ANNUAL COLLEGE TOURNAMENT

Press, Volume LXXXIV, Issue 25580, 23 August 1948, Page 5

ANNUAL COLLEGE TOURNAMENT

gjGBY FOOTBALE

KELSON AND CHRIST’S WIN CONCLUDING games TO-DAY •telson College and Christ’s College, JTich met in the final last year, had Ltfriortable wins on the first day of the .nnual college Rugby football tournament *tr d at Christ's College on Satur□r T Nelson College beat Wellington ColSi; 25-3, and Christ’s College beat Wallanui Collegiate School, 16-6. To-day, Wellington College will meet Wanganui Collegiate School at 1.30 p.m., and Nelson College will play Christ’s College at 3 p.m. in the final. Christ's v. Wanganui play was uninspiring for most of the spell in the game between Christ’s niilege and Wanganui Collegiate School, z£ich was played first. The Christ’s College forwards were heavier and won the Sj from most of the scrums and lineouts, but stout tackling by the Wanganui inside backs, who stood right up on the defence, thwarted attempts by the Christ’s College backs to open up play. J. D. smith, Christ’s College second five-eighths, consistently ran into smother tackles by his opposite number, D. D. McPhail, and the men outside him were starved of opportunity. K. P. R- Grant, first fiveeghths for Christ's, realised during the spell that orthodox passing was unprofitable and resorted to angle-kicking in an endeavour to feed the three-quarter line. One of his kicks was a particularly well judged one and M. M. Andrews, wing-three-quarters, made the most of the opportunity presented by it. He gathered in at top inside the Wanganui 25 yards line and dived through the full-back’s tackle to score in the corner. These were the only points scored in the first spell. Early in the second spell Christ’s College began to throw the ball about to better effect than before and quickly added 13 more points. Andrews scored another good try in the comer, after D. y. Rantin and T. Couzens had started a passing rush from a scrum near the Wanganui line. Andrews converted his own try with a great kick. This was followed by a thrilling blind-side burst by B. A. Fraser and Andrews, which started on the Wanganui 25 yards line and finished with Fraser scoring after Andrews had drawn the full-back. Andrews converted. Shortly afterwards Smith at last broke clear snd showed speed to run round the fullback and score. Wanganui attacked over the last 15 minutes and D. D. McPhail kicked a penalty goal and potted a neat field goal. The Wanganui forwards had a distinct disadvantage in weight but fought back throughout the match. The best of them were Williams, Skelton, Wylie, and Cpok. 0. A. Hutchinson, Christ’s College captain, led the pack in grand style and was well supported by Rankin, H. C. Burry, and Couzens. Andrews was the outstanding back on the field. Both the half-backs were harassed by breaking forwards and Fraser was slow getting his passes away. I. M. Clayton sent out good passes but the Wanganui attacks invariably drifted across field. The referee was Mr D. F. Johnson. NELSON v. WELLINGTON

Both Nelson and Wellington set out early to play bright, open football, and the match was decided by the superiority of the Nelson College inside backs. I. B. Leggatt and H. P. Houghton (first and second five-eighths) combined effectively and both were quick to notice openings. Spence' used his speed at centre-three-auarters to score three good tries after le inside men had made openings. J. I. Parker threw good passes from the scrum and when no opening offered the ball travelled quickly and surely to the wingthreequarters, N. A. Sharpe and B. R. Coleman, both of whom were fast and reliable. At full-back F. F. Webber was safe and his line-kicking gained long stretches of ground. The Wellington backline lacked thrust until R. T. McKenzie came on in place of P. G. Riddell during the second spell. Playing at first five-eighths he made two good openings and was unlucky on one occasion not to score a try. K. J. Hutley made several penetrating runs on the blind side but he lacked support. His passing was erratic at times. N. R. White at full-back handled confidently and kicked accurately. The forwards were evenly matched. D. _B. G. McLean .was the outstanding Nelson forward; in both line-outs and scrum work, and he was well supported by W. B. Hawke, W. H. Clark, and N. M. Henderson. Wellington tried a new method of getting the ball in the line-outs which was quite successful when a Wellington man was throwing the ball in. B. L. F. Jordon would be hoisted into the air by the player behind him and was able to take the ball above the reach of the other forwards. P. Ryder and S. P. Smith also played well in the Wellington College pack.

Nelson attacked from the kick-off and scored the first points when Webber kicked a penalty goal from in front. Spence scored his first try shortly afterwards, when Houghton broke through-the defencb. Webber’s kick did not rise/Nelson’s lead was further increased by a try scored by Clark after the forwards had dribbled through from a lineout, and at half-time the score was 9-0.

In the second spell the Nelson backs dominated play and gave a polished display of attacking football. Tries were scored for Nelson in this spell by Sharpe, Spence (2), and Hawke. Two of them were converted by Webber. McKenzie infused life into the Wellington attack when he came on late in the second spell and nearly scored when he made a 50 yard thrust down the centre of the field. Wellington’s only points came from a penalty goal kicked by Hartley. The referee was Mr W. J. Brown.