CANTERBURY BEAT WEST COAST

Press, Volume LXXXVI, Issue 26220, 18 September 1950, Page 9

CANTERBURY BEAT WEST COAST

RUGBY FOOTBALL

Five-Point Margin bright and open PLAY Ip the return match between Can<wal U »t f , *’ d th . e West Coast . on the u. an F as . ter Park on Saturday, »nfJtii ghtest iootball seen in repre.hh games this Season was proto* 19 C £ terbur ? L ™ by 17 points eustv weather was fine but t an d the ground very hard. The fiEenT SmaU f ° r SUch good ,-„P oth i^ ts of backs showed a refreshing readiness to throw the ball about, and only splendid tackling by both pre X en fe? man Y tries from bescor j d ;, Tbe Canterbury forwards appeared the heavier, and held a decided advantage in set scrums, lineouts, and tight rucks. In all other departments of play, however, the West Coast set an example to the bigger and slower men. The West Coast forwards were always ready to join in passing rushes with their backs, and seldom did they drop a pass. Their backing-up was a feature of the game, 3I rU w 1 r + t ~ ckli * n £ orthodox and sure. .u West c ° ast backs, too, ran straight ana their passing was crisp. They always f ai . n . e . d ground. The work of R. Breeze, outside five-eighths, and E. Walker, centre, OPPOSE by T. Lynch and D. Reeves, showed both as players of class. nev « r “Mowed the strong-running Lynch any latitude, and his tackling was ♦ ad l y j w hen the Canterbury men attempted to break through. Walker, a Powerful centre three-quarters, always naa tne edge on Reeves, and more than once he had bad luck in his attempts to give his outside men a run to the goal !}£*• J - foWnson, at half-back, and M. _ five -eighths, made strong links with their outside men and were especially sound on defence. Interest was taken in the form of J. o-iilan, who has been selected as a wing-tnree-quarters for the South Island team Mn inst tl ? e North Island next Saturday. Gillan did not have many chances to show his scoring powers, for he was well marked by K. Davidson, who was playing his first representative game of the season. Davidson looked the better player, showing extreme speed and determination when going for the line. His sound tackling stopped Gillan’s progress. Gillan, however, is a solid type of wing threequarters but without the speed of Davidson. M. Stoep, the West Coast wing threequarters. and R. Smith (Canterbury), each had chances without being able to get past the very effective defence, and R. Stoop, substituting for the regular fullback, E. Lindbom. did most of his work m the manner of a veteran. Fast and Lively Forwards Nelson, playing- on the side of the west Coast scrum, showed himself master ? . , e P os ßion. His quick breaks sorely •u*i? he Canterbury half-back and fiveeighths, and he was ever ready to take the in-pass from his backs. A. McCone, playmg No. 8, was a very lively foiward who was often prominent in loose rushes wr r? ass L ng movements. A. Garforth and W. Hornby bore the brunt of the heavy scrums and line-outs.

The West Coast team attempted io play bright football, and this was appreciated iZ spectators. It was refreshing to see the West Coast players using the long nne-outs and tossing the ball to the middle of the field. It is an effective style of which is almost forgotten in CanterThe work of the Canterbury backs was patchy. Brilliant passing rushes were met oy resolute tackling, and on occasions a wild pass or bad handling robbed the side of scoring chances. Behind the scrum, P. Vincent sent out many long, accurate passes which were, taken on the run by p - Kearney, at first five-eighths. Occasionally, however. Vincent, who throws a ball farther than any other half-back in ( the province, seemed to sacrifice accuracy for length, and when this happened Kearney was caught off balance and the pass was dropped. This was not Kearney’s best effort. His cover defence, as usual, was invaluable, but at times he under-esti-mated the tackling qualities of the opposing five-eighths. Lynch was the polished footballer both on defence and attack, and his quick appreciation of an opening, and his welldirected passes, gave his outside men every chance. Like Kearney, Reeves at centre did many things well, and others did not carry the hall-mark of efficiency. All round, however, Reeves played a solid, serviceable game against fine tackling. Neither Smith nor Davidson, at wing three-quarters, saw as much of the ball as they would have liked, Davidson especially being neglected. Near the end of the game he made a great bid to score, starting at half-way, outpacing Gillan, and being tackled only feet short of the line. Smith was always looking for work, and several times upset the back-line when he raced up between Kearney and Lynch. He is not robust enough for a hard burst through the centre. Yet. at times Smith provided the fireworks with his nippy runs. K. Stuart, at full-back, played his usual game. His handling was above criticism, and much of his line-kicking long and true. Canterbury controls Scrums In the heavy scrums, rucks, and lineouts, the Canterbury forwards were very much at home and outclassed the lighter opposition. In the open fast work, however, they were slow compared with the West Coast, and only on occasions did they attempt to support a back movement. The brightest was R. Stuart. At times he relieved the half-back of the job of putting the ball in the scrums, at other times he was out in the threequarters line with varying success. On rare occasions G. Bond broke away with perfect control of the ball at toe, showing all his old-time dash. C. Hardie, on the side of the scrum, was often prominent. He scored one good try and the side should have been awarded a penalty try when Hardie was badly obstructed when about to score. Some of the other forwards were content to rest in the scrum and never came into the limelight. Following were the teams:— West Coast.—R. Stoop; J. Gillan, E. Walker, M. Stoop; R. Breeze, M. Thomas; J. Robertson; R. Thompson, R. Eastgate, A. McLean, G. Nelson, W. Hornby, A. Garforth, M. Herrick, A. McCone. Canterbury.—K. C. Stuart; K. Davidsoh, D. Reeves, R. Smith; T. W. Lynch, P. V. Kearney; P. B. Vincent; R. C. Stuart, D. H. Herman, R. H. Duff, G. N. Dalzell, C. Hardie, A. Couling, D. Young, J. G. Bond. Scoring Movements The West Coast opened the scoring when K. Stuart, at full-back, broke through brilliantly and sent infield a pass which was intercepted by Breeze, who streaked for the line. In a flash Walker ranged alongside to take the pass, which he sent on to McCone, who gave Nelson a try. No goal was kicked, and West Coast immediately returned to the attack. Walker went through with a great burst of speed until lowered by Kearney. With the West Coast forwards breaking quickly, dropped passes gave Walker two chances to break past Reeves. Gillan gained 40 yards with a line-kick, and a shot at goal by R. Stoop was well returned by Reeves. The scores were evened wh6n Reeves kicked a goal from a penalty near halfway. Reeves missed a much easier shot a few minutes later. M. Stoop scored a try when Walker made a good run after intercepting a pass, but Canterbury took the lead again when Bond, with a fine dribbling effort, took the ball over the line for Hardie to score a try. Kearney converted. At half-time Canterbury led by 8 points to 6. The Second Spell Soon after the start of play R. Stuart played a tackled ball and Thomas kicked an easy penalty which gave West Coast the lead, 9-8. The lead was held for only a short time, for at the end of a dribbling rush the bounce of the ball favoured Dalzell, who scored. For the West Coast Thomas missed with a penalty shot but R. Stoop made amends when he put over a kick from just inside half-way against the wind. With the West Coast holding a 12r*ll lead, play was fast and open. K. Stuart missed in an attempt to kick a field goal and with ground to work in Davidson made a great bid to score after a run from half-way. He was pulled down near the line, and when a West Coast forward offended by playing a tackled ball Kearney kicked a great goal from the side-line. After a loose dribbling rush to the Coast twenty-five the ball was kicked over the line and Davidson won the race.

Canterbury won by 17 points (a goal from a try, two tries, and two penalty goals) to 12 points (two tries and two penalty goals). Mr A. V. O’Brien was the referee.