and only one—the first—was attributable to failure of Coast to tackle. The others came from clever combined back movements which left the scorers with no defender blocking their route to the goal-line. Allowing that the Canterbury backs were often bustled by the defenders, who stood right up to the point of being perilously close to off-side, there was still no excuse for much of the mishandling which not only halted Canterbury’s attacking movements but which allowed the alert and vigorous West Coast forwards to take the initiative. The inside backs, especially, were most uncertain in their taking and. giving of passes, the players often seeming to be too keen on beating their opponents and neglecting the elementary, precaution of first making sure they had the ball in their possession.

Brilliant Three-quarters Chief honours in the game went, undoubtedly, to the Canterbury threequarters, J. S. Cartwright, J. Ballantyne (deputising for A. Q. Hunter), and R. L. Roberts. The wingers gave the crowd a thrill every time they got th? balL Cartwright, with his' long stride, vicious fend, and swerve, and Roberts, with his pace and elusiveness, were most impressive. Ballantyne nearly always made a constructive effort to open the way for his wings. The inside backs, J. J. McAuliffe, F. 'Allen, and W. Burgess, were erratic—very good at their best, but making too many mistakes over the game as a whole. Allen scored a good try early in the game, and McAuliffe and Burgess did fine work in defence, A. L. Ellis, at full-back, did competently everything required of him. The .Coast backs sacrificed their opportunities'oh attack by standing so close up: to the Canterbury line. When Coast won: the ball, accordingly, the inside men were either flatrfooted or running across the field, and often they had no alternative but to kick. R. Vincent, -at .half-back, played very soundly. Weir and L. Williams—the latter a small but very enterprising player—got through much hard defensive work. The three-quarters, J. Lynch, J. Keating, and A. Vaughan, looked as. if . they might have done well'with more ball. Lynch and Keating both made good solo runs. The full-back,. A-- Lindbom, was safe in handling and accurate in his kicking. He scored his side’s points with penalty'kicks, and narrowly “ missed several other attempts.

. .. Good forward Play R. R.. King, the , All Black., though cot oyer-exerting himself in the loose, was a good leader o< the Coast pack in the tight work, well backed up by A. King-«hd C. Thiele. R. Birchfield, J. Gardner,"'aod ; Wi Croudis were very lively in - dribbling rushes, and A. Sherriff, the hookexi—a brother of the Southland team’s hookcr-r-and J. Hammond were always on ttul; ball. In the Canterbury Campbell. the Ellesmere player, showed his improvement with a notably enterprising game in the loose. W. A. Hearn, the hooker and best line-out forward in the team,, kept , right up with the play and several times assisted the backs in attacks. G. S. Walter and N. J. McPhail also showed up, in open play. J. Rainey, C.'W. Williams, P. K. Rhind, and T. C. Knowles were solid acrummagers. The teams were as follows:

WEST .COAST Full-back: A. Lindbom. : Three-quarters: J. Lynch. J. Keating. A. Vaughan. Five-eighths: L. Williams, J. Weir. Half-back: R. Vincent. Forwards—Back-ranker; W. Croudis. Middle row: R. R. R. King, A. King, J, Gardner. Front row: .Ci Thiele, A. Sherriff, J. Hammond.

CANTERBURY Full-back: A. L. Ellis. Three-quarters:. J. S. Cartwright, J. Ballantyne, R. L, Roberts. ’ Five-eighths: W. Burgess, F. Allen. Half-back: J. J. McAulifle. ' Forwards—Back-ranker: N. J. McPhail.

Middle row: S. Campbell, C. W. Williams, T. C.’ Knowles, G. S'. Walter. Front row: P. K. Rhind, W. A. Hearn, J. Rainey.

An Early Try

Canterbury kicked off and immediately Ballantyne made a perfect/opening for Roberts, who dropped the pass. Allen picked .up, kicked high, and Canterbury heeled back quickly. Allen received again and dodged over. -Ballantyne missed the kick. Canterbury 3, West Coast 0. Coast had a chance when R. R. King intercepted and raced downfield. kicking over Ellis’s head, but the ball went dead. Great passing by Keating, Lynch, Vincent; and Williams took Coast to the twenty-five again, and Lindbom missed a penalty kick from a sharp angle. He kicked a line goal soon after.; Canterbury 3, West Coast g. • C Coast attacked for a time, but Cart'S* 1 * Ballantyne ran Canterbury ck to the Coast twenty-five. ■ In a passing rush Ballantyne r short-kicked

accurately for Roberts to gather in and score. Ballantyne goaled. Canterbury 8, West Coast 3. • A quick heel from a ruck gave the Canterbury backs a flying start, and Cartwright raced round Vaughan and Lindbom for a groat try. Ballantyne missed the kick and the half-time scores were:—

Canterbury 11, West Coast 3 Lindbom missed an easy chance from a penalty soon after the resumption. A great run by the Canterbury backs from their own twenty-five put the home team on attack, and Allen narrowly missed with a “pot.” Birchfield led a great dribbling rush, but Ballantyne and Burgess, in a brilliant movement, toolc Canterbury back to the Coast line. Coast returned to the attack, and Lindbom goaled from a penalty. Canterbury 11, West Coast 6.

Lynch, picking up in the loose, ran right through the Canterbury team, but was tackled from behind when within a few yards of the goal-line. McAuliffe picked up and raced along the side-line to give Roberts a clear start on the field, the winger scoring in a good position. Ballantyne goaled. Canterbury 16. West Coast 6. Receiving from a scrum, all the Canterbury backs handled for Cartwright to cross at the corner, Ballantyne having fought his way out of a tackle to give the winger a clear run in. Canterbury 19, West Coast 6. Canterbury was penalised inside Its own twenty-five, but Lindbom’s kick was a poster, and Canterbury set up a passing rush from its own line. A spectacular attack in which Ellis joined, saw Roberts clean away to score under the posts, Ellis, still in close attendance, the .only player of either team within 15 yards of him. Ballantyne goaled and the final scores were:—

Canterbury 24, West Coast 6. Referee: Mr C. R. McCallum.

OTAGO’S EASY WIN SOUTH CANTERBURY GAME CONCLUDES TOUR WEBBS ASSOCIATION TELEGRAM.) • TIMARU, September 9. Otago concluded Its Rugby tour with a runaway victory over South Canterbury to-day by 35 points to, 6. At no stage were the visitors troubled, throwing the ball about with delightful abandon. Superiority in the scrums gave the Otago backs, almost a monopoly of the ball, and with Ongley giving fine service, Trevathan had a field day. l He did almost as he liked, opening up attacks on both flanks and . occasionally going through on his own to gain big slices of territory. He was the plvot’mf the attack and on the day played an outstanding game. The other backs all went well, greater speed enabling them to hold the upper hand. Helper was outstanding in the Otago pack, proving a fine leader. The home forwards battled gamely, but lacked finish and this made all the difference. The home-backs;were not effective on attack, but. their defence was good, particularly that of T. •C. Morrison, who had "a' hard •day 'chasing the. speedy Otago .Wingers. His defence saved the home > side from being beaten by a larger margin. • For Otago tries were scored by Churchill (2), Trevathan, Campbell (2), and Helper. Silver, converted two and kicked a penalty,, and - Trevathan converted one. also kicking two fine field goals,, Murphy scored a try and . kicked a penalty for the • home team.; ' , , • ;

WELLINGTON’S DRAW WITH TARANAKI -SPECTACULAR PLAY IN ' SECOND HALF (PEBSS ASSOCIATION TELEGRAM.) WELLIHGTOH, September 9. Recovering well after being 12 points down at half-time. Wellington drew with Taranaki, 18-18, at Athletic Park to-day. The game failed to produce much highclass football, but in the second half was spectacular and exciting. The ground was in good order, and the afternoon fine. The attendance was approximately 12,000. In the first half, Taranaki had the advantage of a strong northerly. wind and made most of the play. Lambourn,. Wellington’s hooker, who has been so successful in representative football' this; season, was absent from the home pack, and Taranaki gained a majority of the ball from the scrums. The backs went well individually, but showed a lack of combination. Brown, the first fiveeighths, was inclined to lob his passes, and' neither Killeen nor J. Sullivan handled or passed well. Both scored spectacular tries, however, and were always conspicuous. Johns, the full-back, played an outstanding game, using the wind to good advantage In the first half and fielding and tackling excellently. Of the forwards, Coull and Benton were the best in the loose and Young was outstanding In the line-outs.

Wellington opened the scoring with a good try by Wright; but after that Taranaki gained the upper hand. Tries were scored by Killeen, J. Sullivan, and C. Sullivan. Johns converted one and Arnold kicked a field goal. The' second spell was the reverse, Wellington scoring IS points and Taranaki 3. Wright, Sherratt. and Wales scored tries and Thomas kicked two penalty goals. For Taranaki, Johns kicked a penalty goal.

MANAWATU BEATS WAIRAHAPA : (PRESS ASSOCIATION TELEGRAM.) PALMERSTON NORTH, September 10. .... Rugby on Saturday, Manawatu beat Walrarapa by 21 points to 3. • Walrarapa gave a poor exhibition. The game was scarcely up to representative standard.

ANOTHER WIN FOR SOUTHLAND

THRILLING FOOTBALL AT AUCKLAND CPBBS3 ASSOCIATION TELEGRAM.) AUCKLAND, September 9. The Southland representative Rugby team encountered its strongest opposition of the northern tour on Saturday, when the side just managed to take the honours, by 16 to 14, in. the last three minutes against Auckland at Eden Park. In the most thrilling game locally for many years, Auckland led until that stage, and, with the touring side down by 9 points to 0 at the interval, it looked as though the home team would prevail. Southland did not display anything like its true form. Half-way through the second spell Auckland had the advantage by 14 to 6. Southland decreased the margin to thtee points with seven minutes to go, and evened the scores four minutes later with a try. Wesney’s kick at goal failed, but an appeal was made lor another kick, as an Auckland player was lying down in the middle of the field instead of being behind the goalline. The second kick was successful and this gave the visitors the gome by two points. The ground was in perfect order and the overhead conditions were fine. The attendance was estimated at 17,000, the largest crowd at Eden Park this season. The individual brilliance of the Southland backs brought the spectators to their feet many times. In the second spell they were definitely superior to the Auckland backs on attack, but it is a tribute to the defence of all the home players that the visitors did not score more often.

With this factor in mind and on the general run of play, it is the opinion of capable critics that Auckland was unlucky to lose—a draw yould have been a better indication of the exchanges. In spite of losing its hooker, Sherrill, after 10 minutes’ play. Southland had the scrummage superiority in the first spell by 11 to eight; but Auckland raked 10 to six in the second half. The Southland threequarters. Sutherland, Wesney, and Mahony, were brilliant with their handling and elusive running. Saxton was a capable captain, and showed wonderful incisive ability, with a penchant for running hard and straight. The Auckland fullback, Hare, showed remarkable kicking powers in sending over a penalty kick at goal from a yard inside half-way. In another 45 yards attempt from near the side-line, the ball bounced back off the bar.

Tries for Southland were scored by Sutherland. Ward, and Grace:' Wesney converted two- and kicked a penalty goal. Moffitt and Pepper scored tries for Auckland, Hare converting one and kicking two penalty goals.