BRILLIANT FORM

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30177, 8 July 1963, Page 14

BRILLIANT FORM

St Bede’s Win Convincingly

With a brilliant exhibition of the running and passing game. St. Bede's College convincingly beat Christ's College by 28-5 at St. Bede's College on Saturday. A superbly fit and well-drilled pack was the architect of St. Bede's victory. The teams were:—

St. Bede’s.— R. Urquhart. P Walsh. W. Sutherland. B Teen, F. Sevele. F. O'Donnell. C. Frank, M. Craddock. A Elgie. M. Giera, P. Duncan. S. Borkin. J. Ryan, C. McSherry, P Th waites. Christ’s College.—J Ward, P 8001. S. Blakely. D. Holderness. B. Lake, R. Bromley. R Miller. T Gudsell. S. Hunt, R Carmichael. B. Austin. D. Martin. P. Whittle. P. Shield. R. Wilson. The ground was in excellent order considering the rain that had fallen in the previous few days. A large crowd witnessed a tremendous battle in the first spell with both sides missing opportunities to score at vital moments Play ranged from one end of the field to the other with neither side really asserting any superiority. However, the second spell was all St Bede's, with its forwards playing inspired Rugby and giving their backs every opportunity to show their superior pace.

It would be difficult to single out any St. Bede's forward. An outstanding feature at its play was the quick rucking and the manner in which they hunted the ball together. The loose forwards were remarkably quick to the ball and often turned defence into attack by capitalising on its opponents’ mistakes. The St. Bede's backs handled and passed brilliantly, giving an object lesson to most senior teams.

Undoubtedly the star of the match was the St. Bede's left wing. Teen, .who scored four grand corner tries. His fast, determined running often brought the crowd to its feet and only some desperate tackling by Christ’s College fullback. Ward, stopped him from scoring on several other occasions.

Frank and O'Donnell combined well behind the scrum with the latter varying his play well. However, he was inclined to let his opposite run too far before lowering him Sevele made a number of slashing runs in the second spell and Urquhart did not put a foot wrong all day. He kicked some excellent goals and was very calm under pressure. Christ's College was never completely out of the picture and was unlucky not to score on several occasions. It was to its credit that it endeavoured to open up play at every opportunity. However, the backline moved very sluggishly and was often forced to run across field.

Bromley saved his side often and ran strongly. Ward got through a busy day with credit.

The Christ's College forwards never gave up trying although their fitness in the latter stages of the game was suspect. The big forwards did not find the heavy going to their liking Shields was an honest toiler in the tight and Gudsell excellent with a lot of good work in the loose. , Teen (4). Elgie and Sevele scored tries for St. Bede's, while Urquart kicked two conversions and two penalty goals. The Christ’s College points came from a try by Lake which was converted by Ward. The referee was Mr A. R Taylor.