RUGBY Auckland’s Best Of Season

Press, Volume C, Issue 29633, 2 October 1961, Page 15

RUGBY Auckland’s Best Of Season

tAew Zealand Press Association/ AUCKLAND, October 1. Saving its best performance until the last challenge of the season, the Auckland Rugbv Jeam beat North Auckland in the Ranfurlv Shield match at Eden Park vesterdav bv 26 points to 11. Auckland scored four goals from tries, and two penalty goals to North Auckland’s goal from a try, a try and a penalty goal, and in doing so probablv exceeded even the memorable performance against Waikato a fortnight ago.

This was Auckland's eghth successive shield win of the season and its thirteneth successive shield vic•ory since it recovered the trophy from North Auckland last season. Altogether Auckland has won 18 and •st one shield match since it won the trophy from Southland late in 1959 A crowd estimated at 42.000 —below the record of 48.000 set by the Waikato game—paid about £5OOO.

With superb teamwork and a high state of fitness among the side. Auckland s ored 13 points in a rousing display of skilled Rugby in the last 10 minutes. The win. and the methods which produced it. were more meritorious than in the victory over Waikato, for Northland was a strong team with fierce and furious forwards and efficient backs Early in the game it appeared that these forwards, helped by the shrewd tactics of L J Townsend, at half, back, and A J. M Bennett, first five-eighths, would upset Auckland. North Auckland stormed through the Auckland defence in the first 10 m nu'es. gained five -points and had Auckland sorelv bustled Auckland Recovers As has happened in earlier j games. Auckland recovered half-way through the secondi spell, but was still hard put! to pull up to 8-all at half. I time. Immediately after the l s'art of the second balf.l Auckland struck its best form. The backs made neat! little breaks and the for-! wards, especially the loose men. with W J Nathan the best, swept into a series of dynamic attacks.

Nathan scored a try which 1 was converted, and for the J rest of the game—apart from ! 1 a minute or so before the end —the swift. wide-ranging! Auckland forwards dominated the game. Nathan was in great form, better perhaps than V. Yates, the North Auckland All B ack number eight. But few men were better than W. J. Whineray. the prop w ho was so clever and strong with his running that this t "as bn> far his best game for ’ Auckland and on Eden Park J However, the whole pack j played superbly, especially 1 as they turned back the North Auckland assavl’sL early in the game and. half- ( wav through the second half. |f withstood another series of battering attacks from P Fj J-nes and his supporters i( Jones, in his last big!} match. played extremely 11 veil and although he wasjl s 'most knocked out jurtj 1 before ha'f-time he still was'( ’be most consistent and) l virile of the North Auckland 1 ti"ht forwards. , The injury to Jones was it one of several incidents ' ” hich marred the first ha’f North Auckland was early >->set by Nathan’s tackle of } Ttwnsend and Auckland was t ' milarly put out when L J Dean took to D M Connor } Unpleasantness There was some unpleas- j antness among the forwards ’ a’ter these tackles and the' | c max came when Jones. I threshing wildly as he was ( taken into a ruck, was lying ' on the ground after a melee i Half-time came soon after- } wards and Jones continued , " 'bout any difficulty i That the second half con- { tamed no such unpleasant- , ness was a tribute to the teams and to the voung O'ago ' referee. Mr C J. McAuley, who did extremely well in : hi« first major appointment ' Neither backline was able J to operate at full efficiency i The swift Auckland defence bamnered the North Au"klanders. aoart from a coup’* of sprightly breads by N Er'eg on the wing Auckland had rather more e'ean possession. but A H C'»rke and Connor were unable to strike their best fwm Connor was. as usual, in remarkable form wi’h his ! running and kicking Clarke, however, was so affected by n knock ’hat for a lona time h* suffered from double vision and missed several Passes. Won Toss Auckland won the toss and plaved against a firm' breeze and the sun in the first half L M C Cormack missed wi’h a Density goal. Norh Auckland struck back and Yates nearly crashed o-'er Then North Auckland heeled near tbe corner. Townsend sent across a high kick under the Auckland oosts and. as the d’fence was nonplussed. Benre” picked up and crashed over next to the rieh-hand post "Valters converted. Relieved Siege Auckland relieved tbe s.ege in the eighteenth minute when Walters made one of his few handling errors and immedia’ely Auckland through D W McKay and Whineray. made two brilliant burs.s to the goal-line Auckland hooked under the posts t>u- the bail was deflected .nd kicked among ’he North Auckland backs Noone seemed to know what to do until L W Fell dived between two men and scored ‘ Cormack converted, and. Walters immediately replied' with a penalty goal from 51 yards. Cormaek missed in

the twenty-seventh minute, but goaled in the thirty-third minute to make the score 8-8 at half-time. In the first movement of the second half Nathan suffered a hard crack on the head when he fell awkwardly. Three minutes later Walters missed the line. Connor began running from halfway, and Auckland swept into attack.

P. T Walsh sent P. F Little awav and when he cut back inside fell then Whineray joined in Whineray was held, but he flipped the ball to Nathan who scored close to the posts Cormack goaled but had bad luck when a well-aimed penalty kick was ruled out as a man was in front. However, he goaled again in the twenty-ninth minute and began 10 minutes of glorious football by Auckland. Little made a break and Na’han burst through to score by the posts Cormack converted Three minutes later Connor kicked high. Nathan. K E Barry and Whineray burst away and the latter scampered near the posts to make Cormack’s conversion easier. Auckland relaxed. North Auckland attacked and E B Dean scored from a line-out. bu’ Walters could not goal The teams were: North Auckland: M Walters: N Erceg. J Wright. R Yates: E. J. Thomason. A. J Bennett; L. J Townsend: V. M. Yates: K. Murphy. P F Jones tcaotainh E. B Dean. D Hewitt: M. Marinkovich. D. S Webb. L. J i Dean ! Auckland: M C. Cormack: D M McKay. P F Little. R R King: P T Walsh. A H Clarke: D M Connor; L W Fell: R H Graham <can'aint. B Thomas. K E Parry. W J. Na'han; W J Whmeray. F J. Collhurst. H L White.