RUGBY FOOTBALL REVIEW

Dominion, Volume 25, Issue 259, 28 July 1932, Page 14

RUGBY FOOTBALL REVIEW

Comments on Play and Players EASTBOURNE MUST DEVELOP CONSISTENCY University Need Improvement at Half-back

(By

Poster.)

University, had a glorious opportunity to bring about the defeat of one of the leading teams on Saturday, but they failed to press home their advantage.

■ Eastbourne cannot be complimented for any degree of consistency in their play. They are a fast and clever side when they get properly into top gear, but they seem just as. liable to slump into mediocrity against teams which , they should comfortably defeat.

On Saturday University ' had them bustled from the commencement, and the further the game progressed . the. less likely the Eastbourne forwards looked capable of stemminsr the tide of - green jerseys which persistently swept into thfe bay team’s quarter. 1

Sound tackling by . Eastbourne and University’s own mistakes prevented the students from carrying off the honours. Eastbourne’s win by 9 to 6 could not be credited to anv great merit in their own game. ' -

When Eastbourne can develop consistent team work in the forwards they will be a-well-balanced side. They have the individual, talent, but only occasionally do they, sink their individualism and play as a combined force. Having for their coach a former international half-back, who must appreciate the benefits of a strong forward combination, it is surprising that Eastbouime have not developed greater consistency in their forward play.

University did not play the ideal forward game by any means, but they had more dash than Eastbourne, and the speed, with which they got among the opposing backs resulted in. Eastbourne having to spend the greater part, of their time on defence. This Eastbourne did with some credit to themselves.

Though their work was patchy and attempted at a speed which allowed a wide margin for error, University showed that they are capable of launching well-design-ed attacks, and a slight brushing up in .their, back: play will make them a.dangerous side. They prefer the open game which the public appreciates, and for that reason will always be popular, • • • Their three-quarter backs, Dickinson, I turn, and Hislop, were rather disappointing. They should have done better with the opportunities they received. Determination is the main essential in three-quarter play, but the University line were indecisive and paid exaggerated respect to the Eastbourne defence by getting rid of the ball too often long before it was necessary.

, Clifford-Jones has improved his' play since the opening of the season, but he is hardly smart , enough behind-the scrum. With a scrum-half of the class of Kilby, Tindill, or Coman, University would improve 50 per cent., for they possess talent both forward and back.

The attacks launched by the Eastbourne backs met very sure .tackling, not always a feature-of university play, but Eastbourne s wingers. Fuller and Hamilton, were.suffering from a similar complaint to Dickinson and Hislop, and showed little determination in going for the line. * • *

Dingle continues to give, Eastbourne good service at full-back. He,fields the ball cleanly, and with confidence, and.on Saturday he excelled in gaining much ground for his side with well-directed kicks from close to the side-line.

Tho Petone-Hntt Clash. The Petone forwards, dominated play in the game against the Hutt. The Hutt pack-played up.-well; but they were unable to do more than battle on against the superior opposition. The .Petone pack fan out in loose formation very quickly, and they put up an impregnable defence to all the Hutt efforts. The play of the two packs was good and solid, and the bright spo . ts in the the play of the rearguards being very mediocre * * '«

ba S ks - have undergone alt ‘ons during the season, but the Ictone formation , close to the scrum has played- enough together to get some semblance, of concerted pjay. McGurk, however, is too keen on doing the lot tn lm L S i e a’ and On - Saturday was frequently le u ln P° ssessiou - The few times the ball did get-.out-to Huxtable and Valk they made good use of it; and mad e : solid attacks on the Hutt line. The play, however, except in defence, was not of a very good standard.

r i W }"nt y ? eems the ma hlnga of a u&e--i C ?’ a K, pos , l . tio ? that has found Petone in trouble all the season. With his forwards dominating the play, hi, F s . k u O %& turday /. Tas comfortable, but he fields and kicks well.

Killeen spoils. a lot of good work by overdoing the kicking to the line. No doubt he was troubled by the opposition, C^, a 1 Wa3 ’ a J? 00 ? V- 1 . 1 up > b ut his play did not have the dash it usually has. ° . * *.

One wishes that more referees would take a. leaf out of the book of Mr. D. 1 ar i s ’ .? V? 8 very severe on hanging on to the ball, and quick to perceive obstruction. This latter habit is very annoying. Hanging on to a jersey for a second or two, "accidentally” getting in the way, and all old . tricks found him coming down like a top of bricks, where the majority of referees are so lenient.

Athletic Favour Loose Game. There was not a dull- moment in the Poneke-Athktic meeting’, at Newtown Park. 'Athletic continue' to; show the all-round improvement noticed in their play since the second round began; ■ • ;, • • • ,

They favour the open style of game, somewhat similar to Poneke’s, and as both teams were fit, one of the fastest matches of the season was played.

It is. always a relief, from the spectators point of view anyway, to see a team playing an admittedly superior com-bination,-avoiding tight and spoiling tactics, and throwing the ball about. This is what Athletic did, and at the same time kept Poneke’s margin of points down to six.

More' than that, for the greater part of , the first spell Athletic were a few points in the lead, and when half-way through the game Poneke drew ahead by their six points, . play continued loose, but there was no further score.

Poneke were at a disadvantage in the first session with the sun in their faces, but immediately after half-time they “improved the shining hour” with a short kick and fast following up, scoring an easy.try.'

Stone and Ross were on form in the Poneke pack, and Gower and McPherson were always ready to fill a gap in the back line in r.n emergency. Martin, who was substituting Julian at. half-back, was an admirable link between forwards and backs. - . ■ ■

Mincham and Edgar played well on the wings, and Neal and Griffiths, fiveeighths, did not once slacken off in the strenuous pace they set from the start.

In the Athletic backs Pelham and Upchurch were outstanding. ’ The threequarters, Pritchard, Campbell and Penman, handled the ball in good style.

All of the Athletic forwards’did good work in the tight, and their one aim was to hqok the, ball, to Siadill. ylw.

Macdonald was the best player among the Marist backs, and did more than his share toward the five tries which they scored during the second spell. A Forward Battle.

When a team plays a wing-forward," there is always dispute as to whether he beats the ball as it goes through the scrum. This was the case on Saturday in the Old Boys-Berhampore game.

Macaulay, the Berhampore i rover, played a fine game,'and was extremely quick in getting round the scrum to pounce on Sjdler, Old Boys’ half, just as he was sending the ball away to his backs. The referee, of course,. is sole judge of .fact, but it certainly appeared from the line that Macaulay was beating the ball sometimes, and getting away with it , ' ’ ' ‘ \' ; '

The result was that all through the game, Old Boys’ backs were practically starved. Only once in the first spell did the ball go from the scrum as far as the wing three-quarter. , t’ 1 «

Berhampore showed greatly improved form, especially in the forward division, Mason and Powell being prominent Knudson and Love were best among the backs, and were responsible for some bright breaks.

Masters made few mistakes at fullback, while ex-All Black Rushbrook, showed some brilliant bursts. He made a nice opening in the second spell, which resulted in Lamason scoring the winning points.'.. Old Boys’ backs might be more successful if they did not play so deeply, especially when weir up in the opposing side’s territory. ,

Prominent among the forwards were Bydder, Reynolds and Lamason (the captain),.who scored the team’s two tries. ' r Penetrating Backs. , In their game against Miramar, Wellington had a fairly comfortable win, the superiority-of their backs being evident in the manner in which the centre and wingers scored. Both packs played well with Miramar a shade more aggressive, especially in the loose rushes. - / •'’ ■ . ■■■ : » * ;’ Miramar backs saw plenty of the ball, but lacked penetration and-combination, arid did riot make full use of the opportunitics given them by the half-back and forwards. ’, Loehorc,-full-back, played a-very safe game, his line-kicking was excellent, and his tackling was sound, although he was badly beaten by Pryde at one stage. ■ Dewar,- the half-back, gave the men outside him every opportunity, his passing all round being very crisp. 1 ’. ' Hull, Pinkerton, and Davidge were the best of. a hard-working pack. All three showed enterprise, especially the last two, who were responsible for Miramar's two tries. ■. . For ; Wellington, .Cresswell,' full-back, played a fine game, his line-kicking and tackling being outstanding. ■ ' ■"•’ » Ball and Pryde'made several fine runs which ended in tries, -Pryde playing one of his best games to date. Ball, at centre, played well,.although at tiriies his handling was patchy. , * * Johnson, first five-eighth, played,a headygame ■ and. made several nice openings, which - gave the .wingers their, chances. His'defence as usual was sound/ ’’ ■I. .. •'• ■■ ■ .’ . ■ ■ ■’ Fell, Giles, and McGregor did particularly good work both in the line-outs and in • the loose, McGregor being outstanding in line-out work. .♦. ' ♦ * Senior B Notes. In both forwards and backs St. Patrick’s College Old Boys have a strong side; In their game with Training College on Saturday they combined excellently, and as a result scored thirty-one points. - ' -■

The forwards used the dribbling rush to advantage, while the backs’ passing movements were neat and finished.

Training College’s backs were weak and time and again nullified the good work done by the forwards.

For a time Training College were superior in the scrums, hooking the ball repeatedly.

Hart (St. Patrick’s) once again demonstrated his ability as a half-back. He scored many tries through his quickness in taking advantage of openings.

Grainger, five-eighth for Wellington, played a sterling game against Poneke on Saturday. When he did get the ball’ be made good use of it.

The Poneke backs were weak, particularly on defence. They seldom attempted to tackle low, and their handling and passes were bad.

Hayman (half) and Crisp (full-back), however, were outstanding. The latter saved his side from certain defeat in helping his forwards by bis powerful touch-finding kicks.

Crighton, Pearce, Debreceuy, and O’Neil (Poneke) were the pick of the forwards, Crighton’s hooking being a feature of .the game,

however, was hampered in throwing out to the backs by the Poneke loose heads.'

Jolly shone in Athletic attacks; as well as being a good rucker he can handle the bfill well,' and is also a good kick.

Finished Play Tells. Marist and Oriental staged a good game on Prince of Wales Park, and although Marist’s more finished performance was responsible for-, their. 14-point victory, the general run of play was much more even.

Oriental's inside backs lost their side many points. They sent out low passes .which, from the inception of the movements,-; were doomed not to reach the wings. .

Oriental held territorial advantage during the first spell,. but the weight of the Marist forwards told-in the second, and they pressed into Oriental territory for most of the session. It wag only in the closing stages of the game that Oriental exerted themselves and kept Marist in their own territory.

Davies played a good game for Oriental, and given ordinary luck might have scored more than one try.

Robins played a game that was quite up to his psual standard.. He was not given many opportunities to use his boot to score points, but he converted his own try ; and kicked a penalty goal, eight points for his side.

Cuming and Vangioni were also given opportunities to try their skill at kicking goals, and both were successful. Marist is lucky to have three men who. know, how to use their right-boot when some teams can merely boast: a man who thinks he can kick goals, but cannot. ■ ..