RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIPS

Evening Post, Volume CXXI, Issue 140, 15 June 1936, Page 6

RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIPS

WELLINGTON ACCOUNT FOR OLD BOYS

CHANGE IN TOP GRADE PLACES The Wellington llugby Union's senior A grade championship competitions reached an interesting stage 011 Saturday afternoon when, in the final series of matches in the first round, the results t made quite a difference to the positions of the teams. Wellington College Old Boys, and many followers, had a surprise sprung upon them in the performance of Wellington, whose splendid efforts carried them to a decisive win. It was unfortunate for Old Boys that they lost Sadler (injured), but Wellington's play was well worthy of the success achieved. A keen battle between two strong packs was -- the feature of the match, Poneke v. Athletic, at Athletic Park, and in this Poneke deservedly won. Petone had a close call from Marist - Bros. Old Boys at Petone. Except for spirited finishing bursts by their opponents, Hutt had the measure of Eastbourne in the match at the Hutt Recreation Ground. The results brought Poneke to the top of the championship ladder in company with Wellington College Old Boys, a point clear of Athletic, with Wellington "and Eastbourne on terms only another point away. In the second division Johnsonville completed the round with an ~ unbroken record of wins, and, with St. Patrick's College Old Boys, they now go into the lop division. RESULTS AT A GLANCE. Senior A (First Division). Senior A (Second Division). '' - Wellington .... 33 WRln. Col. 0.8. . !! Johnsonville .. 1!) /thletir 11. > Poncko 1*- Athletic '» University ... li£ OrJont.il .... .'J Fetono Marist Bros. 0.8. Miramar S Firat.es S 20 Kastbournc .... 17 St. Patrick's 0.8. won by default from United. CHAMPJONSHJP TABLES. Senior A (First Division.) Senior A (Socond Division.) I'oints Cli. Johnsonvillo 7 0 0 123 28 11 W. L. r». F. A. Tts. St. rat's 0.8 B 1 0 SH 28 12 , Wgtn. Col. 0.8 5 2 0 75 CI 10 Atlile'tc •... 4 2 1 120 73 9 Poneke .!... 5 2 ft 78 45 10 Jnlrmity J J J A* ' ■' Athletic 4 2 177 M » J "ranmr 2 2 t.4 SI G Wellington 4 S 0 73 ." S Pirates 1 4 . 8 ; . 4 • Eastbourne 4 3 0 71,% -8 Oriental 0 -,r ,:, 9 ' J " Votone S 3'l 0U 71 7. Lnitcd 1 i> U -1 l-.» - Hutt 2 r, o no sr i ■: Marist a 0 7 .0 39 111 0

BATCHES DESCRIBED

PETONE V. MARIST

Largely through taking advantage of their opponents' many mistakes, Petone narrowly defeated Marist Brothers Old Boys by 8 points to 6. The game was productive of only mediocre football and was perhaps the poorest as a spectacle seen on the Petone Oval this season. Neither sets of backs handled with any degree of accuracy, although the forwards on both sides did their best to enliven proceedings. There wag little difference on the day between the strength of the respective teams. Each side scored'two tries and Pollock's conversion of one of the Petone tries was the deciding factor. . The teams were:— Petone.—Pollock; .Thomas, Hudson, McGurk; N. Edwards, A. Edwards; O'Halloran; Sundgren, Lambourn, Clayton, Carter, Mcßride, Abrim, Mitchell, Cleland. Marist.—Hewson; L. McGreevy, E. McGreevy, Quin; Langdon, Spillane; Brown; Quirk, Ottaway, Blatch, Leahy; | Ropata, Donoghue, Stiver, Tietjens. Petone quickly took play to the Marist quarter. Several likely opportune tjes, however, were allowed to go astray and a certain try was lost when Hudson, who found a gap in the Marist defence, gave a forward pas§ with the way clear. Marist later pressed hard but brilliant play on the part of Pollock enabled McGurk to accept a good pass and make a heady run of at least fifty yards. He kicked over Hewson s head. Mitchell followed up fast and scored a fine try. Pollock converted. 5-0, Although Marist returned play to the Petone quarter, they were unable to pierce the defence and the spell ended without further score. . After the. interval Marist infused much more dash into their play ana after a good opening by Stiver, L. McGreevy made a bold bid for the line, only to be held up at the last moment. The Marist forwards made strong claims but the Petone backs were quick to turn to good • use their opponents | mistakes. From a, scrum near .the Petone line Brown whipped the ball out to Spillane, who ran round the blind side and scored a well-earned try. The kick missed. 5-3. the play at this stage became particularly lively. Blatch (Marist) met with an injury and retired. He was replaced by Fitzgerald. A strong attacking movement by the Petone forwards was rewarded when A. Edwards raced across for a try. 8-3. Fortunes fluctuated after this and with one minute left for play Langdon initiated a splendid movement which was carried on by, the McGreevy brothers. L. McGreevy was the last to handle and although he was checked when right on the fine he made a fine recovery and scored in a handy position. &. McGreevy failed to convert and Marist s last chance to draw level was lost. The final score was; Petone 8, Marist Brothers Old Boys 6. •The referee was" Mr. A. R. Morris. EASTBOURNE V. HUTT

Sound kicking was an outstanding feature of the fast game between Hut. and Eastbourne at the Hutt Recreation Ground. 22 points out of a total of 37 being won by the place-kicking of-Fleming and Nees. A dry ball and a fast ground made conditions ideal for pissing movements, and spectacular runs frequently brought the onlookers to their feet. However, some of the Eastbourne backj. were standing a -little too far apart, and in the excitement <of the game the passes frequently went wide of their man. Hutt backs were throwing the ball about particularly well in the second half, and sound collaring by Eastbourne alone prevented several likely tries. The forwards opened up the game, and endeavoured to feed the backs. Hutt had a slight advantage in the scrums. The teams were:— Hutt.—Jarman; Nees, Hansen, Phillips; Manders, Sargisson; Zane; Francis, Potter, Saulbrey, Devine, Barry, Coulston, Mcintosh, and Andrews. Eastbourne.— Crisp; . Common, McMillan, Walling; D. Plank, Fleming; J. Plank; Robertson, Berry, Griffiths, N. Dellabarca, Clark, Waite, Robinson, and Guiniven. . , ~ Eastbourne kicked off , against the breeze, but were soon on the defensive. Barry dribbled right up to the Hutt line, but was beaten for the try. Soon afterwards, however, Sargisson chased a short kick through, outpaced Crisp, and scored. Nees converted. Soon afterwards Hansen, in a fine run down the line, beat Walling, and scored behind the posts. Nees again converted, Eastbourne' fought back, and from a penalty Fleming kicked an excellent goal for Eastbourne. Play then ranged up and down the field, Hansen and Nees nearly going over, but for another scrum infringement Fleming was given a penalty kick and reduced the Hutt lead. Crisp, who was disabled some time ago, was hurt in the early stages of this game, and as a result of a heavy fall after 35 minutes of play he retired, suffering from slight concussion. Common became full-back, with McMillan on the wing, while Orme came on and went to centre. Just before the half-time whistle Fleming kicked another penalty, the first spell ending: Hutt 10, Eastbourne 9. . . Play was particularly fast in the second half, Hutt having the territorial advantage but frequently having to defend from its twenty-five. Sargisson got through the Eastbourne defences on his third attempt and scored. Nees converted. Immediately on the kick-off Coulston snapped up the ball after Mcintosh had dribbled through, and handed to Hansen to score. Noes again converted. A counter-attack gave Fleming another

opportunity, and he added a fourth penalty goal, following it with a fine run from a l'everse pass and a try under the posts which he converted. The game ended without further score. Hutt 20, Eastbourne 17.

[ PONEKE WIN HARD CAME i Rugby patrons who were at Athletic Park were treated by Poneke and Athletic to a very generous filling of hard, keen, and\ stirring football. Play was not spectacular, but the game provided plenty of movement and so spirited "was the contest that interest was sustained from first to last. Poneke fully lived up to their reputation of being a difficult proposition at the Park. They certainly proved too great a handful for- Athletic, whose forwards were not given the scope to operate in the devastating way they have in other games this season. The Poneke vanguard used their avoirdupois to good effect and played dashing football, never allowing the Athletic team to make too much of the play. They gave an excellent account of themselves. The teams were;— Athletic. — Mclntyre; Thomson, Forbes, Dickey; McCauley, Karsten; Mack; Cooper, Mollier, Wyeth, Wells, Guy, Edwards, Bowling, Wales. Poneke. —Vartan; Barrett, Upchurch, Martyn; Reece, Griffiths; Potier; Ongley, Crichton, Hull, Pringle, Kean, Ryan, Calcinai, Culley. ' Facing the sun and the northerly breeze for the first spell, Poneke received ah early shock, smart play Wales putting Athletic right up to the ! Poneke line, but Forbes, instead of trying to pick up the ball, kicked it and the ball went into touch-in-goal. In 'subsequent play Poneke showed only too clearly that things were not going to be anything like an easy as this for Athletic. They curbed the activities of the Athletic pack, and, keeping good control of the ball,, their own vanguard were very much in the picture. The Athletic defence held for a long time, but eventually Calcinai got through for a try which topped off a solid attack. Martyn failed with the kick. Immediately the ball was in play again. Athletic, bent on vengeance, swept all before them and the reward of this great onslaught was an unconverted try by Cooper. . Play* continued hard and fast in the second spell and there was no lack of incident. In the early stages Poneke kept Athletic very much on the move. The Athletic defence held together but Poneke were able to improve their position with a fine penalty goal by Martyn. A try (unconverted) by Barrett followed a little later, making the task for Athletic more difficult. Athi letic kept going, but when a fairly easy penalty goal was missed their chances of being able to make up the leeway in the time that was left faded, though when Mack made a good jopening and Forbes cut in between Potier and Griffiths the Poneke line was in danger. Forbes's pass, however, went astray. In the last few minutes Martyn, from three or four yards past halfway, "' kicked a splendid - goal for Poneke, the game ending: Poneke 12, Athletic 3. . The referee was Mr. J. A. Wilson. WELLINGTON'S SUCCESS

'There was a large crowd of spectators at Ptince of WalCs Park where Wellington beat Old Boys by 13 points to 3 in a match in which keenness and speed were features. The teams were: — Wellington. — Cresswell; Edwards, Kelly, Ullrich; Trapp, Veitch; Richardson; Climo, Dimes, Stevens, FraserSmith, Carlyon, Coupland, McLean, Bell. Wellington College. Old Boys.—R. Wright; Burns, Binning, Leonard; G. Reynolds, Baldwin; Sadler; Bydder, M. Wright, J. Reynolds, Claridge, Hewitt, Amies, Souness, Lamason. Old Boys had the disadvantage of playing against the sun as well as the wind in the first spell and their opponents made good use of this. The first fifteen minutes of the game found Wellington making attack after attack and the defence had plenty to do in keeping the line from being crossed. Luckily for Old Boys, one or two of the attackers were not certain of their handling and two very promising movements came to grief. Old Boys j managed to get out of the danger zone, and a fine forward rush, aided by Jhe backs, almost ended in a score by Sadler. For some minutes. Old Boysj looked like scoring, but tney were driven back, and the Wellington forwards, by a series of rushes, entrenched themselves at the Old Boys' twentyfive. Sadler was hurt and was replaced by Hill. Cresswell opened the scoring by potting a gbal from about 3o yards out. A few minutes afterwards Trapp increased the score with a penalty goal. Old Boys tried desperately to relieve the pressure, but Wellington came back, and; from a scrum, Edwards came inside to take a pass and hand on to Veitch, who slipped through an opening and transferred to Ullrich. The winger scored wide out. The kick failed, and the spell ended with Wellington leading by 10 points to nil. Old Boys became very- busy at the beginning of the second half, and attack after attack was launched. They secured possession repeatedly from the scrums, but the attacks generally were driven across field. Baldwin managed to make progress on two occasions, but dropped passes spoilt likely scores. Thrills came when Edwards broke away at the end of a passing bout and reached a point near the corner flag before being thrown into touch. Souness broke through from close to his own line, and ducked and dodged at a great pace before he was forced to kick when well over the half-way line. Play settled down to a tremendous forward struggle and spectators were

roused to cheers as the participants surged up and down field. Another line run by Edwards took play close to the Old Boys line, where Belt found an opening and ran over lor an unconverted try. Play became faster than ever with Old Boys trying hard to wipe off the 13 points deficit. Backs and forwards tried time aCter time to penetrate the defence, but the only consolation was a penalty goal kicked by Lamason. During the last few minutes play was in midfield, but there was no lot-up in the pace. No-side blew with the scores Wellington 13, Old Boys 3. Mr. J. Moffitt was the referee. SECOND DIVISION PIRATES AND MIRAMAR Although somewhat ragged, play in the Pirates v. Miramar match at the Polo Grounds was of an exciting nature, there being some particularly bright instances o£ individual play- The game ended in a draw. The teams were:— Pirates. —Maicy; Thorburn, Honeyfield, H. Johnson; Mitchell, Masters; Beal; C. Johnson, Mason, Donnelly, Kerrigan, Birkett, Miller, Davidson, Bognuda. Miramar. — Mulholland; Aldous. I Beard, Batchelor; Dawson, Simonsen; Greenall; James, Young, Troy, Catchpole, Puniti, Blackwell, Weinberg, MinI nick. I The Pirates' forwards had Miramar on the defensive in the first few minutes of the match. They were not given any support by their backs, who seemed unable to appreciate the value of the opportunities given them. Bognuda led most of the Pirate attacking movements and the dribbling rushes forced Miramar to put up' a solid defence. The Miramar forwards were sound when stemming the Pirate attacks, but they were slow on attack. Several times they lost control of the hall, through either kicking too hard or delaying passes. Their speedy backs saved them time and again. Pirates were superior to Miramar throughout the first spell and just before halftime Kerrigan scored for Pirates and Mason converted. Pirates 5, Miramar

o. Miramar were determined to make the pace in the second spell and they caught, the opposition off their guard. The backs, with Simonscn prominent, went well, and Batchelor scored. 5-3. The backs were playing sound football, Aldous, Minnick. and Batchelor being outstanding. Some combined work ended in Batchelor scoring a try which Dawson converted. 8-5. From, then on the play was exciting, and when Pirates equalised with a penalty goal by Mason play moved fast. However, no further points were realised, the score at full-time being: Pirates 8, Miramar 8. The referee was Mr. H. Kitchen.

COMBINATION BETTER Greatly superior pace and better combination gave University a comfortable win over Oriental at Kelburn on Saturday. Oriental were outweighted forward and played only seven in the scrum during the second half, so that University had a practical monopoly of the ball. The teams W University.—Tricklebank; Fitzgerald, Wild, Ekdahl; Reid. Simm; Rae: Burke, Jackson, Wilson, Desborough, Blacker, Russell. Eade, Gibbons. Oriental—Coxon; Wrfod. Fulford, Wakelin: Syddall, Murdock; McCann; Searle, Humpherson, Rankin, Sullivan, Kemp, Sinclair, Revell. Baynes. Oriental started promisingly, but though their forwards held their own fairly well in the loose, the University pack gave their backs plenty of the ball, and Rae started passing rushes at every opportunity. Mishandling spoilt many attacks, but before halftime five tries had been rung on. all following good movements. Ekdahl (2), Wild (2), and Fitzgerald were the scorers, and only one was converted, the half-time score being University 17 bdentai al were the first to. score in the second half, Wood crossing after a neat movement. Heartened by this success. Oriental held their own for a time, and went near scoring on several occasions, lack of finish saving University. Towards the finish University took complete control, and tl "° l e d ' tries were scored by Reid, Wild, and Fitzgerald, one being convertcd.Um versity 28, Oriental 3. Mr. J. Gilchnst refereed. JOHNSONVILLE TOO STRONG Succeeding in their plan of playing from start to finish a spoiling type of football, Johnsonville defeated Athletic by 19 points to 11 m the early fame at Athletic Park. The win gave Johnsonville an unblemished record m the first round of thesccQnddivisiQncompetition. It was deserved, too, though the standard of football played by both teams was not high. The teams were:— Johnsonville.—N. Kenny; Kelly,' Chaney, Welch; Hallewell, G. Burns, J. Burns; Hall, Hunter, Craig, A. Kenny, Bowler, Grant, Lee, TrenchQfd Athletic.—Parker; Badland, Pelham, Porter; Stott, Martlew; Wilson; Elworthy, Pope, Christophers, Trott, Troy, Smith, Cleverley, Archibald. The opening to the match was promising, for after Athletic had scrambled to Johnsonville's line, the Blues went away in a terrific, unstoppable foot-rush —unstoppable, that is, until Athlotic s goal line was reached, when the attack broke down. But after more skirmishing Chaney secured and dived over, Trenchard missing the kick. Johnsonville, aided by the gusty northerly, kept to the attack and on several occasions Athletic had to force down. From

one drop-out J. Burns secured near the touchline. He dodged infield, and in the midst of a group of players, while going at top, he let fly with a pot. The ball scraped over, travelling at great speed. Later, towards half-time, Hall, Johnsonville's winging forward, potted another goal, and in the next movement followed a kick through to score, J. Burns goaling, to give Johnsonville 16 points for the spell. Athletic were more in the picture in the second spell, Badland opening the scoring with a strong dash past N. Kenny for a try. Smith converted and showed his kicking powers not long after with a fine penalty goal from 45 yards out and near the touchline. The kick, a high one, sent the ball lobbing over the bar with a clearance of not more than six inches. Johnsonville's spoiling play -reasserted itself and J. Burns immediately dodged over for a try, the conversion being missed. Smith was successful with another penalty iust before time, and the game ended .Johnsonville 19, Athletic 11. Mr. A. C. Swan was the referee. __ SENIOR B. University 14, Onslow 13. Wellington 12, Poneke 5. Hutt 20, Porirua 0. Eastbourne 9, Marist 7. JUNIOR (First Division.) Poneke 11, Athletic 3. University 14, Johnsonville 8, St. Pal's 0.8. 11, Pctonc 8. Wellington College 0.8. 9, Hull A 0. Wellington 11, Plimmerton 3. Mutt B 11, Seatoun 0. , JUNIOR (Second Division.) Oriental 6, Eastbourne 3. Kaiwarra 48, Onslow IG. Miramar 10, Marist 8. Pirates 14. Athletic 7. Seatoun 9, Wellington College 0.8. 0> Technical College 0.8. 8, Wellington 5. Upper Hutt 12, University 5. Karori, a bye. Institute 11, Petone 3. THIRD (First Division.) Marist. 20, University (i. St. Pat's College 20. Poneke 3. Wellington College 14, Wellington 9. Oriental, a bye. Wellington College 0.8. 19, Silverstream 10. THIRD (Scconcl Division.) Athletic 11. Hutt 3. Miramar M, Wellington 0.

Oriental 22, University 0. Johnsonville 12, Poneke 11. United 11, St. Pat's 0.8. 3. THIRD (Third Division.) Petone 42, Institute 0. Eastbourne 12, Marist 0. Kaiwarra 14, Karor'i 6. University 20, St. Pat's 0.8. 0. Upper Hutt 55, Seatoun. 0. FOURTH (First Division). Hutt 67, Onslow 6. Petone 16, Wellington College 0.8. 0. University 8, Poneke 6. Wellington, a bye. FOURTH (Sccond Division). Athletic 5, Oriental 5. Ilutt A 3, Miramar 3. Johnsonville 17, Marist 3. Hutt B 6, Petone 5. Wellington 26, Technical College 0.8. -0. j Upper HuU. a bye. St. Fat's 0.8. 11, Wellington College ! 0.8. 3. I FIFTH. | Pirates 19. Kaiwarra 0. Upper Hutt 9, Poneke 3. Hutt 9, Wellington 0. Onslow 11, Athletic 3. Technical College 0.8. 40. Marist 3. United defaulted to Petone. Institute, a bye. SIXTH. Hutt 5, Miramar 0. Poneke 5, Athletic 0. Petone won by default from Marist. Wellington, a bye. SEVENTH. Hutt 27, Onslow 3. Pirates 12, Kaiwarra 0. iCarori 11, Seatoun 6. Upper Hutt 20, Miramar G. Petone 9, Poneke 6. Eastbourne 9, Y.M.C.A. 3. Oriental 16, Wellington 0. United 25, Athletic 0. COLLEGE RUGBY FIRST GRADE. Wellington College A 31, Technical 6. I-lutt Valley High 37. Scots 0. Silverstream C 8, Wellington College C 6. Wellington College B, a bye. Eongotai 6, Silverstream A 3. St. Pat's 14, Silverstream B 12. SECOND GRADE. Wellington College A 14, Silverstream A 3. Wellington College B 30, St. Pat's 2. Technical A 19, Scots 3. Hutt Valley High B 10, Rongotai B 5. The match between Wellington College C and Wellington College D will be played next week. THIRD GRADE. Scots 9, Wellington College C 6. Wellington College A 9. St. Pat's A 0. Technical 5. St. Pat's B 0. Wellington College D 23, Rongotai B , 6 - I Eongotai 6, Silverstream 5. FOURTH GRADE. Wellington College A 41, Hutt Valley High A 0.. Technical A 3, Wellington College B 0. Wellington College C 20, St. Pat's B 0 - ' TV Hutt Valley High B 6, Silverstream B 0. Eongotai B 39, Wellington College D 0. Scots 10, Technical B 8. j Silverstream A 17, St. Pat's AO. | PLAY ANDHiAYEBS NOTES FROM THE MATCHES Wellington supporters have been heartened this season by the excellent work of the pack led by Fraser-Smith. On the line-outs, and in rucking and forward rushes, the Wellington forwards are first class. Against them on Saturday Old Boys gained the ball from the great majority of scrums, but in rucking and close forward play Old Boys were well mastered by Wellington. Loose rushes found both packs breaking even. The forward play was more like the type of years ago. "Shining" was completely absent.

Cresswell (Wellington), full-back, played much better against Old Boys than he did against Hutt. His fielding and kicking were excellent, and his tackling was good. .

R. Wright filled the full-back position for Wellington College Old Boys against Wellington and made quite a good showing in the position. Ho handled extremely well and kickcd with judgment. Masters will be away from Wellington for some little time.

With the backs of both sides under extremely close surveillance all the lime, there were not many opportunities for passing rushes to get far 111 the Wellington-Wellington College Old Boys match. Nevertheless, Edwards, Binning, and Burns all managed_ to do some running. Edwards made two runs which took him . a long way. Burns looks a "comer" and his speed should bring hijn into notice.

Baldwin (Old Boys) was. a wellmarked man against Wellington and had to take some battering. Nevertheless. he was a source of danger when, his side were attacking.

Sadler's injury was a tremendous handicap to Old Boys. He had to do a lot of stopping during the short time he was on the field, and sustained a sprained shoulder whilst trying to stem one particularly solid rush of the Wellington pack. Old Boys without Sadler do not appear to be nearly so effective a striking force.

Veitch. the Wellington first fiveeighth, is on the improve, and his form against Old Boys showed that he is developing into a really sound player. His opening for Ullrich's try was very well done.

In most of their games this season the Athletic forwards have played a very big part in proceedings and usually have achieved considerable success, but against the Poneke vanguard it was a different story; their path was beset with difficulties. The Poneke men, with Pringle, Hull, O'Brien, and Ongley very much on the job, sprang at {hem, and. moreover, saw to it that they had a big hand in shaping the trend of events. The result was that Athlctic players, such as Wells, Wales, Bowling, and Edwards were more subdued than usual.

Pringle was an outstanding man in the Poneke pack. Hull, O'Brien, Ongley, and Calcinai also played keen, solid football throughout the game.

Tindill. though keen to play, was again missing from the Athletic back line, it being thought advisable that he should have another Saturday off to allow his injured ankle every opportunity of mending properly. He is expected to be playing next Saturday. Athletic could have done with his assistance, for without belittling in any degree the strong performance by the Poneke forwards, he is just such a player who may have been able to pull the game out of the fire for his side. Mack and Karsten (first five-eighth) did not link up well, and the result was that the rest of the backs did not have the opportunity they may otherwise have had. It was a pity, because Forbes once again showed that he is a player who can penetrate.

Although failing to convert the two tries scored by Poneke, Martyn, the wing-three-quarter, landed two excellent penalty goals, which had the effect of giving Poneke a handsome win. As in tin; game at the Park the prc-

vious week, Mclntyre, the.Athletic fullback, not only kicked strongly when the occasion demanded, but also —instead of kicking and possibly giving possession of the ball to Poneke —was on the alert to seize good opportunities of opening up passing bouts. His play in this respect was in very welcome contrast to the "grubber' kicking seen in the early game. Sound defensive measures were employed by Griffiths, the Poneke first five-eighth. He was one who played no small part in upsetting attempts by the Athletic backs to get under way in smooth-working passing bouts. T-ricklebank's trip to Japan would appear to have affected his football adversely, for he is not nearly so effective this season. He still gets a great length with his kicking, but a lot of it is wasted in touch. He shows a lot of enterprise in joining in attacking moves. Wild is the mainspring of the University backs. He handled better than most on Saturday, and exploited a crisp cut-in to advantage. Rac, though enterprising and tricky, fumbled a lot at the base of the scrum, but he contrived to keep hisL backs moving briskly, and did a lot of defensive work. ♦ * » Ekdahl looks a decidedly promising wing. He has a lot of pace, and his run from beyond half-way to score was a fine effort. The University forwards had much the better of the scrum work and were, in fact, superior all round. Some of their rushes took a deal of stopping. Oriental got little chance to show their attacking qualities, but appeared to lack all sense of position. Good opportunities were r&peatedly thrown away through men overrunning the man in possession. Crisp, the Eastbourne full-back, was again unlucky on. Saturday. A fall early in the game left him dazed, and another knock just before half-time resulted in a diagnosis of minor concussion. Crisp was chosen for the Wellington representative team to play Taranaki on the King's Birthday. Mark Nicholls, the sole selector, saw Crisp injured and it is possible that this is the reason for the request that K. O'Connor should train with the team. A. H. Andrews, a former Canterbury and South Island representative, played a good game in the Hutt pack against Eastbourne. In the early stages of the game particularly he was getting among the Eastbourne backs and bustling them. When he has achieved proper fitness he should be a tower of strength to Hutt. , The Eastbourne pack missed J. Deliabarca on Saturday. Among the best of the Eastbourne forwards were F. Berry, N. Dellabarca,. and Waite. 1 J. Fleming (Eastbourne) played an (excellent game against Hutt, but ne missed Foley, who was on the injured list. J. Plank was frequently harassed by the spoiling tactics of the fast Hutt forwards among whom-Devine, Barry, and Mcintosh were prominent. It is difficult to predict how Johnsonville will succeed in the slightly more seasoned ranks of the first division, to which, of course, they have been promoted. Against Athletic in the early game at the Park on Saturday, the side showed itself expert in destructive, spoiling football, but apparently lacking any ideas of constructive play. In support, one coulfl cite the fact that the number of attacks by Johnsonville's backs were limited to less than lour. In extenualion, one could cite the fact that Athletic at no stage settled down, that the side was harried and stormed and riven from start to finish by bustling, eager, fast, and extremely .fit forwards.

The Johnsonville forwards for the most part are tall, stringy fellows, sharp corners from the feet upwards. They pack 3-3-2, with Hall, in a courtesy gesture, bending down in the position of loose.head for the front row but departing as soon as the ball is introduced intb the scrummage;. Consequently, the pack is nothing less than a 2-3-2 formation, and it performs well. Lee, Trenchard, and Bowler were fine workers on Saturday.

Though they scored 11 points in the second spell of the second division game against Johnsonville, Athletic's only period when they showed danger was for twenty minutes after the start of the second spell. Then they met destructive play with destructive play, and though the result was not pretty it was effective. Troy and Trott were a cpuple of energetic forwards who worked well. In the backs, Athletic's best were the five-eighths, Stott and Martlew, whose defensive work, about all they were allowed to do, was good.

Chaney, the warrior of many battles, was Johnsonville's best back, with the half-back, J. Burns, doing good work occasionally. Kenny, at full-back, made several mistakes, but his big kicking with either foot was handy in defence.

In the absence of Quinn, the position behind the Marist scrum was ably filled by a promoted player. Brown, whose smart handling and quick thinking had Petone in difficulties on more than one occasion. His defensive play was also sound.

Spillane and Marist Old Boys' five-eighths; performed with their usual consistency, and Spillane was outstanding for his fine try, in which he reversed his direction to make excellent use of the blind side and take the opposition, completely unawares.

Stiver (Marist) is a versatile player. He has already shown that he is a useful back, and on Saturday he proved again that he is just as much at home in the pack. In fact, he was one of the outstanding forwards on the field, and on two occasions he was unlucky not to have scored.

Quirk, Leahy, and Ropata were tireless workers in the Marist 0.8. van, and Leahy gave ample evidence that, once in possession, he takes a power of stopping. Tietjens, too, used his size and weight to advantage and was a splendid loose forward.

The Petone backs show little consistency in their play. Whereas against Poneke on the previous week they combined really well, their display against Marist was below standard. O'Halloran showed up well on defence, as also did N. Edwards and Hudson. The most useful back on attack, however, was their first five-eighth, A. Edwards, who again proved that he is an elusive player with a quick eye for an opening. McGurk also played well, and he provided the highlight of the game when he accepted a pass well in Petone's quarter and cut the defence to ribbons with a strong run down the touchline to make the opening that was mainly responsible for Petone's initial score. t

Pollock, full-back for Petone, was in form. It was seldom that he misfielded, and his line-kicking and handling were both sound. Ho gave a far superior display to his vis-a-vis, Hewson, who was inclined to be too erratic.

Lambourn, Sundgren, and Clayton gave an excellent account of themselves in the Petone pack, and Lambourn's consistent hooking gave Petone the ball from the majority of the scrummages. Carter and Abrim caught the eye on many occasions, and Cleland was ponspicuous as a loose forward.

A regrettable feature of the PeloneMarist game was the weak tackling on both sides. Petone were the main offenders, and it was their backs who were essentially to blame in this respect It was no uncommon occurrence to see a player have no difficulty in warding ofl* would*be tacKlei?. Alio large crowd at the Petone Oval were not slow, to voice their disapproval of 'this too common fault.

Hiid the Marisl bacKs possessed a little more penetrative ability and had they not. in the second spell, shown so much ovcr-cagcrness, it i»

reasonable to assume that they would have left the field as victors instead of vanquished. Especially was this noticeable in the latter stages of the game, and it must have been disappointing for their forwards to see their good efforts nullified on so many occasions. The most useful back in the Marist team was L. McGreevy, whose try. scored just on time, was richly deserved. RESULTS ELSEWHERE (t!y Telegraph—l'rcss Association.) | Auckland. —The seventh series of matches in the Auckland Rugby Union's senior championship competition resulted: —Ponsonby 14, beat Technical 11; University 26, beat Training College 13; College Rifles 11, drew with Grafton 11; Grammar 30, beat North Shore 13; Otahuhu 10, beat Manukau 3. Chrislcliurch.—Christchurch 19, beat Merivale 16; University 9, beat Linwood G; Albion 10, beat Old Boys 6; Athletic 12. beat Sydenham 6. Duiicdin.—University A 20, beat Southern 15; Kaikorai 17, beat Dunedin 8; Taieri 24, beat Zingari 11; Pirates 20, beat Alhambra 12; Union $1, beat University B 3. New Plymouth.—Northern Division: Clifton 9, beat Tukapa 3; Star 17, beat New Plymouth Old Boys 10; Stratford Old Boys 13, beat Inglewood 9. Southern Division: Kaponga 9, drew with Opunake 9; Hawera 19, beat Okaiawa 3; Patea 6, beat Athletic 3; Waimte 23, beat Eltham 11. Hamilton. —Old Boys 3, Rovers 5; Technical 22, Frankton 3. Manawatu.—Feilding A won by default from -United; Feilding 0.8. 13 v. Kia Toa 3; Palmerston North Old Boys 19 v. Feilding B 0; St. Pat's 8 v. Massey College 0. Massey College have been unfortunate in having about ten men on the injured list. Invercargill.—Pirates 31, Marist 20; Star 14, Invercargill 6; Mataura 9, Albion 3. Star and Invercargill are now level with 12 championship points each. Dunedin.—Southern suffered their first defeat in the Dunedin competition before 8000 spectators on Saturday when University A with twenty points, all from goal kicks, won a sensational match. Southern's score of 15 points consisted of two tries and goal kicks. North Otago.—Old Boys 17, Ngapara 16; Excelsior 8, Duntroon 6; Athletic 21, Georgetown-Tokarahi 6. Wairarapa.—Gladstone 22, Old Boys 5; Carterton 18, Greytown 6; Red Star 11, Martinborough 6; Featherston 11,' Dalefield 6. Ilorowhenua. —Foxton 9, Hui Mai 3; United 18, Waimeha 8; Shannon 24, Wanderers 12; Punahau 30, Athletic 12. BIG SCORE BY WEST COAST (By Telegraph—Press Association.) GREYMOUTH, June 14. In a representative Rugby match, West Coast overwhelmed Inangahua by 65 to 3, after leading 46-0 at the inter-, val. _____ * DITTMAN SHIELD GAME I'Uv Telegraph—Press Association.) GREYMOUTH, Jurte 14. In a Dittman Shield Rugby representative match at Hokitika, Westland (holders) defeated South Westland,