WARATAHS OUTPLAYED

Evening Star, Issue 25895, 12 September 1946, Page 4

WARATAHS OUTPLAYED

COMBINED TEAM OK TOP DEADLY TACKLING A BIG FACTOR THREE POTTED GCALS (P.A.) TIMARU, September 11. Opposed by a fine pack of forwards who at no stage let up; the Australian Rugby team received the third defeat of its tour at Timaru this afternoon by tho . combined South Canterbury-Ashburton-North Otago side by 21 to 9. It was the first win at Timaru against an overseas .team since T9OS. The match could , not be regarded as a pointer for the test at Dunedin on Saturday as the visitors were spelling most of their likely test players, but the Australians will definitely have to stage a better show if they hope to hold a New Zealand side; . The visitors at the start looked a good side. They handled well and had an* abundance of speed, but as soon as the combined players shook off their nervousness and decided to tackle hard in the second spell the Australians never looked like winning. iney failed to penetrate. The forwards were outplayed, and in fact were completely disorganised,* , , , , V, , . The hard ground and deadly tackling of the home team took toll of the visitors and * Mcßride, J. .McLean, Stpne, and Gourlay left the field with injuries. The Australian captain, W. M. McLean, played his first, game of ' the tour and went well. ■ . ■ . ‘ The combined team led, ,7-0, in the earlv stages of; the match, when M. Goddard, an emergency for the Aew Zealand side, who played' a dashing game, received from Kelly afld cut infield to beat Piper, the Australian full-back, to score an unconverted try, and : when Kelly (Ashburton) dropped -,a goal. The Australians played with dash,* but without combination or finish, and had it not been for the profitable boot of A. Livermore, who found the posts with three out of six penalty kicks, the half-time score' would not have been 9-7 in favour of the tourists. SECOND SPELL. The Australians lost their dash in the second session, and were completely outplayed, in spite , of the fact that ’they received more of the ball in the set scrums and broke even in the lineouts. The crowd of ! 7,000 was given a thrill when the combined backs were sent away bv Parsons, and all handled until S.. ‘Lemon, the' Ashburton winger, evaded three would-be tacklers to score an unconverted try and place the* home side. iii the lead, 10-9. Given every 'service by the kicking pf j. Goddard, the South Canterbury full-back, the combined team had the Australians on the defence for the best part of the spell. The. next' points came when. J. Goddard fielded a; kick •at halfway. The Australians expected him to kick,for the line, but he nipped into position and dropped a fielp goal A(\trAn mif the KCOre 14-9.

In addition to being one of the best forwards on the ground, P, Fitzgerald (South Canterbury) distinguished himself a few minutes later by potting a goal. The combined team had matters much their own way in the closing stages, and the final score came when Lemon fended off Bannon and scored an unconverted try in the corner. FAST AND OPEN. Although some of the Australians were playing out of position because of injuries, they endeavoured to keep the game fast and open, and impressed by playing the game for the game’s sake. They had no excuses —they were on the day beaten by a better side. McLean, Livermore, and Hamilton were the pick of the visiting pack, while Cremin, who is likely to be the Australian test five-eighth, also went well, in spite of the fact that lie played on the wing for a time. M. Goddard (centre) and Lemon, who is a fast, determined winger, were outstanding in the combined backs, while D. Parsons gave an excellent exhibition of half-back play., L. Grant, the Kiwi forward, played a grand game in a pack which worked magnificenly.