INTER-ISLAND MATCH

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 31, 6 August 1923, Page 10

INTER-ISLAND MATCH

Hard struggle in rain and : ".' •;. MUD

SATISFACTORY RESULT—A DRAW,

: ; The meeting of North and South on • ihe field of play is an event from which ' Something out of the ordinary is gener- : expected, and tha big Rugby clashes •in recent years have fulfilled expecta- ; iions. There is no need to go into deC Jails, .other _than. to recall the two senZ iational. tries by Steel four years ago, ..' and the splendid expositions last year and the year before. North met South a"am at Athletic Park on Saturday afternoon, and the "game was so much out of the ordinary that it will live long .. in the minds of those who witnessed it ; Jvnd more vividly in the minds of those • yrho were the actual contestants. In ; to a trial of strength .between • ■the"Wo Islands, it was to introduce " JBany players whom the selectors re- • Jjarcfed aslikely aspirants for the inter- • qiational matches in which New Zealand • -will be engaged this season and next. ; 35ut the elements looked down unkindly ' on the event, and set themselves out to - be as bad as they possibly could for the .' 'day. Friday was an ideal day, and yesterday nearly so, but on Saturday the b weather conditions were at their worst, from the point of view of football. Rain fell steadily throughout the day, and ' -made the ground at Athletic. Park so . (sodden as to be ahnost unfit for play; ; but there could be no postponement, and • so it was that this year's North-South • match was out of the ordinary—a strug- ; gle in rain and mud, with the latter ' more in evidence than on the memor- • -able occasion two years ago when the " Springboks" had their final Test with ; cSfew Zealand on one of Wellington's (worst days. The teams on' Saturday ; look 'the' field in the neat raiment sig- ; nifying North and South, and their appearance was attractive as they lined up ' "to cheer each other and the GovernorGeneral; but they emerged from the struggle a sorry spectacle, every man besmirched with maid from head to foot, and almost unrecognisable. Over six thousand people watched those players in their efforts to play Rugby under impossible conditions; they watched them ploughing through mud and sliding in it, guided in their efforts by an elusive ball, attracted more often than not, as if by some magnetic force, to the biggest mud-pool on the field, and the spec- • tators were entertained, for many of the incidents were laughable, and" the ; appearances of the players after becom- ; ing smothered in mud certainly were. • But there was an issue at stake, and ; that the spectators never lost sight of ■ ; they cheered the players on through the • ordeal, mor.e- lustily when a score was in prospect; and all the time the players ; did their best to make football. There T V? le. ? ven endeavours to override the ' conditions and attempt the spectacular , side of Rugby, and to some extent they . were successful, particularly so when .North succeeded in evening up the score : to six all, at which it remained until the • finish, and, rightly so, as on such a day . the true merits of the sides at Ru°-by : could not be estimated. There were -some players who adapted themselves to ..the conditions better' than others It ; would be;invidious to name outstanding -players in the two packs, b A t .of thi .others those.* deserving of special mention are Jacob and Tilyard (North) and :f4 nC!t\ r> M*T' Cart& d Snodgrass jboutn).. JU Lean did not arrive in time ;to .play and Stewart filled the position the North, teamf Peina -^emg included as wing-three-quarter. Kichardson was unable to play for :|°« th» and his place was taken by Srr: .'■„..: THE TEAMS. ;' "tP*? teams -were as follow : NORTH ISLAND. Full-back, Stewart. Three-quarters, Grenside, Potaka ireina. ' Five-eigths, Johnson, F. Tilyard. "Half-back, J. Mill. .' Wing'forward > H. Jacob (captain) -Forwards, S. Gemmell, M." Brown/ie, .rrißglej, Paterson, Righton, Bevan Ir■'vme. ' :; SOUTH ISLAND. •_ Full-bacK, Sinclair. ' " -V^e-quarters, Steel (captain), Mack".ftreth, Snodgrass. :. £?ve-eigths, Page, Bell. > .. Half-back, M'Carthy.- -- ■ Wmg-forward, Knox. v r r°w^ S> ST V ' G" StuM)-' R- Strait, Williams, Petersen, M'Clearv, jtf'- : Sleeking-. .-■ •' ' '' :E, m.el'S«K:ies:—North : B. Hall M £ lc¥ ls, (^cks), Q. Donald. A. 'Wesl .(forwards). South : Reid, M'Kay (backs), ;TunmcMe (forward). / '' FIRST SEELL. ■ ; South Island won *fae toss, and Steel elected to take advantage of the light northerly.breeze. j'boiit of ragged ptay in mid-field after toe kick-off g°ave most -ot the players, tbe forwards in particuJar, an indication of the hard task in front, of them-to try to play Ru^by under practicaVy unpayable conditions. i'or a^ time jhe effoi-ts were attended TCitli a' mea/ur-e of success, but the churning-up of the sodden ground soon increased t>e difficulties of handling the iball and Manoeuvring with accuracy. It became a'task for players when on the -move to keep their balance. However the contestants had entered into the fray "deterrcined to do their hest, and their .Jigou.- and a fairly good control of the •ball ander the drcumstances made matters interesting. A good kick by Mill an assisting effort by Grenside gave ■ garth the fir 3 t advantage, but as the •«rwards were packing round to work /hrough to the South line M'Carthy -made an effective stoppage, and Bell pro£f ft "li h °V rdlef With a treak-awav. Aorth, hop-ever, were intent on getting ,Ui? Sl?uth hne ' and Jacob,: Ri-hton and Brov,nlie led the way. only to find South «ady_ to force. Again Jacob was conspicuous in an advance, but this time Smclan- staved off the attack. In S i A IC£ t0 South enaWed Steel to send the ball out near North's twen-ty-five. Subsequent play, -such as it was, was transferred from one side of half way to. the other, with the forwards having a monopoly. Sinclair was <-iven a yhance to place a, goal, hut a goSd kick was unsuccessful. itf'Carthy 4ttin- th« ball from one mud scramble,' offered th° South backs a chance to see what .they Cl i° Wlth- IV but the moment /broke down quickly Ifc was not a day for backs, and the forwards carried on witn » BBnes of mud scrambles which made the ground more of a quagmire On one occas lO n a kick from the ruck was iwu cMc? by Potaka > but that was aJJ that yie player could do. North's position was improved when Tilyard charged down a relieving kick Steel made a good save, but from another icremble Righton kicked out towards the right wing. It was an unexpected move and Bema, only had to pick up to have a clear run to Souths line. He did so und scored, amidst enthusiasm. Jacob larrowly missed adding the extras. NORTH ....... 3 '~ z SOUTH '..; '""".'" 0 - Almost immediately afterwards the -North forwards followed up a kick by "Stewart and were presenting danger to

South, when Snodgrass made a good clearance. A retaliatory advance by the southern pack found the northern backs weak, but Stewart was lucky' enough to stay tie onrush. The North forwards continued to make better work of the heavy going than the southerners, and'the backs also took a hand in keeping play mostly on the South side of half-way. / The backs, with . Tilyard most prominfent, kicked rather than attempted parsing. When Snodgrass drib- I bled through with Jacob running back to prevenf the southerner from going too ■■ far, South were placed in a more ad- ; vantageous position. Steel was instru-' mental,in taking play well into North's twenty-five, but when M'Carthy saw a chanoe for his backs, Page could not I respond. South were driven back, and although the conditions were such as to make passing futile, Mill delivered the ball to the backs. Tilyard handled well, but Johnson was.too far forward to receive his pass. Matters continued in the North's favour,- but the South backs showed strong resistance, M'Carthy in particular, and were not afraid to go down in the mud to hold ut> the advance by the North forwards. " On two occasions in quick succession Snodgrass received passes from Page and M'Carthy, and was able to send the leather far enough to place the North line in danger. The South forwards packed around, and drove through the defence, Williams falling on the ball as it crossed the line. Sinclair allowed a little too much for the wind in attempting to convert, and thus the position of the game was made even more interesting :— NORTH , 3 SOUTH '.:; 3 That change of fortune seemed to stir South to greater efforts. The forwards led by M'Cleary and Williams, went do-vyn again. There was a hold-up owing to a breach, but they continued to press. . Mill tried to ease the position by kicking out towards the line, .but Snodgrass gathered up the leather, and dodging passed a couple of opponents, set' out for the line. He was faced by Stewart and had Jacob following fast behind him, but just as Stewart grounded him he was over the line—a good try. Sinclair failed to convert. SOUTH e>'NORTH " 3 That made the South supporters enthusiastic, but succeeding events roused the North barraekers; A short kick by Tilyard was taken up in fine style by the North forwards. Sinclair and Page, however, averted trouble. Play wept back to North's line, and after the ball had been kicked behind as a precautionary measnre, a clearance was made. Knox was slightly injured, but carried oh after receiving first-aid. In the closing stages of the spell, both sides made invasions, but there was no further score when half-time sounded. SECOND SPELL. North were faced with a deficiency of three points when the teams resumed their struggle in the mud, and after steadying up loose pressure by the southerners, they were placed in a position which presented a favourable opportunity to gain the desired end. The conditions, however, were worse than ever and handling of the ball was more difficult. Even so, Mill started the backs, but TilyaTd fumbled in taking the greasy leather, and again Johnson got too far forward. The inevitable scramble followed and from it South succeeded in transferring the scene of hostilities to neutral territory, only to 'find Jacob (gain setting his men on attack. Mil!/ Tilyard, and Johnson were seqn-in-ajiother; attempt at pa.ssing, but it "wis'of-little irser- The forwards took charge of the ball and engaged in a lively sciiimble in midfield until Piena threw the ball to the centre of the field in the ram hope that the backs there would /make use of it. The leather, howev»r, found its usual place—in the mud^-and the process of further churning yip the ground was resumed by the forwards, mostly in the worst part of the playing area. The game became a worse mud-scramble than ever, with the p/ayers. carrying, even to their faces and eyes, a heavy coating of mud. From one scramble Mill snapped up the lea- ' ther, sent it to Tilyard, who in turn : transferred to Johnson, and this time it went on from that player to Potaka, who, however, failed to hold it. The South forwards thereupon took it at toe towards the North line, and when within striking distance attempts were made to pick up the hall, but in vain. Following an interchange of kicks be- | tween the two full-backis—a change from the usual order«-North were compelled to force. A strong drive was made by the northerners, but Steel was safe in stemming the rush, picking up well and clearing. South worked back again, right to the North line, but Stewart in dribbling through sent the leather a little too far—touch-in-goal. Further mud' scrambles took place in mid-field, until "speculators" placed North in an :■ attacking position. When near the line Mill threw away a good chance by trying to work round the scrum on his own. The trend of play, continued to fluctuate with one bright incident in which M'Carthy neatly gathered up the ball and enabled Page to put in a kick which was beneficial to South. After a spell of play in Souths favour, Jacob and Tilyard were partners in a bit of work which enlivened the North supporters. -North brought pressure to bear upon their opponents, but'to break through was a big problem. Eventually when South were in a better position though actually in a mud pool—Mill smartly picked up the leather, and whipped it out to Tilyard, who in turn passed to Greenside. " With good judgment the wine-three-quarter sent the ball infield to Mill, who cut through to the line amidst much cheering. Once over the line he tried to get as near to the posts as possible, but it was not quite near enough for Jacob to convert the try. SOUTH 6 north ;.■.;•.:;:;: 6 In the closing stages there were efforts on the part of both teams, but finally the bell rang with honours even —the only satisfactory result on the run of play under most trying conditions. NORTH 6 SOUTH .■.'■.."""."'. 6 Mr. H. Leith, as referee, carried out his duties in a manner that was very satisfactory.