RUGBY FOOTBALL REVIEW

Dominion, Volume 26, Issue 186, 4 May 1933, Page 14

RUGBY FOOTBALL REVIEW

Comments on Play and Players

WELLINGTON SHOW GOOD EARLY FORM

All Blacks Shine in Opening Club Games

(By

“Poster.”)

If the scores in the opening senesi of games in the Wellington senior A competition can be accepted as a ™ lia ,* guide, the division of the grade has iesuited in two very even groups. Excepting the Wellington v. Athletic which was not nearly so uneven as the scores would indicate, the opening games on Saturday in both divisions wer ® ' ? closely contested, with small mar„ins separating winners from losers.

Mr. L. Johnson, who has retired from active play to coach the Wellington seniors, must have been thoroughly satisfied with their initial display on Saturday. Wellington will meet much stronger teams in later matches, but their exhibition gave promise of their . developing into a sound attacking combination.

Wellington also gave this promise last season, but they disappointed their supporters on a few vital occasions, mainly because theix forwards failed to utilise their talents to the fullest _ extent. It was the old story of no weight in the scrum, and when Wellington met hard rucking forwards they went down. Seldom were they shaded in back play. *♦ ■ *

Wellington fielded a husky pack on Saturday, one which for weight should hold its own with any scrum in the competition, and if they concentrate strictly on forward play, and use every ounce of their brawn, they have the backs behind them to do the rest. A good judge in Mr. W. J. Wallace, coach of the Poneke fifteen, considers that Wellington will be the hardest obstacle the reigning champions have to overcome in their effort to retain the senior A title.

Kilbygavc earlv indication that he has retained his splendid form of last season, and -seldom did his supporting . backs fail to .make good use of the swift service he maintained from the base of the scrum.

The perfect understanding between the All Black captain and Page, the first five-

~ eighth, gave Wclj lington a big adi vantage over the 1 Athletic inside 1 backs. These two * took advantage of | everything to L which they were i legally entitled in I the course of play. i and the failure of i the Athletic back? ■j to comprehend the 1 tactics of their opponents when in

attacking positions resulted in so many tries being scored against them, lhe Athletic backs also will have to parpen up their defence if they wish to retain a good position in the first division. For the first twenty minutes Smith, playing outside Page, looked the wea* link in the chain, but as he gained confidence he gave a pleasing display, linking up well with the. backs. Smiths asset as a five-eighth is that he runs straight.

$ ♦ * . . With his fairly lengthy experience. in first-class football, it was not surprising that Diack, the former Southlander, fitted in soundly. He had Upchurch, the Athletic centre, well tied up once or twice, though the latter playey’s task was not improved by the failure of his nvc-cigutlis to check Page.

The sound* work o* the Wellington inside backs was reflected in the three tries vvhieji went to the tally of Pry de, the, right wing three-quarter. Pryde s positional play was correct in every movement, and his anticipation of one quick change of direction in attack by Wellington saw him collect a very easy three points.

After some doubt as to where he would play this winter, H. F. MeLean returned from Auckland last week, and for the first spell was very prominent breaking away from the side of the scrum at the head of rushes, which harassed the Athletic backs. He was more subdued later"when his condition gave out, but two -or three times he smartly opened up play for his backs, McLean is often condemned tor not giving the scrum his weight, • but in his own particular sphere, that of a loose forward, he has had few peers, in recent years.

The meritorious play of the Athletic forwards was worthy of better support than the backs were capable of giving it. The rearguard will improve with more play against the best teams, for it'is composed of young pliiyers, most of them lacking a great deal of experience.

Mollier, Watson and Campbell in the front row for Athletic . gained a good share of the ball. For hisi inches Mollier is one of the best forwards in Wellington. and he and Watson hunted tirelessly until the greater weight of the Wellington pack took its toll in the last ten miputes of the game. Lamberg and Boyd were another nair continually handy to the ball. This pack, under sound guidance, will cause some of the stronger teams plenty of trouble before the season ends. • . * ♦ '* s Jolly makes an able leader of the Athletic side. He Nays the extra back game with descretion, and several times on Saturday was on hand to extricate his backs from difficulty. He raised a laugh when iie took a penalty shot nt goal from just outside hs own twentyfive. Needless to say, it dropped a long way short, even though it had a strong wind behind it. ♦ • * Tindill, who played behind the representative serum while Kilby was in Atis-

Nimble hands and 1 feet, and an active ! brain characterise | every move by the j tralia last winter. I has filled out. a good | deal, and it is eviI dent that he will I fulfil the promise he I showed last season. I He is one of the few | born footballers, and I were he playing in i a team with greater i all-round .strength than Athletic his path to football fame would be rapid.

woudu oe rapiu. Athletic half, and his contest with Kilby for representative honours, should the latter seek them, will bo one of the interesting sidelights of the season. « ♦ » An injured shoulder accounted for Tleazlewood’s absence from the Athletic team on Saturday. He would have improved the team's defence, but not sufficiently to have altered the result. I’oneke’s Close Call. It was apparent from their performance that the I’oneke team had’not made the thorough preparation for the opening match of the season that they did last year, when, following a month’s solid training and practice with the new scrum formation, they opened in dazzling style. They were handicapped on Saturday against IJutt through the absence of McPherson, their captain and pack leader, who is nursing a bruised foot. Failure to follow up allowed Hutt far too many liberties. Several times the ball would be kicked down to Lilburne, who was allowed plenty of time to amble up to his opponents and then break off into a dodging run which frequently caught Poneke off their guard. One of these excursions put Hutt in position for Stevenson to land a field goal.

Also in the first spell Poneke could not get the bail cleanly from set scrums and had to rely mainly for possession on winning it from nicks. In this respect some of their heeling work was good and Julian turned many very slender chances of opening up the play to good account. » » ’

It is certain that only for the rocklike defensive game of Lilburne Poneke would have scored more points. hate in tackling and very certain in. fielding the ball, the All Black several times denied Poneke what appeared to be certain points. w ,

Had all the Hutt backs been as enterprising as Killeen they may have scored more than they did when things were running their way in the first speu. Killeen is inclined to run away from “is supports—a fault common with nil fiveeighths inclined to unorthodoxy—but such tactics frequently pave the way for a try when it is least expected. Suf" a nositiorf arose on Saturday and AU Black Barry, anticipating the move, was on hand to cap it off. It was bright football. ♦ * ♦

The height and weight of Barry make him an asset to any side. This was particularly noticeable in the lineouts, where he and Peck consistently gained possession and sent the Hutt backs away. Poneke seemed at a loss to counter the move till well on in the game. This weakness in lineout play and m one or two other important directions will be given attention by Poneke before many more games are played.

The Poneke backs did not impress as the sound combination they were last year until the closing stages of the game, when thev were continually assaultm o the Hutt line. Poneke hold the reputation of being great match-winners when up against it, and for that reason -hey are never counted beaten until the final whistle.

This they demonstrated against Hutt when a thrilling rearguard action _ in which the whole line -was brought into play resulted in Coulton scoring Chesterman had cleverly cut-in and the ball had passed out to the wing, infield again, and finally back to the wing, who crossed in the corner. It was an undeniable effort which thoroughly deserved the winning points. ♦ ♦ *

It looks as though Chesterman will this year develop the form those who know him best realise Itf is capable of. As a bov at the Wairarapa High School, tie quickly displayed football sense, which later found an outlet when he was a. member of the young Eastbourne side in its early days in senior football. On and . oft last year he nursed an injury which affected his play, but at times he gave glimpses of really good centre threequarter football. ♦ ♦ •

It was probably natural that N. Ba.l should be the subject for a lot of barracking when making his first appear-

a nee for roneKP against his old club and on their homo ground. Ball has previously disclosed a nervous temperament, becoming upset by trifling things in the course of play, and on Saturday his game was obviously affected by the attention he received , from a small section of the crowd. No doubt

he will vindicate himself , before many games are played. Good footballers usually do. « ♦ ♦

Petone Backs Not Strong. Had the Petone backs made full use of the chances their forwards gave them, they probably would have beaten 'Wellington College Old Boys instead of going down by three points.

Petone had the bettor of the first spell, mainly through the Old Boys’ pack containing too many wing forwards. This weakness was rectified at the interval, and in the second spell Old Boys played a much sounder game. » » *

Little fault could be found with the efforts of O'Halloran behind the Petone scrum, but Spence and Trapp, the fiveeighths. were always out of touch with each other, and Trapp’s poor defence was directly responsible for Baldwin scoring a spectacular try for Old Boys.

McNeile, who formerly played for Manawatu, shone out with Lamason in loose'play for Old Boys. On his form in this game he is an acquisition to the club, but it appears that he is essentially a loose man and as Lamason specialises in this type of play the scrum is consequently deprived of much-needed weight. • • •

Old Boys will need to improve their strength in the half-back position on Saturday's display if they hope to get very far. Though the Petone forwards were breaking quickly, Sadler could have taken a little more time and performed his work cleanly. Instead he allowed the opposing forwards to bustle him and he scooped out some murderous passes to his five-eighths.

Baldwin, who led the Old Boys’ senior B side last winter, performed well, and he and Atkins should make a sound pair, though they may lack a little class. Dustin was reliable at centre, and Hill, a transfer from Onslow, though losing position frequently, shaped quite promisingly. * • ♦

Masters, who played for the Wellington Colts last winter, and was full-back for the representative team which drew with Manawhenua, played a stylish game as full-back for Old Boys, and shaded Pollock throughout.

Carr, Sundgren, and Lambourno were three of the best Petone forwards, particularly Carr, whose superior pace allowed him to get among the Old Boys’ backs and break up several movements.

The Petone five-eighths lacked any penetrating ability, and it was surprising that a rearrangement of the. formation was not effected in the closing stages when they were three points down. After many years with a surplus of good backs Petone are passing through a lean period—lean when judged on previous standards —and their main strength at present is forward. * * »

The three-quarters, Huxtable. Peterson, and Clelland, were hampered by the failure of the five-eighths, though Peterson did better than any of them. It is hoped that this capable three-quarter will materialise this season as he is unquestionably a footballer when in form.

Though he fielded the ball safely, Pollock has played much better games in the full-back position. It is certain that he would have sharpened up the attack had lie moved to a closer position when points were desperately needed in the last five minutes.

Not at Full Strength. Marist were below their full strength when they met Eastbourne, the defection of Macdonald and Robins taking all the sting out of their back attack. 1 • .

Eastbourne started off the right way again with a win. first match. The Bay

team, with slight alteration forward, is the same that made a big bid for the championship last season. As usual, the players are fairly fit for this stage of the season, and characteristically they “give it a go” on all occasions.

If the five-eighth line can be improved to effectively link up the splendid halfback play of Comnn with the very useful three-quarters—Fuller, Foley, and Hamilton—Eastbourne might be capable of achieving their championship ambitions.

Hamilton appears to have recovered from the knee injury which marred his very bright prospects last winter. Fuller played the same stylo of game as is customary to expect from him, but there is guile in everything he does and he is always dangerous.

A welcome reappearance was made by McHardy in the Marist pack. One of Wellington's best wing-forwards when Porter was in his prime, McHardy had to give football best on account of illhealth. On Saturday he played with all his old dash for a while, and broke up several Eastbourne movements, though the resourceful Foley tricked him a couple of times.

There was a good deal of interference and obstruction in the forward play at Eastbourne, and once or twice even personal adjustments of the fray, quite apart from the play. It was nothing serious, but this kind of thing when allowed tc go unchecked often leads to really rough play.