RUGBY

Evening Post, Volume CXI, Issue 138, 13 June 1931, Page 20

RUGBY

By "Oropkick" DEFINITE DECISIONS ' PULES AND REPLACEMENTS NEW ZEALAND SELECTORS

The New Zealand Kiigby Union's Management Committee has nia.de it clear once again'that the "fair catch," commonly termed the "mark/ must be claimed by the making of a heel mark at ,the same time that the. catch is made. It is to be hoped that this will end all the argument that has been taking1 placed and will lead to 'uniformity on the question amongst' referees. The question of replacements has also been settled for the time being. As has been the custom, injured players can be replaced if the , opposing captain agrees. When various matters in connection with the rules were being discussed at this week's meeting of the New Zealand Eugby Union's Management Committee, opportunity was taken to draw attention to the fact that cases had been noted of players not remaining "passive" when a penalty kick was being taken. It was decided that the matter be brought under the notice of all referees, pointing out that "passive" means that a player (on or behind a line through the mark parallel to the goal-line) must remain standing in a natural position, with his hands by his side, and must not in any way attempt to put the kicker off his kick. Among other business at this week's meeting of the N.Z.E.IT. Committee was the appointment of the New Zealand selectors —one from the North Island (who is to select the North Island team), and one from the South Island (to select the South Island team). Mr. E. M'Kenzie was the successful North Island nominee, and,, in making this appointment, the committee has done the right thing. Mr. M'Kenzie's experience in the selection of teams counts for a great deal. He is a man with, the courage of his convictions, and it was probably because of speaking his mind on a matter which he had studied very closely that he lost his seat on the New Zealand Management Committee —a happening which was very surprising. With the wealth of talent in the North Island,. Mr. M'Kenzie will find it a more difficult matter to place all the good players than will be the case with the South Island selector, Mr. A. M/Donald. So far as the New Zealand'team is concerned the inter-Island match should not be regarded as the one and only trial. As has been pointed gut previously, there are often two or more players in one Island with better qualifications for a particular position than the best player for the position in the other Island. . Tough Propositions. If Petone and Poneke maintain the form shown by them in their game at Athletic Park they will be hard to beat in their coming engagements. Both possess forwards who know what hard ■work means, and their training and coaching are such as to make them tough propositions, quite apart from the energy and weight they put into the game. ' There is always the prospect of seeing brainy play when Poneke and Petone are in action, as each side has its old football heads. Experience is backed by youth, and the sides are on the light way to bringing about team performances more in line with those given by Poneke and Petone when they were premiers. "Well, ho has nothing his sleeve now," remarked a spectator at Athletic Park last Saturday when Mark Nicholls had a sleeve torn from his jersey, and, strangely enough, the Petono captain could not spring any further surprise. He had done enough, however, to cause Poneke to guard his activities very closely. That was in starting off the movement which ended in a sensational try. as has already been described in '' The Post.'' It was a stunt which has been worked before, sometimes by Poneke, and it was surprising that Poneke fell for it. Nieholls is still *a clever player, and his all-round ability means much to Petone. In Jack Shearer Poneke also have a player whose "leadership and ability count for a great deal. Although he did not neglect his work with the pack, he was able last Saturday to give his backs a.valuable helping hand on defence, i If a team makes , the play tight . against Poneka it is reducing' its prospects of success. Petone did it, to their cost, in the second spell last Saturday. Whatever their task earlier in a game, Poneke can generally be relied upon to make a spirited finish, and this they did' against Petone to achieve success, which came by way of a "potted" goal —a really fine dropkick by Pelham, who, as full-back, was somewhat uncertain in' the first spell, but showed a remarkable reversal of form in the second spell. Poneke are missing Julian, and they were also without Payne against Petone. Fell (on transfer to the West Coast) and Carr were missing from the suburban team. Pollock continues to figure as Petone's most serviceable back, apart from Nicholls, and Lind is developing into a top-notch forward. Griffiths and Neal are a fine pair of young five-eighths in the Poneke team, and in Bird the side has found a wing-three-quarter who goes hard and straight for the goal-line. Jessup gets through a great deal of heavy work in tho pack and hooks well, while M'Pherson does his share of good work as lock. Hutt and Berhampore.A greatly weakened Berhampore team put up a very creditable showing against Hutt in the match at the Hutt Eecreation Ground. Hutt's tries were all directly due to the superior speed of their backs. Both packs went well; Hutt had an advantage in weight, but Berhampore made up for this by their activity in the loose. Sadler was not up to his usual form as half-back for Hutt. Many of his passes to Killeen at first five-eighths were very poor, giving that player little chance to take them cleanly. Lilburne, who was full-back in tho fifst spell, greatly strengthened the Hntt backs when he came up to second five-eighths in the second spell. He made many fine openings, and scored two tries. Ball had several opportunities to dispiag Ms sjjeed on jfcto wing, @§ gaso.

cleanly and hard, and was unlucky in not scoring at least three tries. Wood impressed by tho manner in which he led the Hutt forwards; Barry was* a tower of strength on the lineout, and Peck played his usual sound game, and made the most of his weight. Mailman, who was full-back for Berhampore in the absence of Hurley, savod his side many times by his remarkably cool display. Lang, who has been one of Berhampore's best backs in past seasons, was again to the fore, but Hooper was perhaps the best of the Berhampore rearguard. Mollier led the Berhampore forwards well. Charles, who usually hooks with Mollier, was wing-forward, but he would have been pf more service in tho serum. Glennic, Berhampore's usual wing-forward, was absent, and his place-kicking was missed, as nearly half a dozen penalty kicks from positions handy to the posts wero given to Berhampore. • Somewhat Flattering. Although Eastbourne probably deserved to win their match against University, the margin of points in their favour was rather flattering, and thero were at least two occasions during tho game when it appeared that University were unfortunate» in the referee's rulings. Near the end of the first spell Eastbourne gained three points from a free-kick awarded against a University player for allegedly picking the ball out of a ruck, although the ball did not appear to have reached the ground. Towards the close of the game, when the score was 8-all, Armstrong, Eastbourne's centre-three-quarter, broke away from his own twenty-five on a run which placed Eastbourne,on the attacli and culminated with Fleming's field goal. From the Press seats it seemed that Armstrong was standing offside during tho scrum which went down immediately before he received the ball. Incidentally, Armstrong was -playing in his sides-interests in keeping _ as clase a watch on Kamson as possible, even if it was at the risk of being penalised. ■ The University centre spelt danger .whenever he gained posr session, and with his weight, pace, and swerve frequently carved big holes in the opposition, while his defence was also first-class. Neither lie nor Fuller, howeVer, was in his usual, form as a place-kicker. Pacey played a splendid game behind the University scrum, and Leitch and Black were a useful pair of five-eighths, who, handled cleanly and smartly. Hislop and Young on the wing 'were able substitutes for Mackay and Kuru, Young working in very well with Kamson. Cormack- was not at his best. Eastbourne again lackedl the vim that characterised their play last season, and it was only a last-minuto rush that gave them a win. Fleming, Foley, and Armstrong did some good work in the backs, but their combination was'a long way from perfect, and Marter did not give the same service from the scrum as is usually received from Coman. Fuller did some tricky, sidestepping but was seldom dangerous. Once they got going both packs played well, most of the exchanges being of the open order. . Blacker, Pope, and Hart were prominent for University, and Price, J. Dellabarca, and Gibbons for Eastbofirne. Oriental and Miramar. ' One. of the most improved forwards playing in Wellington this year is A.; Ward, the big1 Oriental side-ranker. Against Miramar Ward played an outstanding game, being always on the ball and tacking well. Another forward who was particularly prominent was Davidge, the Miramar wing-forward. This young player has been most consistent this season, his paae and anticipation enabling him to show up in practically every rush. Playing at second five-eighths, Davies showed what a valuable player he is to. the Oriental team, and he is one of the few backs in the team who can always be relied upont Oriental sadly missed Loehore at fullback, and had the Miramar team been able to put the finishing, touches on to some of their rushes they would have gone very close to winning tho- gflme. As it was they were decidedly unlucky not to win. In the case of a "pot," which appeared to be successful, the referee was evidently not in a position to award a goal. Hard-working Forwards. The Old Boys forwards gave a fine display against Marist, and it is to them that the side owed its fine victory. Both in the loose and in the tight they grafted incessantly, .and were superior to the opposition in everything but hooking. Of, the Old Boys pack Bydder and Claridgo were the most prominent, but the others were not far behind, and Lamason at wing-forward was always on the alert. With the exception of Dv Chateau and Cromie, the Old Boys backs were mediocre. Bushbrook was -limping for practically all the second spell, and, if replacements were allowed; he should have loft the field. • The Marist backs seemed to lack their usual initiative, and could make little headway in passing rushes. Now and again there were bright individual efforts by M'Donald and Eobins, but ■on few occasions did they harass the Old Boys defence. Stiver, at , wing-forward, played S, dashing game. Old Boys and Oriental B. The- slight superiority of their rearguard and a modicum of luck enabled Wellington College Old Boys to defeat Oriental at Kilbirnie Park by a penalty goal and two unconverted tries to ■a converted try. Oriental lacked the finish with which to turn to account the territorial advantage gained by the solid work of their pack. On the other hand sharp movements by the Old Boys backs many, times relieved tho tension on their line, and' had Oriental battling to avert a score. Tho Oriental forwards were a more formidable pack than their opponents, although Emerson's'fifteen stone odd was a great help to the Old Boys' serum. Chambers, who was responsible for Oriental's only try, was the most impressive back on the field. The sound defence and splendid line kicking by W. Hawker was a considerable factor in Old Boys' favour. S. Bedell seized one of the very few opportunities that cain£ his way, and added to Old Boys' quota. Notes. Wellington had a day off in the Senior A grade competition when they met Athletic, and the result' was the biggest upset to date this season, Wellington being regarded as one of the strongest teams in .the competition and Athletic as one of the weakest. The result,was the more surprising in view of the fact that Athletic had to call upon tho services of some junior players. The win should spur Athletic on, and it will also be the means of making Wellington look to their laurels more keenly than ever.

P. Potaka was, the best back in the Wanganui team against Taranaki (states a Wanganui paper). His handling, passing, tackling, and line kicking gave Wanganui plenty of advantage in tho first spell.

E. A. ("Moke") Belliss continues to take an active part in football in Taihape, where he wai the most prominent player oni the field in a recent club match. In reporting the match, the local paper said: "At one stage the referee, who was scrupulously fair to both sides, was keeping a, vigilant eye on Moke 'Belliss, and greatly to the amusement of the crowd penalised him for no fewer than three successive infringements. Howover, Moke is too shrewd to risk the slightest infringement in his own territory, and no damage was sustained, *i

SEmOK A. Points. Ch. p. W. I. I). For. Agst. Pta. HUH. «...-..« J. 7 « 0 133 || U Eastbourne ...7 4 3 0 »o <» . | Oriental J 2 4 1 76 7j a r : ? I I i lo Jm a Be Wore :: 7 0 6 1 ■ 4« 138 1 SENIOR B. Points. Ch. \ p W. L- D. For. Agst. Pts. <W Pat's OB . 7 7 0 0 118 21 14 ConegoOWBoys 7 6 10 89 39 2 Johnsonville .. 7 6 1 .0 1-8 - ; 1onlw":::::: \ \ \ j ss 50 ,9 SpL " 7 1 6 0 -39 88 2 taWM Coll... f X 5 0 31 86 2 Ppper Hutt ,.. 7 1 6 0 2o 77 2 Blolrose 7 0. 6 1 21 151 1

CHAMPIONSHIP TABLES.