TRAINING COLLEGES

Evening Post, Volume CXXVIII, Issue 42, 18 August 1939, Page 5

TRAINING COLLEGES

THE RUGBY MATCH

WIN FOR AUCKLAND

Despite the bad weather a large crowd of supporters of both teams went to the Polo Ground at Miramar yesterday afternoon to see the Rugby match between Auckland and Wellington Training Colleges. The match, which was won by Auckland with the only three points scored, was the fourth between the teams since the Wellington Training College was reopened four years ago. Considering that the Wellington team plays in the Wellington Rugby Union's junior first division championship (which it won this year) and that the Auckland College has senior status, the local side did very well The heavy rain made the ground very muddy and the ball hard to handle. Both sets of backs passed too much considering the bad conditions, but did so surprisingly well in the circumstances. In spite of the treacherous ground the game was fast and generally bright. The teams were:— Auckland.—A. E. Clark; A. Scott, C. Kingston, L. Colmore-Williams; G. Delamore, R. Harvey; J. Pile; J. Sisley, F. Berthelesen, C. Belgrave, F. Crist, F. Geddes, R. Familton, J. Kurney, I. Hall. Wellington.—T. A. Larsen; W. G. Shields, J. A. Bryers, J. A. Brown; R. D. Patrick, D. H. Thurston; A. McPhail; R. F. Bryers, D. D. Beard, H. G. Schroeder, T. R. Chadwick, J. D. Todd, A. A. Davison, R. I. Breingan, M. Tocker. Wellington opened play with 'a short-lived attack, but soon learned the strength of the opposition. Auckland, too, found that their opponents were no cheap opposition and that the defence would not, be easy to beat. The only try of the match came shortly after the start and it was a pretty movement. Pile, who is representative half-back for Auckland, sent his rearguard away with a snappy pass and the ball went out to Kingston, on the wing. He made a splendid dash down the line to score. 3-0. Auckland again set out for the Wellington line and for some time play was in the local team's territory, but Wellington were by no means curbed and several times went close to scoring before half-time. Fine clearing work by the Auckland men and bad luck at times stopped them from crossing. Both packs played well. Auckland took the initiative early in the second spell but were driven back. For the first twenty minutes play was fairly even, although Auckland looked the more likely to score. The backs were still handling well (although too frequently). Neither side could do much •as a unit in this department, however, because of the slippery ground, and the ball usually finished up in touch after a passing bout. There were numerous exciting individual runs by the backs, but the tackling was of a high standard and no score resulted. [ The second part of the spell was particularly lively, both sides taking turns on defence, and Wellington's chances of at least a draw looked bright. Time after time the ball was taken to the Auckland line, but there the movement always broke down. j Auckland, too, provided some thrilling I moments with lightning attacks, but they could not score again. Breingan and Harvey were injured and replaced by Cassin and Thorley respectively There was no further score and the game ended: Auckland 3, Wellington 0.

The referee was Mr. H. B. Sknjnonds.