EIGHT TO NIL

Evening Post, Volume CXXVII, Issue 131, 6 June 1939, Page 16

EIGHT TO NIL

MANAWATU WIN

MATCH WITH WELLINGTON

TRYING CONDITIONS (Special to the "Evening Post.") PALMERSTON N., This Day. In the first representative match of the: season, the Manawatu Rugby fifteen beat Wellington by 8 points to. nil yesterday at the Palmerston North Show Grounds. Heavy showers before the match commenced and light rain during the game made the ball heavy and hard to handle and the ground so slippery that it was often hard to stand.

The 2-3-2 scrum formation adopted by the Manawatu pack against the Wellington 3-4-1 scrum was well suited to .the conditions. The wing-forward. Finlay, :ave a brilliant display, and, well supported by Williams and McKenzie. who were in top form throughout, crowded the Wellington inside backs to suck an extent that the wing-three-quarters could do hardly anything with the ball. At first the

Wellington pack, with Lambourn hooking, won most of- the sat scrums, but after a while the Manawatu forwards gained an increasing supply of the ball. When the Wellington pack got under way with the ball off the ground, they were exceedingly hard to stop, but with the ball on the ground there was no comparison between the two packs, Manawatu having the better of it every time. Despite the excellent work of Tindill behind the Wellington scrum, the Manawatu backs were able to make better use of the ball. The tackling was pretty safe on both sides. Buick played a heady game and several times engineered movements that went very close to scoring. By kicking infield from the side-line he gave his forwards a chance of going away in a concerted rush, but more than once the forwards were caught off-side, a certain try being lost in that manner. ,>? Under the conditions me full-backs' handling was almost astonishing. Theway in which Dance picked up the ball, or took it on the full, and sent welldirected kicks away to the side-line, was a feature of the game.

The match, although mostly between two hard-working sets of forwards, was crammed with interest, and was played at a fast pace seldom maintained on such a heavy ground. The teams were as follows: — Wellington.—T. Dance, A. Wright, G. Burton. J. Eastwood, W. Sargisson, G. Burns, E. Tindill. T. Hegglun, A. Lambourn, A. Worboys, T. Flanagan, C. Rouxel E. Griff en, C. Pringle, V. Calcinai. . , __ Manawatu.—H. Carr. K. Reid, M. Dermer. R. Gillespie, D. Buick, J. Thomas, C. Edlin, J. Finlay, L. Thorne. B McCashin. A. Williams R. McKenzie, O. Newman-, L. Finlay, Y. Fleming. Mr. A. Weston was the referee. THE FIRST SPELL.

The Wellington pack, which appeared to be the heavier of the two, forced its way into the corner of the Manawatu twenty-five. McKenzie led a counter-rush back to half-way. Finlay, Williams, and McKenzie were playing great football and Manawatu went on to the Wellington twentyfive, where L. Findlay ended within inches of scoring. • Tindill took the ball through at his feet close to the Manawatu twenty-five, but Carr picked up -nimbly and cleared. Thomas started a quick dash into the Wellington twenty-five and McKenzie went close to scoring, but was stopped by an infringement. Finlay attempted a field goal, but it did not go over and Carr attempted a penalty kick, but the wet ball was too heavy to rise far off the ground.

The Manawatu left-winger, . Reid, who was going very well, sprinted into the corner, where the teams rucked hard. Edlin sent the ball straight through from Thomas, to Dermer and Gillespie, who managed to wriggle over for a try. Carr converted— Manawatu 5, Wellington nil. A Manawatu forward rush went 50 yards and was rewarded with a penalty right in front of the goal posts: It was an easy kick, but Carr could not lift the ball high , enough. Halftime came with play close to the Wellington line. \

After resumption off-side play had much to do with an attack- by the Wellington forwards—which went right to the line—not resulting in a score. finlay' nearly scores. Jack Finlay dribbled through magnificently" with the ball at his toe until he had a clear run of 10 yards, and only an unfavourable bounce came between him and scoring. The Wellington forwards came back to halfway.

Buick, racing up the side-line, .kicked the ball midfield, where the Manawatu forwards were grouped. They gathered it in and McCashin went across close *to the posts, but the referee ruled that they- were offside when Buick kicked. The crowd was disappointed.

The Wellington forwards called the tune for a while and hammered hard at the Manawatu defence in the Manawatu twenty-five. Then Finlay broke through very fast. The Manawatu forwards went to the Wellington line, but Wellington took the ball round from behind the posts and returned it to half-way. Manawatu dribbled it back again, however, and Wellington infringed on their twenty-five-yard line, 10 yards from the side-line. Jack Finlay put over the penalty kick. — Manawatu 8 : Wellington nil. There was very fierce rucking in the Wellington twenty-five, Buick keeping his team there by kicking into touch, and the ball went back to Carr, who missed by a small margin with an attempted field goal. Lambourn had to go off the field with leg trouble, and was replaced by G. Wales.