KEEN CONTEST

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 78, 29 September 1930, Page 4

KEEN CONTEST

WELLINGTON WIN AGAIN

TARANAKI SOLID

The unbeaten record of the Wellington representative first fifteen in Rugby matches this season was maintained on Saturday afternoon, when ':i team of ■ jjood strength from Taranaki, another province to have a very successful run in intorprovincial football this season, was Jjcaten in.tho final game of the season • t Athletic Park. The visitors were expected to provide tough opposition, ami. this they did, mainly through a solid,. h;ird-working pack of forwards, ably led by J. Walter, an ex-New Zealand repre-. Mjutative. The Wellington pack, which lias performed with distinction this' season, was put to a severe test, arid came through it well. "From a spectacular point' «i£ view the play did not have anything . iike the appeal of that in the Wairarapa-- , Wellington match, the contest being fought mainly by the forwards, and they' made it keen and strenuous. Where, the '. backs had their hardest part was on; defence; in attack they were too closely, marked, apart from the fact that their handling was not of the best, to show up attractively, although at times there were-.-,P)ae bright interludes, not infrequently .•-tarted by a smart breakaway. .The game was fairly interesting, ami on the run of .play the margin of seven points was lather much to fairly represent the re-1 .-licctive merits of the teams. There was tin attendance of about 7000 spectators.; Kxcept for a strong northerly wind, the ■ conditions were good,-although the hard, ground -was not to the liking of Wol- '. lington's players, who have been experi-- • cueing softer grounds this season. -This; no doubt affected their play to spine' extent, while the effective smothering and. spoiling work by the visitors also hampered the locjil backs. Julian, Page, and (j'ooke were rarely allowed much liberty. During the game, which was hard and, , strenuous all the way, there were a number of injuries and three of the local play-' ' ers, M'Lean, Cooke, and Julian, were compelled to retire on account of injuries, tlieir places being taken by Diederich, Pollock, and Eoley. Cooke carried on' 1 gamely after one injury, but eventually ■ retired suffering from slight concussion. r Prior to the game, the regard "in which Ci. (3. Porter was held by the Taranaki • 7>iaycrs was shown when the Wellington ■ captain entered the -visitors' dressing-room. The- visitors stood ' and greeted Porter with a roijnd of applause. With l'egard to playing timc^ the visitors suggested thafcrtjie spells should be of forty minaites.'.. The. captains tossed to decide the . playipg time, and, the toss favouring TaraTiakji two spells ■of forty minutes were /playe.d. Taranaki's team was a little dif.feTent'"ia some respects from that which has played in most games this season, notable absentees being the three-quarters, Ilunter, Brown, and K. Fookes. Most iriipressive of the visiting backs were Owen, a stockily-built player, and Galbraith, the ■ pair functioning well as five-eighths. At the conclusion of the game Mr. C. Mullany, manager of the Taranaki team, congratulated the' Wellington team upon its performance, and also "complimented ilje Wellington Union upon the fine rer i-pvd put up by its representative players ihis season. In reply, Mr. J. Prendeville, -.(■jtiiinnan of the Wellington Rugby Union, fiave praise to Taranaki's effort on the « iUy, which was a better one than the " store indicated, and he also expressed the c hope that the splendid rivalry between • 'Ifaranaki and Wellington which covered !>V: long period of years would continue for many years to come. There was no '■doubt that on performances Tarunaki, Auckland, and Wellington corn prised the ' loading trio of provinces, and his hope " was that the trio would be seen in many - more of the keenly-contested gtimes such • as those played-recently, and in the past. The teams were:—

Taranaki.—Full-back, A. Collins; .threequarters,1' R- Watson, J. Craw fowl, A, Petty; ■ five-eighths. J. Galbraith, X Owen; half-back, C. Gudgeon; wingforward, A. Guy; forwards, W. RobinBon, F. Gargan, J. Walter (captain), I\. Clarke, W. Baldwin, A. Richards, and C. Wills. . ... •■".:.'.■■

..: Wellington.—Full-back, W. J. Barrett; three-quarters, D. J. Oliver,' N. Ball, J. I). Mackay; five-eighths, A. E. Cooke, J. K. Page; half-back, H. J. Julian; wingforward, C. G. Porter (captain); forwards, E. Jessup, E. .Coulston, H. F. M'Lean, A. C. M'Pherson, IS.'Barry, W. E. Fell, R. Berry. PLAY IN DETAIL. The winning o£ the toss gave Wellington the advantage of playing with a strong ■wind and the sun behiud them, mo "teams quickly .' settled down to ■ solid -play in -which, the visiting .forwards demonstrated that they were a fornnd : .able force. Several times the Tanniaki pack retaliated strongly to rushes: by ■Wellington, .in which Cooke freauently kicked to touch to gain ground. An ■ ''up-and-iinder" effort was well checked •by Colling, and a, long pass infield ,by, M'Leao with a view to a surprise attack by the local backs was also of no avail. .Watson, Gudgeon, and Owen gained much 1 erritory for the visitors, and then Owen, Walter, and Wills headed a further -rush into Wellington's twenty-five, where, during some keen play, the visitors were awarded a penalty kick. Clarke's air .t«mpt to goal was good, though unsuccessful. Another advance by the larauaki forwards was not supported by the backs, and Cooke, Page, and Porter quickly seized an opportunity to get the ■visitors on the run. Porter sent the ball on to Mackay, who evaded Petty and ' scored a try. which he also converted ■ with a good kick. Wellington . 5 Taranaki 0 By way of reply the visitors launched another vigorous offensive, only- to be sent •%ck by a great penalty kick by Cooke, ■ who from near the Wellington twentyfive sent the ball out on the bounce about •». foot from the Taranaki goal-line. There n-as then a stern tussle, but Wellington were well held and the visitors gradually emerged from the danger zone, the forwards doing well in smothering attempts to get the .local backs under way. Owen showed up in a determined dash, and Clarke also made a breakaway, with Wills and G-argan supporting. Before long ■ Walter was also heading for Wellington s line, but when he kicked nobody had any chance of footing it witli Cooke, who ■forced; '■■ Taranaki were doing well against the wind,- not only giving the local team jSlenty of work on defence but also preventing them from pressing home any further attacks. After Gudgeon and f-talbraith had been well stopped by Uooke, the scene of activity was changed ;by Porter, M'Lean, Julian, and Cooke to the Taranaki twenty-five, where the Wellington forwards worked with greater -vim. The Taranaki pack, however, was always prepared to meet and reply to any • onslaughts; in fact, the whole visiting side formed a solid barrier on defence and ■ was not easily chocked on attack. The siime, of course, applied to Wellington. : Matters were keen and interesting with- ■ diit much in the way of spectacular |j!ny. There were a miinbcr. of penalty ki^ks, though nothing much came of Uu?m. ' When at length Taranaki rushed play lo near the Wellington line there was an ' exceptionally keen struggle, in which the strength of the respective packs was tested to the full. Eventually Wellington cleared per medium of Porter and l';ige. Coulston was also responsible for 'some' good work in stemming the tide, '"while Cooke's kicking was a feature of ihe play. Collins, the Taranaki full-back, was always to be relied upon when the ball came his way. He was faced with a "difficult position, however, when Oliver •made one of his charactenstic dashes. Julian.was in support, with prospects of "Cttjiig through near the touch-line,, but Officer ciit infield and was held up. Walter made a clearance to touch, but ( nul.ston and M'Plhhvoij then nmdo •'' ~.IM drive in which flic. Wtrr wr>* ..w.pmi-lm* when on the point oJ. going

over the Taraniiki line. The local backs were tried and found wanting, their passes being very poor. Mackay and Cooke thereupon made drop-kicks at goal. Mackay's was a weak effort, but Cooko's was splendid, though the leather sailed outside.

A great run by Gnlbraith put Tara-" naki on attack again, this player using good judgment in cutting infield, lie was too eager, however, to do the whole job on his own. At this stage M'ljcan retired owing to an injury to a thigh, ;:nd was. replaced by Diederich. Wellington's next advance was started by Julian, with Mackay joining in and making good headway, feuding off two opponents before throwing a pass forward. The visitors came back, forwards and backs (Galbraith showing up again) pressing hard until.Cooke saved. A dash by Julian set Wellington on their final offensive in the first.spell. -Solid pressure was applied in the Taranaki twenty-five, and Porter was in the act of going over when a scrum was ordered. This- scrum took place near the goal-posts, and when a Taranaki hooker failed "to let the ball in fairly it meant three points to Wellington, Cooke landing a penalty goal, which made the half-time score: . . Wellington 8 . . Taranaki , U SECOND SPELL. On .the'run of play in the first spell .Wellington's- lead was by no means safe. The visitors liad spent a good deal of energy,'but they, were far from a spent force and had the wind with them for the second 'session. Passing by both sets of backs broke down early in the spell, and when the : local forwards made a strong loose rush'well into Taranaki quarters the backs again missed a chance to press the attack home, a long pass from centre to wing being thrown forward. ■ Soon afterwards Owen, was heading south in great style with Barrett, the Wellington full-backV'-coming up to meet him. Owen only had vtp beat Barrett to register a scpre,'-but the latter brought off a fine tackle,'-the' force of the impact being telt by ,both 'players. Taranaki kept up, and Wellington were compelled to gain relief in forcing down, once from ,a. "pot" by Galbraith, who showed; cleverness .in manoeuvring into position "lor the drop-kick, which, however, did not-succeed. A period on defence iras changed when the Wellington backs opened, out, only to find a pass over-run' at the end of the chain. Withplay sppn back in. Wellington's twentyfive, there was further strenuous tussling between the forwards, until a neat bit of work by Mackay, Julian, and Fell eased the position, as also '3id a mis-kick by Wills.. Just afterwards Galbraith' gained possession in a good position for a "pot," and this time he made no mistake—a fine kick. ~:.., Wellington s Taranaki. 4 There was now more reason than ever for Wellington to step lively, and Mackay quickly showed the way with a run across field and a pass to Page, who cut through. The -visitors, however, were not to be eaughi napping, and by good use of the wind they were soon back in the Wellington twenty-five, where Porter and Cooke madeiiinely clearances. The local back line was not doing well in passing bouts, and failure to take passes often let Taranaki through. Clarke, Wills, Richards, and Walter, '■ a hefty Taranaki quartet, swooped down upon Wellington's line, where Porter, ever on the alert, turned the tide by sending Mackay away to midfield. •--Cooke was seen to be injured and apparently in a bad way. Pollock came on, but Cooke recovered sufficiently to keep going. After some give-and-take play Taranaki set up another strong attack in which Gudgeon made an unsuccessful bid for a try. Cooke made a spectacular clearance, but Taranaki were persistent and not easily kept at bay. Barrett had plenty of hard work, as did others, and he carried it out well. Neither set of backs was able to get fur in the numerous ./attempts to opeu up tho play, although-the visitors were relying mainly on their forwards. In slopping one of the dangerous rushes Cooke was injured, again, and was taken off suffering from concussion. Pollock filled the vacancy. Soon afterwards Ball made a fine interception and took.play to the Taranaki twenty-five. Wellington were now playing to better effect, though it was a'difficult matter to reach the objective. A freo kick gave Mackay a chance to land a goal, but the kick was unsuccessful. A little later Julian was hurt and retired, his place being taken by Foley, who with Oliver soon figured in a good move on the blind side. Mackay and Ball next had a flutter on the other wing. Some marks assisted Taranaki in beating off the attacks. Mackay tried again to find a hole in the defence, making one of his runs across field and linking up with Oliver. The visitors were watchful, but in the end a -bout proved too much for them. Mackay; repeated his previous effort, passed to Ball, who beat several men and then handed on to Coulston. Berry was the-next, to handle the leather, and he sent it on-to JJarry, who forced his way over and gained, a try. There was an impression, that-the last-named player was off-side, but he .was behind the ball when it '.was passed by Berry and over-ran it slight)y, reaching back to take the pass. Foley failed ■to convert. 11-41 Just before-time was called, Collins attempted to land a penalty goal for Taranaki from three 'yards outside' half-way. The kick was -unsuccessful, and a keenly-contested game ended:—,; Wellington 11 T«ranaki 4

Mr! J, Moflitt controlled the game.