PLAY AND PLAYERS

Evening Post, Issue 11, 13 July 1936, Page 14

PLAY AND PLAYERS

Revealing glimpses of the form that -placed them last season at the top of the championship Jadder Petone accounted for Wellington in no uncertain manner. Since the beginning of the second round Petone have shown a wonderful improvement on their earlier performances.

Pollock was the • mainstay of the Petone side in their game against Wellington. His line-kicking was a feature of. the play. The Petone backs have given some fine displays in recent games, but their play against Wellington eclipsed previous efforts. O'Halloran, behind the scrum, showed a splendid understanding with his supports. Hudson, although not outstanding, was a sound link in the chain and McGurk was always reliable. A. Edwards, probably because he ; was given greater opportunities, was more conspicuous than the others and he make some fine openings and smart runs. •■ ,

Outstanding in. the Petone pack was Carter, who gave a tireless display of fast following up. Eambourn, too, was in form and his hooking was a feature. He seldom gave the opposition the ball from the scrum and his work was smart and clean. Sundgren marred an otherwise good performance by his inclination to be reckless and he wasted a lot of valuable energy by no' concentrating on the play. Martin was invaluable in locking the scrum and Cleland was sound as . a loose forward.

, Edwards, who has been playing well on the wing for Wellington, was rather disappointing against Petone. His handling was erratic and several likely chances were lost as the result of dropped passes. The Wellington inside backs, Trapp and Vietch, got •through, a lot of work in a creditable manner '< and Trapp impressed on several occasions with,his solid attacking play and keen anticipation.

In view of Hislop's sound performance at Athletic Park in Wellington's game against Athletic on the previous week it came as rather a surprise to see Richardson behind the scrum. Whether or not the change was justified, Richardson played well and his defensive, work was particularly outstanding. Time and again he saved the position for his side and he never failed to find the line when such play was necessitated. Wellington, last Saturday, were without the services of the regular ■ full-back, Cresswell, and he was sadly missed. Morgan, a promoted junior player, deputised and his display left much, to be desired. Apart from his kicking, he did not inspire confidence and he ■vvastoo inclined to wait for the bounce" rather than take the Kail on the full.

Fraser-Smith, Coupland, Bell, and Clay were the best Wellington forwards and they all gave a businesslike performance. Coupland's try was a neat piece of'work'and, moreover, thoroughly deserved. Bracken was faced with a hard proposition in Lambourn but, despite this fact, he did well.

R. B. Burke, former Canterbury representative, was hooking in the University scrum- and as a result Miramar very rarely gained the ball. Burke is a hooker of undoubted ability and his footwork is a treat to watch.

G. Rae converted four of University's tries in the game against Miramar, proving that he has kicking ability as well as prowess as a back. Although Parsons, Eade, and Wilson were absentees from the University ranks the combination was' not affected and it certainly appears as if there are able players in reserve.

J. Catchpole, one of Miramar's star players, injured his leg a. fortnight ago and is still incapacitated.

There is no .doubt but that the field goal is fashionable. Regular patrons of Athletic Park have been treated to a series of such goals this season, notably in the Wellington-Athletic match. In that game three field goals helped Athletic considerably,, and on Saturday Griffiths found two of great assistance in enabling Poneke to take the lead from Marist Brothers' Old Boys. On each occasion the ball came to Griffiths from a scrum in front of the Marist posts. The rest he found very simple.

A spirited contest was expected between Marist and Poneke, and in that respect there was no disappointment, save that at times play-was apt to become a little too willing. As an exhibition of football the game was patchy. There was a good deal of indifferent play, but the pace was always fast, the going very keen, and there were some exciting incidents.

The Marist pack, with Ottaway, Blatch, Leahy, and company throwing their weight about, put plenty of sting into their work, playing vigorously, but Marist lacked the ability Poneke had in the rearguard. True, Kaua, a Maori and a newcomer, showed nippi25ss^. m the early stages. but seldom did the ball get out through the line to the wing-three-quarters. Had Marist been stronger in the backs they might conceivably have done better. As it was, they put up a spirited fight for the honours, but faded somewhat in the final stages, allowing Poneke to win handsomely.

Hull, Ongley, and Pringle were an excellent trio among the Poneke forwards, playing intelligent football, particularly when the ball was in the loose The Poneke pack gave the backs a good supply of the. ball, and with trnffiths right on his game and Barrett also making some nice openings, the rearguard was able to turn on some bright work at times, and play an important part in the handsome win that ultimately was achieved. *•• * ' ! * Crisp played-an outstanding game as full-back against Hutt. His fielding of the ball was sound throughout and not even the close proximity of fast-mov-ing Hutt forwards was able to get him ' rattled." His collaring saved several likely tires and his line kicking was excellent. With one kick within a couple of yards of the sideline he gained a full forty yards.

The Hutt backs in.the first'part of the game were much more successful in attacking movements than were the Eastbourne backs. Manders played

well, but should sometimes pass earlier than he does. Nees and Hansen both showed their speed to adyantage. Most of the back movements indicated an inclination by the Hutt backs to run too far across the field.

* * * * The Hutt forwards played a very sound game against Eastbourne, although their collaring was not always above criticism.- Coulstone, Devine, and Andrews were frequently seen in loose forward movements. Andrews was lucky with one try, which he got by such a narrow margin that a number of spectators thought it had been allowed for obstruction.

Jarman, the Hutt full-back, was several times applauded for his sound handling of the ball. On one occasion, while running at a fast pace upfield, he fielded a difficult high kick with his hands alone and continued his run to turn defence into attack. Jarman's kicking was also good, but his collaring was by no means always reliable. •

■ The Eastbourne backs received their fair share of the ball and passed well, but for the first half of the game were seldom able to advance. play. In a number of cases when the ball had got right out to the wing it was actually behind the: point where the passing began. Shallow play, with the r.esult that the ball was not received when the player was moving fast, was at least one causal factor, and the sun in the eyes of the backs could not be ignored. In the second spell their attacking |.power improved materially and ■ throughout their defence was sound. A concentration on Manders .nipped in I the bud a number of dangerous movements.- . ■

Barry's height gave him a considerable advantage in line-outs and he used it to good effect. Barry was promin;ent in a movement just before the whistle that threatened to change the result of the game. , Earlier, Barry touched the corner flag when diving to score.

The Eastbourne forwards played a good attacking game against Hutt, and though they did not get the ball either in the scrums or the line-outs quite as [frequently as Hutt, in loose play and in dribbling rushes they more than held their own. In passing movements some of the Eastbourne forwards showed themselves very adept, and both N. Dellabarca and Griffiths were prominent in passing rushes. N. Dellabarca :converted a dribbling movement into a [back attack by picking up and nassing to Plank, as a result of which Wallins? was able to score the crucial try. 'N. Dellabarca and Griffiths shared the other two tries, in which they received good support from the other forwards.

The standard of goal-kicking in Wellington senior Rugby this season'generally has not been high. Lamason. skipper of Wellington College Old Boys, has been one of the notable exceptions. Aeainst St. Pat's Old Boys at Kelburn Park, he was in wonderfully fine form with the boot. Of Old Boys' total of 26 points, Lamason contributed 14. In other respects his play was good and his generalship meant a good deal to the winners.

St. Patrick's at times had just as much of the play as Wellington College Old Boys, though the defence of the winning side was always sufficiently strong to prevail. Among the St. Pat's [forwards Dennehy stood out for some clever work and his versatility was of great assistance to St. Pat's. In the loose he headed some fine rushes. The winning pack, as usual, hunted well in the loose and the backing-up was a feature of their play. Claridge played a solid game' and Souness did well in the loose.

The Oriental-pack were at sixes and sevens for most of the afternoon, and kicked far too hard. They' gave their opponents too much room in which to work.