RUGBY

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 150, 26 June 1915, Page 17

RUGBY

(By "Drop-kick.") ATHLETIC STILL' WIN.

Athletic have done very well m senior championship games so far, but it was expected that Oriental would give them a run for victory last Saturday. In the early stages of the game this seemed possible, but Athletic are not an eaay team to defeat. They are a team, not an aggregation of individuals, and in that lies their strength. Of course there are individual members of the fifteen who are more valuable than others j but no individual is indispensable. It is never a case of Wilson and fourteen others or Heley and fourteen others. A good man may drop out or be off his best form ; but the other players are there, striving, and generally successfully, to make up for any individual deficiency. Last Saturday thie particnlar strong point of the team was exemplified through the absence of Hefey, who has gone to the camp at Trentham. Heley was always a tower of strength for Athletic when it came to scoring. His_ lightning dashes for the line are familiar to followers of Rugby, and it might have been expected that his absence would have been felt to a great extent. His place was taken by Leslie Wilson, one of the well-known Athletic family. He has been playing junior, and has done good work in that grade, but it would have been expecting a great deal to think that he would fill Heley's position. However, lie did remarkably ■welL He is on the small side, lithe and swift. Also, he find* S»& line well when necessary, and is not afraid to dohis share of defending. But even had a less capable substitute been available Athletic would have won the match, for their combination has rarely been in better working order. Their defensive work was fine; the kind of defence which aims at putting an opposing team off the attack as soon as possible. When the Athletic goal was endangered, as it was on frequent occasions in the first quarter of an hour, Robinson took an active part in clearing the line. S. Wilson was also seen, rescuing the ball from the forwards as he has the knack of doing, and sending a high kick to the Tine before his opponents could get close to him. Athletic in the attack did not uso their backs so much as they generally do. The ground was more suited to forward play, and Oriental were strong in good tacklers. But the blue forwards were quite on their game. A. Wilson, of coarse, was prominent. THE TRENTHAM BOYS. The departure of the sth Reinforcements has seriously affected the Trentham A team, no fewer than four of their players— Downing, Adams, Pilkey, and Paul— having gone away. As a result, much difficulty was experienced in mustering fifteen players to meet the C team at Trentham last Saturday. The unfavourable conditions gave some players an inclination to keep to the khaki, but there were others more enthusiastic, and when the two teams got into working order they kept the large band of onlookers interested. In the matter of losing players, the C team was nofc so unfortunate as their opponents. Play in the early stages of the game was of a scrappy nature, but gradually the players settled down to business, and by the time the second half was reached the participants were putting every ounce of willingness into the game. Notwithstanding -the greasy turf, the backs, more so on the part of the A team, indulged in passing rushes. If these did not have the desired result they at least covered much ground, there being some good sprinters in the rearguard. In these rushes there .were two men always prominent — Taylor, the A's half-back who played a rattling game behind the pack, and Teddy Roberts, concerning whom little need be said, as his capabilities are known quite well enough. Lynch was also a tower of strength to the A's, but the changes in the team had evidently upset calculations to some extent, as the bupport afforded the players mentioned was not what it might have been with the team at its full strength. The forwards kept -well together, and their play was probably superior to that of the opposing vanguard, although there was not very much to pick and chodse between either pack. One notable absentee from the C's forwards was J. Barber, who went away with the sth. Otherwise the team was practically at its normal strength, but it was not until the closing stages of the game that it put forth its whole energy. At one stage the C's were six points down, and with the A's playing with plenty of dash, the hurdle seemed very great. But the reds settled down and matters were soon evened up. Then a final spurt by the A's seemed to change the state of affairs entirely, until, at the critical moment, the reds broke through and away they went to the other end of the field, where Wilson, one of the C's mainstays, snatched victory for his team just before the whistle sounded. Weston was of equal value in helping his team to gain the well-deserved victory, while a similar compliment must be paid to French, the big forward, and Cameron, five-eighths. Gair and Baker also shone out at times. The resnlt of this game places the Trentham Q team in a very favonrable position on the championship ladder, there being only two teams, Athletic and Petone, ahead of them. There is also another fact in their favour. While Athletic have each played five matches Trentham have playod one less. WELLINGTON SHOW IMPROVEMENT. Wellington, with two defaulters from their ranks, comd scarcely have taken the field against a team like Petone with any other feelings than those of men who are out to make the best of a bad job. In this sort of spirit they battled gamely right through and allowed the home team no runaway victory. What Petone got they had to fight for. There is little doubt that Wellington are improving. Their weakness is still their back division, where they lack weight and experience. That they have been able to do so well is due to the splendid fettle and gameness of the backbone members of tlio team. Their rearrankers showed up better in the second half, but in the first seemed to have rather too much awe of the big blues, and tackled weakly, and kicked without method. Fra-ncis and Beard both played et.yHnh football, *ad ScitU, <t yot»as f*"' 1 »ml, shewed -tscedlcst- settle,, Itfagr

well, also, did his full share of work. Millar, though not prominent, did much useful work. Beard, with better eup2jort, would twice have scored. His dash was exceptional. Throughout the day, also, his line-kicking was very fine. Francis went back to five-eighths at halftime, and the attacking combination of his opponents palpably suffered from his hefty tackling and rush-stopping capacity. He was a most useful man. A BRIGHT AND INTERESTING GAME. While chief interest centred upon the Athletic-Oriental game on No. 1 ground at Athletic Park, a brighter and more interesting contest was witnessed on the other ground, where Uni- ! versity defeated Selwyn by a narrow margin. Earlier in the season the back division was the strong point of the 'Varsity team, but on Saturday it was the forwards who won for them the match. They kept tip a great pace throughout the game, and in both loose and tight work were superior to their opponents, particularly in the former. It was noticeable, however, that, when they overran the ball, they showed a tendency to play off-side instead of getting round behind. Greville was a particularly noticeable offender, and was lucky in not being penalised for it. This player, however, together with Meldrum, Stewart, and Beard, did a large proportion of the forward work. The linekicking of Beard was very consistent throughout, and was at times brilliant. He was given many opportunities, for infringements on the part of Selwyn were very frequent, due chiefly to offside play in the forwards. The University backs played a very fair game individually, but did not combine at all well, bu£ of course the day was one in which brilliant back combination could scarcely be expected. On the whole they handled the ball well, and executed their passes neatly. Riley, at full-back, in spite of the fact that He had to retire temporarily through an injury to his head, played a splendid game, and besides being sure with his taking, found the line without fail. Kew, at five-eighth, gave his best exhibition to date, but should not keep the ball too long. On one occasion this lost a certain try. Crisp is still in good form, and Little, at centre, is very safe. University have two very speedy wing three-quarters — O'Sullivan and Lys, but they were not given very many opportunities. The Selwyn team appeared to be disorganised in their attack, but the defence left little to be desired. Among the forwards, De Clifton, Cooper, Price, and M'Phee were the most prominent. They were better in the tight than in the loose, and, as mentioned before, are inclined to play off-side. In the backs, I Williamson, Flack, and M 'Donald had a good deal to do, and acquitted themselves very creditably. "Algy" Thomas, who played at full-back, is still very sound in that position. NO " BEG PARDONS! " The exhibition of Rugby provided by the match between Trentham B and Poneke at the Lower Hutt last Saturday was so exhilarating that it partially compensated for cold hands and frozen feet. But one feature marred a _ fast, snappy game. It . was the persistent questioning of the referee's rulings by one of the Trentham lads, who seemed to overlook the fact that the controller of the game had been reluctantly pressed into service at the last moment, because the referee selected did not turn up and because he did not want to see players and spectators alike disappointed. The chief bone of contention was the referee's insistence on the line being straight across instead of on the angle, and in the interval this led to an animated argument. Included in the soldiers' team were four of the players who made the trip to Auckland. They were Ross (half), Murray (centre three-quarter), Smart (lock), and Clare (hooker), and as [ there were other redoubtable men in the Trentham team their chances looked good. Although the game was drawn there is little doubt that for most of the time Trentham held the advantage. For the most part play was of a fast, open description, with little back play, i This was partly due to the fact that the j sodden ground prevented any really fast sprinting. There was little to choose between the weight of the packs, and towards the close, when both teams were putting the last ounce into it to avert a draw, there were no " beg pardons." One, of the hardest grafters on the field was Murray, the skipper of the Trentham team, who played in the centre of the three-quarter line. Ho is of the aggressive type of player, and was always well to the fore in the attack, while his defence was safe and sound. Arneil, the full-back, and Healey and M'Grath played a solid game, while Ross, the half-back, sustained his reputation as a dodgy, active player behind the pack.

Lieut. Wilkes, Denize, Smart, and Clare were some of the mainstays among the soldiers' ftont-rankers. SCHOOL COMPETITION. The chief interest for the week centred, in the meeting of South Wellington and Terrace, who were bracketed last year for the championship. South Wellington proved to be much the weightier fifteen, but although thsy scored 16 points against nil, the game was a fairly even one. The South Wellington team as a whole is a good one, judged by the standard of school football. The forwards are really better than the backs, and the school owes its present position in the championship to them. As a scoring back Jones is probably the best boy playing school football. He is fast i and runs in a determined manner, and his weight makes him hard to stop. Vince, a-t full-back, is the weakest member of the backs. The only boy who has a real good idea of tackling is Charles, at five-eighths. It really is a great treat to see the way he takes his opponent, and he has a good idea of making an opening. Gibson, his brother five-eighths, is speedy, and a dangerous boy near the_ line. Warwick, at half, is an improving player with some football brains. Of the forwards Thomas at wing 1 is a hard worker, but it is almost impossible to pick out any outstanding boy. Elliott perhaps is the next best. The forwards are good in the loose. They should learn in line-out work to pack round the spot where the ball goes in and not to waste quite so much time before doing so. This weakness was -apparent in their last game— and they as a pack are inclined to allow most of the work to one or two who are always prominent in rushes. Still they play good football, and in a good spirit, hard, but not roughly. This is due to the master, who is responsible for their coaching, and the team owes its success to his efforts. Unfortunately, they are shortly to lose his services. The Terrace team is weak compared with that of former years, particularly in the backs. They play very fair football, however, but want very much a good scoring man. Clapham is easily the best back; he has plenty of dash, and is smart with the ball. M'Millan, who is a new boy, shows some promise, but should put more dash into his play. Y'onng, Darling, Cavell, and Irvine are all very light, i but play ,very fair games. The latter, ] however, should make no mistake about I his tackling, and go low every time. | The Terrace forwards are the strong point of the team. Rose, at wing forward, is about the best. Wilson does a good deal in the loose, but is not as useful as a, boy of his size should be on the line-out. Baldwin and^ Aston play well at times, but the latter should be on the ball the whole time, and not be spasmodic in his play. The defeat of Terrace leaves South Wellington the only undefeated senior team, with Petone West and Terrace I .with one defeat each. Mount Cook and Newtown had a very even game, but neither team played with any dash, with the result that the game was a very poor one.