ANOTHER DEFEAT.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 212, 1 June 1908, Page 8

ANOTHER DEFEAT.

a - .- —: -' V BRITISH . FOOTBALLERS v. OTAG< n LOCAL MEN WIN BY 9 TO 0. o '. ■■. . . - - -. ,r PLAY SPOILED BY .WIND AND RAIN. if (by TELEGRAPH.—rr.EES ASSOCIATION.)' e 1 ■ : Dunedin, May 30. r . The match between'tho British team an 0 the Otago" 'representatives, played ,on th Carisbrook ground to-day, in tho presence o about 15,000 spectators, resulted in the visi tors being defeated by 9 points (two trie 3 and a penalty goal) to 6 points (one try am r a. penalty goal). In, the forenoon tho wea 1 ther was all .that coukl .be dcsiretl, and in ? dications'pointed, to ; delightful conditions fo: the. contest. At about 2 p;in., however . light rain set in, andycontinucd until a fov . minutes before the;.,J;eams took the, field ) when the rain increased. A' strong ant • bitterly cold wind'prevailed, making matter: j. •very'unpleasant .for "the and ren- . doring accurate passing almost out of the [ question, i The . wind blew almost straight across the ground, - but probably favoured Otago a littlo. THE TEAMS. The teams were as;follow: —' , , /BRITAIN. . Full back—Griffiths; ' Vassall,Ponty Jones, Chapman. . Halves—W. Morgan, Davey.- . Forwards—Dibble, ;> Oldham, E. Morgan, Jackson, Smith, Archer, Ritson, Dyke. :•;/ • ; ' OTAGO. -' ' Full back—Kindley. V' ThreerqUarters—Dwyer, Bennet, V O'Sullivan. '' ,-Five-eighths—Daiisoy, M'Leod. Half-back—Eckhold. ' j ' Forwards—Fitzpatrick, Ciisey, Paton, Pat-. tersoh, : Ivimey, ; M'Kenzie, M'Donald, Tansey. . . '.V,'i ] FIRBTSPELL. . The visitors won the toss, and Paton kicked off for Otago. 'For the : first few minutes play was in Otago twenty-five, but the home forwards, broke, away 1 and transferred' operations to-past half way, where Vassall made a gqod effort, and put Otago on'the defensive. Tho visitors essayed a passing rush ■in the home ,team's twenty-fivo, but the Otago tackling was sure, and Britain made no. headway. From';a kick, Gibbs sent the ball out at Otago twenty-five, and.just -afterwards a useful passing rush by Gibbs, Vassall,' Joncs, and. Chapman ended in. the; •lastnamed kicking towards the centre. A force 'down was-the only result,; however. Thishappened aboilt five niiniites' after the start, .but. Otago' then 'asserted themselves, arid forced the visitors baok to their twenty r fivo, where progress was checked by Jones finding .the line. 1 Immediately • afterwards Ritson ; put ill some clever .'footwork, taking'the ball to . iieutral.-t'erritoryj 'frqmi'.wiiich position Otago .again became aggressive,-. but- a free kick .to',the ,visiters'«nabled : Dyke to, remove the ree'ne of operations to the Otago end of the field. A'good kick arid fast following up by Chapman threatened danger for- Otago, but_ Kindley savid, aridplay then settled down in Otago twenty-five. Vassall got nicely, but was-well collared,: arid im- • mediately afterwards Otago. were .penalised, for obstruction by Paton; Dyke. potted , a fine goal from 'about twenty-five. • Britain ... ... 3 points. Otago ... .;. ... Nil. s

A littlo later the British forwards.assume ' mastery, and a strong rash ended in Arche soonng in - a" fairly good position. Dyk failed with the'kick. Britain „. ... ... 6 points. i Otago ... ... ... Nil. Offside play by Dyke gave the home teari a free kick] and play was transferred to thi visitors'- end.. A; similar award just after wards enabled Paton, whose line kicks weri of great;service to the home team, to sent tho ball out within a few yardi of the Brit _ish line. From another freo kick Paton hac a shot at goal, but the angle was too acute a force-down resulting. Otago maintain** a strong attack, and, after a.loose scramble jH'Donaki got over the line, but the bal .was taken back for' an infringement. Fron the ensuing scrum ; the Otago forwards toolcharge, arid Fitz'patrick scoried from a ioost rush. Patori failed with the kick. Britain ... ... 6 points. Otago ... 3 points. The home team again attacked with vigour, but a clever niark by W. .Morgan'relieved the visitors. . Gibbs and E. Morgan were mainly responsible" for transferring play to Otago twenty-five,, 1 but.' a penalty nulliified the advantage fori'the time being. Britain again became .aggressive, however, and the forwards got dangerously near the Otago line before,.being stopped. ..Play surged between - the. .O.tago':. twenty-five and half-way for.a..time, but'a. penalty against the visitors jgave Otago an advantage, and Britain had to force; Play was. on Otago sido of .half-way, at'half-time'.;' I , SECOND SPELL. !> From . the , kick-out. in the second spell Darisoy, with.v a. dodgy run, cut - through the opposition to past'the half-way flag, 'where he was stopped. .This''formed'.the most conspicuous feature of the back ..play, of' the day. Offside play by ; Jackson enabled Otago to push' the advanarid ■■play.' went to 'the' British twentyfivev..,PV§o..s?- J t: ., u P,. a . .warm attack, but the visitors', .kicking was, good, and frequently saved the situation. Gibbs effected a change to near half-way, but,'.from a scrum,-Tansoy kicked : well down the field and. collared Griffiths before he' could get. in his return. Tight work followed close to the British line, and Otago were appearing to; advantage in the scrums anil close work. Eckhold sent the. ball out to the .backs, but they showed a disinclination'to open out the play. Pressure was maintained for a while, until tho .visitors found relief in •; Britain gradually forced their way to Otago's twenty-five, and an attempt at passing was spoiled almost at the outset by Jones failing > accept a pass.- This allowed Otago, to break up th'e attack, arid tho local forwards, headed by Patterson, swept' down tho field into the British twenty-five, where Dyke in attempting to stop tho rush, bung' too long, with the result that a free kick, was awarded to Otago. Paton took f'tho kick, and landed a splendid'goal about eleven minutes after starting. Britain ... ... ... e points Otago ... ... e points. ,•. The visitors retaliated with a vigorous, forward.attack, but Otago cleared nicely. A lucky sorew-kick by Morgan nipped a local rush 1 in the bud, and. Britain retaliated in good. style, but Otago. cleared, and followed with a sweeping forward rush, which Jones stopped. A long kick' by Paton sent tho ball out in the British twenty-fivo, where, from'a line;but, Ivimoy broke away, and almost dived over the line with two or three Pritishera hanging on to him. Britain came away with a. powerful rush and invaded

t Otago's twenty-five, but Bonnet saved Otago effected a complete change, bearini down into the British' quarters, hut tho at ) 'tack was not equal to tho'defcnco. From ; line-out, Tansey kicked tho ball across thi lino. A race ensued, but ono of, tho English / men kicked tho ball into tho dead-ball area Otago still pressed, and play was carried close to tho British lino. From a serum, t-ln ball went out to Dwyer, who scored foi Otago amidst great excitement. Patoii 1 failed with -the kick. 3 Otago ... .g Britain ... ' ... 6 j Britain then infused renewed vigour into ] their play, but tho Otago forwards proved . too solid, and frequently turned the defonco . into ail attack. On ono occasion Britain • looked troublesome, but danger was over in ! a moment. A little later Vassall made a ' splondid opening, but faulty handling of tho ball upset the calculation. Warm pressuro l was maintained, but eventually Dyko was i penalised ■ for off-side play, and this enabled Otago to clear. The visiting, pack made two or throo more efforts to beat through the defence, but tho Otago forwards carried play in dashing style into tho visitors' quarters. With the ball in touch at Britain's twentyfive, the close of the game arrived, leaving Otago victorious, tho final scores being:— Otago • 9 ' Britain ... ... ... ... a Y SOME CONCLUSIONS. Tho existing conditions were not in favour of a.first-class exhibition of football, but nevertheless the display was, on the whole, disappointing. Tho game resolved itself principally into a battle between the forwards, the work of tho backs . consisting mainly of defence, with a little passing. At times at the outset it -looked as if the visitors were going to make things fairly'lively, but when the Otago forwards warmed up to their work the prospects were entirely changed. The British vanguard had the advantage of weight, and generally had the best of the scrums, being able to push Otago about easjly. In lino play also tho visitors had the advantage, but it was in loose dribbling rushes that Otago eclipsed their opponents. On several occasions, tho home forwards broke away splendidly, and their following up was so good that they often oollared the British backs before the latter ' could get their return in. The British forwards got away several .times, too, but their attack was not so deadly as that of Otago, and they did not keep so close to the ball as the local men did. Very little passing .was indulged,in,'tho ball seldom coming out of the scrum suitably. Efforts made in this department were not attended with much •success. . A good deal, of interest-was taken in Vassall's play, as this was his first appearance/ He got few chances to display his ability in attack, -but his defence was very sound. Smith was slightly 'injured in the second spell, but after a few' minutes' retirement lie' returned to'the fiold.' A large number of frebkicks'were given, the visitors being tho principal offenders. The British team will probably have to give a much better display next week, if they to hold:their own against New Zealand.

AN UNSATISFACTORY ARRANCEMENT. . (PY XKI.EGRAPH—ruESS ASSOCIATION.) /.. May 31/ J-here considerable dissatisfaction locally ! at the decision of tho manager of the British | footballers that tho personnel of the. team I will not bo published until the morning of each match. Tho games are of colonial importance, and the results -are being closely foltowed throughout tho .Dominion. ' It is' obvious' that without information as to: the strength of the • team 'the interest must 1 necessarily decrease. A selection made late on Fridays and Tuosdays would allow the information to be distributed by the medium of Wednesday and Saturday, mornings' journals. In 'any caso, a departure from the rule should bo insisted on by the Now Zealand Rugby Union ; for the-series,'.of test matches. THE FIRST TEST MATCH. The North Island members'' of the Now Zealand team which is to meet tho Britishers in the first tost match aro due by this evening's train, and will leave for Duncdin tonight, : ■ together with Roberts, Wallace, Thompson, and Wilson, tho Wellington quartette.' ;