RUGBY FOOTBALL

Press, Volume LXXXI, Issue 24632, 31 July 1945, Page 2

RUGBY FOOTBALL

SECONDARY SCHOOLS’ GAME CHRIST’S COLLEGE 28, OTAGO HIGH SCHOOL 11 Christ’s College beat Otago Boys’ High School by 28 points to 11 In the annual match, played on the Christs College ground yesterday. There were few dull moments and the game was played at ■ a fast pace from start to finish. Christ’s College, the heavier team, had a distinct advantage in the line-outs, and in the second spell especially the forwards won the set scrums. Full advantage was not always taken of the opportunities presented, and many dropped pasajs pulled up moverpents that promised more points. Strong running by the Christ’s College wing three-quarters was met by weak tackling, and several of the inside b a cks a^so showed a weakness in the . High School defence. Gudgeon, who Injured his nose early in the season, and who still wears a guard, is a speedy wing three-quarters, and yesterday he used his speed and his full weight when an opportunity presented Itself. Botting. the other,wing, did not handle so well as Gudgeon, but early In the game he showed a fine turn of speed when scoring a try. Douglas, behind the Christ’s College scrum, had every chance to show his ability; but perhaps the best feature of his play was his back-ing-up when either forwards or backs broke away. He appeared to be always in the picture, and proved very hard to bring down. Jagger dropped some passes, all of which were not easy to take, and he was overshadowed by the second five-eighths. Biggs- who .cut in smartly several times. Generally the Christ’s • College backs had more opportunities and much greater speed than their opponents. . , The Christ’s College forwards in • ilneouts and scrums always had an advantage over their shorter and lighter opponents, and Barnett, a light, tigerish forward, was probably the best on the ground. He was tireless in his follbvv-ing-up, and was always handy When the warmest work was to be done. He was rewarded for his keenness by a try uhder the posts. Gorton apd Pinckney were two other good light forwards, and R. D. and A. H. Gould used their height in the line-out. Outpaced, and at times outclassed, the Otago Boys’ High School backs stood up to an afternoon of solid work, and came through with credit. The half-back,' L. S. Duncan, played a cool, heady game—his defence was. sound; and he sent ’ the ball away smartly from the scrum to Roy. a clever inside five-eighths, who made openings -and at times attempted without much success to cut through the College backs. There was a weakness in the tackling of the centre backs that made the opposition look better than it really was. Williamson and Mitchell did not have the speed to deal effectively with the opposing wings, Gudgeon and Botting, although both Improved in their play in the second spell. The best forward was the captain, B. M. Duncan, who, besides doing more than 'his share In scrurh and line-out, was often prominent for his starting of passing rushes and aiding the backs in defence. B. M. Smith, until he was injured, ■ was playing well and Aitken and Paterson did consistently good work. Following were the teams;— Christ’s College,—G. G. Coull; R. W. Gudgeon. P. D. Fox. A. M. Botting; J. M. Elggs, B. R. Jagger: J. M. S. Douglas (captain); P. W. Pinckney. R. B. Allison, S. H. Moody. R. F. Gorton, R. D. Gould, A. H. Gould, R. Barnett, D. G. Crawford. Otago Boys’ High School. —K. ,G. Duhcan; A, Mitchell, C. G. Graham, N. A. Williamson: A. G. Sanders, R. V. Roy; L. S. Duncan; B. M Duncan (captain), B. M. Smith. R. C. Tait, A. J. Paterson, A. J. Duke, R. M. Smith, N. Y.Wgles, T. N. A. Aitken. A. C. Flamank replaced R. M. Smith during the first spell. Scoring Movements Christ’s College opened the scoring when Botting went over for a try after Gudgeon had started a passing rush In which all the inside backs took a hand. Botting showed a fine burst of speed. Barnett, who followed up his own kick, tackled the Otago full-back in possession, and Otago was penalised for holding on, Pinckney kicked a goal. Soon after the kickoff Christ’s College was penalised for a scrum infringment and B. M. Duncan kicked a goal. Biggs broke through for Christ's College and passed to Douglas who after a good run, sent back to Biggs, who scored. Gudgeon broke through weak tackling, and from a penalty against Otago for a scrum infringement, Pinckney kicked a goal and made the. score: Christ’s College 12, Otago Boys' High School 3. Smith (Otago), who had been Injured, was replaced by Flamank. Otago secured from a scrum and the ball went to the wing-three-quarters, Williamson, and in again to Paterson.' who scored. With a fine kick B. M. Duncan converted. Barnett, for Christ’s College, made a fine run. but was not supported and B. M. Duncan and Roy set up a hot attack which Gudgeon and Douglas repulsed. The College backs made several good passing rushes and from a scrum on the line Douglas scored. Pinckney converted. Halftime: Christ’s College 17, Otago Boys’ High School 8 t The opening of the second spell was marked by a grand passing rush started by the Otago forwards and carried on by the backs. Mitchell, after a determined dash, scored in the corner. In a passing rush by the College backs, Gudgeon went over at the corner, but lost the ball, Fox was handy, and scored, giving College a lead of 20 points to 11. The next incident was a shot at goal from a penalty by Pinckney. The ball went under jhe bar. Otago neglected to force, and Barnett scored. Pinckney converted. In the later stages Biggs raced through the defence, and from a ruck, Douglas secured and scored a try. Christ’s College won by 28 points (two goals from tries, four tries, and two penalty goals) to 11 points (a goal from a try, a try. and » penalty goal). Mr W. J. Brown was referee. AUCKLAND NOMINATIONS FOR NORTH ISLAND TEAM (P.A.) AUCKLAND, July 30. The following players have been nominated by Mr F. W. Lucas, sole selector to the Auckland Rugby Union, for places in the North Island team to play the’ South Island at Auckland on August 25: Full-back: R. Sorenson. Three-quar-ters: J. Dunn. Five-eighths; L. S. Rae, D. Barcherd. Half-back: P. Tetzlaff. Forwards; A. Johnson, B. Waldegrave (front row). M. McHugh (leek), J. Gunning (side-row), D. Christian (back row).