RUGBY FOOTBALL

Dominion, Volume 30, Issue 173, 19 April 1937, Page 11

RUGBY FOOTBALL

Opening of Wellington Season CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES Cold Wind Causes Poor Handling of Ball ATHLETIC’S CLOSE WIN The opening matches of the Wellington Rugby Union’s senior championships were played on Saturday in fine weather, but a cold south wind had an adverse effect on the play, the backs especially finding it difficult to hold the ball. Consequently most games were of a ragged nature. Athletic, last year’s champions, won by a point from Wellington, 9-8, in an inspiring game at Athletic Park before a fair crowd. The losers failed to display the initiative which enabled them to beat the cnampions on Easter Monday. Marist Brothers Old Boys scored an excellent win over a strong Petone team, I, recalling their defeat of the same club at Petone toward the close of last season. Wellington College Old Boys’ back division was too fast and elusive for the Hutt defence, the result being 27-6, and Poneke beat Eastbourne 17-6, assuming superiority in the final stages. Athletic’s Close Call Although many spectators counted Athletic fortunate to get home by one point from Wellington, 9-8, the losers deserved to win more for their keenness than for the quality of their play. The same fault was apparent on both sides—poor handling. The cold south wind appeared to have frozen every pair of hands. Passes were dropped or knocked on all through the game, and the easiest bounces were missed. Consequently the play was ragged and uninspiring except for one or two brilliant individual efforts. R. Veitch, Wellington first five-eighth, was the general of his side. His speed and penetration created many openings, but only once or twice did anything result. With a quarter of an hour to go Wellington were down 9-0, and Veitch decided to work on his own. Fielding a clearing kick, he raced for the corner, and sent in to D. Stevens when tackled, the latter going over. Soon afterward the five-eighth took a pass from his half-back, raced to the blind side of the scrum, and was away on his own. J. Climo, a forward, was handy, and he sent the ball infield again, where L. H. Edwards picked up and touched down under the posts. A. Lang’s conversion left one point between the teams, and Wellington made frantic efforts to even. Edwards went across the field at terrific speed, then centred, and Athletic were only just in time to force under the posts. These final moments were the best part of the game. The rest of the play consisted of keen tussles in the loose. Once D. Jones, Athletic wing-threequarter, received the ball from L. Bishop, when a Wellington attack broke down, but although there was only the full-back to pass Jones could not hold the ball. Athletic’s first try also resulted from the breakdown of a Wellington attack, G. Stott breaking away and sending on to Jones, who sailed for the line in determined style. The territorial advantage was mainly Wellington's, but this was due more to hard work than to initiative on attack. The Athletic pack also worked hard, J. Wells doing great work in the tight and G. Wales showing up in the loose. K. Guy in the line-outs had some great tussles with Fraser-Smith and G. Cooper, the big Wellington forwards. J. Thurston, the ex-Manawatu five-eighth, showed good form for Athletic. He is fast and heavy, but was outshone by the brilliance of Veitch. Paterson was a fine wing-three-quarter, particularly in the first spell, when he ran determinedly and kicked with judgment. Neither full-back was impressive, Lang especially being inclined to run into trouble. Athletic won the few set scrums that were not indecisive, and the blue forwards broke fast on W. Thompson. who put in a useful day's work. The tackling on both sides was splendid. Mr. J. Gilchrist was too lax in controlling the willing exchanges among the forwards. However, a number of welldeserved warnings were given. The teams were :— Athletic: D. Mclntyre; D. Jones, D. Thomson, R, Forbes; G. Stott, J. Thurston ; K. Mack; G. Wales; J. Wells, K. Guy, L. Edwards, L. Bishop; J. Wyeth, F. Mollier, M. Cooper. Wellington: A. Lang; L. H. Edwards, J. Kelly, D. A. Paterson; H. H. Trapp, It. Veitch ; W. Thompson ; D. A. Stevens; R. J. Coupland, C. Carlyon, F. H, FraserSmith, G. Cooper; J. Climo, W. G. McLean, D. A. Almond. Old Boys Too Speedy For Hutt Wellington College Old Boys owed their victory over Hutt by 27 points to 6, on tne Hutt ground, to their last and elusive backs. An open game and played at peak pace throughout, the brisk movement and counter-charges gave the crowd a tawte of the spectacular. Though playing against a stiff southerly wind in the first spell, Old Boys set the pace. The husky Hutt pack, which M. Devine led constantly, staged some sharp sorties, led by Edmouds, Potter and Mclntosh, but neat passing rushes when Hutt lost possession, waw Old Boys continually storming the opposition goal, Sargisson made many fine openings, but these were thwarted by excellent tackling and anticipation. Edmonds lacked his kicking boots, and missed three easy penalties. Once, however, Hutt shaded their previous attacks by a grand rally, and swarmed up the field, Sargisson cutting in neatly and sending the ball out to Phillips, to Denby, who capped a thrilling move. During this rush G. Reynolds received a knock, and. was replaced by R. Wright. A few moments later Amies retired, and G. Williams succeeded him. Toward the end of the spell Hutt held the advantage. Rain fell at the start of the second half, enough to make the ball treacherous to handle with confidence. Another fine effort by Sargisson, Perkinson, and Phillips was brought to a climax when the latter scored an unconverted try for Hutt. The Hutt forwards were tireless in their defence, but found L. Bydder frequently cleaving through the pack with the ball at his toes. B. 8. Sadler was, next to Watt and Sargisson, the most evasive back on the field. For a time play rocked from twentyfive to twenty-five, Hutt pressing stiffly in spite of frequent checks. Hutt found it a wearying task coping with fleeter rovers, but held a slight advantage in the tight and line-outs at this stage. The teams were:— Wellington College Old Boys: N. Sturrock; J. Watt,- H. Baldwin, N. Burns; G. Reynolds, A. Wright; B. Sadler; C. Gotlieb, J. Reynolds, L. Bydder; R. Hardie, H. Reynolds; J. Sounness, A. Amies, V. Gotlieb. Hutt: Evans; Phillips, Denby, Gunn; Perkinson, Sargisson; Kilmister; Francis, Edmonds, Potter; M. Devine, Mitchell; Mclntosh, Roberts, Stevenson, Marists’ Fine Win Marist Brothers Old Boys, showing surprisingly good combination both among forwards and backs, secured a convincing win over Petone by 13 to 6, at the Petone ground on Saturday. Right from the beginning it was clear that Petone had a heavy afternoon’s work before them, and only once during the game, at the beginuing of the second spell, did they hold the upper hand, but the footwork of the Marist team kept them out. In N. Quinn Marist have a half-back

who on his play ou Saturday would do justice to almost any team. Possessing a clever pair of hands, he gave a display of smart passing, and was responsible for two of the tries scored. W. Langdon showed in patches flashes of the football that he played in the earlier part of last season. F. Tietjens, in the back row, was outstanding among the for; wards. He plays an excellent type of game, and has a good turn of speed. Rarely on Saturday did Pollock play anything like the game expected of him. Although his line-kicking was good, he ■seemed unable to handle the ball cleanly. •M. Mitchell was the only forward to shine in the Petone pack. He was a tireless worker throughout the game, and was very unlucky not to score. The teams were : — Marist Brothers Old Boys: R. Frost; L. MeGreevy, E. McGreevy, J. Wareham; Sheehan, W. Langdon; N. Quinn; Hargreaves, Ingpen, J. Elliott, B. Ropata, J. Donoghue, F. Leahy, F. Tietjens, F. Meadows. , _ „„ „ Petone: H. R. Pollock; G. Thomas, C. Hudson, R. Knowles; A. Edwards, N. McGurk; O. O’Halloran; A. Lambourn, F Anderson. I. Carter, F. Kean, M. Mitchell, R. Cleland, T. Fuller, N. Scott. Poneke 17, Eastbourne 0 Overwhelming Eastbourne in the concluding stages, Poneke emerged the victors by 17 to 0. Poor handling by the Eastbourne backs and no attempt to take advantage of the strong wind that w as blowing, enabled Poneke by means of their solid rucking forwards to prevent anv score before half-time. The play of‘both sides during the first spell was very ragged, being a succession of dropped passes and indiscriminate kicking. After the interval, however, both teams took a new lease of life and the Eastbourne forwards, led by N. Dellabarca and Guiniven, dominated the play, securing the ball from every line-out and scrum. Fed by King, the Eastbourne backs, especially Walling, made some fine penetrating runs and although Poneke were constantly on the defensive, they managed to keep their line intact. Fielding the ball at half-way, A. Upchurch made a fine dash down the line to enable Pringle to score an easy try. This seemed to give Poneke fresh vigour and completely took the sting out of their opponents. From then on Eastbourne were overwhelmed, Poneke scoring 17 pointe in as many minutes. Pringle, Ongley and Vartan played well for Poneke, while Le Quewne s held goal was a particularly fine effort. Guiniven, N. Dellabarca, King and Walling were Eastbourne's best. The teams were . — Poneke: Vartan, Upchurch, Black. Bowler, Le Quesne, Griffiths, Venn, Ongley, Kerchberg, Cullly, O’Brien, Pringle, McLaughlnn, Calcanai, Stone. Eastbourne: Crisp, Walling, Flemung, Orme, Berridge, J. Plank, King, N. Dellabarca, D. Griffiths, M. Griffiths, F. Clark, Waite, K. Clarke, Farmer, Guimven. SECOND DIVISION Two Teams Play Overtime Four senior A second division matches were played on Saturday. During the University-Pirates game at the Emerson Street ground the referee’s watch stopped, and a quarter of an hour extra time was played. However, no score was registered in this period, University winning 13-10. Wellington beat St. Patrick s College Old Bovs, 13-7, at Athletic Park, the game proving unattractive. Miramar fielded a fitter team than Athletic and won 20-10. Oriental could not ecore against the game ending 9-0. Wellington and St. Pat.’s Handle Poorly In a willing but somewhat scrappy game marred by uncertain handling, the ball, Wellington beat St. Patricks College Old Boys at Athletic Park by a vigorous recovery in the second spell. St. Patrick’s with the wind behind them, pressed Wellington hard throughout the first half. Wellington hookers were getting the ball, but the backs of the attacking side smothered their attempts to break away. St. Patrick’s backs made several promising movements in the early stages, but later relapsed. -The full-back, B. Vile, kicked a neat field goal; their only other score was when P. O’Connor sent over ft penalty kick. At half-time they led 7-0. Wellington fought hard throughout the second half, but the passing was poor. Each of their three tries was an individual effort except that of F. W, McTagget, which was from an opening created by a forward rush. H. Edie and M. Dixon were conspicuous in several spectacular runs, and toward the close of piny better team work was evident among the Wellington backs. St. Patrick’s showed a solid defence, but did not live up to their early promise. The teams were: — Wellington: R. Morgan; E. Ullrich, P. Harvey, H. Edie: M. Dixon, D. Kane (captain); A. K. Richardson; R. Dimes, J. Bracken, J. Gragg; 0. S. Roxall, G. O. Balfour, J. Weir, F. W. McTagget, H. Taylor. St. Patrick's. College Old Boys: B. Vile; J. Twohill, T. McDonald, T. McCashin; P. O’Connor, J. McDermott; N. Roach; 0. O’Connor, F. Kilkelly, A. Thurston, E. Todd, F. Gill, J. Robinson, D. Hogan. F. Woolier. Miramar’s Fitness Miramar beat Athletic at the Polo Ground by 20-10 in a game that was keen and fast, although the hooking in the majority of the tet scrums was n °t clean. The forwards were the deciding factor in the game. The Miramar pack were lighter than Athletic, and if they are to work to full advantage they will have to break faster. The Athletic half, Littler, was dangerous, especially in the latter half. His passing to the backs was reliable and he did not miss an opportunity to make the full use of an opening. Fitness made the difference in the teams. The young Miramar forwards had dash all through the game and their display was marred only by their slowness in breaking. They packed neatly, and if anything a little lower than the Athletic men. Kerrigan was the outstanding forward in the Athletic pack; hie rugged play against the lighter opposition was especially effective. Taylor, the Miramar right wing, played good football. He ran hard and with determination and was always in position. The Athletic backs seemed faster, but they were easier to stop. Tackling on both sides was good; in nearly every case the defence went low and made sure of the man. The Miramar forwards had the Athletic full-back bustled all the time and though the Miramar full-back did not appear hurried and kicked well, he played too far back to be enterprising. The teams were:— Miramar: Ashton, Aldous. Baird, Taylor, Greenhall, Cook, Buck, James, Catchpole, McManus. McClelland, Marks, McDonald, Hull, Troy. Athletic: Crawford, Dickie, Pelham, Pollock, Cunneen, Martlew, Littler, Smith, Pope, T. Troy, Rolf, Kerrigan, Chisholm, Anderson. University and Pirates Play Overtime The stopping of the referee's watch nearly robbed University of their 13-10 victory in their second division game with Pirates at the Emerson Street ground. With a lead of only three points University spent most of the quarterhour of extra time which was unwittingly played with a determined Pirate pack a few yards from the line. In loose play the Pirate forwards, among whom Burkett and Baillie were outstanding, showed greater determination than the students, but, with Burke hooking splendidly, the University pack practically monopolised the set scrums. The Pirates did not pack well and were inclined to turn their backs on the ball

in rucks, a tendency which they largely corrected in the second spell. The University back line seemed willing to throw the ball around and open up the gaiue, but their positional plav was not always what it might have been and many parses were misdirected and some easy ones fumbled. Reid ran determinedly and Kissell showed himself a speedy winger with the ability to be elusive with only a confined space in which to work.

The teams were: — University: Hoy; Kissell,*Wild, Stewart; Reid, Larkin: Buddle; Burke. Gardiner, Redwood, Rasmussen, Talbot, Blacker, Eade, Meades. Pirates: Wyness; Sherwood, King, Drury; Maisev. Baillie; McCarthy; Tiehborne, Koefefl Donnelly, Burkett, Napier, Jenner, Mcßae, Miller. Johnsonville Forwards Go Well The bleak weather conditions and the strong southerly blowing across the field militated against good back play at Johnsonville. On the day the Oriental backs were the more dangerous in the first spell, when they were well supplied from the scrums, Nolan (last year Poneke junior) and Wilkinson combining nicely. Gradually, however, the Johnsonville forwards took charge of the game, and play in the second spell was almost continuously in Oriental territory. Indeed, some of the loose rushes by the village pack were well-uigh irresistible, oniv great defence, particularly by Davies and Murdoch, keening the score down. Trenchard, A. Kenny, Craig and Crawford were the best of the Johnsonville forwards. In the backs many, chances were spoilt through poor passing, and only J. Burns, a really good half, and Merv. Kenny were up to form. Sargeant, Bartlett and Searle were Orientals most noticeable forwards. The first spell was well advanced before a score was registered, Oriental having had the territorial advantage. Then from a scrum near the line, Johnsonville hooked cleanly for J. Burns to pick up and duck smartly round the blind side and score. In the second spell, Craig and Bowler combined well for the former to secure a try in the corner. The teams were : — Johnsonville: Mick Kenny; Merv. Kenny, W. Welsh, G. C. Moore; J. Hallewell. G. Burns; J. Burns; H. A. Trenchard (captain), L. Liddle. A. Kenny. C. Jane, D. Grant, K. Crawford, J. Lee, T. Bowler. In the second spell A. Craig replaced Lee. Oriental: N. Murdoch; L. Wood, T. Cook, J. Wakelin; 11. Davies (capta.in), S. Wilkinson: J. Nolan; V. Sargeant, L. Bartlett, J. King, B. Leary, J. Renouf, S. Searle, L. Humpherson, S. Sinclair. , IN OTHER CENTRES By Telegraph—Press Association. Senior Rugby matches played in Christchurch and Dunedin on Saturday resulted as follows: — Christchurch: Sunnyside 25 beat Christchurch 5; Technical 19 drew with Merivale 19; Linwood 21 beat Albion 20; Athletic 6 drew with Sydenham 6; Varsity 10 beat Old Boys 8. Dunedin: Kaikorai 6 beat Pirates 3; Southern 12 beat Zingari 0; Varsity A 39 beat Taieri 14; Union 9 drew with Alhambra 9; Dunedin 20 beat Varsity B CHOSEN BY CHAMPIONS—“O.B.” FOOTBALL BOOTS. .. . The Patented “O.B.” Football Boot has lightness for speed and strength, and support for solid “forward” play. Worn by the “All Blacks” in Australia, England. South Africa and France, and recommended by leading players. “The studs cannot hurt the feet.” . . . 22/6. At Sports Depots or Shoe Stores; if unobtainable write M. O’Brien and Co., Ltd., Christchurgh. for nearest retailer. —Advt.