RUGBY FOOTBALL

Dominion, Volume 16, Issue 178, 16 April 1923, Page 4

RUGBY FOOTBALL

CLUB BENEFIT MATCHES GOOD STANDARD OF 5 FOOTBALL

J In pleasant weather, matches arrangr ed by the Wellington Rugby Union as club benefit games took place on Saturday, ten senior teams being engaged There was a good bill of four 'matches at Athletic Park, where 3000 'people witnessed some really good foo ball. The fifth match was played at Petone. Critics, selectors, union officials and the football public agree that the standard of Rugby is vastly improved, thus early in the season, on the quality shown last year.

’£ Poneke (10) beat Petone (3). • 'Varsity (5) beat Oriental (3). *■ Marist (5) beat Athletic (0). J Berhampore (10) beat Selwyn (0). Old Boys (8) beat Wellington (0).

PONEKE OUTCLASS PETONE

r Although it would have been unreasonable to expect a reproduction of rthe form which brought the teams in o •opposition in the championship final ilast year, the exhibition provided by Petone and Poneke in a gymnasium benefit match at Petone on Saturday was, to say the least of it highly disappointing. Allowance must necessarily be made for the fact that training operations only recently commenoecL and that the home team was 1 unable to assemble its strongest yet it remains true, even thus early, ; that combination should not bo an unknown quantity- Furthermore, there are some faults winch may never be overlooked Speculation cannot be ex , cused, and there can be no tion for failing to tackle low Illustrations of the bad effects of wese breaches were to be found several times duriS th® course of the can only be described as quite a ra o ge “Doc.” Nicholls, Gardiner, Graham, Rodger, A, Parker. Smith, Horsfall, A. Thomas, M. Love, Dickons Griffin, Clandge. _ . Poneke.— Wright, Turnington Christopherson, McArthur, Juno, F. lilyMd, Baumbor, Calcmai, Booker, Kennedy, Rodger, Parsloe, Walsh,

1 Poneke, defending, the southern goal 'against the sun, invaded: the Blue •territory with a spirited forward rush ;but danger was averted by a marls by Rodger. Following up the kick, , Corner and Graham were seen to advantage in a breakaway movement, the ball finally becoming the possession ot the forwards, and a melee ensued on the half-way line. For an infringement Petone were awarded a penalty, and Comer kicked what appeared to be a good goal. The line umpire signalled success, but the referee’s decision mj dicated that the shot was a “poster. The game had been in progress some fifteen minutes when Poneke lost the opportunity to draw first blood through selfishness on the part of F- Tilyard, who threw away a certain try by hanging on to the ball. In an aggressive mood the Red forwards had carried play into the Petono twenty-live, where T. Love experienced difficulty in his attempt to clear. Corner, however, relieved the pressure by finding the line near the corner flag. From the •■nsuing line out, the Blue rearguard •ecured the handling of the leather, but it was lost in a scuffle. andPetone’s goal was once more in danger of invasion. Thomas fumbled badly, and M. Love essayed to extricate the team with a hefty “speculator.” which simply enabled the ball to drop into the waiting arms of Tilyard. who came round smartly for the opening at the corner. At the opportune moment he failed to pass to Tunnington, and when tho ball was finally dispatched, it was smartly intercepted by Graham, who cleared with ft long kick.' Poneke continued to press and registered their first score in the shape of a penalty goal a few minutes later, Wright pilot. J ng the ball between the uprights in splendid stylo For the remainder of the spell the odds were fairly even, ihe advantage if anything being with Poneke. Play generally was confined to the forward department, yet on occasions one or two incipient hack movements were engaged in. In this connection solo efforts predominated, the chief performers being Nicholls and -Tiuinington. A penchant for tackling .high in a manner which never bore fruit led to Petone’s losing much ground, whereas Poneke frequently obtained far more assistance by the low tackle, which invariablv grounds the ball aijd the man at the same time. Half-time sounded with Petone attacking. The second spell opened with both teams showing what was perhaps a reflection of their previous form as far as pace was concerned, but it was short-lived. Assuming the offensive almost from the kick-off, Poneke scored the first try of the day. From a forward scramble in Blue territory Christopherson obtained the ball and sent it on to Tunnington, who evaded tho opposition withjiis baffling corkscrew run, and touched down near the corner. No goal resulted. Poneko, 6 ; Petone, 0. Petone made several attempts to penetrate the Red defence,. but they did not succeed in upsetting the equilibrium of Wright, the fullback, who -was playing a great game. For a period interest flagged, and the game became noticeably ragged, and it was during a colourless scramble, in which forward I and back vainly chased the leather, that Poneke. who now Had things fairly well under way, obtained their next score —a somewhat unexpected one. Baumber, the half-back, was seem to emerge with tho ball, and before anyone was aware of the ruse —for the player was obviously offside —had potted a nice goal. Poneke, 10; Petone. 0. Lack of adequate training now took its toll, and drab up-and-down field play became the order. The contestants, with few exceptions, were showing signs of weariness, an done player adopted the practice —quite a foolish one —of “speculating.” This was Corner, and a player of his experience and standing slnild know by now - the futility of such tactics, even if they may save a little effort. Interest was aroused in the dying stages, however, when Petone assembled their forces in one final effort. The backs, who. when opportunity offered, had handled tho ball rather badly, came into their own with a promising bout, in which every, member participated. A line-out followed and a spirited tussle ensued between the forward divisions in close proximity to the Red line. The ball was anybody’s property for two long minutes, and the large crowd was on RrTeet when Dickens, the big Petono forward, snapped up the leather and dived over. Corner had no luck with the kick. The Poneko defence, which was perhaps the only feature of the match, successfully withstood the two or three attacks initiated by tho Blue rearguard, and the game closed with-

out further incident, the scores reading : Poneke, 10; Petone, 3. Mr. A. C. Kitto was referee. On the day’s play Petone were completely outclassed whore forward work ■was concerned, but there was little to choose between tho r jy a l F CB F sions. Tunnington, Christopherson, and Wright showed to the best advantage for Poneke, and Petono found useful men in Nicholls and Graham. Calcinai and Booker led the Poneke van on many occasions, while Wone s mainstays in the forwards were Thomas, Parker, and Love. Roth teams will find more consistent application to training in the future a .decided advantage.

’VARSITY BEAT ORIENTAL

’VarsityFull-back. Sutherland.; three-quarters, Jackson. Riggs, Maifrov; five-eighths, Mackay, Alaiks. half, Smart; wing-forward, Mackenzie; forwards, Aekins, Scott, Martin-Smith, Braden, Thomas, Mcßae, Hunt. Oriental Full-back, A. Gilchrist; three-quarters, R. Hume, Cowdell, Wilson; five-eighths, C. Smith, J. Dufty; half, Jones; wing-forward, Hickey ; forwards. Butler, Hearle. -Moffitt (captain), Brown. Watts, Sinumds, Bennett. . . This game attracted considerable interest at Athletic Park. Oriental, captained by the veteran Moffitt, followed out their practice of trying out many new mon, their team being an experimental one purely. They had two juniors, Humo and Cowdell, in tne three-quarter lino. ‘‘These imported birds fade away/ said one <»f thoir officials, in explaining their plans for the season. ’Varsity had a very good team, indeed. There was much fresh blood in it. Martyn-Smith, who played with them two seasons ago, is hack from Hawke’s Bay. Sutherland, from Taranaki, was full-back. Riggs, previously with Oriental, played as centre jtb reel-quarter against his old comrades. Marks, a Taranaki ‘rep., was first five-eighths, and Mack«>n«e, who captained Wellington College last year, was wing-forward. Aekins, an Aucklander, was hooking, uid Hunt, an ex-Oricntal junior, was in the hack row of tho scrum. Oriental commenced attacking, but a spirited passing bout by ’Varsity backs had them penned in their twenty-five for a time. Malfroy being conspicuous in attack. Riggs and Jackson were prominent m several short passing bouts, but they went down before solid tackling by Gilchrist and Wilson. Thomas, from a freekick for offside, landed tho ball just short of the goal-posts. Malfroy gave Mackenzie an opening, and the latter “sold the dummy” effectively, but this, like many other ’Varsity rushes, lacked the finishing touch. There was an incident dangerously near to rough jpla-v towards the end of tho first spell; fists were flying indiscriminately. ’Varsity brightened up in the second spell, and Jackson executed many of his meteoric runs. The reverse pass and the short, cross-kick, were indulged in,’ and the attacking tactics of the students earned frequent cheers from the spectators. Gilchrist nroved himself a sure tackler at full-back. Many times he was’called on to defend the hno and rarely failed. From one of his runs Jackson crossed the field, and was only grassed inches short of the line A spectacular piece of play resulted in Oriental getting a try. Jones, who' was playing half, got the ball from' the ruck, and fiddled his way through the tacklers. Someone shouted from the' benches “Sell the dummy,” and he did so, beating the ’Varsitv full-back and scoring a nice try, which was unconverted. Bad passing lost many good chances to Oriental, and Mackay muddled many likely openings bv ’Varsity. Jackson, who was in great form, made a dash for the lino and slipped. Scott, following' on, got the try, which Mackay converted. ’Varsity were attacking stronglv when the final bell sounded. For ’Varsity. Sutherland was fair at fulLback. and Riggs was safe, without being brilliant, at centre. Malfroy and Jackson had the bulk of the work in the three-quarter line, and both acquitted themselves ably. Marks created a food impression among the spectators by dashing Hn through the ruck to secure. He also tackled with accuracy. The forwards were uniformly sound, Mackenzie. Scott, and Mcßae being the most prominent. For Oriental, Moffitt was in good form, locking the scrum and leading many rushes in the open. Hickey and Simonds were conspicuous frequently, and C. Smith and Dufty were good in the backs. Mr. R. Heron was referee.

MARIST BEAT ATHLETIC Marist: —Full-baok. Griffen, threeqnarfprsfi' Callaghan. Mahoney, Carmody; five-eighths, Murphy,Markham; half, Brunsell; wing-forward Connop; forwards, Boyce, Crotty, Sullivan, Hopkins, Troy (captain), Lander. Hay. don. Athletic. —Full-back, Brook ; threequarters, Bullard, B. Gibson, MaL manche; five-eighths. Svenson, Porter; half. Hall; winj-forward, Ansted; forwards, Swain, Osborne, Ryan (captain), McCauley, McNaught. Bognuda, Guy. : The chief feature of the MaristAthletic match was the fine individual play of Callaghan, a West Coast wine-three-quarter. Early in the first spell, he got the ball from a passing rush, feinting past four tacklers, he crossed, and scored behind thp posts—n, really spectacular try. Murphy converted. This was the only score of an open game. Athletic were two men fihort most of the game, and altered thoir team, Warwick nlaying Ralf ana Hall second five-eighths for a while. In the second spell Marist should have scored again, Callaghan, who essayed n penalty kick from forty yards out. landing the ball just short of goal-bar. Athletic forwards mingled in some fine concerted rushes, but their backs were not nearly so conspicuous as on the previous Saturday. The Marist backs, notably Markham, Carmody and Mahoney. as well as Callaghan, were in good form, one run by Carmody, in which he beat four opponents, being especially fine. Hall, while he was playing 'half for Athletic, figured in many openings, but was not well supported. •

BERHAMPORE BEAT SELWYN

Berhampore.—Full-back. Walters; three-quarters, Arthur, Howard (captain), Hickling; five-eighths, Mathe'son, Lang; half, Charles; wing forward, Pope; forwards, Brown, Mason. Whiterod, Malin, Duncan, Watson, and Macartney. Selwyn.—Full-back, Malin ; threequarters, Reeve, Wogan (captain), Chadwick; five-eighths, Mcßrearty. McQuade; half, Eastgate; wing forward, Rose; forwards, Desmond, O’Connor, Batchelor,. Branloy, McDonald James, Whittington. Berhampore were trying out a number of new forwards, in order to make a selection of the best to represent them in the competition fixtures, which open on Saturday next. Selwyn had a few new men, notably their “find,’ Chadwick, who is a dashing . wing three-quarter. Wogan went off in the second spell, to make way for Pollock at centre three-quarter. It was a fine open game, Berhampore striving hard to got their backs moving, but faulty passing nipped off many of their bursts. Selwyn forwards were shaping well, but showed a tendency to kid' too hard in the loose. The first spell was scoreless. Brown got tho first trv for Berhampore, through weak tack-

ling by Selwyn. Lnng made a good attempt at goal. Malin got _ across from a forward rush, Lang again failing to convert. Walters potted a fine goal from the field. Berhampore were 50 per cent, better than tho previous Saturday, when their scrum was not well balanced. Walters, the full-back, was successful in drop-kicking to the touch-line frequently. He played a fine all-round game. Lang and Charles were conspicuous in many rushes, and Hickling made a. couple of good runs. Arthur hurt his knee, and his place w.as taken by Nicoll. one of last year’s juniors. Watson, who was not in good form last year, played a surprisingly good game. His play gave great satisfaction to those who knew that he had real quality in him. Among a good lot of forwards Pope and Macartney were conspicuous, tho tackling of Duncan and Mason being particularly sure. For Selwyn, Malin played a fine game at ftill-baclt. Mcßrearty and Desmond were the most prominent in stopping tihe rushes, but the tackling of Selwyn v.ias generally unsound. Chadwick, the new wing three-quarter, delighted tne spectators by his sure handling of the ba)J. He was going strongly throughout' the game. Want of condition was noticeable among many of Selwyn s men.

OLD BOYS’ BEAT WELLINGTON

Old Boys.—Full-back, Malcolm; three-quarters, Faber, Bedell, Marris (captain) ; five-eighths, Hicks, Mansfield; half, Underhill; wing-forward, Loe/ forwards, Barclay, Laurie, Preston, Memzies, Jones, Chegwidden, Carr. ; Wellington.—Full-back, McDuffi; three-quarters,' Brook, Rickard, Hill; five-eighths, McGregor, Johnston (captain); half, Hughes; wing-forward, Tull; forwards, Hepburn, Butcher, Thompson, Joyce, Cooper, Hurd, Lindsay. . Old Boys recruited their team from the ranks off the juniors by bringing in Underhill and Loe. Wellington had the services in their three-quarter line of Brooks, Berhampore’s full-back . of last year, and Thompson, who comes up with a good reputation from the West Coast, which district has been extraordinarily helpful to Wellington Rugby this season. Chegwidden opened tho scoring account by getting a try for Old Boys, after a good follow-through from an opening cleverly made by Jones. Malcolm failed at goal, and also missed from a penalty. Bedell scored a good try in a lone-hand rush, Malcolm locking a magnificent goal from the touch-line. Old Boys hookers, Barclay and Laurie, got control of the ball in the scrum, but it was invariably blocked in the rear ranks. When ‘it did get out. the backs got going fairly well, Bedell, Hicks, Mansfield and Marris being often prominent. For Wellington Butcher and Lmdsvv in the forwards, and Johnson and Hui among the backs, were tho most conspicuous. Individually, there was no weakness apparent, but the backs lacked combinaton. Mr. G. H. Perkinson, late of Taranaki, refereed. BALL SET ROLLING IN CHRISTCHURCH. BY TELEGRAPH. —PRESS ASSOCIATION. Christchurch, April 14. The football season was opened today in perfect weather. There was a good crowd at Manchester Park, where the senior games were played, and the grandstands were well filled; . Christchurch (18' beat Varsity (17); Marists (9) beat Old Boys . (6); Monvale (20) beat North Canterbury (ml); Albion and Sydenham drew with Lyttelton, with 8 points each.

SCHOOL FOOTBALL CONFERENCE AT DUNEDIN. BY TELEGRAPH.—PRESS ASSOCIATION. Dunedin, April 15. A meeting of delegates of the Otago Rugby Football Union, at which delegates from the Otago State Primary Schools Sports Association and private denominational schools were present, was held on Satiirday night to consider the question of tho control of school football. After a very lengthy discussion, the following, motion was carried by a large majority: “That the primary schools Rugby football competition be open to all primarv schoolboys, provided that the' recognised weights and ago limits are complied with.” Three speakers from the Otago State Primary School Sports Association definitely stated that they would not permit outside boys to take part in the association’s competitions. ENGLISH COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP WON BY SOMERSET. (Rec. April 15, 5.5 p.m.) London, April 14. _ In the Rugby county championship final Somerset beat Leicestershire by 8 points to 6. —Reuter. FRANCE DEFEATS IRELAND X < (Rec. April 15, 5.5 p.m.) Paris, April 14. France defeated Ireland by 14 points to 8. —Reuter.