RUGBY LEADERS UNCHANGED

Dominion, Volume 30, Issue 191, 10 May 1937, Page 11

RUGBY LEADERS UNCHANGED

Athletic and Old Boys WELLINGTON MATCHES ON SATURDAY Hutt’s Account Opened PONEKE FORWARDS TOO GOOD FOR PETONE Athletic and Wellington College 01:1 Boys are still unbeaten after Saturday's matches in the Wellington Rugby Union’s senior A championship. A strong north wind affected play in all games, but the weather remained fine. At Athletic Park 4000 people saw Old Boys run up a big score against Wellington, 26-12. The losers’ forwards were in great fettle, but the backs failed to vary their attack. In addition, half-hearted tackling allowed the Old Boys backs plenty of openings. Hutt opened their account with a good win over Marist Brothers’ Old Boys, 1614. Both teams scored all their points with the wind behind them. There was some fine open back play throughout. Poneke and Petone were well matched. In the final quarter the red and black* forwards took charge, and Poneke won 15-7. Petone threw the ball about in good style. . Wellington’s poor tackling against Old Boys was matched by that of Eastbourne, who went down to Athletic 28-14. The losers missed a number of their leading players. . ' _ The points table in the senior A first division now reads: — Athletic 8. Wellington College Old Bovs 8. Poneke 6, Eastbourne 2, Hutt 2. Marist Bros.’ Old Boys 2, Petone -, Wellington 2. Old Boys Backs Meet Poor Defence Club football is rarely played at the pace maintained by Old Boys and Wellington in their match on Saturday. From the start Wellington made the pace, and for some time hammered away at the Old Boys line. Even then the weakness of the backs became apparent —they would not vary the attack. Wonderfully served by forwards who would not be denied and who heeled the ball quickly, the. backs persisted in doing the obvious thing, so that the defence had only to be accurate to keep them out. R. Veitch at firs, five-eighths was taking some awkward passes from W. Thompson, ami letting hl. Trapp have the ball quickly. But Trapp is not a five-eighth, and L. H. Edwards, given a try-out at centre, was not happy. The amazing thing was that, finding their obvious attack easily stemmed, the backs should have persisted in it throughout the game. There were no short punts or stab kicks, and when Veitch tried to thrust through later on he met with no success. Neither were the Old Boys five-eighths, G. Reynolds and A. Wright, particularly brilliant; but they met with such atrocious tackling that their work appeared easy. In addition Reynolds got the ball so quickly from Sadler that the backs always had plenty of room. Gradually the Wellington defence faded, and the white backs succeeded with some moves that should never have gained a yard. In the second half the Wellington defence collapsed. J. Kelly, who had changed with Edwards, stood still while H. Bald win waltzed past him for a try Iwo minutes later half the team watched L>. Bvdder saunter downfield before transferring to V. Gotlieb and 10 minutes afterward Baldwin scored from a passing rush which the defene? made a halfhearted effort to stop. had a chance and made it look like child s PI S this time the Wellington forwards were playing a magnificent game, marked by constructive line-out work, solid scrummaging, and fast and eager work in the loose. Fraser Smith was m everything and he was well backed up by G. Cooper D. Almond, J. Climo, and the rest. The last three deserve special praise for their work in the front row of the scrum, and the big score was not their fault.. Old Boys forwards played their usual solid game. V. Gotlieb was outstanding in the loose and L. Bydder as usual had a finger in every pie. H. Baldwin played a headv game at centre, refusing to get his wings into trouble R. Wnglit was much better than Wellington s full-back, A Lang, who should learn to clear more quickly. Wright’s dropped goal from 4i> yards out was a beauty * The keenness of the Wellington team was pleasing, and made it doubly unfortunate that the backs should forget the finer points. Teams: — _ Wellington College Old Boys: K. Wright; J. M. Watt, H. Baldwin, H. Burns; A. Wright, G. Reynolds; B. S. Badler; J. Reynolds, L. Bydder, C. Gotlieb; H. Reynolds, R. Hardy; V. Gotlieb, J. Sounness, A. Amies. Wellington: A. Lang; J. Kelly. L. H. Edwards. D. Paterson; H. 11. Trapp, R. Veitch • W Thompson : D. A. Almond, G. Cooper, J. Climo; W. G. McLean, Fraser Smith, R. J. Coupland, C. Carlyon; D. A. Stevens. Hutt Combine Well Hutt gained their first championship points by a win against Marist in a close <mme at the Hutt recreation ground. With the wind in their favour in the first half, Hutt put on 16 points, and Marist in the second spell registered 14 points. Neither team could score against the wind. With Marist adding points, the game became very exciting in the latter stages. Five points down, a penalty kick under the posts right on time made an exciting finale. From the kick-off Hutt opened play at every opportunity. G. Posselt and A Robinson, the five-eighths, made several' good funs through the Marist defence. The Hutt pack won the ball, and the backs combined well, but often G. Posselt broke through, only to be unsupported. In the line-outs, M. Devine F. Cassidy and D. Potter played well for Hutt. Marist tried to kick high into the wind, only to keep losing ground. L. Brown, the Marist half, was slow getting the ball away. . . The second half saw exciting play. J. Ottaway replaced W. Hargreaves, who retired hurt, in the Marist pack, and gave his side a feast of the ball. L. Brown was still too slow behind the scrum, but good runs bv J. Wareham and IV. Langdon placed Marist in a good position. Play became willing, and F. Cassidy, the best Hutt forward, retired injured, being replaced by F, Edmonds. Shortly afterward the Hutt full-back, R. Evans, had to be replaced by J. Chater. The Marist backs got going in some fine rushes, with P. Sheehan, W. Langdon and E, McGreevy showing up well. The Marist pack, led by J. Ottoway, ably supported by M. Ingpen and J. Meadows, were now on top. Play was keen and fast, but the Hutt defence rallied. with the forwards, M. Devine, I. Mclntosh, and T. Corkins making some good dribbling rushes. The teams were: — . Marist Brothers’ Old Boys: .1. Sbivas, J. Wareham. E. McGreevy, L. McGreevy; P Sheehan, W. Langdon : L. Brown ; r . Tietjens, A. Tate, P. Donoghue, J. Meadows. E. J. Ropata, W. Hargreaves, M. Ingnen, W. J. O’Brien Hutt: R. Evans; J. Simpson, R. Feeney, G.' Phillips t G. Posselt. A, Rob-

inson; E. Kilmister; A. Andrews, M. Devine, A. Roberts, F. Foley, F. Cassidy, I. Mclntosh, D. Totter, T. Corking. Poneke beat Petone in Open Game A bitter northerly sweeping across the field made conditions unpleasant when Poneke and Petone met on _tbe Petone Oval, Although they won 15-7, it was not until the last quarter, when C. Ongley, Cook and C. Pringle scored in rapid succession, that Poneke had any marked advantage. In the first half J. Lambourn continually gained possession for Petone in the scrums, but although well served by C. O’Halloran, the backs could not penetrate the Poneke defence. O’Halloran was the best back on the field, and his field goal was a very neat piece of work. Just on time he secured the ball from a serum on the Poneke line, and shot round the blind side to score a well-earned try with three or 'four men hanging on to him. Ongley and Pringle wer_e the pick of the forwards, and led the Poneke pack tn many fine loose rushes. . The game opened up in the second half and play swept from one end of the field to the other, with both sets of backs showing better combination. In one great nassing rush all the Petone backs handled, and G. Thomas, coming up fast from full-back, took a pass from N. McGurk, but was forced out on the corner flag' The Poneke five-eighths, C. M. Le Quesne and J. L. Griffiths, although given •a fair share of the ball, were too well watched and seldom looked dangerous.

The teams were: — Poneke: J. Vartan; D. Bowler, Reece, Cook; C. M. Le Quesne, J. L. Griffiths; D. Hoskin; A. Culley, H. Kirsclrberg, C. Ongley E. O.’Brien, C. Pringle, Devereaux, P. Stone, B. Calcinai Petone: G. Thomas; N. McGprk, C. Hudson, South; A. Edwards, N. Edwards; C. O’Halloran; F. Anderson. J. Lambourn, T. Fuller, Howe, N. Carter, M. Mitchell, P* Cleland, F. Kean.

Eastbourne Slump in Final

Quarter

Making full use of the strong wind at the Eastbourne recreation ground, Athletic beat the home team 28-14, in a game in which the standard of Rugby was poor. Eastbourne were without the services of Fleming. D. Plank. Alexander, Guineven, and Griffiths. Up to the last 20 minutes thev were ahead, but the backs slumped badly, and allowed Athletic to add 15 points. The most disappointing feature of the game was the scrums. On almost every occasion the ball had to be put in two or thite times before it was proclaimed by the referee to be in to his satisfaction. Led by N. Dellabarca, the Eastbourne forwards played a fine game, and except for the excellent hooking of F. Mollier for Athletic, were superior throughout. Their backs, on the other hand, were weak, their tackling being poor. In fact, on two- occasions they assisted Athletic to score —once by pushing J. Thurston over the line, and on another by holding him up while he passed to Mollier. Athletic combined well. They were ably assisted by D. Mclntyre, who certainly had his kicking boots on, accounting fqr 12 points. The teams were:— » Athletic: D. Mclntyre; D. Thomson, D. Jones, R. Forbes; J. Thurston, R. Karsten; K. Mack; Kerrigan, F. Mollier, M. Cooper, J. Wells, K. Guy, L. Edwards, L. Bishop. G. Wales. Eastbourne: W. Crisp; McMumn, Orme, Walling: Berridge. J. Plank; King; Evans, Berry, K. Clarke, J. Farmer. Waite, F. Clark, Dellabarca, J. Farmer. SECOND DIVISION Pirates Open Their Account Pirates scored their first championship points in the senior A second division series with a good win over Athletic, 8-6. The forwards were the deciding factor. Johnsonville beat Wellington, 22-3, maintaining their unbeaten record, but for the first time their line was crossed. Oriental and Varsity were troubled by the wind at Kelburn Park. ■ The former won 12-10. St. Patrick’s Old Boys beat Miramar, 20-6. in a bright curtain-raiser at Athletic Park. Seventeen of the winners’ points were scored by a forward, E. Todd, who scored two tries, converted one, and kicked three penalty goals. The points table is as follows: — Johnsonville, 8; St. Patrick’s College Old Boys, 6; Oriental, 4; University, 4; Wellington, 4; Athletic, 2; Miramar, 2; Pirates, 2. Pirates Beat Athletic With Good Forward Work Hard football of reasonably good standard for this early stage of the season was sgen at Wakefield Park, when Pirates beat Athletic, 8-6. A penalty goal made the score 3-0 in favour of Pirates at halftime. The final result represents a fair indication of the run of play, except during the last quarter, when Athletic became very aggressive. The feature of the match was the powerful work done by bofh forward divisions. Pirates being particularly strong in dribbling rushes. Tichton forced his way over for a grand try, which Baillie converted. Pirates looked like holding this advantage to the finish, but Athletic got going toward the end, .Martlew and Raymond each scoring an unconverted try. Teams: —

Pirates: C. Hickling; L. Sherwood, B. Baillie, K. Drury: D. Love, R. Maisey;S. Drury; C. Mcßae, H. Still, R. Donnelly, H. Burkett, J. Koefoed, Tichton, J. McConachie, G. Jenner. Athletic: J. Boddy; A. Badland. Blue, J. Pollock; T. McCauley, Evans; L. Martlew; J. Smith, D. Pope, T. Troy, L. Anderson, Maunay, E. Chisholm, M. Raymond, M. Johnson.

St. Pat’s and Miramar in Bright Curtain-raiser

Bright and entertaining Rugby was provided in the early game at Athletic Park between St. Patrick’s College Old Boys and Miramar. Fielding a heavier back of forwards than their opponents, St. Patrick’s dominated the scrums and line-outs. Play began at a fast clip and was mainly in. Miramar territory for the first half. The second half saw some spirited attacks on the St. Pat.’s line, with the Miramar pack putting in some solid work. On more than one occasion a certain try was lost by Miramar through faulty handling among the backs, who possessed little combination.

Seventeen of St. Patrick’s 20 points were scored by E. Todd. He is an excellent type of forward, possessing weight and speed, and in the line-outs he was always conspicuous. V. Paino, on the wing, although well marked, put in some dashing runs, one of them a 50yds. break from bis own line. Hull was the outstanding forward in the Miramar pack, while Lash at fullback gave a safe display.

The teams were’ — St. Patrick’s College Old Boys.—Vile; Paino, P. O'Connor, MeCashin; McDermott, Stephenson ; Roache; Gill, Woolier, Robinson, Ready, Todd, Thurston, Kilkelly, C. O’Connor. Miramar. —Lash; Baird, Aldous, Taylor; Grennall, Cook; Buck; James, Hull. Horsfall, McManus, Catchpole, Troy, McDonald, McLennan.

Varsity and Oriental Find Wind

Troublesome

A gusty wind affected play in the Orien-tal-University match at Kelburn. With the wind in the first, half, Varsity opened in promising style, with a series, of good runs spoiled by erratic handling,

Burke, the hooker, was feeding his side well, but Buddle was not quick enough to send the backsk away before the Oriental scrum broke up. Varsity lost several opportunities of scoring during the first half. Kissell, converting a try scored by Stewart in the first five minutes, sent over a pretty kick from near the side line, in spite of the wind. Oriental were playing a hard game, marking their men closely. The Varsity backs, strong in attack but weak in defence, began to slacken toward the end of the first spell, and in the second they seldom got going. Burke went off injured, and from then on Varsity saw little of the ball. They were kept bottled up on their own ground through most of the later phases of the game, and were hard put to it to keep Oriental from reaching their line more often. Tackling On both sides was uncertain. The wind baffled Hale, kicking for Oriental, although he sent over a penalty goal late in the first half. The match, which began well, was toward the finish increasingly scrappy. The teams were: — Oriental. —Hale; Rowlands, Davies, Wakelin : Bartlett, Wilkinson : Murdoch ; Searle. Humpherson, Sinclair, Leary, Hall, Kemp, Sullivan, Renouf. University.—Kissell; Stewart, Wild ; O’Regan; McGreevy, Larkin; Buddle; Gardiner, Burke, Eustace, Rose, Meads, Hansen, Russell, Talbot.

Johnsonville in Scoring Mood

Meeting Wellington at the Johnsonville ground on Saturday, the home team added another impressive win to their record. Both back and forward the side played with dash and confidence, and but for the strenuous opposition of the Wellington forwards all through the game the score would have been bigger. Johnsonville scored right from the kick-off, but although they were almost continuously on attack, this was the only score in the first half, the wind being in Wellington’s favour. Right from the change-over, however, there was a different story, the Johnsonville forwards hooking cleanly for the backs to show up in many bright passing rushes. The whole game was fast, both sets of backs working at top speed. Wellington’s greatest weakness was at half and first five-eighth, where Chaney three times in succession found his way through a gap. Morgan and Ullrich were the best backs, their defence being particularly good, with Welsh and Kelly also in their best form. Lee, Trenchard and Bowler were Johnsonville’s best forwards, with Clay, Taylor and Dimes the most effective of the opposing side. Wellington's try, worked by chain-passing, with the centre coming round outside the wing, was the first scored against Johnsonville this season, and was a fine piece of play. The 'teams were : — Johnsonville: “Mick” Kenny; Merv. Kenny, W. Welsh, F. Kelly; G. Burns, J. Burns; E. Chaney; L. Liddle, H. Trenchard (captain), D. Grant, C. Jane, A. Kenny, J. Lee, T. Bowler, A. HalL Wellington: R. T. Morgan; E. F. Ullrich, H. E. Campton, P. R. Harvey; M. A. Dixon, P. J. Kane (captain) ; J. J. Bradlev; 11. E. Taylor. R. J. Dimes, G. O. Balfour, N. T. Jones, W. R. lizard, M. H. Clay, J. H. Bracken, J. L. Cragg. CANTERBURY TEAM TO PLAY WELLINGTON By Telegraph—Press Association. Christchurch, May 9. Following is the Canterbury Rugby team to play Wellington at Wellington next Wednesday:— Backs: G. T. Nolan, G. B. Eatborne, J. C. Pawson, D. S. Cobden, J. A. Hooper, W. G. Brooks, J. J. McAuliffe. Forwards: O. Hattersley, h. Burke, I. 0 Stace, J. G. Rankin, C. Vi illiams, 11. Milliken, K. Brown, N. J. McPhail. IN OTHER CENTRES By Telegraph—Press Association. Auckland. — Rugby championship matches resulted as follows: —Grafton 06 beat Training College 11; University 6 beat Grammar 0; Marist 2t> beat North Shore 18; Manukau 14 beat College Rifles 8; Ponsonby 20 beat Technical 9Christchurch. — University 17 beat Sunnyside 11; Merivale 13 beat “ in " wood 11; Technical Old Boys 16 beat Albion 6; Athletic 12 beat Christchurch 11; Old Boys 13 beat Sydenham 0. Dunedin. — University A 27 beat Zingari 6; Southern 30 beat Taieri ml; Dunedin 22 beat Union 9; Pirates beat University B 10. SOUTH ISLAND UNIVERSITY TEAM By Telegraph—Press Association. ClU’istchurch, May 9. The following South Island University Rugby team has been selected to meet the North Island University team at Dunedin on May 19: — „ , ~ Full-back, J. Jolly (Otago) ; threequarters, R. IV. Maskell (Otago), L._ C. McCarthey (Otago), W. V. Hadfield (Canterbury) ; five-eighths, P. B. Overton (Canterbury), R. Berghan (Otago) ; half-back, J. J.’ McAuliffe (Canterbury), captain. Forwards: Front row, G. Anderson. (Otago), W. Laney (Otago), vice-cap-tain, I. O. Stace (Canterbury) ; middle row, C. W. Mack (Otago), G. S. Walter (Canterbury) ; back row, E. Valentine (Otago), C. W. Williams (Canterbury), R. Green (Otago). Emergencies: Forward, L. T. Martin (Canterbury) ; back, R. G. Dick (Canterbury Agricultural College, Lincoln).