RUGBY

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 11, 12 July 1930, Page 22

RUGBY

•r "Ohopkick" PROFITABLE TOUR

INTEREST IN THE TESTS

NEW ZEALAND'S TEAM

CHAMPIONSHIP TABLES. ■ -■ ■ SENIOR A. Pts. Pis. Co. P. W. L. D. For Agst. Pts. JPetone ....'. "11 9 2 — 209 124 IS Eastbourne .11 7 3 1 156 101 15 Marlst . .... 11 6 4' 1 13? SI 13 Old Boys .... 11 G 4 1 313 121 13 Hutt 11 6 4 1 112 !>U 13 .Poneke .... 11 5 5 1 126 120 11 Athletic — li 4 6 l in r.n i> Berbsmpore 11 4 7 — 7S 17.1 8 Oriantal ... 11 3 T 1 R7 103 1 TJulTcrslty .. II ■ 1 9 1 So 113 3 Senior B. Points: Ch. P W L D F. A. Pts. Wellington .... 10 10 — — 353 12 20 JohmonTille ..10 ft l — 162 87 IS Miramsr 10 7 2 1 128 80 in Old Boys 10 6 4 —116 90 12 Oriental 10 5 4 1 73 114 11 Selwyn 10 5 5 — »2 143 10 TJnjT«r»lty .... 10 4 G — 05 101 8 Training College .10 2 7 1' 68 129 5 Melrose ....;.. 10 1 7 2 64 120 4 .Upper Hutt .... 10 1 7 2 43 128 4 Porlrua ...... 10 I S 1 43 197 3

The tour of tho British Eugby team has stirred interest to exceptional heights in New Zealand, and already there is "a demand for seats for the third and fourth Tests which makes one wonder how on earth tho crowds are to be accommodated at Eden Park (Auckland) and Athletic Park when tho remaining international clashes of tho Season take place. This interest ■- is the more remarkable when it is . 'considered that as much as £1 is being charged for seats. Certainly the nuin- "■ ber at that price is being limited, but . the charge is exorbitant. However, it is satisfactory to know that much or" the money being paid by the public to see the games in which the ■■-"•' British team is taking part will go towardß the advancement of the game - in New Zealand, and it can bo taken .for granted that the football public ■ will benefit by tho utilisation of some :of the profits on the tour in providing •improved: facilities. There is no doubt ■ whatever that the tour will show a big profit, in spite of the. fact that the expense of conducting it will fun into something like £ 18,000. When this -amount is deducted from the New Zea--land Eugby Union's portion of the gat©, receipts; there, will still bo many thousands of pounds to devote to the ■'.' interests'of the game in New Zealand. BugbyM football in the Dominion is ."going"to be the richer through the ."..Visit. oi .the 1930 British' team. Attack Needs Polishing. . - ::■"- 'Although New Zealand won the : second Test-with the British team. -:. the performance was not convincing /enough to show that the Dominion's '-■ representatives have tho i.ioasui-0 of the tourists. With their run of ill fortune in the matter of injuries tc players, the visitors have been still able to prove that they are a most difficult team ,to beat. Some hard thinking and hard training will be . . accessary if the New Zealand side is to prove itself definitely superior tc the" British team in the . third Test two weeks hence. New Zealand's performance at Christchurch last Satur day was an improvement upon that in ■ the first Test, except that the for wards dia not play up to second-spel form at Dunedin. Territorially Ne^v • Zealand had the advantage for more than two-thirds of the game at Christ church, and-an improved back divisior. had ball-in plenty with which tc make a good showing, but with it al the Dominion's team-had only three points" to the good at tho finish. II is also an interesting fact that in then : game-with the Maoris on Wednesdaj the British players spent barely one third of the -playing',- time in then opponents' territory, and yet they won by a margin of sis points. This all goes to show that in pressing home their attacks the visitors are the more effective force. It is in thn respect that New Zealand's play wil. have to be sharpened up, the more sc because of the undoubtedly excellent defence that tho visitors are capable of setting up. There is no need, how ever, to make any big sweep m effect -.. me this improvement. It is largely i matter of getting tho players to ; sether for a little- longer period thai was the ease before each of tho Test; in the South Island, with extra tram .ing by the players in the meantime The team at ChristcUurch wont uel -■«nongh to suggest that it .would giv« ',- an even better account of itself if lot ":iltaet. With some of its efforts t< score last Saturday there .was not i little bad luck, and, while that as al ™the- gamer the same- opportune Wld most likely be-turned-to accoun if the -same team had them -again. Few Changes Necessary. "With opinions that the New Zealant team waa lucky to win the writer as no' prepared to agree, nor does he suppor &c various suggestions which are bein mfc that tfce New. Zealand team fo fht third Test should be altered to i wmsiderable extent. There w no nee< <>« more than three changes at the most mi those eertalnly do not mean dispos in* of the services of such essential! to success as Nicholls and Porter, botl of whom played rattling good gameß a Christchureh-last Saturday. There wa real internatinal dash in what this par did towards the achievement of sue cess. Nicholls has been called upo) on many other occasions, and Mb urn que record ;of being the right man fo a big occasion was enhanced last Satur day. How often has he let a sid down? As for Porter, well, one neei ' only tfraw attention to the fact that th -British back division, good and all a -it is, did not function in anything hk its nsual manner last Saturday. Th reason was that Porter had Spong iso lated for the greater part of the game and in breaking that important link i: the British chain Porter rendered grea service^ . The Auckland half-back, Corner, wa another player to givo an excellent ac count of himself, especially as it wa his first appearance in internationu football. He and Porter were carrie .shoulder high from the field. Som criticism / has been made agains Nieholls and Corner for their action at'timcf: in kicking to touch, but thos who criticise have evidently not studic the reason why this line-kicking wa employed. It was done at times who the. New Zealand pack was in need o : mspite' from the strenuous encounter it was'having with the British pael and those kicks not only gained groun bnt. also-served to nurse the forward: rqsetblt* Alterations. As to improving the Now Zeulan team, Nicholls might be placed at set end five-eighths and Cooke shifted bac to centre if a first five-eighth could _b '•■' itound good enough to fill the positio 'as required. A player of the M'Gregc type would fit the bill admirably, an that would tend to make the position s far as the backs are concerned rmic the same as it was in the 1924 tean '' Nicholls, however, appears to be Ne1 Zealand's best first five-eighth to-da; V String, perhaps, would be capable.c fulfilling requirements. With Cooke i otntre Lucas, who is showing goo form, would go out to the wing, i which case Oliver would have to stan down, although he has been shapin •"""quite" well. Hart would bo retained o the right wing, and Nepia at full-bad In the pa<jk an improvement migl \m «ffeeted at lock. Steere is a goc Trtmnb toiles, but docs not appeal (

: be locking the scrum as well as could be desired. The men. on the sideband on the back would be bettor suited by a lock of the Harvey type. Stecre, however, is not out of his class by any means; he is a really good forward. In the front rank the writer would like to sec Cottrell and Reid given a chanco to repeat their good work on last year's tour to Australia, when they got a good percentage of tho ball. It is understood that Hadley, of Auckland, is now available, and he is a good front ranker. The chances of Buru gaining a place as wing-three-quarter are being discussed. This young player is a good one, but he must be sound before he is selected as a Test player. It was stated that one of his legs was affected by poisoning on Wednesday, but even so he showed up as an international in the making. "Billy" Wallace's Impressions. "One thing which the second Tost proved," said Mr. W. J. ("Billy") Wallace, who has seen all the main games of the tour, "was that our forwards are not in form. It was very helpful to them that .Nicholls and Corner put in those timely kicks to tho line. The British form is keeping up remarkably well, and the New Zealand players can still do witJ> a lot more work together, as they are not properly fit yet. When all the players go home they should concentrate on training, and then it would be advisable to have them al'. together again for more than two or three.days. There are points in their play which need sharpening up, this being particularly the case with the forwards. Chances were lost by both sides, although there appeared to be only one really good chance which the British team did not turn to account. Tho British backs wei'e clever in running our back? across the field, but their attacking movements suffered by. the isolation of Spong. "I consider that it •is the best game I have seen Porter play. The reason is that he did his job to perfection in bustling and hustling Spong. Very often he drove him in towards the pack, and many times Spong was forced to kick to touch. Though being cut off from his other backs, Spong was nothing like as dangerous as usual, and the men behind him suffered as a result. Porter no doubt realised that it was of uo use going for the scrum-half owing to ; the protection afforded that player by the packing of the British serum. It i paid Porter to stand well out from the serum and look after Spong. This was ; shown in the British team's match with ; Wellington. So long as the link be- ; tween Spong and Aarvold, who is un- : doubtediy a fine player, was broken, the r attacking play of the British backs was i greatly reduced, and that was a big ■ thing for our players,- who played a > much better game than at Dunedin, ' having more of tho ball and indulging >in more bright movements. Still, our ■ backs were only allowed to play as well * as the British backs would let them. ' The. British team is a good one, arid it -showed in the second Test that it still has to be.beaten. The New Zeas land players will ha,vo to get properly fit and have more time together;" Mr. J Wallace considered that Corner had \ played a fine game, and he thought that j Nicholls had helped very considerably . to make the team. The British team , no doubt thought that Nicholls was 1 done, but they found him very far t from it. . , A Great Occasion. 5 "Oh, Mark, Mark, Mark, Mark ) Nicholls, t Kick a little goal for me." In the middle of the Square, heedless t of the traffic or of the openly expressed . amusement of the people all about him, j a young man on Saturday morning sang , those words, to the music of a well--5 known 4itty. His solo' efforts wero . supplemented at times- by the vigorous i assistance of a number of companions j who joined lustily in the chorus. That 1 young man was just symptomatic" of the 3 occasion. He was a volatile exprest sion of the spirit that seemed to be anir mating everybody in the 'crowded--7 Square, .(states the ."Christchurch - Star"). His was an anthem to the r great god. whose altar is a crossbar and '■ whose-visible manifestation is an oval' 3 of.inflated leather. • .". ' • --''- 3 It, did' not matter that a brooding 3 sky hung lo'w-in'a pensive frown that s appeared to disapprove of all this friv--1 olity. It did not matter that the ' creed of certain oracular gentlemen had t for long past been casting a gospel of 3 depression with some story about times ■ being hard; In the imminent presence ' of the Bugby deity these things mat--1 tered not. Those who wished to do so ' sang noisily, and those whose tolerant 1 smiles encouraged tiieir efforts had 3 melody in, their hearts. It was ti great occasion andi a great day, no inattur :." what 'gloomy economists might say to the contrary, or what the weather 3 might dq to dampen lively spirits. Probably nothing has occurred pre- * vibusly ia Christchurch that has acted , as so powerful a lure as did Saturday's football - inatcb. Never havo people i. undertaken a long wait in thn open with such ;a complete disregard or' the weather. And never before lias such convincing proof been given of the 1 truth of the accusation made by a visit tor against New Zealanders that Eugby t is-not their national game, but their % national ;religion. r But who will worry! It is a day * that will live in the history of the game i in Canterbury. It is a day that shows ;, that,- np matter what the purveyors i- of globni may say, we are not really s worrying'very much over our troubles, k It demonstrates that economics are not t very important after all. If you really s want' to capture the public attention, r don't sing dirges of depression. Sing, '■- rather—- ' a _ "Oh,. Mark, Mark, Mark. StarkNicholls, Kick a little goal for me." 6 Petone and Athletic. d . ■ .....-.-■ o The changes that are liable to come s over a team in the course of a season c play were well exemplified in the c Petone-Athletre match. AVhen these ~ teams met at the opening of the sea--3) son, Petone won a well-contested game n by 15 points to 10. Last Saturday Pet tone won by 42 points to 24, scoring ten- tries to their opponents''two. lS Both teams were materially altered ;. from those which mot on the opening s day, Athletic fielding only about half j their original, side. Porter was absent (j at the Test match,»Heazlewood was out L 0 with an injured shoulder, and of tho it others, Bighani, Butlaiul, Schwass, lg Ward, and Scott had all boon replaced. i 0 On tho Petonc side, Byan, Elvy, and d Nieholls- (also ■ at' Christeliurcli),' had IS been replaced by Davis, Byrne, tin'il , n Larnbourne, with one- or two changes ,j; in the forwards, the forwards, however, . s having been- altered only because the it club has more senior forwards than can (1 be placed in the field each Saturday, s some having to stand down in consequence. It. was evident when the tennis took A the field that the Petone forwards wore c- not expecting a very strenuous d;iy, k and they took a while to discover what le was required from them. Although cutin weighted, the , Athletic forwards were >r keen, and the: slightest slackening off d on the part of Petone found them more jo than holding their own. When Petone :h gave of their best, however, they easily a. carried all before them, the line;out w play being about the only department y. of the game in_ which the Athletic for)f wards made matters even.

Martin, Coulston, Spence, and Pickard were about thebest of the Petone pack, and Fraser, M'Dougall, and Berry wero about the pick of the Athletic set.

In the back play, Athletic, practically from start to iinlsh, wero outclassed. They failed to turn their own opportunities to account, and too often made poor attempts to check the scoring movements initiated by, Petone.

Matters becamo worse as tho Potono backs came to know tho strength, or rather the weakness, of the opposition, and when the home backs started throwing the ball about with supremo confidence in the second spell it would have taken solid defensive work by any team to have kept them out. Outside of the five-eighths, the Athletic backs saw little of the ball, and their capabilities on attack could hardly be judged fairly on the game. Burgess and Dustin did fairly well,, and Poulton did. enough to indicate that had more opportunities offered he would probably have done still better. Graham had a trying time at full-back, but his attempts to stop the flying Petone wingers, Walker in particular, were commendable if not always effective. Morgan brought the side ten points with his goal-kicking. Reference has also been mn.de in "The Post" to the splendid game played by Pollock, who was brilliant throughout. Coman gave the backs good service, but his transfers wore at times a little slow, and not always too well directed. Speedy Backs. The match between Eastbourne and Old Boys at Athletic Park on Saturday showed-tho effectiveness of a fast back team when it stands deep enough on attack. One of the reasons for the scrappy play that has been general in Wellington this season has been that backs have developed a tendency to stand too close up to the opposition when on the offensive. Naturally they havo not the room to gather up speed, no matter how fast off the mark they may be. No doubt because of the sound coaching by Mr. E. Eoberts, tho Eastbourne rearguard always seem« to have plenty of room in.which to move, and when the pace is on they have no difficulty in running straight and giving the wings plenty of room to work in. Tho wings on Saturday wero excellent. Dinnis especially made some great rune, and if he maintains that form he should be a hard man to keep out of the representative side. Armstrong, Foley, and Chesterman inado the. most of the opportunities that came their way, and played. their parts in the flue victory. The handling of the back line was surer than the average seen in senior football this sason. Martin played ;a heady game behind the pack, and Price was prominent at wingforward." ,: Of the forwards, J. Dollabarea showed a' wonderful turn of 6pped and Gibbons was also very fast. Bleat was a real toiler in the tight. Eushbrook, on the wing, was the star of tho Old Boys' backs, aud whenever he got the opportunity, which was not often, ho made strong runs into the opposing territory. Hawker, at fullback, was- safe, but tho remainder of the backs were very ordinary. M'Phorson, Emerson, and Bray were the pick of the forwards. Hutt's Fine. Finish. The and determination of the Hutt forwards, plus Mackay's nimbleness and Ball's dash was the determining factor in the defeat of University last Saturday. The 'Varsity men had played with rare vim and for threequarters of the match they wero going like a winning team, despite occasional onslaughts' by- Hutt, from one uf which Hiriton'gained a good try. Tlie University backs were very dangerous, and Mulvihill, at first five-eighths, was threading the opposition ranks like an. international, but though he made four perfect openings two of them failed through: Ball's quickness, behind the University wings'who had been left with the. ball and: a 1 clear line a few yards away.' ;A third opening on tho blind side' was, fruitful, but the final pass had beeu. a ' fraction forward. Things being : like this, Hutt wero lucky to keep the score down, and for a long time it looked as though that was all they would do. The turningpoint of the game was Ball's try close to tho posts following grand forward work. Many 'Varsity supporters thought that it Was illegally gained, as Ball wriggled along the ground for a good two feet after being brought clown heavily, but there was no doubt about it. Ball was collared, but not tackled' and entitled to play -tlio ball. However, the try upset tho 'Varsity nieii momentarily, and before they recovered victory had gone to Hutt through another try from an off-side pass, but at such high speed that the referee was distanced.' It was-thus Ball's match, and with Ma'ek'ay, behind the Hutt 'scrum, and Jarman, who showed some patches of very good form, ho was tho best of the backs. Vov a long time the Hutt pack failed to show any dash, but once they saw defeat facing them they went much better. Hintou, Monigat'ti, and Eoberts were always luivd sit it where the work was. University's backs lacked their usual pace, though Mulvihill ■ and Eainson were nippy enough. Neither of the wings showed great dash and Black, tho young full-back was bothered by the opposing forwards. . Behind ,the scrum, Gibson played a nice game, despite one or two foolish kicks into the open field in defence. ' Tho 'Varsity men played a 3-4 scrum. and all the front rankers, Banks, Blakeney, and Cormack, shaped, well- ■ . Berhanrpore arid Oriental. , Berharnpore gained another win last Saturday, when they defeated a.weakened. Oriental team at Wakefield Park. The Oriental vanguard, from which all but three of their regular men wero missing, was inferior to the opposing pack,; although not to any marked degree. The Berhampore forwards seemed just as much at homo in the loose as in the tight. . A feature of the game was the bustling tactics employed by the Berhampore rearguard, who, although not brilliant on attack, can'often bo dangerous. They wero slightly superior to the, Oriental backs. Hooper was again outstanding behind the Berhampore scrum. He whipped the ball away smartly to his backs, went down in determined fashion to forward rushes, and scored a clever try. Lang gave an excellent individual, display, and he was well supported by T. and N. Taylor. Glennie, as -wing-forward, shone in loose play. His goal-kicking, which was of good service against University on the preceding Saturday, was responsible for three penalty goals being included 'in Berhampore's score. Mollier. and M'Donald gained ;t good share of the ball from the serum. The remainder of the Berhampore pack went well. .'■■ - .■'■.'* Kellyi centre-three-quarter, did some fast following-up in the Oriental rearguard. Davios was always prominent as second fiveTeighths, and gained all of Oriental's eight points by a try a conversion, and a? walty goal. Wilkinson and Miller were seen to advantage in the Oriental forwards. Notes. "After witnessing the scrum and ruck battles, I don't want to hear any more about New Zealand's wing-for-wards playing off-skle. Tho British serum-half and back-row men havo forgotten more about wing-forward play than Porter or any other wing-forward ever knew."—" Onlooker" fn the "Southland Times,"