ROYAL RUGBY

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 191, 8 May 1920, Page 7

ROYAL RUGBY

I , N.Z.E.F. V. WELLINGTON 'HOME SIDE BADLY BEATEN, Glorious weather favoured the Rugby 1 football match between the New Zealand Service team and-the 1019.Wellington representatives, which was played at the Athletic Park yesterday afternoon in the presence of His Royal Highness the Trince of Wales and some 10,0<10 spec- | tutors. Owing, to. his having another enI sagement. at: Petone, the Prince was unable to stay for more than twenty lninI ntes, hut in that time he saw some interesting football, and it' was manifest that he was evincing a keen interest in the matcii. His Ro.val Highness was accompanied'by Rear-Admiral Sir Lionel Halsey. Others present were the Prime Minister (flight Hon. W. P. Masse;,), Mrs. Massey, and Miss Massey, the Hon. ,T. G. Coates (Minister of Public Works), the Mayor (Mr. J. P. Luke, C.M.G., M.P.) and Mrs. Luke, and . several oflieeis of H.M.S. Renown. The band of the Renown, was in attendance, ami played several selections during the interval, for which they were loudly encored As His Royal Highness drove on to ton ground at" 2.15 o'clock, he was enthusiastically chcercd, and before the game commenced he circled the park in his car, being greeted with roars of cheers n.i he drove round. Prior to talcing iiis neat ; in the Royal .enclosure, the Prince was presented with a' souvenir programme by Master Jack Griffiths, sou of Mr. A. J. Griffith's, a member of the Management Committee of the Wellington Rugby Union. .... Service Team's Good Forwards.The match was not the best exhibition ■I'f .the game that has been seen on the .Athletic Park, but it. was not without tnany Interesting phases. Although Wellington were defeated by 23 points to S, they , were leading l by a narrow margin afc half-time. At that stage it looked as if honpvrs would be fairly eyon at the finish, but towards the mindfe of the wcond spell the home side seemed to slacken oil .in their efforts, and the consequence was that' they were wholly outclassed. The work of the Service team's excellent, set of forwards also told its tale, and this largely accounted for Wel.hngton's, defeat, If anything, the Wei-' lington backs - .were a nippier bunch than their opponents, but the tackling of the Service men proved verv sure _ The teams were,:—Service (Black).— J'"H IjmI;. ,T. O'Brien: three-quarters. W. I'ord, R. Roberts. P. Storey, five-eighths. Ryan, I). Sandman; half, C. Brown: wing forward, A.. Singe; forwards, E. Hnsell, M. Onin. J. Moflitt (lock). ■ A. Wilson, A. West, B. Fogarf.v, and 15. Mis. Wellington (White).-Fiill hack, Malm; three-quarters. M'Arthur, Algar, Barkei'; five-eighths. ,T. Til.vard, Corner; half, E. Roberts; wing forward, Cnlcinni; forwards, Elliott, S. Shearer, Eberhardt (lock). W. Ryan, Paton, j. Shearer, and De Clifton.; Mr. L. Simpson was referee. Wellington Lose the Toss. •Wellington lost the toss and kicked off with the sun in their eyes. They immediately set np an attack and forced the Blacks down to the corner.' From 'a scrum near halfway Wellington got the ball, and Algar passed to Shearer, who failed to receive. Hard play took place in midSeid, and OJBrien found the- line nicely. Then' the White backs broke loose, but, good tackling- stemmed the rush. There was much forward work, and Wellington got the upper hand. Corner then took a difficult pass from Roberts" and the ball went along the chain of. backs to Barker, whose nacc enabled him to cut in and touch down with a beautiful try. Malin failed with the kick. Wellington 3 Service 0 Wellington wore afterwards penalised and West liad a shot'at goal, but the attempt was not a success. Good work on the part of Corner again enabled Wellington to draw bipod. From iooso play in the. twenty-five' Corner picked up and passed to Roberts. The ball was handled by most,'or the,.backs and was kicked across the, goal linc'by Corner. Calcinai followed up hard and fell on the leather in the nick of time. Malin converted. Wellington , .',B : : Service 0 The Blacks worked , their Qvny to the White twenty-five and their backs commenced to'get to work, But sound tackling prevented them from doing damage. An excellent mark was taken by E. Roberts when Wellington were being hard pressed, but not much advantage was gained as a consequence. Malin executfd an excellent line kick, and Storey gathered up. Ho sailed along the line, and on being hemmed in he passed to Cain, who, however, was held up. Afle- play had been in progress for twenty minutes, His Royal Highness tooic his departure for Petone, and as he lef: the ground he was enthusiastically cheered by the spectators. The game was stopped while the Prince drove away. An infringement in the 'Wellington twenty-five was responsible for a l'reekick being given to the Blacks, and this was taken by llasell. The attempt was a good one. but as the ball was, touched by a Wellington player in its flight, no score resulted. The Blacks forcej the pace, and Wellington' were kept on the defensive until Malin relieved with' a well-timed kick to tho line. Wellington got the ball from the throw-in and Corner obtained possession. ■ He was supported by Algar and M'Arthur,, but a 9 he threw out a high pass neither of these players could take th° "ball.' Shearer and De Clifton were prominent in ,a. Wellington forwird .movement,.-arid' the Black .territory was invaded* Algar gathered up and »s----sayi-d to clear, but R. Roberts was hot on liis trail," and lie , was promptly grassed. The game had been in progress for nearly 35 minutes before the Service tean: scored. The Blacks wem attacking, and a strong Uiort rush "tided in jrofiit: getting across at-the corner. R. Roberts took the kick, but the shot ,weut a trifle wide. • Wellington S Service 3 Just before half-time,' Sandman opened up the play at. half-way, and dashed through t.lie Wellington twentv-fivn uitli a fast, dodgy run. A melee followed, .and from thVM'offitt got the ball and crossed the line near tho corner. R. Robe;-,s again failed with tho kick. Wellington 8 Service li . j Tha Blacks Romp to Victory. The Service team opened the rrcond speiFvigorously, and before two minutes had elapsed Storey crossed the line and touched down. Hascll took the kick, which dropped short. Service. .- '•! - '.....■ 8 Tho Black backs were throwing the ball about a good deal, and they camo close to scoring, but an excellent mark taken by J. Til.vard saved the situation. The Whites iheu forced their way ti)i the field, Algar being prominent in'tho attack. ■ A heavy forward tussle eiisuei 1 , . and Wellington had !o give way. They once more crossed into Black territory! per medium of good dribbling by Elliott, but Storey saved with a long kick to the line. The Blacks maintained their offensive, but Malin cross-kicked to touch when the whole Black vanguard were almost on top of him. From a throw-in tho Whites got tho ball, and Barker was meditating what to do, when Ford dashed up, snatched the leather from his hands, and.inade off down the line. He failed to set-across, but the Blacks kept' pegging away, and E. Ryan sent tho ball ito Moffitt. who handed it .to Bellis.- The latter put in a short run nnd touched down close to the posts. J. O'Brien converted. Service '.'. H ' Wellington '... S At this stage. J. Shearer retired hurt, and his place was taken by Baker. E. Roberts: was putting in good-work, but the Wellington team generally seemed to bo slackening in their efforts. In addition the Blacks were playing with more cohesion than they did in the half,, and Wellington did not have much time to think.about things. Tho paco once .more-became a ''cracker, 1 ' and Ford and R. Roberts did a deal of valu-able-work, for their side. A scrum at half-way:saw the Whites get tho ball; Roberts transferred to M'Arfhur, who kicked, and a mark was taken by Storey.

There was now a plenitude of off-sido j play on the part of Service, players, not all of which was observed By the rcierco. Wellington again found themsclvrt /l the defensive, and Kyan put in a good run in the While, twenty-five. He passed to Bellis. who ran "in and scored. Hasell's kick failed. . Service ;.:.'..';.'...:.. 17 . Wellington 8 Tho Blacks attacked again after the drop-out, and their forwards carried tho . -, ball down field. Suddenly the ball was shot, across the field by E. Ryan, and ' ', Bellis again scored. R. Roberts had no luck.with tho kick. • Sen-ice 20 Wellington 8 Willi a few minutes to go, the Service team had things all their own way, nnd ihe final score of the game was made by West, who notched a good try.' Sandman's kicked was charged down by Cal- ' cinai. Servico ~, ;.„ «3 > : Wellington .. 8