RUGBY Last-Minute Try Gives University Win

Press, Volume CI, Issue 29799, 16 April 1962, Page 16

RUGBY Last-Minute Try Gives University Win

The near defeat of University, joint winner last year, was the feature of the senior Rugby competition which began on Saturday. Marist, after leading throughout, allowed University to score the winning try a minute before time for an 11-9 victory. It was not a spectacular match; the marking was too close, but it was a stirring one.

Christchurch had an easy win over Old Boys in a match which showed deficiencies in Old Boys' defence and Linwood had little trouble in beating a weak Sydenham •ide.

Shirley and Albion had close victories over Merivale end Suburbs, but New Brighton, which showed flashes of good form, was much too good for Belfast, winning 19-9. Scores were:

University 11, Marist 9 Christchurch 24, Old Boys 8 New Brighton 19, Belfast 9 Linwood 26, Sydenham 3 Shirley 8, Merivale 3 Albion 8. Suburbs 0 Forward Struggle In Main Game University 11: Q. T. Tapsell, R. C. Moreton tries; D. C. Leary a conversion, a penalty goat Marist 9: K. J. O’Shannessy a try; K. M. Doyle two penalty gosls. The spectators had full value for their money in this match which, in spite of mediocre back play, contained most of the elements of a championship final. The teams, each with its own reason tor shying at the thought of defeat, did not give full rem to the talent in attack with which both were endowed; but there was plenty of rousing forward play and ' some mighty tackling. To s'me extent University's tactics were decided, tor three parts of the game at least, by the close, vigorous attention of the Marist loose forwards, who made things very unpleasant for the University half-back, A. T. Calder, and the first fiveeighths. A. F. Orme. Calder, specially la the first half, received some severe tackles which often shot the ball into opposing sands. Marist, too. was given full attention by B. R Smither and W. Wakelin, the Univeriity flankers. Territoriully the game was slightly in Marist’s favour with University coming into its own only in the last 10 minutes. Doubtless in a mood or do-or-die desperation University threw in several assaults which nearly breached the defence. Marist, which held a lead of a point, put up a defensive wall so gallant that any uncommitted spectator must have been won to allegiance. But. alas, for Marist, the seventy-ninth minute spelled doom. A blind side movement by University was, for once, left uncovered and R. C. Moreton, second fiveeighths, scored the winning try in the corner It was a bitter blow for Marist, which had earned victory; but by the same token. University reaped its reward for fighting back so well ’* i } e s Jbe outcome seemed decided in its opponent's favour. A feature of the game was the superiority of the Marist forwards in the first spell. Lighter and smaller, they enmeshed their opponents by their vigour. But they failed to keep the game tight in the dying s,a J“ by . lowing the flankers and No 8 too much time from the scrum.

Moreton »ai Impressive for University, as was Q. Tapsell, outride him. In his only run’ £ usu£ a 7rri^ U - baCk - Was ' H S° ulter Z. the Marist halfrew from his experience lo,?Ms n riS“ ed affalra admirably _.U} tbe Marist forwards K. J 2v?^ 1 ne * Iy J le i by his vigorous T nrt nd ° Stopforth and »hi. cl s endry made life miserbacks f University’s Inside

werl 6 Uni '^T Sity forw ards were Smither, who was like a C M? h r T H Moynihan. Mr L. Hunt was referee. Wind Plays Big Part T. Mann tries; B. Richards conversion. MERIVALE, 3: L. McNaughton, try. _, A strong sou'-westerlv wind * b,g part in the fate ?/ T« atch '. Ic U l * flrst half it was Merivales ally and the team scored a good try and repute* all Shirley’s efforts to winrt playt '* into the wind in the second half. MeriX?. 1 ® “““S’ "? d the Shirley P ’2; rt ’ grcw n strer ?th and confidence until eventually the winning try was obtained Merivale appeared as the bet.e !n the «arly stages, but this Impression faded as the match progressed. Under the adroit leadership of the All Biack. D. Young. Shirley show®u determination and staying power, first to overhaul and then pass, Merivale's score. Young’s superbly fast striking tn the set scrums contributed to Shirley’s success, as did the activities of loose forwards. T Egerton, M. Nunan. and T. Mann. Mann was not far from the ball throughout the match, and it was he who scored the winning try, with a 20-yards dash from Jie end of a line-out through a disorganised defence. r,val ®econd five-eighths, £„ 'Shirley). and A. Ellis (Merivale), were the most prominent attacking backs. B. Richards (Shirley full-back) and L. McNaughton (Merivale first five-eighths) gave good support. McNaughton scored Merivale’s try after sound preliminary work by R. Watson and P. Andrews. Merivale was well served bv L Williams, a long-limbed fullback with an excellent pair of hands, and J. Boyd, a tall lock, who proved his worth in the rucks and line-outs. The referee was Mr F. B Campbell. Old Boys Well Beaten Christchurch 24: G J. Waterreus D. M EElaon, C. V. Multa«»y. M. J. Murtagh. B Watt tries; Waterreus a pen. «lty goal three conversions. "“J***? . try; 3. K. Henderson a penalty goal, a conversion. Old Boys did very well tn the «r S «A peli half-time score °- 11 Otratchureh's favour would suggest But who would have Visualised the extent of th*r collapse tn the second Sfxxl* . ' rere overwhelmed not only by the skill of their opponents but by their own fundamental errors, not the least of which was poor tackling.

The Old Boys backs had a fair share of the ball, but this did not give them any advantage. The only teal speed was on the wings and the lack of thrust told when the occasional gaps appeared in the Christchurch line. The Christchurch backs, on the other hand, always seemed fast enough to gain that extra yard and once this happened Old Boys were invariably in trouble.

Mainly through the efforts of W. M. McCallum and A. J. Leslie. Christchurch held an advantage in the line-outs and turned this to good account with some rousing breaks. The Old Boys forwards, appreciably younger and less experienced, were more tenacious than their backs in defence and deserved a better fate. They had a great deal of chasing to do in addition to their scrummaging and rucking and it was little wonder that they offered only a semblance of their early resistance at the end. The Christchurch first fiveeighths, B. A. Watt, was in lively form and he and Mullany. at centre, played havoc with the Old Boys defence. Also impressive was the left wing. W. M. Birtwistle, who last year was a member of the Auckland R-anfurly Shield squad. S. K. Henderson was at fullback for Old Boys a position he once filled for Canterbury a few years ago. He made a couple of incursions to the back-line and looked the best attacker. A. J. Aidresley, who played full-back last year, was the best of the Old Boys loose forwards. He tackled like a demon and. in general, gave a distinguished performance. Mr A. F. Gumsey was referee. New Brighton Superior NEW BRIGHTON, 19: J. Stanley, G. Muir, F. Bishop tries; W. J. Harris a penalty and 2 conversions; C. Smith a field goal. BELFAST, »: E. Williams, 3 penalties.

At Belfast on Saturday, New Brighton won in a game which showed some promising movements in the early stages, but which deteriorated into a series of desultory skirmishes. New Brighton, with a heavier, more cohesive pack, and a faster and better-disciplined back-line, was the better team, but was unable to produce consistent form. The New Brighton tries were all scored in the first 30 minutes. For the third try, the forwards, H. C. Burry and L Penrose, and the five-eighths, C. Smith, handled in a crisp movement before passing to F. Bishop at second five-eighths. Bishop changed direction infield, raced past a number of Belfast players, and scored under the posts. Belfast gave away a lot of weight in the forwards, and conceded a number of tight heads. In the line-outs, in spite of the superior height of their opponents, the Belfast forwards, with B. Rogers and G. Wells prominent, performed well. Time and again the young lock forward. E. Leask, gained possession in the line-outs, only to have Regers wrest the ball from him.

New Brighton was unlucky to Ipse the first five-eighths. T. Allen, early in the game, although the reorganised backline, with G. Muir going to centre, and G. Barrow replacing him on the wing, showed some attacking potential. Muir made some hard-running thrusts and his tty was a just reward. Burry played a useful roving number 8 role for New Brighton before having to leave at half-time. I. Penrose, a siderow forward, looked promising in all phases. He saved many times with beautiful catches and long touch-finders. J. Stanley, at half-back. played soundly. For Belfast, E. Williams was sound at full-back, and the first five-eighths, M. Aitken, showed good attacking ability. G. Wells, at number 8, was sound on defence. The referee was Mr A. V. Langford. Unspectacular Match ALBION 8; J. Newlove, K. Kidd, tries; A. Harrison a conversion. SUBURBS: 0. Although holding a territorial advantage for most of the game, Albion had to work hard to beat Suburbs 8-0 at Sunnyside. The match did not reach any great heights, and was marred by incessant kicking Both sets of five-eighths ran across the field and either hemmed in their outside backs or threw away possession by inaccurate kicking. The forward play was of a higher standard, however, with the heavier Albion pack holding a slight advantage in the tight. B Ramsay was fast off the side of the scrum for Albion and caught G. Roberts in possession several times. M. Grant lumped well in the line-outs, and played a fine game. His was an excellent try when he charged down a- clearing kick and dived across wide out. E. Hern and T Cowan worked hard for Suburbs. Albion was on attack for most of the first half and could have scored two or three times but for lack of finesse in the backline. Early In the second spell D Warren took the ball from a wild clearing kick in midfield, made 10 yards and handed on to J. Adams. The ball went out to J. Newlove. on the left wing, who stepped inside two men to score a fine try. A Harrison converted. A cold south-easterly sprung up and was an important factor for the rest of the match T Sykes found himself under pressure several tiroes, but came out with colours flying. The Suburbs centre threequarters. L. Cotterili. made a powerful break of 30 yards and could have scored had it not for the backing up of B. Cullane. V Sykes looked a threat the few times he ran straight. The Albion forwards fought back and dictated play for the remainder of the match. Mr L. S. Kirk was the referee. Seven Tries By Linwood Linwood 2d: G. H. Nicholson (21. D. Stephens (J). N. Stokes, A. Mansfield. G. McConchie tries. W F. McCormick. penalty goal and conversion. Sydenham 3: A. Howard, penalty goal. Linwood was immeasurably the better ride in this Lancaster Park South encounter, but gave limited evidence

its superiority. The exceptions were the last five minutes of the first half, in which the side made two dazzling movements —each of about 50 yards—for tries, and the last 10 minutes, when the team peppered the Sydenham line with sharp attacks and scored three more tries.

Compared with the sumptuous fare of these two short periods the rest of Linwood's offering was not very satisfying. Sydenham, slower of foot and hampered by injuries to its key backs, was able to hold its own while the Linw’ood men struggled to achieve cohesion. In the first half they made frequent use of their accomplished full-back, W. F. McCormick, to extricate the side from tight corners, and even after the team had established a half-time lead of 11 points to 3 ft was slow to develop the drive that seemed well within its capabilities. The manner in which some of the try-scoring movements were executed, however, suggested that Linwood will be once more a force to be reckoned with.

Sydenham presented a stout front, but the loss of first M. F. Whitta, and then D. L. Gallop, through injury, were serious set-backs. Gallop played well at full-back, and then filled Whitta's place at half-back creditably until he was injured m the second half. Linwood’s new captain, the representative forward R. S. Abel, was the dominant figure in the line-outs. R. Tabb, a perennial favourite with Linwood supporters, had no peer as a loose forward. In G. H. Nicholson the side has gained a good half-back; the former Canterbury sub-unions’ and Services’ representative passed erisply and accurately and showed speed in several smart runs. McCormick, as always, was the rock On which many an », op & os £ ion attack foundered. Mr F. Goodman was the ref-