ACTIVE AND ALERT

Evening Post, Volume CXXIX, Issue 111, 11 May 1940, Page 20

ACTIVE AND ALERT

CONSPICUOUS ATHLETIC PAIR

The Onslow backs have a not undeserved reputation for smartness in | Rugby, and most teams whom they meet prefer to keep play amongst the forwards. Last Saturday, however, the Athletic backs were calling for the ball during the second half, which in itself was an evidence, if any evidence was necessary, that they had established a moral as well as a material ascendancy, and were prepared to play Onslow at their own game.

They are a youthful band, this Athletic second division team, but if it was the courage of youth which led them thus to throw down the gauntlet, that courage gained reinforcement from the presence in their ranks of that tried and trusty warrior, Dick Pelham, with his wise head to direct operations and his sure handling, running, and kicking to assist in carrying them out.

Pelham's years of service to sport in Wellington have won for him a warm spot in the hearts of most people, and he moves in such an atmosphere of good will that, although he was continually breaking up Onslow attacks or starting off an Athletic raid, not even the most ardent Onslow fans —and there are usually plenty of these at Nairnville Park —could find it in their hearts to condemn him. Even the ranks of Tuscany indeed could scarce forbear to cheer.

It' was otherwise, however, with Jacobs, an Athletic forward, who was another thorn—and a sharp one at that—in the side of Onslow. Here was no veteran, with the memory of the past shedding the light of tolerance over his activities, but an up-and-coming youngster who bids fair to worry opposing sides, in the full flush of his ability, for many years to come. "Keep your eye on Jacobs," said a prominent Athletic supporter before the match started, and this proved quite an easy matter, for Jacobs leapt to the eye, as the French say. all through the game. He \was one of the few players wearing a numbered jersey, and his number 11 could be seen in the thick of the fray from the (kick-off till the final whistle. If someone broke away from the Athletic scrum to pounce on an Onslow back and nip an attack in the bud: if someone emerged from the ruck with the ball at his feet; if someone was to be seen heading a forward rush or following up at speed; in short, if an Athletic player was to be found anywhere near the ball, it was almost sure to be Jacobs. Here, there, and everywhere, he put in a tremendous amount of work, and it was no wonder someone on the line dubbed him a second Porter.