WIN FOR WANGANUI

Evening Post, Volume CXXII, Issue 71, 21 September 1936, Page 14

WIN FOR WANGANUI

MATCH AT THE PARK

SOME EXCITING PLAY

With its forwards superior in" the loose and its backs successful in lucrative thrusts, the Wanganui representative team defeated Wellington by 29 points to 21 at Athletic Park on Saturday afternoon. A crowd of almost 3000 watched what amounted to a Wellington Colts' team give a good performance against men of greater Rugby experience. The first ten to fifteen minutes of the game were frankly dull, and it appeared that the game would be scrappy throughout, but from then on, both teams warmed up to their •work in fine style and there were plenty of thoroughly exciting incidents until the end of the game. Two dis-tinctly-marked periods of attack by Wanganui in the last fifteen to twenty minutes of each spell gave the side victory. Where Wellington failed was m the inability of its forwards to hunt compactly in the loose and in the occasional failure of the backs to combine. The Wellington back line, on the day, possessed fine strength in the fiveeighths, but the three-quarters were not so consistent and were overshadowed by the Wanganui threequarter division. The tall rangy forwards of the Wanganui team, ' each man in appearance at least more solid than any of the Wellington team, did well in the loose, though they were frequently beaten in the scrums. Jones and Barton were the two stars of the Wanganui back line, both making lucrative breaks through the Wellington line. Burgess belied his somewhat awkward appearance by pace and determination and Thompson did his work soundly. Brogden, though inclined to running with the ball, was nevertheless good on defence and stopped many dangerous rushes with a fine disregard for his own safety. Welch was sound and kicked with length and judgment at times, but it was difficult to recognise the former All Black form in Bullock-Douglas, whose defensive omissions were too frequent. Nevertheless, he was useful, if only because of his fine kicking The star of the Wanganui forwards was McClenaghan, a thoroughly fine type, who played an outstanding loose game in the second spell. He followed hard in every movement and on form would be worth persevering with in any team. Lockett, one of a family famous in Wanganui, Hutchinson, and McGregor were three other good forwards in an honest and toiling pack. Stars of the Wellington back line were Sargisson and 1,-dwards, fiveeighths, who showed out in some splendid rushes. Sargisson was tricky, and he is undoubtedly promising. A slight sharpening in his dodginess would make him a candidate for senior representative honours. Edwards was straight and determined in his running. Trapp was uncertain in handling, but his kicking was glorious. Forbes was a better winger than Wareham. though he made several errors of judgment by kicking when passing would have been of greater use. McIntyre was not quite certain enough at full, though some of his kicking was huge. At half, Brown had a good day. Pringle was the best of the forwards and his experience was a useful factor in his fine showing. McNichol— full of promise—Todd, and Kirschberg were three other toilers, and Mollier's hooking was clean and fast enough to prompt inquiries for his omission from stronger representative sides. The teams were:— Wanganui.—Welch; Bullock-Douglas, Barton, Burgess; Jones, Thompson; Brogden; Lockett (captain), McClenaghan, Fjrmin, Davidson, Hutchinson, McGregor, Reynolds, W. Thompson. Wellington.—Mclntyre; Wareham, Trapp (captain). Forbes; Edwards, Sai'gisson; Brown; Wales, Todd, Pringle, McNichol, Carter, Kerrigan, Mollier, Kirschberg. THE PLAY. Early efforts with their general lack of finish proved to be no guide, and certainly gave no indication of the plentiful supply of points put on as the game developed. After starting a little shakily, the Wellington team steadied up and the strong representation of young players in the side was responsible for quite a lot of dash in subsequent play. In addition, Mollier did fine work in the set scrums for Wellington, with the result that the local team were given a plentiful supply of the ball arid Wanganui were often in the role of defenders in the first fifteen minutes. After a determined effort by Forbes; on the right wing,, had just failed to give. Wellington three points, Brown dodged round the blind side of a scrum, Mollier having hooked the ball cleanly again, and scored. Trapp had hard luck with his kick at goal. Wellington 3, Wanganui 0. Wanganui livened up after this, but made no great progress until Jones broke through. Barton and Thompson supported him, and Thompson scored, for Bullock-Douglas to convert. Wanganui 5, Wellington 3. Wellington returned to the attack. Pringle, who previously had led a strong Wellington forward rush which caused Wanganui to force, initiated a scoring movement from half-way. He showed sound judgment, passing at the right moment to Forbes, who scored, Trapp converting with a fine kick to give Wellington the lead again. Wellington 8, Wanganui 5. Wanganui had a turn on attack after this. Mclntyre twice being called upon and standing the test well. A penalty kick by Bullock-Douglas placed the teams on level terms again, but it was not long before Wanganui were ahead, Jones, with a neat kick, after a passing, movement had broken down, sending the ball over the Wellington line to enable Burgess to run up and touch down for a try, converted by BullockDouglas. Wanganui 13, Wellington 8. A penalty goal by Trapp helped to reduce Wellington's deficit, but before the end of the spell McClenaghan paved the way for Burgess to score another try for Wanganui. This time Bullock-Douglas did not convert, the spell ending Wanganui 16, Wellington 11. SECOND SPELL. Wellington were early on the move m the second spell, Edwards and Sargisson in turn giving a touch of the spectacular to the play with some fine individual work. These efforts went close to.producing points, and gave Wanganui considerable trouble. Later, Kirschberg sprang a surprise on the Wanganui full-back, taking the ball from him before Welch could get his kick in and then running hard for a try, which -Trapp converted from a difficult angle. Wellington 16, Wanganui 16. Play had brightened up considerably, and the quick changes in the fortunes of the teams served to create greater interest in the game. Wellington on one occasion had a close call, when, after Mclntyre had failed with

an attempt to pot, Bullock-Douglas started a movement which all but resulted in Barton scoring. Strong play by the forwards placed Wellington in a good position, and a fast follow-up and pick-up by Edwards ended in his scoring a try. Trapp converted with a fine kick. Wellington 21, Wanganui 16. Some keen play followed, after which a splendid concerted effort by McClenaghan, Jones, and Barton resulted in the last-named scoring, for BullockDouglas to convert. Wanganui 21, Wellington 21. After this Wanganui forged ahead, and before the end of the spell they had taken their total to 29 points, Wellington failing to score again. An unconverted try by Barton was followed by a try by Brogden, converted by Bullock-Douglas. Wanganui 29, Wellington 21. The referee was Mr. J. Gilchrist.