RUGBY Combined Team Bustles Lions In Close Game

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28930, 25 June 1959, Page 19

RUGBY Combined Team Bustles Lions In Close Game

(New Zealand Press Association) GISBORNE, June 24. The Lions left Rugby Park, Gisborne, this afternoon a much wiser bunch of footballers. They had beaten the combined Poverty Bay-East Coast side by 23 points to 14, but they had to work hard for every point and in the second half the tourists were hard pushed to hold the combined side. The match, played in fine, but cold weather, was watched by a crowd of about 15,000. The combined team rose to the occasion magnificently and with a little more luck it could have turned away the Lions’ winning nine-point margin into defeat.

The Lions led 17-3 at half-time, but from then on the honours went to the tigerish pack and hard tackling backs of the combined team. The 11 points the combined team scored in the second half and the six the Lions scored indicated the trend of play in the later stages of the match.

The Lions scored a converted try, four tries and tw’o goals from penalties to a converted try, two tries and a penalty goal scored by the combined team.

Unlike their opening match at Napier last Saturday, the Lions today were confronted with solid defence and by a team that could —and did—fight back. There was little of the dazzling spectacle of Saturday’s match today, but there was a great deal more hard Rugby. One of the features of the match was the marking by the Combined team’s backs. The British backs did not work nearly as smoothly as at Napier, and the way the Combined side’s backs were aole to stop and break up many movements must bring fresh hope to the teams the Lions are to meet later in the tour.

The Lions forwards did not show much initiative and hardly varied their basic play throughout the match. In the lineouts, the ball was continually tapped back. It was never put on the ground and driven through. The Combined side’s forwards coached for the last few days by the former All Black lock, R. A. White was always trying something new and their enterprise caused the tourists many anxious moments. The Lions won more than a fair share of the ball—it seemed as if the Combined team was giving it to them very often so as to hammer the inside backs—but the backs were able to do little with it.

The teams were:— British Isles.—T. E. Davies; A. J. F. O’Reilly, M. J. Price, G. H. Waddell, M. C. Thomas; M. A. F. English: A. A. Mulligan; A. Ashcroft, N. A. A. Murphy, R. H. Williams, R. W. D. Marques, J. Faull, H. F. McLeod, A. R. Dawson, S. Millar.

Combined.—K. Karaka; B. Johnson, B. Watson, T. Reedy; D. Hooper, S. Rutene; T. Taare; W. Atkins, L. Karaka, J. Paea, T. Tamati, C. Rickard, R. Green, W. Henderson, A. G. E. Rowlands. Mulligan Shows Form The replacement half-back, Mulligan. who had his first run in New Zealand only 24 hours before the match, looked a class player. His service was impeccable, and he looked dangerous each time he decided to run with the ball. His understanding with the stand-off half, English, was not good. However, much of the blame for the; lack of sparkle in the back line, could be attributed to English, who| was having his first match since the! floodlit fixture against Queensland | more than three weeks ago. The Scottish utility back, Waddell, playing outside English, was also below form. He kicked too much and the ball went along the back line only once during the entire match. Most of the thrust was left to the other centre, Price, who turned on another fine performance. He scored two tries and let right winger Thomas in for another. O’Reilly was also in good form. This was his first match in New Zealand, and he scored two good tries in the second half.

The full-back, Davies, stood up to the Combined forwards like a rock. He does not have the attacking brilliance of Scotland, but he is very solid on defence. The Lions’ forwards were guilty of much obstruction—so were the Combined side’s forwards, but not to the same degree. The Combined pack gave the tourists the toughest opposition they have encountered so far, including the two Australian test packs. Dawson hooked extremely well, and Williams, Marques, and Ashcroft won most of the line-outs.

The Combined team’s locks, Paea and Tamati, and the prop. Rowlands, also did well In the line-outs. Tamati and McLeod had a couple of “tiffs” during the match, but they were soon over.

The most alert of the Combined team’s forwards—although he was a ’’seagull” in the grand manner—was the flanker, L. Karaka, who scored one of his team’s tries. Another try was not scored, however, because Karaka would not pass when he was only a few yards from.the line. Karaka’s constant attention caused English to dither. Atkins also played a marauding game among the inside backs. Of the Combined team's backs Rutene and Hooper were the best with the two wingers, Johnson and Reedy, not far away. Rutene. a New Zealand Maori trialist, and Hooper combined very well. One of Reedy’s two tries came from a welljudged kick to his corner by Hooper. The Scoring

The scoring opened early with Davies kicking a penalty lor the Lions in the first minute of the match. In the sixth minute, K. Karaka had a shot from a penalty, blit missed, and two minutes later Price scored a try for the Lions. Price was too fast for the opposition and streaked away from everyone for a fine try after he had kicked over the full-back’s head and re-gathered the ball Davies missed the conversion. In the 15th minute Davies kicked a second penalty goal. Price scored again two minutes later, after he had once more passed through an inches-wide gap, kicked ahead, and then crammed on the pace. Davies missed the kick. After 25 minutes Davies converted a try by Thomas which Price had made with another of his well-judged efforts. The Combined team then opened its account with a try by Reedy, following a kick to his corner by Hooper. K Karaka missed the conversion.

O’Reilly scored early in the second half with a typical burst to the corner. Davies again missed the kick. Then Rutene kicked a penalty goal. O’Reilly scored again within minutes. This time he came in as an extra centre and he scored in the righthand corner. Davies missed the kick.

After that the Lions were engaged almost entirely on defence as the Combined team mounted attack after attack on the British line. But it was not until the 15th minute of the second half that the line cracked. Reedy got away to score a determined try m the left-hand corner. Rutene missed the kick.

The last scoring movement of the day followed not long afterwards when L. Karaka scored and his brother, K. Karaka, converted. The Combined team forced a line-out a yard from the British line. Thomas threw in a long one to English, but Karaka intercepted and scored. The final score was: British Isles 23 Poverty Bay-East Coast 14 Mr A. L. P. Fleury (Otago) was the referee.