FINAL GAME OF ALL BLACK TRIALS

Press, Volume LXXV, Issue 22830, 2 October 1939, Page 6

FINAL GAME OF ALL BLACK TRIALS

New Zealand Loses To H The Rest MANY PLAYERS SUFFER FROM STALENESS (FBESa ASSOCIATION TEI/EOHAMS.) WELLINGTON, October 1. The All Black Rugby trials were ended yesterday and produced one of the biggest upsets for years when an apparently strong New Zealand fifteen was beaten hands down by The Rest, the final score being 22-3. If the sole selector, Mr £. McKenzie, were asked at this stage to announce any certainties for the tour of South Africa, should it be made, his task would be no easy one. On paper the New Zealand fifteen looked vastly superior to The Rest. It was the general view that the team contained the pick of the available players out of those who attended the trials and were able to stay till their conclusion. It was naturally assumed that the team also reflected the sole selector’s opinion as to the cream of Rugby talent, and in spite of the fact that last-minute changes had to be made the team looked impressive. But it played without dash or inspiration, and the handsome margin in favour of The Rest was a very fair indication of the run of play.

The failure of the New Zealand fifteen could largely be attributed to the one obvious fact—the majority of the playerp were Rugby weary. This applied less to The Rest than those sorted out by the selector as his first fifteen. The former had everything to gain and little to lose. As a consequence they were vastly more enterprising. Some players took the opportunity with both hands and considerably enhanced their reputations, and others fell sadly from grace.' The teams were:— New Zealand J. M. Taylor (Wellington). A. G. Sutherland (Southland), J. L. Sullivan (Taranaki), D. Murray (Otago). K. Welch (Wanganui), M. P. Grace (Southland).E. W. Tindill (Wellington), captain. C. W. Williams (Canterbury) (back row), R, H. Ward . (Southland). R. R. McKenzie (Manawatu), D. B. Herron (Southland), A. W. Bowman (Hawke’s Bay). Walker (Taranaki), A. Lambourn (Wellington), R. R. Hull (Auckland). The Rest Johns (Taranaki). R. L. Roberts (Canterbury), A. W. Wesney (Southland), J. S. Cartwright (Canterbury. P. J. Reid (Hawke’s Bay), C. A. Crossman (King Country). J. J. McAullffe (Canterbury), captain. Wynyard (Waikato), W. H. Jolly (Otago). J. B. Coull (Taranaki), F. J. Cassidy (Wellington), W. H. Warrender (Waikato), N. J. McPhail (Canterbury), E. H. Catley (Waikato), J. M. Taylor (Waikato). Unquestionably’ the outstanding performer on the day was P. Reid, the Hawke’s Bay five-eighths, who. was a disappointment in the North-South match. Alert for the slightest chance, he was always up with play and showed a clean pair of heels to the New Zealand backs on several occasions. He and Crossman were superior on the run of play to.Grace and Welch. They figured in the majority of the scoring movements for The Rest. Grace at times showed thrust, but there was a general lack of smoothness in the passing movements of the New, Zealand backs. Sullivan tried earnestly to sharpen up the attack, but even his efforts failed to achieve much. Wesney watched him like a hawk. In fact this pair repeated their keen duel of the North-South match with the honours slightly in favour of Sullivan because of his greater versatility, but Wesney served his team usefully by accurate goal-kicking. Neither was able to make much play for his wingers. As a result there was little of the sparkling dash- and finish that characterised many rusheasin the North-South game. None of the wing three-quarters, least of all Sutherland, was able to shine. Both full-backs, Taylor and ■ Johns—the latter making his first appearance at the trials—were the essence of soundness..Taylor figured in all the trials and - was clearly best of the full-backs. Johns took the .opportunity afforded him yesterday to show that he will be a strong candidate for All Black honours in the hear future.Display By Forwards The ‘ New Zealand forwards had a marked advantage in weight, but they did little to prove it. Ward and Williams were the'soundest, and Rhind thoroughly merited His inclusion, but the forwards Who captured the imagination most were mainly in The Rest pack. Wynyard, the tall Waikato" AH Black, who also was making his first appearance at the trials, did not bear the jaded appearance of some of the players, and gave one of his best displays, particularly in the line-outs. He was constantly on the ball and figured in several scoring movements. Cassidy (Wellington) and Warrender (Waikato) were another pair who caught the eye. Warrender was over-eager in the first spell and was frequently penalised for being offside, but he Improved in the second spell. ’ Cassidy was in practically everything. He produced one of the gems of the match, a glorious "dummy,” which completely fooled Taylor and nearly led to a try. Duel Between Hookers ' Interest centred in the hooking duel between Lambourn and Catley. It ended slightly in favour of Lambourn, but the teat was not satisfactory. The scrummaging was for the greater part very poor. Rarely were the scrums parallel to the touch-line. ~ The referee made spasmodic efforts to straighten them up, but generally allowed the ball to be put in while there was continual screwing, and then penalised the halves for not putting the ball in straight. Under these circumstances there was little to admire about the scrummaging. . Earlier Match The early trial game was mainly responsible for providing A. G. Hunter, the speedy Canterbury centre, with the opportunity of showing his class. Not available for the earlier trials, he seized his.opportunity yesterday with avidity and was the best centre Of the day; Admittedly he found the opposition not quite up to the mark. In one spell he was opposed by Gibson, the North Auckland five-eighths, who was obviously not at home, and in the second spell by Easton (North Otago), who had been moved up from full-back to centre. Hunter beat both with speed, clever footwork, and a solid fend, and left no doubt about’ hla potentialities. The early game was between teams captained by McKenzie (Ashburton) and Moss (Hawke’s Bay). It provided high scoring and an exciting finish, the final tally being 29-all. Hunter secured three tries,' on each occasion badly beating the defence. In the main game there was little incident In the first spell, which finished 6-3 in favour of The Rest. The second spell was just a canter for The Rest. Reid (2) and wynyard (2) scored tries for The Rest. Wesney and McAullffe each ’ converted a try and each kicked a penalty goal. For New Zealand Taylor kicked a penalty goal, WELLINGTON BEATS WANGANUI WANGANUI. September 30. The Wellington Rugby team overwhelmed the Wanganui representatives in the last match of the season, played at Wanganui on Saturday, the final score being 35 to 13. The winning team backed up well and Wanganui did hardly any tackling. There was a very small crowd, as seven of the home team had had to drop out, four because of the All Black trials in Wellington. Tries were scored for Wellingtdn by Knowles (2), Wales (3), G, Burns, and Kenny Baldwin converted five tries and Dance kicked a field goal. For Wanganui. MCPlke scored three tries and F. Thompson converted two. SEASON CLOSES IN AUCKLAND AUCKLAND, October 1. 'Saturday’s matches marked the end of the Rugby and League seasons. There is still one more Saturday's’ play in the Association code. The annual Rugby match between Auckland and Barbarians resulted in a comfortable .win for the Barbarians by 23-5. Tries for the Barbarians were scored by Fraser, Hadley (2), Hedge, and Armltage, Bush converting four. Moffitt scored a try for Auckland. Passmore converted. ' ■ _ Association results were:—Ponsonby 5, Abels 2. Ponsonby wins the champlon- - results werePakehas 15, Maoris 12. y .

CANTERBURY’S BIG SCORE Ashburton Beaten 40 —9 LAST GAME OF SEASON Canterbury’s Rugby season closed on Saturday when the representative side beat Ashburton by 40 points to 9 in an enterprising but not very scientific exhibition on the Lancaster Park oval. Both sides were below full strength, injuries and the claims of All Black trials keeping many players out'of the game. This, of course. Imposed much greater hardship on Ashburton than on Canterbury, where there is a .wider field of players to draw Upon. It was almost summer weather and dust rose from the dry and hard oval wherever the players scrimmaged. A light easterly wind aid not affect play. ' An innovation was an exhibition of soft-ball, an adaptation of the American national game of baseball, which Is fast growing in popularity, as a curtain-raiser to the Rugby match. Leading Canterbury players took part, as it was a trial match for. the selection of the provincial side \vhlch is to meet a champion Wellington club team shortly. The small attendance Of spectators found the exhibition of more than ordinary Interest. Plucky Losers The changes in the Ashburton side had left it scarcely strong enough, to meet a Canterbury representative side on even terms, but although outclassed In most phases of the game it fought pluckliy. Most of Canterbury’s scores had to be earned by good attacking movements; there were few ’’gifts.’’. And the Ashburton forwards were always ready to fight back with vigorous -loose drives. Late in the second half the inside backs, too, “came out of their shell." producing attacks which led to two- good tries. In these movements D. White, a very competent half-back, and A. Kelly and C. Bradley, the. five-eighths, showed excellent form. J. Dolg, at centre, defended very iwell indeed, notwithstanding an injured hand. The wings, S. Duncan and K. Cornelius, had few opportunities, but made good runs. L. Vessey made few mistakes and several good saves at full-back. R. Lloyd, W. Moore, and A. Doig were the leaders of Ashburton's loose forward attacks, and T. Lister and J. Cretney were generally up with them. Cretney, 1. Hart, G. Bowden, and D. Brooker were honest workers in the tight. Lloyd and Moore gave their backs much-needed assistance in defence. Ellis Shows How It says much for Ashburton’s defence that few of the Canterbury scores came from orthodox passing rushes. Most of the penetrative movements were opened up by opportunist bursts from loose play. Here the Ashburton defence was found wanting; the players were seldom quick enough to see the danger and get back to check the movements. Early Canterbury passing tended too much to go across the field, and it was not until A. L. Ellis, the full-back, unexpectedly came Into a passing rush and opened up a gap In the centre that there was any incisive running at all. This move led to a good try and It encouraged the Canterbury backs to more enterprising efforts subsequently. W. F. Clark and F. Allen were a good inside combination, and H. M. Kimberley, the young University five-eighths, playing in his first representative game, thoroughly justified his inclusion. Another new man. J. Masters, the centre, started uncertainly, but played well later on. Strong running earned B. Mahoney, the left wing, four tries, and R. Empson, on the other wing, also did some good work after a poor start. In. the forwards D. Hayles and T. C. Knowles played solid all-round games, and G. T. J. Wilson and N. Stow were little behind them. J. Rainey, dribbling well and showing surprising speed in the loose, played one of his best games. J. G. Rankin, excellent In line-out and loose, N. Milliken and N. Mason were also lively in all the open work. The teams were:— Canterbury—Backs: A. L. Ellis; R. Empson. J. R. Masters. B. Mahoney; H. M. Kimberley, F. Allen; W. F. Clark. Forwards: J. G. Rankin; N. Mnsqn. T. C. Knowles, D. Hayles,. N Milliken; N. Stow, G. T. J. Wilson. J. Rainey. Ashburton—Backs; L. Vessey: S. Duncan, J. Doig. K. Cornelius: C. Bradley, A. Kelly; D. White. Forwards: A. Doig; W. Moore. J. Cretney, I. Hart, R. Lloyd, D. Brooker, G. Bowden, T. Lister. Ashburton Attacks Early Ashburton klcke’d off from the south end and for a time vigorous forward work kept Canterbury right on its own line. Stow, Knowles, and Milliken led a rush to the other end and after Rainey had kicked through, Empson charged down Vessey’s clearing kick, picked up, and scored at the corner. Ellis missed the kick, Canterbury 3, Ashburton ,0. Canterbury’s next score came on the opposite wing, Mahoney scoring a determined try from a blind-side movement. Canterbury 6, Ashburton 0. *A slashing Ashburton attack followed Moore, Kelly, and Cretney taking the ball to the line. Ellis solidly bumped Cornelius into the corner flag. Canterbury hooked the ball from a scrum on its own line and suddenly Ellis flashed into the attack. He shot through the middle at a great • pace, and transferred to Masters. The latter was tackled, but Mahoney kicked on and gathered in to score under the posts. Allen converting. Canterbury 11. Ashburton 0. In the middle of an Ashburton attack Mahoney intercepted, drew Vessey. and sent Rankin on for a try after a run of 70 yards. Allen goaled. A weak clearing kick let Mahoney in for another easy try. Allen converted from the side-lihe. Halftime scores were:— Canterbury 21, “Ashburton 0. Soon after the resumption an Ashtiutton back foolishly handled after a tackle right under his own posts. Allen goaled easily. The Canterbury forwards, with Knowles, Mason, Rankin, and Stow handling like backs, made a rush of 50 yards and Alien sent out to Mahoney, who scored. Allen goaling, Canterbury 29. Ashburton 0. Ashburton refused to be disheartened and after a good forward attack the team was rewarded with a penalty. Bradley goaled. Canterbury 29, Ashburton 3. A long deep pass from Clark to Kimberley gave Canterbury an, easy’opening, Masters scoring for Allen to goal. Canterbury 34. Ashburton 3. - A dashing run by A. Doig nearly brought a score, an Ashburton forward just falling short in his dive for a line. J. Doig nurrowly missed with a pot at goal. Canterbury came back and Kimberley made a fine cut-through for Masters to score. Allen just missed from wide out. Canterbury 37. Ashburton 3. / White made some good runs and at last Kelly and: Bradley linked-up with! him