WELLINGTON MAINTAIN RUGBY LEADERSHIP

Dominion, Volume 32, Issue 235, 3 July 1939, Page 11

WELLINGTON MAINTAIN RUGBY LEADERSHIP

Record Crowd Sees Petone Beaten In Gruelling Game THREE TEAMS LEVEL IN SECOND PLACE; HUTT IMPROVE A record crowd for the present Rugby season, and easily the largest for years, saw Wellington- defeat Petone at Athletic Parkon Saturday after a gruelling, and at times, highly spectacular game. Results were:— Wellington 13, Petone 8. Athletic 25, St. Patrick’s College 0.8. 8. Johnsonville 6, Poneke 3. Hutt 18, College Old Boys 15. Marist Bros. 0.8. 13, Eastbourne 6. Oriental 9, University 8. Athletic, Johnsonville and Marist Brothers 01d Boys are now assured of inclusion in the first six teams for the second round. Hutt showed a return to form by deating College Old Boys. University’s winning sequence was halted by Oriental.

rositlons of the Teams. Following are the positions of the teams

Next Saturday's fixtures are: Athletic v. Petone, Athletic Park, 2.45 p.m.; University v. St. Pat’s College Old Boys, Athletic Park, 1.15 p.m.; College Old Boys v. Eastbourne, Eastbourne; Hutt v. Wellington, Hutt; Johnsonville v. Marist Bros. Old Boys, Johnsonville; Poneke v. Oriental, Polo Ground. Petone Monopolize Ball But

Lack Penetration

‘Wellington beat Petone because of the greater efficiency of their backs and the elever bunting of their forwards in the loose, giving a dazzling display in the first 15 minutes to secure eight points while the ball was dry. It was Petone’s failure to settle down in the early stages that cost them the game. Thereafter they were definitely masters in scrums and rucks, monopolizing possession, but they lacked the penetrative ability of their opponents. Their monopoly of the ball served more as a foil to their opponents than as an attacking weapon for themselves.

Wellington's first try came from a dazzling movement. The second try was highly-- spectacular, but Stevens appeared to knock on before crossing under the posts. Thereafter the Petone forwards settled down to give a great display but the backs could not capitalize this good work. The side’s eight points came from a lucky try when a defender missed forcing the ball and from a penalty goal. The greasy ball took the edge off the play in the second spell, which proved gruelling. Wellington scored from a loose rush, Fulton outpacing the defence to dive over under-.the posts and give his side a Well-merited win.

Taylor was in magnificent form at fullback, and the whole Wellington rearguard shaped well, Fulton being brilliant at times. The forwards were shaded in scrums and the tight but were effective in the loose, Stevens and Cooper being outstanding. Pollock was the star Petone back. Dougan impressed with his grand tackling of Sherratt. Lambourn easily outhooked Kirschberg. McCarthy, Donaghue, Tegg and Griffen were grand workers in a firstclass' pack. Sherratt, Stevens and Fulton scored for Wellington. Taylor converting two tries. Griffen scored for Petone, Pollock converting the try and kicking a penalty goal. * Referee: Mr. T. G. Taylor. ■ i Bright Football Under Wet Conditions The feature of the match in which Marist Brothers Old Boys beat Eastbourne, was the way both sides threw the ball about under wet conditions. Marist were particularly enterprising in this regard, and took plenty of risks. The teams were well matched on the day, but the play ragged. Though Marist have a better record this season than Eastbourne, it was a game which Eastbourne had a good chance of winning, but the latter did not shape like the team which held Wellington so close the previous Saturday. There were times when the game was overkeen, and the referee had to speak to individuals on both sides twice. The Marist backs handled well, and were seen in plenty of enterprising rushes. They tried a number of “blackboard” play experiments, none of which got far till the ball came from Brown, half-back, to Fitzgerald, to O’Malley, who passed infield to McGreevy, who came in from the wing and passed to Vile to score. It was a brilliant effort.

N. Dellabarca (Eastbourne) was the best forward on the ground. Sanson gave another safe display as full-back for Eastbourne, with Gill at first five-eighth, the most enterprising and bard-working back. Vile, at centre, was the best of the [Marist backs. McGreevy, wing, Fitzgerald and O’Malley, five-eighths, were also prominent. The forwards on either side did not include any slackers.

McGreevy, Vile and Fitzpatrick scored tries for Marist, O’Malley converting two. Walling and Archer scored tries for Eastbourne. Referee: Mr. J. Gilchrist.

Oriental Win By Margin Of One Point

A good following of supporters of both clubs at Kelburn Park saw Oriental beat University by 9 points to 8 in a highly-ex-citing game in which the issue was in doubt till the final whistle sounded. A sharp shower shortly after play started made the ground and ball greasy, but a really good display of Rugby was seen. The forwards packed well, worked honestly in line-out and ruck, and showed that dribbling is by no means a lost art. The backs handled the greasy ball well and some bright passing movements were nipped in the bud by resolute tackling, which was the feature of the game. The Oriental forwards paved the way for the first try, heeling to Dwyer for Burgess to race over. Kissel evened the scores with a penalty goal. Then followed some stirring duels between the packs. Ansley was injured and was replaced by Caulton. Jack scored Oriental’s next try after a splendid combined movement which covered half the length of the field, and Oriental led 6-3 at half-time. jack, who had injured a shoulder in the first spell, was replaced by Rowlands after half-time. The Varsity forwards went well" after the interval. From a scrum Rae shot the ball out to Young, who outpaced the opposition to score in a handy position for Rae to convert. There was great excitement when Burgess put Oriental ahead again by kicking a penalty goal from near the sideline. University made desperate efforts to get the lead, but the Oriental backs defended gallantly, and there was no further were. Referee: Mr. B. Matthews.

Hutt Show Return To Earlier Form After a series of defeats Hutt came into their own again by beating Wellington College Old Boys 18-15 at the Hutt recreation ground. It was a closelyfought game, but Hutt were the better team on the day, and had it not been for foolish mistakes they would have won by a bigger margin. Possession' and the superiority of the Hutt backs were the deciding factors. Hutt won a majority of the scrums and their backs kept Old Boys on the defensive for long periods in -both spells. H. Whitcher. the half-back, maintained a good service from the scrum, and all the backs played soundly, if not spectacularly. The ball did not often go to Gray, the Old Boys half-back, but when it did he was often caught by the Hutt forwards before he could get it away. Reynolds and Baldwin both went quite well, but Pocknall, at centre, was uncertain, and Wright and Burns, the wings, scarcely saw the ball. A feature of the game was the good dribbling of both packs. Old Boys’ only try came from a splendid dribbling rush in which Crawford-Smith and _ Waller were prominent, the latter scoring. RHardie, the Old Boys captain, played good football till he received a shoulder injury and had to go off. He was replaced by J. Reynolds. The best of the Hutt forwards were Guy. Cassidy and Kemp. For Hutt tries were' scored -by Phillips (2) and Kemp (2). Duffy converted one and Sargisson kicked a field goal. For Old Boys Waller scored a try, Baldwin kicked two penalty goals, and Picot kicked a field goal. Referee: Mr. A. C. Swan.

Johnsonville Win In Last Few Minutes

Johnsonville managed to -beat Poneke, weakened because of absentees, only in the last few minutes of play.

The game was a hard and even one throughout, with the deciding factor the fine all-round play of the Burns brothers. J. Burns gave his backs a good supply of the ball, but it seldom reached the threequart?r line. , Poneke were solid on defence, and marked their men very well, and the Poneke forwards, with V. and L. Calcinai and T. Hegglun in the lead, were very fast on to any dropped pass, and proved superior to Johnsonville in -pace and dash in the loose. As the ball became heavier, the game developed into a tight forward struggle and here Johnsonville had the advantage, A. Kenny, H. Carrodus and D. Thomson playing very well. In the first spell Johnsonville were generally on attack. The first try was scored by J. Burns when he followed through smartly, after G. Ivamy had punted, to pick up and break through Roberts’ tackle and touch down. Winter evened the scores for Poneke with a try after D. Calcinai had made a good opening. The second spell was strenuously fought and a draw appeared likely. In the final few minutes, Johnsonville pressed hard, J. Burns going over for a try from a scrum. Referee: Mr. J. S. King.

Heavy Athletic Pack Dominates Game

The battering force of a considerably heavier forward pack than that of their opponents wag principally responsible for Athletic’s defeat of St. Patrick’s Old Boys by 25-8. The Athletic pack, which must be one of the heaviest in Wellington senior Rugby, took the offensive throughout the match. In spite of the odds against them, St. Patrick’s gave a very fine exhibition. As a team, they gave a more interesting display thah d’id Athletic, the try scored for them by McDonald being the highlight of the afternoon's play. Honours for kicking went to Athletic’s full-back, Auld. He scored with some great penalty goals, one being taken from near the line almost on the half-way mark. St. Patrick’s attempted to keep the game open, the only tactics possible for them with such heavy opponents. _ The greasy state of the ball resulted, in the effectiveness of this plan, being diminished, though the St. Patrick’s backs handled surprisingly well in the circumstances.. At half-time, the score was 9-3 in Athletic’s favour. When the second half began, it appeared that St. Patrick’s might hold them, but as the spell progressed. Athletic got complete control of the ball, and in spite of a great defence, did much as they liked. Athletic’s score came from trios- by Guinevin, Watson, Badland, and Wales, and three penalties by Auld. Auld also converted two tries. 'McDonald scored for St. Patrick's. Todd converted this and kicked a penalty. Referee: Mr. T. E. Cole.

Team's Tribute. Members of the Petone senior team wore white arm-bands on Saturday as a mark of respect to one of their forwards. White, who was an absentee, his mother having died on Friday.

Crowd at Athletic Park. The crowd at Athletic Park on Saturday was estimated at approximately 10,000. Had Wellington, the better attacking side, seen more of the ball, the game would probably have been highly spectacular. As it was, it was most interesting, with Petone doing their best to keep the ball away from their speedy opponents.

Taylor and Pollock. Many fine full-back displays have been seen at Athletic Park this season, but it is doubtful if any has excelled that of two All Blacks, J. M. Taylor (Wellington) and 11. R. Pollock (Petone). Many tongues were sot wagging about comparisons. Many of the comments one hears arc hardly fair to Taylor. Unless he stands head and shoulders above those in the same position on the opposite side, the tendency is to underrate him. Hie test should be his service to hi« team. Taylor never let his team down. His forwards never had to worry. Once in the. face of Petone forwards charging after a high kick, Taylor spectacularly leapt into the air to secure the ball. He was dumped heavily, rind was very dazed, but the rush was stopped. When Pollock took over the role of full-back for Petone. after the retirement of Symons, he gave a first-class display. Little better from two full-backs has been seen nt Athletic Park for years.

in the senior first division:— Points Ch. W. 11. L. K. A. pts. Wellington ........ 9 0 1 162 84 18 Petone 7 0 3 128 14 Athletic 6 2 2 165 87 14 Johnsonville 7, 0 3 130 82 14 Marist Bros. O.B. .. 6 13 98 89 13 Poneke 5 14 120 103 11 Hutt 4 1 5 IOS 130 9 College Old Boys .. 4 15 126 116 9 University 3 16 85 130 7 Oriental 2 2 6 105 136 6 Eastbourne 2 0 8 76 159 4 St. Pat’s Coll. O.B. 0 19 73 193 1