Rugby Football LOCAL CHAMPIONSHIP PROSPECTS NOTES AND COMMENTS AUCKLAND TABLE

Evening Post, Volume CXX, Issue 12, 13 July 1935, Page 22

Rugby Football

LOCAL CHAMPIONSHIP PROSPECTS

NOTES AND COMMENTS

AUCKLAND TABLE

By "Oropkiclc"

" Although some of the performances fcg-late in the local senior A grade ■isrst division Rugby competition have J&&. disappointing, there is every indicatjoa: that championship honours will not be won without some very -keen contests in the remaining stages. tTnfortunately the last two games on , Athletic Park have been so poor as to create an' , impression that the standard is much lower than is"actually the case. While some teams have failed' to impress by their play •at others- at the same time have been showing up splendidly.! There was a case in point last Saturday. when at Newtown Park, Athletic, and Wellington turned on some really good football while at Athletic Park/ Hutt and Eastbourne .•were- showing bad lapses in form. Some of the best scrummage work in this season's play was produced in the Athletic-Wellington match, : and this led to not a little sparkling play by Ah©-, backs', with probably the two best half-backs in the country functioning splendidly. Tindill continues to play for his dub in the role to which he is. accustomed, in spite of the fact that he has been included in the New Zealand team as a five-eighth. Of his brilliance as a half there can be no doubt-in the minds of those who have seen; him' often enough to appreciate fully* his value, and, whatever fist he •makes-of .the first five-eighth job, he would, undoubtedly be of greatest service to the New Zealand team in the half-back position. ■ '. ■ '

Reverting to the local championship, the position of the teams is such as to give the competition a very' open appearance.' On present form the teams in the lower places on the ladder are quite, capable of extending those in thehigher. positions, and with each-series of matches there should be' some changes, with the prospect of an .appreciable advance being made by

■'■'-'• some ot those on the lower rungs. 'In-: - 'terest in, the club competition should : : riot: 'slacken- .;because -some 'of the ; gamesthappen to be of poor standard. "■ That is not an unusual experience in ■ '■-■ any season. There will be plenty of 'keen and interesting football before this season's competition is finished, and there will also be an attractive 1 : list.of representative matches to attract attention. ; .;■'•■: 1 Before the playing of today's matches the championship table was. 1 ..'as follows:— . ,;■,"'.' FIRST DIVISION.

THE PLAYERS REVIEWED

It is a long-time probably since less effe.ctual efforts to kick goals has been ■•■ seen' at Athletic Park than in the ■.match; between Hutt and Eastbourne. And: it is as well. Since Fuller's de.parture Eastbourne have been calling upqa Fleming, Crisp, and Foley to do .: their/goal'kicking, and usually it.is a "safe bet-that one will be in.form. But ■on Saturday not one of them could kick- a. goal for nuts; they ,had left their: kicking boots high -up on the top shelf of their wardrobes. Shots at goal were taken from something'like 'eight free-kicks, and then there were the efforts made to convert the three tries scored by Eastbourne. Not once ;was the ball sent over the bar. Lynch did the. kicking for Hutt. He had three shots at goal from penalty kicks, and he was successful with one. He was unable" to convert Hutt's two tries. ; The 'absence of Lilburne, Hansen, and: Coulston, owing to injuries, created gaps in the Hutt team that were reflected in the general all-round "'showing. Hutt were beaten in the .the/majority of the scrums, though they, were more successful in the: lineputs, in whioh Barry, Peck, and company, used their height to good effect, ■ arid they led Eastbourne to.follow the practice of'taking scrums instead of ' line^outs whenever the ball was theirs. ■'." The Hutt pack worked solidly, and "they ;had to• against the- fast,- virile -Eastbourne: set. : N. Dellabarca' was among the most prominent of the East:- -; bourne forwards. He broke out: into the- open several times. W'ait'e iand Sleep were others who were always oh the job. . ■ • ; ' ; Not-having such a good share of ■'the ■'ball, from the set scrums; the .opportunities .that came the way of the Hutt backs- were strictly limited, but they ■made up for-theii' comparative inactivity'oh attack with some sterling defensive play. The tackling of the Hutt backs.was really sound. Cochrane, who. /deputised for Lilburne, and Iteehey, the two five-eighths, also Ball were wide awake, and Feeney more thah once showed initiative and speed in endeavours to open up an attack. . •■"■■• -.Fleming and J. Plank, the Eastbourne five-eighths, were unable to peneirate to any extent, and were not (RSR at their best. Common and Walling, the Eastbourne wing-three-quarters, showed something of their paces, and indicated, too, that 'hey are players with determination _and the will to "give is a go." Waliing had more thrust than any of the Eastbourne backs. He made several good runs on the wing, but his best

KEEN BIDDING FOE FINAL HONOURS

At one stage of the St. Pat's 0.8.Umversity game a series of scrummage infringements held, up proceedings. Marshall did not appear to be putting the ball in cleanly. This player distinguished ■ himself by the .numberof times he got the ball away in the face of the University breakaways, and was .largely responsible ior Hart's try. ' .

The University backs indulged in some nea.t' work during the afternoon; and the movement which ended in O'Regan scoring was probably the prettiest in the match. They made the mistake,-however, of standing too deep ''when on attack, and on one

occasion this--cost fthem * as much as twenty yards. The St.'; Patrick's defence was quick, to take advantage of any, such fault,. K. O'Connor . saved the :situation several' times, but his kicking was by;ho means accurate.

The University forwards had the edge on the St. Patrick's pack in the loose," tut in the set scrummages appeared to break far too quickly. .The tactics of the St. Patrick's forwards in staying down and taking the ball with them were very effective,' though the action of the backs was often muffled by the speedy University breakaways. Chesterman and Diederich were very prominent for University, and Hart for St. Patrick's.

Both on defence and attack Spence played well behind the Petone scrum. He varied his offensive play judiciously, making some good openings, and worked the blind. side neatly on several occasions. His passing was quick and straight, while he knew when to ■gain ground with short stabbing kicks. When Marist were. • launching their forward rushes, he went down to them in' good style.

Tuck,- substituting for Sadler at half-back for Old Boys,-was content to send the ball on^ as; soon as was possible, He had a-regular feast of the ball. . ...■•■■*"._,■■;. -v ■; ' :■ ■'

Southlanders are still wondering (says the "Southland Times") how Otago was favoured with ;nine representatives in tne first South Island trial (at Dunedin) .as compared with five from Southland. Otago got two forwards in the All Black team (two good ones, too) and Southland none. It is hard to believe that Otago is stronger forward than Southland, and harder still to beileve that there were so many forwards, roughly 30 or 40, better than Les George, Purdue, Berry, and Metcalfe. The New Zealand selec-

moved into centre-three-quartqr follovvirig Foley's retirement with a leg injury. He beat three of the Hutt men when he scored the try right on time which enabled Eastbourne to draw level. ■ ' ■ . Crisp gave Eastbourne good service as the full-back, and his positional play was sound, and he kicked a long ball with accuracy. : ■ • ■

As half-back for Poneke last Saturday, Potier gave a disappointing display. His weak handling and poor passes must have been most discouraging, to his supports. He is, however, to be excused somewhat, ■ inasmuch that his play was. considerably hampered by the opposing wing-forward, to whom he was unable to accustom himself. .■■-,. ■ •

While the Poneke forwards held a definite advantage in the matter of weight they were able to do little in face of the fast and sturdy Oriental forwards. Hull gave his usual sound display and figured in the van of many of the Poneke attacks. In this respect he was given plenty of support by Ongley. Stone and Pringle made thenpresence felt in the line-outs and m the loose work. : ■.. .

Cresswell has played mucii better at full-back for Wellington than he did on Saturday. He spent a lot of time getting out of trouble of his own making. ,' ;;■'.' .

Trapp appears to be a wing-three-quarter with possibilities. He ran with great determination, and wisely fed would be a great scoring man.

The first round '■■■'of the Auckland senior Rugby, championship having ended, three teams are. supposed to be relegated to senior B. Owing, however, to the: union readmitting Grammar Old Boys and College Rifles after the round started, fate has decreed that even.on a scoring points basis (for and against) nobody can say which clubs are to be degraded, because four are ..level ■; with seven, championship points, states the "Auckland Star." College Rifles,. although bottom with six points, has still to play Grammar, relegated last year, but safe now. If Rifles happened to win, and they defeated University on Saturday, then they too would be safe, and on the figures below it would take a "bush lawyer" to decide upon the. relegation. Manukau and Grafton would have to go down on a scoring points basis, but how would .the"union* decide between Ponsoribyand.Marist.Old Bpys, both of whom have the same "difference" of two poirits-T-89, .91, and 88, 90. Never has the competition ladder been so interesting. Here it is:—... . ■ . ■■•■: ' ' Points. Ch. ■ ..- : V. W. I/.' 11. V. A. Vis. Grnniimir 0.8. 7 4 1 .'.2 S4 78 10 Otnliului S 5 3—107 78 10 Technical O.li. ~. 8. 3 3'l! ' 86.' G8 8 University' ../... ■■■»■■■ 4*■■ 4■ •— 104 101) 8 I'on.sonby. ...... 8: 2 3 ,3 SO . !U. 7 Jlarist 0.8.. ■. ■. 8 3 4 1 88 00 7 Manukau ....;. S '2 3 3 81.85 7 Grafton ' ... .7... •'« ■ ■'» '4 •" 1- fiS ; SIJ 7 Collego Itiflcs ....' 7 ..3. 4::.— 70 92 C In view of all the. unusual, circumstances, and the fact'that .-it. would be possible for any one of the nine teams still to -win'the championship, the management committee of the Auckland Riijby. Union has decided to suspend the relegation scheme for this year arid to play a. further complete round.

I 1. \V. h. 1). V.-A.-l'ia. ■-■:- Well/ Coll. O.B. 10 7 2 1 130 74 15 ; t'oncko 10 « 3 1 12S S3 IS .'..liutt ...:. 10 s ." 2 ;: ss go is '"' : I'ctbrip 10 S 3 2 11G-105 12 *.lolinsonvil!o 10 (i 4 — 89 77 11 •..♦Oriental .......... 10 7 3 1 89 78 11 ■ JUarist Bros. O.B. 10 4 (i — 107 133' S ., Atlllctlc 10 3 5 2 -89 91 8 ■ ' -"Ejistbourno--- .... 10 3 ■ « 1 109 1J4 7 - iWollihgtoii: ..... 10 '2 0 2: -1)0 113 .0 :•''■'■'. .'. ■:■;. 'rromotcil teams.