FIELD SPORTS

Evening Post, Volume LXXXVII, Issue 128, 1 June 1914, Page 4

FIELD SPORTS

THREE FAST RUGBY GAMES WELLINGTON VICTORIOUS OVER ORIENTAL NO TRY SCORED BY DEFEATED TEAMS. Wellington (8), v. Oriental' (0). Petone (3), v« University (0). Athletic (39), v. St. James (0). Melrose (6), v. Poneke (0). The heavy rainfall early on Saturday afternoon did not prevent ' the public from attending in large numbers at Athletic Park, chief interest being aroused in the matcli between Wellington arid Oriental. The ground was in a very slippery condition, and made anything like combined passing work by the backs impossible, but, even with this feature missing, the contest 'proved an exhilarating one from the "point of view of the spectators, the nuggety Wellington forwards playing with such - dash that Oriental were the losers by 8 points to 0. On No. 2> ground. the struggle between University and Petone' provided a fast, interesting. display — as far as the second spell was concenied-*"&nd had it been 'Varsity's lucky day * they could not have helped scoring. Betone were the first to register, a try, and, as events afterwards turned, out, it was the only score in the-rmatch, the second spell proving pointless. ' At Mirahiar Athletic easily romped over Sjt. • James by 39 to 0j while at Petone .Melrose defeated Poneke, after v an even contest, by 6 to 0.

I PETONE (3) v. UNIVERSITY (0). The match between Petone and University was inclined to be dull in the first half, but in the second spell provided quite a lot of excitement for the onlookers. For the first forty minutes play was fairly even, both sides taking a turn on the defence alternately, with Petone holding the advantage. Uni- | versity, in spite of the condition of the ground, essayed a few passing rushes, assisted by Simm behind the scrum, but were unable to make much, headway. The only try .(scored by Petone) came just on the call "of half-time. Petone had attacked vigorously, and a fast, loose rush ended in the ball rolling over tho greens' line, Lindsay scoring. M'Farlane failed to kick an easy goal owing to the greasi- : ness of the ball. The second _ spell i opened briskly, University making a series of hot attacks on their' opponents' I goal-line, and Petone being in serious troublo on several occasions. J. Ryan, wijbh -his nsuaJ dash, diverted danger mqre than once, but the greens continued the- pressures, That they did not manage to score was due to sheer bad # lucK. They had far the better of 'the spell, both in forward and back work, and twice in quick succession managed to work the ball over the line. On each occasion} however, a Petone man got there first , and a force-down was all that happened. No addition was made to the points in tho second half, and the game ended : i Petone 3, University 0. Mr. 8> Fordyce was referee. ' ATHLETIC v. ST.I JAMES. All through/ the game the Athletic team had decidedly the best of it. In fairness to St. James 'it might be mentioned that five of tho^ fifteen players picked failed to turn up, and substi* tutes had to be selected on the ground. In the first spell tries were scored by Adama, Evenson, Paton, G. Osborne, and J. Osborne. None of the tries were converted, the ball being greasy and the wind unfavourable. In the second spell the St. Jattie's line was crossed by Murphy, Ranji Wilson, Healey, Adams, and Robinson (2). Two of the tries were converted by Adams and one by Madden. The final score was 39 points to nil. In the loose rushes the Athletic forwards galloped oVer their opponents, who were too light and probably hardly in such good condition. The passing of I the Athletic backs was a feature of the | game. The contest was played in, good spirit, and the task of Mr. J. SBnes (who acted as, referee) was a comparatively easy one. WELLINGTON (8) v. ORIENTAL (0). A good vigorous forward game iri the mud was the«match between Wellington and Oriental. The slightly more vigorous and better trained pack won by, 8. points to nil. Wellington were lucky, ' but tliey put enough vim into their play to deserve the only try scored. This* was converted, and the other three of the eight points came from a penalty kick for an infringement, which a section of the crowd deemed' to have been punished too severely. . The first spell was ' even and produced no score. . Wellington, on the whole, had the better of it, and their forwards showed an all-round con- | dition and energy which earned them a superiority. It was impossible to do , much behind the pack, as the ball was wet and tli£ ground slushy. The fine defensive work of Bridge, Wellington's full-back, undoubtedly contributed very materially to the victoryr With ball and ground in the state ithey -Were Biidge's performance was conspicuously good. He both fielded and kicked well, and this discouraged the Oriental for--, wards, all of whom were not quite up to the standard. Behind the scrum ill the second Oriental showed a ' distinct) improvement and fairly battered the last line of the Wellington defence, trying with old-time Oriental tactics every point and swinging from sid» to stdo ifi quick succession. However, they just fell short of a score, luck helping Wei*' lington in their time of need. The try which practically ' gave Wellington thei game was a good one.' 1 Wellington had by this lime almost given up the back game and backs were using their feet like forwards. Grace, near mictfiekl, dribbled out of the ruck, followed up it short kick, and over-ran and beat Shaw, the Oriental fu'.'-back, kicking the ball again. Courtney was convoying Grace, arid coming up with a spurt managed to grab the slippery leather and slide over the line, with opponents hanging to his legs. Drake made no mistake with' the kick. Wellington pressed again, and obstruction by an Oriental forward was penalised, by a free-kick to the yellows. Again Drake came to light and made tiie points 8 against nil. The remainder of the game was- Orientals', and a strenuous struggle they made of it, but all without avail. For the first time for some "years they had to confess judgment to Wellington. There was no further score, the final being s Wellington 8, Oriental 0. Mr.'W. J. Meredith was referee. PONEKE GO UNDER. TO MELROSE. That the capabilities of the Melrose team are much in advance of what they have appeared was demonstrated by thendefeat of Poneke {it Petone on Saturday afternoon. Right from the initial whistle both teams settled down to wxk t and

throughout the spirit of the players "was determination. The heavy ground prevented any ,fast play in the back divisions, but lack of this was made up by the forwards. Despite the strenuous efforts to score, neither side had registered any points when half-time Bounded. For the most jwrt the reds were kept, on the defensive, and successfully staved off the attempts of Gilchrist., Moore, Sullivan, Spearman, and Co., to score. Ponekc rallied early .in the second spell, but were gradually worn down by the Melrose pack, and from this out the game was all in {favour of the blues. After many unsuccessful attempts to score Gilchrist crossed, the line, and was followed shortly afterwards by Cashman. The game ended with Blelrose victors by 6 points to nil. Mr. F. Larvvay was referee. JUNIOR • Selwyn (28) defeated Athletic (0). THIRD CLASS. Petone defeated Berhampore by 14 points to nil. - FOURTH CLASS. St. James (14) defeated Hutt (II). Petone beat Wellington by 23 points to 3. IN OTHER CENTRES (81 TELEGRAPH— SPECIAL TO THE POST.) CARTERTON, 30th May. In the senior Rugby championship, Carterfxm drew with Gladstone (no score), and Dalefield juniors , defeated Cartertoii by 6 to 3. (8? TELEOIUPII.— PRESS ASSOCIATION.) AUCKLAND, 30th May. At Rugby, City (21) beat Parnell (0)— the latter abandoning the game at halftime ; College Rifles (8) beat University (3) ,- and Ponsonby (9) beat Marist Broe.,(8). ( PALMERSTON N., 30th May. In the senior grade, results were :—: — Feilding (3) v. Western (0) ; United (13) v. Oriental (3). PAHIATUA, 31st May. Bush Rugby Union championship matches played on Saturday resulted as follow : Seniors — Mangatainoka (9) defeated| Nireaha (6) ; Konini and Hamua played a drawn game, no score resulting. Juniors — Ballance (9) defeated Pahiatua (8) ; Konini bea£ Mangamaire. MASTERTON, 31st May. In the senior Rugby football yesterday Carterton and Gladstone played a draw, neither side scoring. Red Star (3) defeated United (nil). In the juniors Red Stars defeated Gladstone by 30 points to nil. Red. Stars defeated Martinborougb. in the third class match by 3 points to nil, CHRISTCHURCH, 30th May. Merivale (6) beat Sydenham (5) ; ChHstchurch (14) beat Mansts (12) ; Old Boys (13) beat Albion (3); Linwood (8) drew with 'Varsity (8). DUNEDIN, 30th May. Kaikorai (8) v. "University (6) ; Zingari (14) v. Alfiambra (0) ; Southern (23) v. Pirates (3); Union (6) v. Poi-t (5). RANFURLY SHIELD tarAnakts prospects of retailing it. reported *to be good. (BT TELEGRAPH— SPECIAL TO THE POST.) NEW -PLYMOUTH, 30th May. > Interest in Rugby is well maintained in Taranaki this season, the acquisition *of the Rauiurly Shield having had a very healthy effect. The cow country is keen to Tetain the time-honoured trophy/ and if her* representatives lose if this geason.it will, not 'be without a stern struggle. Present indications point to a strong team taking the field. The forwards are about on 'a par with those of last seasoni while the- backs, who are dangerous on attack aaid fairly solid on defence, are «ome few degrees superior tp'the Shield-winning contingent. • Dick Roberts, who made the trip to California, and about whom thera was considerable diversity of • opinion as to whether he was going to play for Marist Brothers at Auckland, is now out with hi» old club at^Okaiaway and will take part in the defence of .the Shield. Recently,' however, he underwent a nasal operation, and it is questionable whether Hie will be anxious to make the Australian trip. M'Leod, ex-representative skipper, has retired from the game, and Don Cameron has also definitely, given Rugby I best. Young, theex-Wellingtonian, who is playing for the Stratford Club, will find a place on the three-quarter line, and, on present form, is likely to retain it. Satisfaction is also expressed at Coleman's reappearance after a season's spell on the bank, and it is generally accepted that he will make a more solid full-back than Hill, who is now in Auckland Young, the'Waimate lock, has also come back to the game to fill that po&ition, but there is no forward in the team, to take the place of Tamu, who was noted in some quarters as Ne\y Zealand's best forward, Whose untimely death occurred, come months ago. f> The familiar faces of Hawkins, Dewar, Cain, Whittington, Ward, and Kissick will again be seen in the forward division, and that formidable quartet of backs, comprising Brown, J. Stohr, S. Cameron, and G. L'ov'eridge, will also again take the field. This year's B representative team' are spoken of as a 1 very good crew, and there will thus be plenty of promising material with which to fill any defections that may occur in the A Tanks. Taranaki's representatives have a big programme in front of them this season, and already, they are committed to about a dozen matches. • > WELLINGTON v. MAORIS 0 'both teams selected. Messrs. J. 'Lyii'skey, O. G. Kember, and C. Griffiths have selected'the following representative Wellington team to play against Mr. W. E: Parata's Maori team at Athletic Park, on Wednesday, 3rd June : Full-back, Evenson (Athletic) ; three-quarters, Faire (University), J. Ryan, captain (Petone), and Grace (Wellington); five-eighths, Tilyard (Poneke) and P. J. Ryan (University); half, Nunn (Petone); wing- forward, Miller (Wellington); forwards, Francis (Wellington), Sullivan (Melrose), - Ranji Wilson (Athletic), Beard (University), Bell (Athletic), Cotter (Wellington), and Mahoney (Poneke). ' EmergenciesBacks, Algar (Poneke) and E. Ryan (Petone); forwards, Kyne (Oriental). and King (Poneke). MR. PARATA'S SELECTION. (BY TELKQIUPH SPECIAL TO THE POST.) ' ROTORUA, This Day. Mr. Parata's team will be as follows : Backs— Tui'ei, Ryland, Grace, Rawiri, Woods, Rogers, Taiaroa; forwards, Tresize, Sellars, M'Donald,, French, Jacobs, Morgan, Gemmell, and Vercoe. NEW SOUTH WALES v. QUEENSLAND THE FORMER WINS. (By Telegraph. '-Press Association.— Copyright.) ' BRISBANE, 31st May. The inter-State football .match, New South Wales v. Queensjand, was playt ed here yesterday, and resulted in a win for New South ".Wsilub by 20 points to , 16. _ '" ' ' „ ■ v-

Played. Won. Lost. Drawn. Pts for. Pts agst. Ch. pts.

Athletic 5... 4 4 0 Wellington „,4 4 0 Oriental .... 4 2 2 Foneke „< &.? 4 2 2 Petone „» ' ., T .« 4 2 2 Melrose •*,-. 4 2 2 University M 1 0 4 St. JamejJ * *< 4 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 95 9 8 45 22 8 52 26 4 32 47 4 45 33 4 35 30 4 17 45 0 8 115 0