RUGBY

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 129, 4 June 1927, Page 22

RUGBY

By "OmoPKitn—

MORE MATCHES

REPRESENTATIVE PRO-

GRAMME

ftOWER GRADE COMPETITIONS

CHAMPIONSHIP TABLES.

SENIOR "A" GRADE.

The completion of Wellington's programme of representative matches for the-season war a subject f eonsideratton by the Wellington Eugby Union's Management .Committee this week. Previously vists from Southland, Canterbury, and Otago, and fixtures with Tannaki and Auckland in the latter territories had been definitely fixed. There had been some doubt about South Canterbury paying a visit to Wellington, but this was removed this week by receipt of a communication confirming . the proposed, match. Arrangements .regarding other matches had been deferred until thetrial match in which Wellington ia concerned was finalised. This trial having recently been fixed for the 21st September, the chairman (Mr. J. Prendeville) stated that Ire had bean abletogof Uy into tv question of completing the Wellington programme of matches. It was essential, he thought, that' the match with Manawhenua should be played before the trial so that both teams could be viewed at full strength by the selectors. He suggested, therefore, that the match be played in Wellington on the 27th August. Marlborough had asked for a match at' Blenheim, and had offered, in turn to play here. 7" - .Wairarapa wer-j dv ' to pay a visit jo Wellington, aiid there was the possibility -of a visit from Hawkes Bay. A suitable date could not be arranged for the latter' when the representative fixtures were discussed by delegates to the New Zealand TJnion's annual meeting. Mr. Prendeville thought that if Wairarapa were invited to play in Wellington on the 24th September it would fit in with the rota for the future. He also considered that a visit from Marlborough on the 17th September would be'suitable, and that a team might be sent to play Marlborough at' Blenheim on the 3rd September. Applications had been . received from Hamilton and Sing Country for matches in those districts, while there had also been a verbal request for a match with Bay of Plenty. A decision had s been made that the Wellington team to visit Auckland should not play on the trip north, and now that the trial had been fixed for the Wednesday following the Auckland-Welling-ton match it seemed tlut. Wlling'-tn. could not play any matches" on the re- ! turn trip from Auckland. It was hoped, of course, that some f the WcTington players would bo wanted for the . trial at Wanganui. Under the circuuistanees it did not seem that matches with King Country, Hamilton, or Bay of Plenty could take place. The committee agreed with the chairman la suggestions, and th» unions concerned are to be in *onned accordingly. Wellington's complete programme of matck«£ (subject to confirmation in gome eases) is itow as follows:— July 6.—v. Taranaki,- at Hawera. July 27.—v. South Canterbury, at : . Wellington. August 17. —v. Southland, at Wel- ■ lington. . August 27.—v. Manawhenua, at Wellington.. September 3. —v. Otago, at Wellington. , September 3.-— vi Marlborough at Blenheim. September 10. —v. Canterbury, at Wellington.: September 17.:—v. Marlborough, at Wellington. September 17.—v. Auckland, at Auckland. ; September 21.—Trial . (Wellington- ' Manawhenua v, Wanganui-Tara-nald), at Wanganui. September 24. —v. Wairarapa, at Wellington.-. The North-South match is to be.played at Wellington on the Ist October. Voneke and Athletic. Two strong aspirants for the premiership were seen in contest at Athletic Park last Saturday, and, although they attracted the biggest crowd of the season their performance was not in line with those stirring clashes of leading teams a few years ago. The play did not come up to expectations, the rearguard on either side having little as an attacking force. Most of the hard work in attack was left to the forwards, and it is to be said of the two packs that they battled away solidly throughout. The backs were to be commended for their defensive play,' but otherwise their efforts left much to be desired. They should have been capable of much brighter performance despite the fact that there was always a keen eye to spoiling. It not infrequently happe-i that when, two good-packs of forwards meet the standard of back play shows a falling off.

The keenness of the forwards last Saturday evidently carried, them too far on numerous occasions, as the referee was 'requently penalising one side or the othi". Poneke had most penalties against' them, and a good, place-kicker would have probably won the match for Athletic. To the writer it seemed that the position so far as infringements were concerned was fifty-fifty. . Poneke were penalised a number of times on the line-out; and Athletic less frequently in the same department. In other play there were also breaches of the rules, and one illegality in particular was, the tugging of jerseys while forwards were engaged in loose rushes. Although one player found the opposition hard on. the two'jerseys he wore during the game, this jersey-tugging business was by no means one-sided. In making mention of these facts,' the writer does not suggest that these two teams are alone in committing the infringements referred. They happen in practically. every game, and they have happened for many a day.

Taking the pl-iy as a whole an honours easy decision seemed to satisfy, but so far the play of the forwards was concerned—and this was the big factor—Poneke appeared to be a shade better than their opponents. They controlled the ball better in some great loose rushes, and they had a fine leader in J. Shearer, still one of the best forwards in Wellington. Edgar, in the Athletic pack, is one of the most gennine grafters . among the forwards in Wellington to-day.

Warwick, • Athletics half-back, got through a lot of useful work, the reenlta of, which would have been, much

bettor with stronger support. TilyarS, the Poneke half, also filled the bill witli creel" ana while Stubbs and Nieholls supported well, there was generally something lacking when movements required finishing. Keenan, a promoted play-r, looked like distinguishing himself as a aullback, but'his play fell off "a little S-ftM being very good early. in / the gams. Poneke's full-back was not up to earlier form. ■

Berhampore and Wellington.

Had the turf been in bad order there might have been some excuse for the patchy game provided by Wellington and Berhampore at Newtown Park. The ground, however, could not lie blamed for the failure of the two tearas on Saturday to give of their best. Wellington were by no means as forceful as they were the previous week, and their work, generally was disappointing. While they showed a little more combination, Berhampore ca; still show much further improvement. They were the better team, and had they been able to top off several promising movements Wellington's margin of defeat would have been greater than nine points. Both teams will be in better shape ere long. Although their play was somewhat ragged) the forwards supplied fairly solid football,, but the trouble for the most part lay in the rear division. The backs of both teams were unable to get going effectively, and there was not one really good passing rush during the^ match. The men behind the scrum were well served with the ball, and Kilby, the Wellington half, in particular, made every endeavour to open up the game. He dent out good passes in snappy style, but rarely were his efforts turned to good advantage. The ball seldom passed through the hands of three players, and except on two or three occasions the handling right through was not good. Repeatedly at the outset,of a back movement the ball was mulled or else knocked-on.

The Berhampore forwards packed batter, and were a more solid lot. Mason played a splendid game and K. Smith, Pickrang, Charles, and Deere were always well up with the leather and severely, tested thor defence.

Of the backs, Brettis and Lang were seen in some - fast pieces of play at times, while the wingers, Pickering and Foley, did their best when the ball came their way. Pickering's penalty goal from half-way, which opened Berhampore's scoring account, was a splendid one.

The most outstanding player in the Wellington: team was Kilby, who gave a good account of himself throughout. Morgan, the centre three-quarter, shone out now and again with some good work on\ attack, but Samson as a fiveeighth was too prone to kicking tho ball. Corless, on the 'wing, got going well several times, but with so little combination among the backs, he was unable to break completely through the defence.

Petone and Oriental.

Petone in their match with Oriental gave further evidence that they are still a force to bo reckoned ' with. On the previous form shown by the two teams it was expected that Petone would be up against a stiff proposition, but, strengthened by the inclusion of Nieholls, Thomas, and, Dickens, they had little difficulty in' accounting for the opposition.

The game as a whole was not inspiring, being largely a series of lost chances. Combined rearguard attacks, which go so far to make the Rugby gamo attractive, were few and far botween, although the , Petono backs occasionally brought off some good movements. ■'...•-:

With the ball coming out of the scrum to their half with almost monotonous regularity, Petono were given plenty of chances, but the majority of these _ went begging owing to faulty handling and to s cutting-iii being overdone. ,

The controlling influence of Mark Nicholls was apparent throughout, and the Pelone captain played a very solid game. Kearna played well on ono wing, and Hawkins, on the other, showed improved form. Taken as a whole, the backs were sound. The Petone forwards more than held their own in all departments, with the' possible exception of lino-out play. Several times it was noticed that the ball came out of scrum too hard for Cowan to gather in.' cleanly. The open play was quite good, and the way in which the forwards kept on the ball was a feature of the match. Thomas, Dickens, and Spence were probably the best of the pack. The form displayed?by Oriental was disappointing after the fight put up against Athletic oh the same ground. The backs saw very'little of the ball from the start, and when, they did gain possession they were troubled seriously by the Petone forwards. . M'Nicol and Cowdell did well, while .Wymau, at full-back! proved safe. Generally speaking, however, the backs showed a lack of the eonfidenee.aßd dash which characterised their earlier s.ppearance at Petone.

PringJe -vcap a tower oJ! strength among the Oriental forwarthi., anS wao always a source of danger to Ptetone. Besides putting a lot of usoful weight in(p the scrums he was a dominating figure in the line-outs, a.nd was always prominent in the loose. Metric, Marshall, and Hepburn also showed tc advantage.

Marist aztd Hutt.

Although' Hutt were without several of their usual players, they put up a great fight against Marist. Marist proved the superior team, their forwards being heavier and the backs having better combination. The backs, however, often failed, owing to lobbing their passes. "

I In spite of the fact that the Hutt backs ;had not previously played to : gether, they did remarkably.well. The game was fast ■ throughout, and owing to the closeness of the score exciting incidents were plentiful. Murphy, Marist's veteran, played a good game, and led most of the rushes. Among the backs, G. Barry, Condon, and Graham figured prominently. Balks, playing full-back for Hutt, did some magnificent kicking, and played an improved game oh defence. George was again the most prominent player in tne team, his sure tackling and fast dashes being of great value to" Hutt. When Munro was injured George joined the backs and M' Gill played on the leit wing. Sundgreen and' Grierson both played solid games in the Hutt forwards." s Old Boys' Fine Pack. - Malcolm played a splendid game for Old Boys against University on Saturday. He always seemed to have plenty of time to carry out his ulans, and he did not make a mistake. His line kicks were long and accurate, and he used judgment when running with the ball. The Old Boys' pack wheeled the scrm beautifully on several occasions, and had the University pack at sea. Old Boys packed a fine scrum in which there was a fair amount of weight. Leys and Mackenzie were the best of the University backs, but they got little of the ball, as their forwards were being continually oeaten for possession.

Ramson, the University wing-three-quarter, is as fa3t as any footballer in Wellington, and. is always ready to make a dash for the line. E. Lamason, Old Boys* winger, has not the speed of Eainson, but he has the determination.

Chitty, the diminutive half-back of the Old Boys' side, is a plucky.,player, but he is inclined to run with che ball when intending to put his backs in motion. This, fault gives the other side a clue and time to check the movement. Unless a half-back is going on his own he should whip the ball out from the base of the scrum.:

It is a pity the Old Boys' side has .Ml fee services of L.. Dv Chateau,

Points. Chp. P. W. L. D. F. A. Pta. Pooeke »_*.... 4 S 0 1 72 35 7 Athletic ...„. 5 3 11 53 36 7 Petone ........ 5 3 11 33 32 7 Old Boys 4 3 10 50 43 6 Bflrhampore ..4 2 1 1 53 43 5 University .... 5 2 3 1 65 49 5 _.Oriental ...... 5 2 3 0 52 57 4 Wellington .... 4 1 3 0 25 46 2 Marist ....... 5 14 0 38 59 2 H«tt MS »^.v.. 50 4 1 35 76 1 SENIOR "B" GRADE. Points. Chp. P. W. 1. D. F. A. Pts. EMtbourne ..5 5 0 0 123 20 10 Johnsonrtlle ..5 4 10 51 3S S .Porirua 5 3 2 0 40 36 C Training College 4 2 2 0 37 29 4 i Selwyn 5 2 3 0 45 44 4 Oriental .5-1 3 1 28 57 3 University .... 3 0 2 1 22 66 1 AlhleUc ...... 4 0 4 0 24 82 0