RUGBY

Evening Post, Volume XCVII, Issue 134, 9 June 1919, Page 4

RUGBY

GAMES ON SATURDAY

CHAMPIONSHIP MATCHES CONTINUED

Cold and rather boisterous weather prevailed on Saturday afternoon, when the Rugby senior championship matches were continued. The day's play resulted in comfortable .wins for Petone and Athletic, while 'Varsity and Selwyn played a drawn game.

PETONE v.' ORIENTAL,

It was the the general opinion, and it was fairly obvious soon after the outset, that Petone would x have little difficulty in disposing of Oriental, on No. 1 ground at Athletic Park. Oriental put up a surprisingly good fight, especially in the forward division, but they were really no match for the suburban team, who might ea6ily have won by a large margin. A lot of loose play took place after the. commencement of operations, and gradually the Petone men worked down to their opponents' territory. Here Nicholls obtained from the scrum, and the ball passing to Pole. Hamilton, and Corner in turri, the latter scored. Ambler kicked a good goal. Petone continued to' hold the upper' hand, Corner, Hamilton, Shanahan in the backs doing excellent work. A forward_ rush, in which Thomas, Love, Smilio were prominent, ended in the latter dashing over and scoring a well deserved try.

Another score came soon after the opening of the second spell. From loose play in the Oriental twenty-five, B. Thomas picked up and potted a goal. Soon it was Oriental's turn. A determined rush of the black and white forwards ended in pair scoring, but Pa-ppg made a. poor attempt to add the extra point-. The tfaine ended with the scores: Petone 14, Oriental 3. ATHLETIC (35), WELLINGTON (0).

Wellington, at tlio start of the game at Wakefield Park, put up a good fight against the Athletic combination, but they were outmatched in all departments In the second half of the game they,were constantly on the defence; and the defence was highly erratic. _ In the first spell with the sun in their eyes, Wellington kept the score down to 15 — four tries and a penalty goal—but in the second half, when the sun was no longer against them, they yet could not prevent Athletics from scoring six tries. The first Athletic score was a goal lacked by M'Cabe by a mark neatly taken .by Loveridgo. The same player marked again a few minutes latsr, but the kick was a failure. Then the Athletic backs began to make things lively. M'Cabe, a strong runner, and fast, made several good openings which won ground for his team.. The Wellington tackling was fairly clean, and the first back rushes were, stopped before the goal-line was reached; but the Athletic pressure was consistent, and finally the rightwing three-quarter, Skraeder, teored in the corner. M'Cabs made a good attempt at goal, but foiled. The next big attack was a one-man performance by Shraeder, who ran right round and crossed the line, but the referee gave his decision for touch-in-goal. Then the other wing, Chesterman, began to be dangerous. His first try was from some loose work, when. Wellington were taken unaware. Spencer's kick was jnat short of the posts. Next Loveridge, the halfback, scored neatly. The try was not converted. There were some excellent passing bouts just about this time, but they did not yield "any addition to the score. A little before half-time the forwards carried the ball over the line, and Fennessy got the try Loveridge took the kick, but did no better than the others. Early in the second spell there were two accidents. Church and diesterman. Athletic players, both crashed into the low bank at the south-west corner of the field. Chesterman was able to play after a short spell, but Church had evidently sustained a minor concussion, and had to be taken home. For the rest the game was just as Athletic wished. ■ Their backs were going like clockwork, and there was nothing on the other side to stop them. Six tries ■were scored, by Chesterman (3), M'Cabe (2), and Spencer. One try was converted by H'Cabe. The final score was thus : Athletic 35; Wellington nil Mr. Summerhayes was the referee.

SELWYN .AND UNIVERSITY DRAW.

For some unaccountable reason, a match "played on No. 2 ground, Athletic Park, rarely proves interesting, aud t"he match between Selvvyn and University was no exception to- the*rule. Both teams have been playing good football, but Saturday's exhibition was poor. Selwyn opened with the wind in their I'a.v--our, and immediately pushed' University behind the 25 line, and kept the play there for some time. From a scramble on the line, A. Logan carried tho bail over aad^gavs Selwyn an advantage of three points. The Selwyn backs were showing fairly well, although they missed several good chances of scoring, and their forwards were playing hard but loosely. The play was now mostly confined to the forwards, and there was nothing interesting. There was a good deal of tight bunching, and an unusual number of penalty kicks. The out of bounds line received most of the play, and the centre of the field was the scene of much striving by the forwards to get the ball out. University lacked their usual combination, and this was perhaps due to a change in the placing of their team. Scott was playing half, and could not get his backs going as is their wont, but after a scrummage they showed .up for once. Scott gave the ball to Jackson, who ran. Barker received the ball from him and scored between the posts. Beard failed to convert, and the score stood 3 all when half-time was called. University were held by Selwyn in the second spell, although they had the wind with them, and the game as a whole continued to be scraggy. Scott kicked a good goal from a penalty for University shortly after Peart had scored for Selwyn. The score, ■ 6 all, had not altered when the whistle blew. Mr. Bailey controlled tho game.