RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIPS

Evening Post, Volume CXXV, Issue 149, 27 June 1938, Page 19

RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIPS

PONEKE & WELLINGTON MOVE FAST PROMISING OPENING OF SECOND ROUND If the football resulting from the meeting of Wellington and ' Poneke at Athletic Prirk on Saturday afternoon is to be taken as a sample of what is to be expected as the season s club Rug y advances, then the second round of the Wellington Rugby Union s Senior first division championship has good fare in store for foo a followers. The senior teams set out on Saturday afternoon on the second round, and the pace was made lively at headquarters, while ,on-other .grounds there was also any amount of keenness, with the evidence that the rftad to championship honours is going to be harder as the competition progresses. . _ , Some of the back movements by Wellington against 1 oneke were exceptionally fine, and the strength of Wellington's attack is indicated in the fact that it produced five tries against Poneke s two. Points from goal-kicking Won the match for Poneke. On promotion, Eastbourne and St. Patrick's College Old Boys extended their, opponents, Petone and Wellington College Old Boys respectively, without finishing as winners. Hutt and Marist Bros. Old Boys had quite a stirring tussle, from which Hutt emerged as winners. As is not unusual, Johnsonville offered strong opposition to Athletic, goalkicking accounting for most of the points in this match, which Athletic won deservedly, though with not a great deal to spare. A promising debut was made by Onslow in the second division. i and Marist Bros. Old Boys (also on promotion) acquitted themselves quite well.' University, who can be counted very unlucky not to be • in the top division, had a good win, and lead off in the second .round with Onslow. The promoted teams in each division carried forward the number of points gained by the leaders in those divisions at the end of the first round. SENIOR A GRADE RESULTS AT A GLANCE FIRST DIVISION*. SECOND DIVISION Poneke 26. Wellington 19. Unbersity JB, Anf«mar 8. -Petone-8, Eastbourne 0. Oriental 12, Athletic 8. Athletic 13, JoliMonTllla 9. Sf f TJi' nroi OB 14 Hutt 8, Marist Brothers' 0.8. 3. Wellington 14. Marist Bros. 0.8. Well. Coll. 0.8. 9, St. Pat's Coll. 0.8. 6. CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS FIRST DIVISION. . BECOND 0IV,8I0, «- Poln(s . ch . w D L / 1 pts. W. D. L. *. A. PM. Poneke T'— ' * 107 83 14 University 8 — 2 126 S3 1~ Petone 6 — 2 87 52 12 Onslow. 1 ~. «. 3..1. Eastbourne' . ~ 1 0 8 12 Eastbourne * J 1 52 51 o Eastbourne i g g gt Pat , s 0 . 8 6 _ 1 ,2 34 2 Athletic .... ... 5 1 2 104 67 11 Marist Bros. 0.8. .• -- 1 - " « » Wellington 4 1 8 100 ,115 9 O'totoL" g - 3 00 M 10 S& coiiVaß:-:::; I i 2 11 1 "S i jo"«o»vme I- ?. Si 2;™ ...;::::::: 1 - 7 «« 114 2 - 'Promote (1 Teams. At the end of the first round Eastbourne and St. Patrick's College Old-Boys were promoted to the. first- division, and championship'points with them. Onslow and Marist Bros. Old Boys were promoted from the senior B grade, taking 10 points with them.

MATCHES DESCRIBED TABLES TURNED PONEKE GOAL KICKING

OLD BOYS WIN ON TIME

If the Other side has men who can kick goals the scoring of tries does not always mean success. This was Wellington's f experience against Poneke at Athletic Park. Wellington got the . tries and Poneke ■ the goals, sufficient Of them to avenge;, very thoroughly l their defeat by Wellington in the • first round. It? was a high scoring, game and in: it patrons.,sa\v more successful goal-kicking than .in, any other...maich. at...headqu3r.tgrs ttlis season. Porieke's final tally was 26] points and. Wellington's 19. ' The -first spell, in which Wellington had the southerly wind at their backs, did not come up to expectations, but there was mtich more life andsparkle to the play in th 6 second speli, with the Wellington backs providing most of the titbits. There were . five tties by the Wellington backs; two of which •were converted. Poneke, on the other hand, scored only two tries, their remaining 20 points being made up of two conversions by Griffiths and a neid goal by the same player and. four penalty goals by Crisp. If the Poneke kicking nad been in line with much of that which had been seen previously at Athletic Park this season, Wellington would have come out on top, but unfortunately for thenri Griffiths and Crisp had their kicking boots on. The first spell eiided with the Scoring level, eight points each. Trapp and Veitch- scored tries for Wellington, Paterson converting the second; try. For Poneke Crisp kicked a penalty goal and V. Calcinai scored a try, •which Griffiths converted. . , Fortunes fluctuated entertainingly in the second spell. Poneke early .took the lead With a penalty goal by Crisp, after which some spectacular play by the Wellington backs produced two auick tries, the first by Fulton and the second by Edwards. Trapp converted Edwards's try and Wellington led 16-11, only to see the margin reduced when Griffiths "potted' his goal for Poneke. With a try by V. Calcinai, converted by Griffiths, Poneke again took the lead. Wellington then, flashed Up again, their backs going nicely, and Paterson, the full-back, who had joined in other passing movements, scored a fine trjr, which was not converted. With a difference now of only one point in the excitement was at a high pitch. Crisp did something towards relieving Poneke tension with a penalty goal, and a little later swelled Poneke s lead with another goal, Poneke 26, Welling--ton 19. . ■ _ The referee was Mr. A. Hooper.

NOT EASILY WON

PETONE AND EASTBOURNE

After a fast, interesting, and exceed- sc ingly close game,. Wellington College B Old Boys beat St. Patrick s College Old v< Boys by 9 points to & in .a senior A tc first division match at Anderson Park. a< It was a meritorious effort on the part ic of St. Patrick's, who were playing sc their first game in the first division p; after being promoted from the second fi division, and the issue was even till v< practically on the call of time, when A. b; Wright shot over in the corner and g: clinched matters for Old Boys. « St. Patrick's College Old Boys, .alt« though they did not-liook the ball as n much as their; opponents, excelled in ® the hard, rucking:-p]ay,.;and occasion- " ally^outpaced-theMj&v.th'e;: loose. The S Wellington College Old Boys' back line n was a continual menace and, well sup- u .plied -ball -from Ongley at si half-back, launched attack after attack, £ and it was only the' determined defence O of McCashin, McDonald, and McCarthy ri that kept them out. lr Baldwin opened the scoring -when he c. put over a penalty for Old Boys. Todd a evened, with a penalty for St. Patrick's, but only after he had failed with two or:three easy onfes. Old Boys went to ■ the lead again when the back linefwith Baldwin and A. Wright prominent, tossed "the ball about in great style. Baldwin received a reverse pass beautifully and scored a try which he failed ii to convert.. Todd, Kilkelly, Hogan, and b Quigg were going great guns in the St, e Patrick's forwards, and they took play s; back; to midfield.' McCarthy,, getting tl the ball at his toe, dribbled the remain- o der of the distance, and touched down, fi evening the sdofg. The kick failed. n St. Patrick's remained on attack for a | h considerable period. R. Wright was s called Upon to save on many occasions. a Old Boys \ were the aggressors in the ' final stages, and with, a minute or so b to go A. Wright scored ''after, receiving * from a back passing movement. The * kick failed, and the game ended Wei- ; lington College Old Boys 9, St. Pat- ® rick's College Old Boys 6. i The referee Was Mr. A. R. Morice. j MUCH RAGGED PLAY \ .. . ... HUTT AND MARIST BROS. OLD j BOYS • The second meeting this season of c Hutt arid Marist 0.8., at the Hutt • Recreation Ground on Saturday, did i not fulfil expectations: Much of the ; play was' of a loose, scrambling nature, , with the 1 backs of both teams indulg--1 ing in a great amount of kicking, much ■ of it without purpose or direction. There was an absence of that combined passing and cohesion among the backs i which makes, for spectacular Rugby. ( What work was accomplished was 1 mostly individual, and when combina- ] tion in attack was attempted some ' erratic passing was seen. Neither did j the forwards play very convincing football. Then, too, there were incidents which did not help to make the game pleasurable. J It was only during the final fifteen - minutes that the players settled down, i and even then the play did not reach a n high standard, and. certainly did not - comperisate for the jdrabness of the . earlier'portion. Marist certainly could n have added to' their score and perhaps [1 won ther match had they possessed a - passable place-kicker, for Robins was n off form in this department. A late o start was aggravated by an extran ordinary number of stoppages for in- -- juries—'there were some twenty of them, With the result that each spell e averaged about an hour and it was i, nearly 5 o'clock before the final whistle d blew. Marist were the more unfortunate in regard to accidents, losing the e. services of Fitzgerald and Vile, with d others partly hors de combat, and sev>r eral rearrangements had to be made a both back . and forward, causing a y degree of disorganisation which api- peared to unsettle the team. Angus ;e McDonald came on early in the second e, spell, making his first appearance for Y, some time, and he was greeted with n a round of applause by the spectators. :s Transom ,had replaced Fitzgerald for c- Marist earlier. is There was a scoreless first spell. )f The early part of the , second spell ig again was ragged, but there was a •e bright interlude when McDonald startis ed a movement, Robins and McGreevy :e handling before McDonald came in 10 again to send Robins over for a try le well out. Marist held this lead for re some time and, despite their disbrganle ised team, appeared to be holding the ie opposition. The play continued to be 11. scraggy, with stoppages frequent, e- until Hutt in the final iriinutes shook ic off the inertia when Holland followed is a kick by Sargisson ahd, gathering in t- the ball in his stride, beat McDonald Lit and crossed, well out with Burton in ;y attendance. Cassidy converted with the e- best kick of the day. Immediately er afterwards a Hutt player was obstructa ed at midfield and, the penalty being al awarded where the ball bounced, Casie sidy kicked an ea£y goal from in front. Ie Marist rallied near the end, and u- Graham s?v"d cleverly, but Robins D. missed two fairly easy penalty kicks rirjiit on lime. The referee was Mr. J. Hepburn.

Solid tackling and all-round sound defence enabled the promoted Eastbourne team to hold Petone to an eight-point win in the game played on the Petone Oval. Contrary to expectations, the game resolved itself mainly into' a forward tussle, and, although Lambourn obtained the ball from all but three or four of the set scrummages, the. Petone backs were seldom allowed to turn their opportunities to advantage. Realising that their main chance of success centred m their ability to check the movements of the fieetfoOted Petone backs, • the Eastbourne backs adopted a shallow formation and tackling hard and often, they managed to keep the attackers out. _ . Indications at first were that Petone. ■with a liberal supply of the ball, would meet with success in their search for points, and when Archer topped on a penetrative movement with a fine try close to the posts, which Jones converted, it seemed that this was a taste of what was to follow. Eastbourne, however, were not to be taken lightly, and although O'Halloran sent them away time and again the Petone backs •were unable to break down the rocklike defence. With their back to the •wall Eastbourne fought every inch of the way, and with their fast-breaking and mobile pack the scales were ■weighed in their favour on numerous occasions. Had there been a little more finish to their movements there is.no doubt that points would have come their way. At the interval Petone were five points in the lead, and, after the change-over, play was much along the same lines as that in the first spell. Eastbourne, though, were now in a livelier mood,- and they threatened the Petone line several times. At this staee there was a prevalence of offside play with both sides at fault, but the goal kicking was poor. Try as they could, Petone could not shnke the defence. They managed to add a further three points when O'Halloran, from a mark, droD-kickcd a m-"n'ficent goal from a difficult angle. This was the only score during the spell, and the came, which was cl"ni'- arid strenuously' contpsted. resulted: Petone D. E The O refe e re 0 e was Mr. T. Taylor.

KEEN STRIVING

ATHLETIC DEFEAT JOHNSONVILLE

.Ability to turn their advantages to better use gave Athletic a win at Johnsonville by 13 points to 9. The winners possessed the polish and finish required to bring success, and they played the more spectacular type of game, the major share of the ball coming their way from the scrums. Only excellent tackling by the Johnsonville backs checked the back attacks of Athletic, and there was also a counter in the quick breaking by the Johnsonville forwards. The opposition gave Athletic very little room in which to move, the Burns brothers especially being very quickly through on to their opposing numbers. For the greater part of the game this had the effect of forcing Athletic into errors, the fiveeighths receiving no latitude at'all, and the passing rushes failing to gain ground. Tindill gave sound service all through, improving if anything in the final stages, when the passing was cleaner, and the ball reached the wings more quickly. , . , Among the forwards a hard, keen struggle persisted from start to finish, the Johnsonville pack holding its own quite well, except in the hooking. Johnsonville were far more mobile and dangerous in the loose play. Some fine rushes were staged, and these Athletic had difficulty in stopping. Mclntyre had a good day, his touch-finding especially being of good service to his side. A feature of the game was the sound defence, only one, try_ ■ being scored by each side, the remainder of the scoring being from penalty goals (two each) and a dropped goal by Athletic, which represented the winning margin. .„ , j„ Territorially Johnsonville had a decided advantage in the first spell, and had rather more of the attacking play than Athletic in the second half, but they were lacking in finish, Athletic opened the scoring with two penalty goals by Gilmore, and Johnsonville in a series of hot attacks just before the interval secured a try, A. Kenny scoring after G. Burns had made the opening. In the second spell, Tindill registered a very smart field goal from close up, he having only a fraction of time in which to get in his Kick. This made the scores 10-3, but A. Kenny kicked two good penalty goals for Johnsonville, with Athletic's try coming in between, Forbes scoring _after some smart inter-passing with Jones. The game was fast and exciting throughout, with both sides striving to make it open and going all-out to SC The referee was Mr. J. Gilchrist.

SECOND DIVISION

ORIENTAL V. ATHLETIC

Petone 6, Poneke 6. _ Hutt 8, Wellington College Old Boys 7.

LOWER GRADES c f """"" i Following are the results of lower i grade championship matches played in J the Wellington Rugby Unions compe- ( titions on Saturday:— JUNIOR. J First Division. , Petone 12, Technical Old Boys 6; Po- . rirua 12, Johnsonvllle 6; Poneke 11, . Athletic 9; Kaiwarra 11, Seatoun a; , Upper Hutt 9, Wellington College Old } Boys 3. i JUNIOR. Sccond Division. ! Training College 16, St. Patrick's ; College Old Boys 3; Onslow 17, Mira- : mar 4; Marist Brothers' Old Boys 6, Wellington 0; Seatoun 6, University b. THIRD. First Division. I Athletic 26, Training College 5; Poneke 6, Wellington College Old Boys 0, I Hutt 11, Oriental 11; University 12, Wellington 0; Wellington College 14, St. Patrick's Old Boys 3. THIRD. Second Division. Marist 34, Athletic A 12: Wellington 3 University 0; Athletic B 3, Wellington College Old Boys 3: Oriental 6, Hutt (Army) 3; Upper Hutt 13, Johnsonville 3; Miramar 21, Eastbourne 9, Seatoun 26. University 0. THIRD. Third Division. Petone 42, Karori 0; Oriental 20, Pirates 0; Kaiwarra 32 £ Porirua 6, Wellington 3; Athletic 8, St. Patrick's Old Boys 0; Poneke 3, Onslow 3. FOURTH. First Division. Hutt 29, Wellingtonl3; Technical Old Boys 6, Wellington College Old Boys 3; Poneke 18, Athletic 5. FOURTH. Second Division. Petone 9, Miramar 8; Seatoun 9.-Po-neke 0; Upper Hutt 14, Johnsonvllle 8 FIFTH. First Division. Petone 7, Upper Hutt 5; Pirates 6, Miramar 4; Petone 60, Onslow 0. FIFTH. Second Division. Wellington College Old Boys 18, Oriental 3; Plimmerton 3. Marist U, Athletic 11, Poneke 6. SIXTH DIVISION. Johnsonvllle 16, Poneke B 3; Taita 9, Poneke A 6; Petone 6, Porirua 3, Institute 14, Upper Hutt 0. SECONDARY SCHOOLS FIRST GRADE. Rongotai B 20, Wellington B 11; Wellington A 14, Technical 0; Scots (,• Rongotai A 3. SECOND GRADE. Wellington B 30, Wellesley 0; Hutt Technical 23, Wellington D 0; Wellington C 6, St. Patrick's B 3; Silverstream B 23, Technical -3; Silverstream A 58, Rongotai 0. THIRD GRADE. Wellington A 28, Rongotai A 0; Sil- ; verstream 49, Technical 3. FOURTH GRADE. Scots 40, Wellington D 0; Silver stream O 6, Wellington C 5 t St. rick's B 0, Silverstream B 0; Technical 33, Rongotai B 0; St. Patricks A U, Hutt Technical 0; Wellington A 14, Rongotai A 0. FIFTH GRADE. Wellington A 22, Rongotai A 3; Silverstream B 8, St. Patrick s B 0, Silverstream A 6, Technical 3; Hutt Vailey C 11, Rongotai B 8. FROM the sideline NOTES AND COMMENT After their run of successes in the lower division it wa§-unfortunate that Eastbourne were placed in the position of having to make their return to the first division without the services of ' four of their regular players. Two ' backs, Fleming and McMillan, and two ' towards, Pullon and Griffiths, were uril avoidably absent from the team and there was no doubt that the absence : of their full-back and captain, Flem--3 irig, was sorely ..felt. Despite this han--1 dicap and the resultant' disorganisation ; in the side.-Eastbourne gave a most ' promising display against Petone and - it augurs well for their future engage--3 ments in the top division.

Playing with the light southerly breeze. Athletic hopped off the Hiark very briskly against Oriental at Hataitai, and, making good use of the backs, pressed. their opponents. Two or three good passing rushes were well carried out, and before the game was many minutes-old Athletic had scored a penalty goal (kicked by Boddy) arid a try (by McCauley, converted by Boddy). Leading by 8 points to nil, the Athletic men looked like adding to their tally, but the Oriental forwards began to take a hand, and soon proved themselves the better pack, except for gaining possession from the scrums. With the game developing into a forward struggle, the backs found it harder to make progress, and their play deteriorated the further the game went. Glaring mistakes were made by both sides, and in two cases tries were lost through indecision when a few yards from the line. After N. Davies kicked a penalty goal Oriental played with greater confidence and held their own. Two penalties kicked by N. Davies in the second spell.-gave. Oriental .the,lead, and, after a "sitting" try was missed '.by Athletic, Oriental settled things with a forward rush which .ended in Marshment scoring an unconverted try. Time was called with the score: Oriental 12. Athletic 8. Mr. A. R. Morris was referee. UNIVERSITY'S EASY WIN University had little trouble in beating Miramar, whom they met at Kelburn Park, but the first spell provided plenty of bright football just the same. Right at the commencement of the game Kissell put a penalty kick over for University. 3-0. Play was fairly even until Wild. (University) made a splendid run down the line before passing to Tricklebank, who scored. Kissell converted. Bro. Time and time again the University .backs were sent away, but Miramar always broke up the movements. Burke (University) was injured,and replaced by Thomas. For a while Miramar took the offensive and eventually. Aldous scored, Troy converting. 8-5- University returned to the attack, and just before half-tim,e McNicol crossed and Kissell converted. 13-5. The second spell, except for the few times that Miramar got near their opponents' goal line, was definitely University's. Play, in consequence, became less interesting and at times ragged. Meads (University) retired injured. Scorers for University were Tricklebank, Hansen, and Wild (tries) and Kissell (three conversions) Troy put over a penalty tat Miramar. The final score was University 28, Miramar The referee was Mr. A. C. Swan.

ONSLOW'S DEBUT

Larabourn, who made his last appearance before departing for Australia with the New Zealand representative team, gave a superb display ? f hooking-and general ability both in the line-outs and rucking. Like a flash his boot was to be seen connecting with the ball when thrown in to the scrummages, and he failed on only four occasions at the outside to give it to his backs. Berry, who hooked for Eastbourne, was certainly outplayed in the scrums, but his failure in this respect was more than compensated by his outstanding performance in the loose.

Onslow's promotion to the second division was justified by their success over Pirates. With a much lighter pack they dominated the scrums, and with plenty of the ball their backs and forwards, by good combined efforts, were able to maintain a definite superiority. Prominent performances were given by Simmonds and the Thorns brothers in the back division. The forwards all played well, with the ex-Bluff forward, Cameron, and Pyne and Bentley always to the fore. Love. Bracefield, and Jack were responsible for some fine work in the Pirates' backs, with Tichbon and Burkett rendering good service in the forwards for Pirates. , Onslow won by 15 points to 3. ior the withers, tries were scored by C. Thomas, Levestam, and Williams, and L. Thomas kicked two penalty goals. Bracefield scored a try for Pirates. Mr. J. A. Wilson was the referee. WELLINGTON V. MARIST Marist for their first match in the second division did well to hold Wellington to a 14-all draw in a game that was attractive all the way. Wellington started well and early impressions were that Marist would find the going pretty hard. The latter, however, soon settled down and the match developed into a keen even tussle. The fprwards on both sides put any amount of dash into their work, and on a ground' that was holding maintained a pretty lively tune most Of,the time. Every endeavour was made to get the backs going and there were several quite attractive movements. Wellington held a handy lead at one stage, but Marist gradually reduced the gap and eventually ran into the lead with the score at 14-11. Wellington, using their ' backs for repeated attacks, pierced the ' defence and drew level when Shaw ! scuttled over in the corner. Marist 1 attacked strenuously in the closing . stages, but Wellington succeeded in ■ keeping them out, For Wellington 1 Bell and Shaw scored tries, one of i which was converted by Lang, who I also kicked two penalty goals. Hepi burn potted a goal and converted the s two tries scored for Marist by Morgan ' and Quinn. ■■ The referee was Mr. J. N. Kitchen. SENIOR B ? Result.? in the senior B Rugby competition on Saturday were: — Wellington 22, Hutt (Army) (L

The Eastbourne forwards are a fast, and energetic pack and N. Dellabarca, Sleep, and Farmer have seldom been seen to better advantage. A little overeager perhaps apd at times inclined to find themselves in an off-side position, the Eastbourne forwards will no doubt correct this fault as they meet other teams in the division. A feature of their play is fast following up and their sound defence.

A newcomer to the ranks of the Petone forwards is Fleet, who has only recently returned to Petone from the Marlborough district, where he gained Rugby representative honours. Fleet should prove a useful acquisition to the Petone pack and on Saturday against Eastbourne he was seen to some purpose in the line outs and rucking. Clayton and Scott gave yeoman service and Donoghue was always on hand.

The Plank brothers, Derek and Jack, were always prominent in the Eastbourne back, and King, at half-back, is as lively as ever. He saved many times and certainly knows what to do with the ball when in possession.

The outstanding back in the Petone team was Symonds, who not only gave invaluable service at full-back but was also often useful on attack. Positional play was a feature of his performance and his fielding was grand. His tackling, too, left little to be desired, and although he was given plenty to do he came through with honours. McGurlt was another Petone back who went well, but unfortunately for Petone his activities were decidedly lim-, ited.

Both Hutt and Marist are capable of much better displays than that turned on. at the Hutt Recreation ground on< Saturday. The forwards on both sides did not settle down until near the end,, and the backs were right off form in' combined attacking play. Weak handling accounted" for much of the absence of combination, and there was lack of penetration and thrust on attack; ;

Marist were a sorely disorganised team against Hutt. They missed the services of two good forwards in Ropata and Butler—the latter having a broken bone in his hand which will keep him out of Rugby for a few weeks. During the game they lost Fitzgprald and Vile. These players were replaced, but several changes had to be made in positions, Gillespie going to the wing from the pack and Dennehy also for a while playing on the other wing. Vile and McGreevy also plaved out of place. _ ...

Angus McDonald received a warm welcome from the crowd when he made liis appearance for Marist early

tn the second half against Hutt. This is McDonald's first appearance after a long absence from the Rugby fields, and it was not expected that he would turn on any fireworks. While his condition lasted, however, he showed glimpses of form and he was directly responsible for Marist's only scoring movement. McDonald, playing on the left wing, accomplished some sound defensive work as well.

• « • • Marist's best stalwart against Hutt was the ex-Hutt player Gillespie, who, while in the pack, led the forwards in a rush or two and shone in the loose and line-outs. After his transfer to the wing the forwards appeared to lose much of their sting. Gillespie was also outstanding in the backs, and it was through no fault of his that his team was defeated. He saved well for Marist on numerous occasions. Wareham, Brown, and Fitzgerald (until I hurt) were the pick of the others, with McGreevy and Robins having an off day.

Marist, one of the teams promoted to the second division, did excellently to hold Wellington to a draw, particularly as the latter side went one of its best games for some time. Marist should trouble quite a few of the established second division sides.

The Wellington-Marist match produced a very even struggle and a reasonably good standard of football. There were some admirable forward rushes by both sides and commendable efforts were made to get the backs under way at every opportunity. Several of the rearguard attacks were quite attractive, the passing being good and the handling of a somewhat sticky bail very fair.

At one stage Wellington appeared to have the game in hand against Marist, but the promoted team fought back and actually took the lead about 15 minutes before the finish. But Weilineton rallied and a smart try by Shaw made the scores level. Marist were right on the attack in the dying stages, but just could not get the deciding points.

Cragg, Bell, and McDonald were prominent in the pack for Wellington against Marist, and Shaw, Thompson, and Webb did good work m the backs. Hepburn, who potted a neat goal, Gini, Morgan, and Quinn (backs) and Blatch and King among the forwards were often conspicuous for Marist.

Thomson was one of Athletic's best backs against Johnsonville. He- possesses plenty of pace and dash, but appeared to be wasted on the wing on Saturday. Forbes played soundly on the other wing. Jones and Karsten were bustled into many mistakes for the greater part of the game, and rarely did they get the ball through cleanly. They were quite unable to penetrate the solid defence.

Gilmore was ever at the head of Athletic rushes, and appeared as the best worker. Caradus was inclined tospo ll good work by a tendency to get off-side. Generally the Athletic pack was solid, but lacking in life.

G Burns played a fine ga™ e * or Johnsonville. and his quick dashes on to Karsten stopped many of Athletic's efforts to get passing rushes goin» G. Burns has a good eye for the opening, and is an improving player. Ivamy is another young player of promise He is fast and tricky and uses his head, his centring kicks being very effective. . • • *

The loss of M. Kenny inthefirstten minutes was a serious one for Johnson ville, as they already had severalplayers out with injuries. Dean, and A. Kenny were haid work ers in the Johnsonville pack, O Maiiey "so showing up. A. Kenny was again very conspicuous and une. nected ability as a place-kick, landing two rather difficult penalty goals.

in Australia with the New Zealand team; in fact, they might find that his absence means all the difference between success and failure. The other members of the Poneke back line cannot be relied on as can Griffiths, least of all on defence.

Tin dill worked, hard throughout for Athletic against Johnsonville, passing accurately and smartly and his presence probably meant the difference oe tween victory and defeat.

At full-back Crisp has also given Poneke good service this season. He had a big hand in Poneke's scoring against Wellington, even though with two of his kicks he was somewhat lucky, the ball bouncing on the crossbar and dropping the right way for him each time. It was curious the way the posts and cross-bar were struck by the ball in the Poneke goalkicking. for, apart from Crisp's experience, when Griffiths "potted" his goal in the second spell tne ball hit one of the uprights and was deflected over the bar.

• • * Thp University backs went very well in their match with Miramar and, parTom'the SSJFZS* and Larkin were all prominent. Un versity were without the services of Briers, their first five-eighth, and E wood, wing-three-quarter.

Tricklebank, the University winger, showed up well on numerous occasions in the match agairist Miramar. Henins fast and straight, and away is hard to stop. Two of University s tries were scored by him,

•# • Wild, first five-eighth for University played his usual good gam e a gamst Miramar. and was responsible for a number of good He a very useful man and a great danger to the opposition. Larkin, the I ha sack. also played well and got oacks away sharply.

. • * * The University lull-back, Kissell, played a very pleasing game against Miramar and proved his . more than one occasion, Apart irom his work at the back of the field, he i= a useful kick, and was responsible for nearly half his side's number of points.

The two half-backs, Thompson (Wellington) and Hoskin (Poneke) have played better games than they did on Saturday. Thompson sent out some poor passes, which was a pity in view of the success in the scrums achieved by the Wellington forwards and the pace and dash of the backs behind him.

Miramar's strongest point in: the match against University was defence. In this department of the the full-back, was prcmment and saved many a dangerous situation. During the first spell Miramar kept UniK "KTS'e£? ThSVcWr?„ the first half, however, was certainly good. .

The Poneke forwards did not impress to the extent they have in other matches this season. Their loose rushes did not quite have the sting and finish that have been seen previously, though the forwards got going at times, with Pringle, V. Calcinai, and O'Brien usually to the fore. One department in which the Poneke forwards did enjoy clear-cut superiority was in the line-outs, and in view of this it was not surprising that Wellington, when they had the choice, took scrums instead of line-outs. The Wellington forwards in the loose were somewhat spasmodic in their efforts, strong and forceful at times, but with a tendency to relax and not sustain their pffort. Cooper showed up as a leader early in the second spell when, after Poneke had gone into the lead, the Wellington pack appeared to be slipping back. Under his leadership in a fine loose rush they rallied and from this a try was scored, to be followed quickly by another, which served to give Wellington fresh heart. Fraser-Smith, Coupland, and McLean were perhaps the most active among the other Wellington forwards.

Ongley was one of the bsst backs on the field in the Wellington c Bovs-St Patrick's College Old Boys same at Anderson Park. He stood up to the hard play well, but the feature of his play was the manner he sent out passes from the back 01 the scrum. Fast and well directed, thi.y enabled his backs to get under way quickly. In the later stages of the game he seemed to be inclined to go on his own too much,

* Heard on tne side line: ''What's; that chap Lamason doing in this What's a New Zealand representative doing playing against schoolboys. Kind-hearted spectators gently informed the questioner where he was wrong.

The Wellington backs provided the high lights of the game. There was a little too much kicking by Thompson and at times by Veitch also in the first spell, but for all that the Wellington backs scored some splendid tries. Play swung more to the right wing than to the left, with Veitch, Trapp, and Fulton, the insides, finding gaps in the defence arid with Edwards on the wing usually there in support. The spectacular touch, however, was added as much by Paterson, the fullback, as by anyone else. He frequently dame into the passing movements to make an extra , man and in doing so shaped like a first-class centre-three-quarter, running straight I and showing a surprising turn of speed. He played a big part in the try scored by Edwards in the second spell and then later scored "one out of the box" himself. With these efforts Paterson improved more than did his defensive play at full-back. He got in some good touch-flnders, but loose Poneke rushes when three or four forwards were bearing down on him appeared to be a bugbear to him. *Lin IN OTHER CENTRES Auckland.—Beginning the second round of the senior competition, Ponsonby 21. beat Grammar 8; Training College 12, beat Grafton 9; Technical 14, beat Marist 11; North Shore 8, beat Manukau 6. Christchurcli.—Sunnyside 13, Sydenham 3; Linwood 16, Technical 9; Athletic 11, -Albion 0; Old Boys 11, Air Force 8; Christchurch 16, University 9. Dunedin.—University A 22,, Zingari 10; Southern 21, Dunedin 3; Kaikorai

The Old Boys' rearguard' showed] splendid combination. Ongley got the ball away well, and Gray and Reynolds combined with understanding in the five-eighths position. Baldwin, Wright, and Burns were a useful, out too-well-marked, three-quarter line.

R. Wright wab inconsistent in his play at full-back. At times he showed speed to put Old Boys on attack, but at other times he took, matters too casually and .twice almost let fat. Patrick's through. For the most part, however, he presented a fairly solid last, line of defence. ' His vis-a-v;s, O'Connor, kicked with judgment and tackled determinedly.

McCashin, McDonald, and McCarthy were probably more prominent on defence than attack. They should be a useful three-quarter line in the first division.

Lamason and Todd led their respective packs well, and in addition played solid football themselves. Worboys and the Gotliebs in the loose,'and Waller and Hardy in the tight, were prominent in the Old Boys' pack; it would be difficult to single out any St. Patrick's forward. They were all on the job, with Hogan. Todd, and Kilkelly perhaps just shading the rest. J. L. Griffiths is Poneke's sheet anchor;---This was as much so on Saturday against Wellington at Athletic Park as it has been in other club games this season. Poneke are going to miss him very much when he is

14, University B 5; Taieri 11, Pirates 10; Alhambra 14, Union 9. At the end of the first round, Southern, with 17 flag points, are leading from Kaikorai 15 points, with University A and Pirates next with 12 points each. Wairarapa.—Carterton 18, Red Star 0; Greytown 16, Maryborough 0; Gladstone 9, Masterton 5. Manawatu.—Kia Toa 9, United 6: Old Boys 8, St. Patrick's 0; Massey College | 11, Feilding Old Boys 0. Wanganui.—Katerau 19. Pirates 10; Waverley 13, Taihape 6; Technical Old Boys 23, Marist 0. Grcymouth.—Rundle Cup: Coast 10, Buller 3. ■ n _ New Plymouth.—North: Tukapa 27, Clifton 3: Stratford 14, Eltham 3; Inglewood 27, Star 9. «south: Athletic 0. Patea 0; Kaponga 28, Waimate 3; Okaiawa 18, Opunake 9; New Plymouth Boys' High School 9, St. Patrick's College (Silverstream) 6. . Invercargill.—Pirates 16, Marist 0; Invercargill 8, Star 3; Old Boys 9, Blufl Oamaru.—Town A 6. Country A 3; Town B 14, Country B .8. Timaru.—Country 12, Town 6; Geraldine 8, Temuka 3. WIN FOR MARLBOROUGH (By Telegraph—Press Association.) NELSON, June 25. Under ideal conditions the Marlborough Rugby representatives beat Nelson by 19 points to 5. The visitors' forwards displayed more sting and the backs more initiative and ability to turn to advantage mistakes by the home players. , „ , For Marlborough, McMahon, Neal, and Daines (2) scored tries. Kotua converted one and Mellish one, the latter also kicking a penalty. For Nelson McLean scored a try which Mayers converted. , • , The Marlborough forwards were led by McDonald ana Pain. Nelson's best ■ forwards were Lovell and McLean, : while Brinsden showed fine form in [ the backs.