LEAGUE FOOTBALL

Greymouth Evening Star, 27 July 1936, Page 9

LEAGUE FOOTBALL

ENGLISH TEAM ARRIVES.

TRIBUTE TO AUSTRALIANS.

[PEB PBEBB ASSOCIATION.]

AUCKLAND, July 25

The British Rugby League players to tour New Zealand arrived by the Monterey to-day. The manager (Mr R. F. Anderton) said that, the team had had a wonderful time in Australia, and had been most hospitably received. He and the team had not a complaint to make. There had not been a dirty match, and he was pleased to note that Australian critics had described the men as the cleanest and most sportsmanlike team that had ever been to Australia. “Win or lose, we endeavoured to play good football of the class that the public likes to see, and will do the same in New Zealand,’’ he added.

Replying to questions, Mr Anderton said that there had been considerable confusion over the play-the-ball rule, but the team had not worried over the matter. "In England no stand clear, but in Australia they lie on top,” he said. Some referees observed one interpretation and some the other. This applied to most Australian matches, including the tests. Il was thus a mixture. That’s a fitting description,” said Mr Anderton. The standard of the game in Australia had improved 50 per cent. The Australians were much heavier, especially in the forwards. The prospects for the New Zealand tour were good. Harris, the best, centre threequarter for England, had a. biokcn collarbone, and .Jones, a forward, was incapacitated. AUCKLAND DEFEATED.

AUCKLAND, June 25

The English Rugby League team opened its New Zealand tout auspiciously this afternoon, beating Auckland by 22 points to 16. The match was played on a heavy ground, after overnight rain. There was an tittendance of 12,000. The English team arrived by the Monterey early this morning and fielded practically a test side. In the early stages of the match the visitors gave away penalties through the forwards failing to regard tho five-yards rule. . In spite of the backs having every chance, through tho forwards gaining possession in the scrums, they made mistakes in handling. Auckland scored seven points early chiefly through England failing to settle down. Auckland’s points were scored in the first six minutes of the game with a penalty goal and a converted try. Once into their stride the visitors showed ability in keeping with that of previous English teams which have visited the Dominion. The home side was greatly handicapped through its inabality to gain the ball from the scrums. In spite of the advantage of the visiting side in this department, specially in the first spell, the team made several errors in passing. Through this fault Auckland Was able to cover more quickly on defence than otherwise would have been the case. There was no doubt, about the superiority of England in team play. The forwards gave the backs remarkable opportunities, but when the rearguard made errors, the vanguard was exceptionally clever in covering up. England's great strength, after that of the forwards in gaining the ball, lay in Watkins and Jenkins, the two cleverest attacking halves who have yet toured with an English side. Their unorthodox movements clearly had the homo team puzzled, especially when the reverse pass was used with great effect. When in trouble, either player found gaps in the defence with cleverly-placed grubber kicks. An outstanding feature of the match was the brilliance of Edwards, the 20-year-old winger, and the youngest member of the team, who scored three tries. Edwards has a dazzling burst of speed with a very deceptive sidestep. Risman, the English centre three-quarter, shone as a very effective link in the chain. Hudson, the other wing, was a fast and determined runner. Enough was seen of Brough to judge that he is a full-back equal in class to tho renowned Sullivan. Among the English forwards, Hodgson and Beverley were outstanding. They are both weighty and fast, and handled as well as any back. Armitt, the hooker, who was so successful in Australia, gained the ball with almost monotonous regularity in spite of being outweighted. The Auckland forwards made a brave showing. A feature of their play was sound tackling. They stood a heavy ordeal splendidly. A weakness of the Auckland backs was the tendency of Kay, the second fiveeighths, to go for interception. Deep holes were made by the clever English inside backs in Auckland’s combination. The outstanding Auckland back was Tittleton, who tackled well and showed ability on attack. Of the forwards, Gault, Breed and I etley were the best. Auckland’s first score was a. penalty goal by Watene. A try by Breed was converted by Watene. Risman and Edwards (2) added tries for England in splendid movements. Watene kicked another penalty goal to make tho score 9-all. Just before half-time Hudson scored for England, Risman kicking a fine goal, making the score l l-I) in favour of England. Auckland attacked persist •'titly at the start of tho second hall, when Watene added another try almost immediately. Then a. sensational movement by the Auckland backs completely beat the defence, Brown scoring for Watene to convert with a fine kick. England immediately retaliated, Jenkins showing brilliance to score a try, converted by Risman, making the final score: England 22, Auckland 16.

WELLINGTON TEAM

WELLINGTON. July 26

The Wellington team to play England on Wednesday, is: Full-back, W. Spencer: three-quarters, E. Gladding, L. Merson, C. McNeill; first fiveeighths, S. T. Atkins; second fiveeighths, H. T. Lilburne (captain) ; half-back, J. Coman; forwards, J. Cootes, .E, Pilcher. R. Moislcy. C. Berry, 11. Todd. G. Swanberg. SATURDAY’S REFEREE Mr. H. A. King, of Christchurch, has been selected to referee the Rugby League match between the South Is-

land and the visiting English team, to be played in Christchurch, on Saturday next.

DISTRICT MATCHES.

MARIST AND RUNANGA WIN

In contrast to the previous Sunday, yesterday’s Rugby League matches were played under ideal conditions, and there was a good attendance at Wingham Park, for the semi-final of the Knock-Out competition, between Pirates and Runanga. In the ill st half the game came up to expectations, being fast anti hard, but after the interval Pirates were soon done with and lost their early lead to go down to the unbeaten Marists by 20 points to 8. The finalists are now Blackball and Marist.

Only one game was played in the Bradshaw Cup senior competition, Runanga decisively beating Ngahere. In the junior grade only one game was played also, Marist defeating Blackball by 17 points to nil. The final of the third grade Knock-Out provided an interesting match, Marist defeating Runanga by 16 points to 5. MARIST WIN AGAIN. Making the pace a cracker from the kick-off, Pirate seniors had Marist completely bottled up for the first half of the semi-final of the Knock-out Cup competition, at Wingham Park yesterday, but their condition then gave out, and the superior speed of the Marist backs turned the tables and gave the greens another easy win, by 20 points to 8, Pirates failing to score after the interval, when they led by 8 points to I. The pace of the first half was such to promise that the game would be one of the best of the season, but it soon told and the standard deteriorated, the second half being comparatively dull, except for occasional bright movements. Ironically, an injury to a player seemed to have more to do with Marist's victory than anything else, the back line functioning twice as efficiently when W. Gilbert retired and was replaced by B. Casey, just before half-time. Pirates played well, until they wore themselves out, and then they presented Marist with many opportunities through badly directed kicks. Marist lost many opportunities through faulty handling, and by holding-on, but their defence was always sound, in fact, the tackling on both sides was good. G. Scott was absent from the Marist pack, but J. Behan and McNeight were well supported by the younger forwards. The teams were as follow: — Marist: Pollock, Devonport, Roberts, A. Beban, Gilbert, O’Brien, J. Beban, O’Connor, Walsh, Anisy, McNeight, Williams, Seguin. Pirates: Martyn, Chisholm, Sayers, Debney, Stewart, Hopkins, Webber, Fisher, Leach, Jones, Calder, Crowe, Pearson.

Pirates, who Avon the toss and played with the sun, opened with a lightning attack, Pollock saving well from Fisher. A loose rush by Pirates saw Debney secure and race through to the line, only to be recalled for offside. Again Debney made a nice opening and sent Sayers over in the corner. Stewart failed to convert.—Pirates 3, Maris' nil. Pirates did not relax and Sayers was thrown into touch in the cor. ner. Marist were penalised for offside, just outside their own 25 and Stewart’s kick was unsuccessful. A successful speculator by Martyn placed Marist in an awkward position, but Pollock saved Avell and opened Avith an attack which almost resulted in a score, Avhen Webber failed to field a high kick, Walsh over-running the ball when he tried to pick up. Marist were in a scoring position for the first time during the game, but an infringement allowed Calder to return play to half-Avay. Hopkins made a nice opening, but left unsupported, he was caught by Pollock. Devonport, O’Connor and McNeight carried play deep into Pirate territory, Avhere Roberts goaled from a penalty, in a good position.—Pirates 3, Marist 2. Marist looked like scoring when J. Beban, O’Connor and A. Beban broke aAvay, but Calder intercepted and cleared. Some hot exchanges followed, with neither side holding an advantage. J. Beban passed to Roberts, but Devonport missed a wild pass from the last named, and Debney picked up smartly to run 40 yards for a good try in the corner, which Calder failed to convert. —Pirates 6, Marist 2. Pirates again took charge, and after the forwards bad been held up on the line A. Beban was penalised for offside, giving Stewart a good opportunity. His kick hit the upright, but bounced over.—Pirates S, Marist 2. Soon after Pirates wore penalised for offside on their own 25. and Roberts put the kick over, but missed another in the same position immediately after. Gilbert retired just, on half-time, being replaced by B. Casey, who went to half-back, O’Connor moving out to first fiveeighth. Half-time found tho score, Pirates 8, Marist 4.

Immediately on resuming Marist showed improvement, and held their ground. Casey sent on to O’Connor, to O’Brien, to Roberts, who missed his pass, but Devonport picked up and cut. through to score a nice try under the posts. Roberts converted. — Marist !>, Pirates 8. All of the Marist backs handled in a sparkling move, which culminated in O’Brien being pushed into touch in the corner. They were not to be denied, however, and picking up from the loose Beban threw out a long pass to Devonport, who raced over in the corner. Roberts failed to convert. —Marist 12, Pirates 8. After this reverse Pirates were obviously a beaten team, their condition having given out, although they struggled on gamely to keep the margin down. After Roberts and Devonport had narrowly missed scoring, Casey received from a scrum on the Pirates line and sent on to McNeight, who forced his way over in the corner. Roberts converted with a fine kick. — Marist 17, Pirates 8. A poor kick by Martvn gave Marist another opportunity, but O’Brien failed to take his pass from McNeight, and Pirates gained a temporary respite. It was not for long, however, as from a scrum on the Pirate 25 Casey secured and sent on to I O’Connor, to O’Brien, to Roberts, who out-paced the defenders in a diagonal run, to score well out. He failed to convert and the game finished shortly after with the scores, Marist 20, Pirates 8. Mr. C. Currie was referee.

RUNANGA BEAT NGAIIERE. Much of the interest in the match at Dunollie was lost by the late arrival of the Ngahere team, the game commencing nearly an hour late. In the first half, Runanga scored with comparative ease, and put on a total

of B> points without. Ngahere scoring. The second half, Ngahere rallied, and at one stage, Avith the score 19-10, looked as if they might make the grade, but Runanga rallied and maintained their lead. W. Vincent, South Island rep., played at half-back lor Ngahere, and, with J. Weir, was the most prominent of the Ngahere team. K. McTaggart played a splendid game in the Runanga forwards, as did the Glynn brothers. O’Connell scored the first try for Runanga after about ten minutes’ play, Mossop failing with the kick. W. Glynn Avas next, scoring from a dribbling rush. Mossop converted. Runanga 8, Ngahere nil. McTaggart, follOAving a rough-and-tumble, scored, Mossop failing with the kick. Runanga 11, Ngahere nil. Runanga broke away and Morris scored well out, Mossop converting, making the score Runanga 16. Ngahere 0. Ngahere rallied, and Gibson scored a fine try, which was converted by Weir with a splendid kick from the side line. Runanga 16, Ngahere 5. O’Connell again scored for Runanga, Mossop failing with the kick. Runanga 19, Ngahere 5. Ngahere came again and Weir scored a fine try under the posts, and converted it. Runanga 19, Ngahere Id. Runanga again pressed, and O'Connell secured to score in the corner. Mossop failed with the kick. Runanga 22, Ngahere 10. The next Runanga movement resulted in Morris scoring, but he failed with the kick. Runanga 25, Ngahere 10. Vincent secured and broke away from the halfway and scored in the corner. Both umpires flagged Weir’s kick as a goal, but the referee disallowed it. Runanga 25, Ngahere 13. Again O’Connell secured, and with a fast run down the line, scored well out, and converted it himself, making the final score: Runanga 30, Ngahere 13. Mr M. Hall was referee.

JUNIOR GRADE

Playing at Blackball, Marist juniors defeated Blackball, by 17 points t<> nil. after an interesting game. Tries were scored for the Avinners by P. Grogan (3), S. Knapp and Hopkins, the last-named converting one. Both teams Avore armbands, as a mark of respect, to the late Mr 11. L. Neilson. a. Blackball Club member and referee, whose, death occurred on Saturday. Mr .1. Dodds Avas referee.

THIRD GRADE. Tho final of the third grade Knockout, at Wingham Park yesterday, between Marist and Runanga, provided a keen and interesting game, tho margin between the teams not being as great us tho final score of 16 points to 5, in favour of Marist would indicate. At half-time Marist led by 6 points to 5, but in the second half the passing of the Marist backs kas more effective, and they put on ten points, at the same time tackling solidly to prevent Runanga from adding to their tally. For Marist tries were scored by Grogan (2), L. Beban, and D. Knapp, W. Ryan converting two. Runanga’s only try was scored by Clay and converted by Airns. Mr. J. Gdiffen was referee.

SIXTH GRADE. I The sixth grade (schoolboys) com-' petition was continued on Saturday, under ideal conditions. Playing at Wingham Park Marist A defeated Runanga A by 27 points to 8. At Blackball, the home team defeated Runanga B by the big margin of 48 points to nil. An innovation was introduced at

Wingham Park yesterday when, during the interval in the senior match, Marist, and Runanga, eight-a-side sixth grade teams played a short game. The boys showed a surprisingly good knowledge of the code, and received an enthusiastic reception. Marist won by 10 points to nil. W. Meates and K. Rea scoring tries, Roche converting the first and Meates the second. Mr. J. Mathews was referee. GAMES NOT PLAYED. The Brunner-Blackball senior match was not played, Brunner being unable to field a team. Brunner also failed to field a team for the third grade match against Pirates. OTHER CENTRES. NAPIER, July 25. Clive 22, Taradalc 5. CUTBUSH AS COACH. AUCKLAND, July 25.

At a meeting of the Council of the Ncav Zealand Rugby League, the Inangahua Rugby League sub-centre asked for a grant of £5O to engage a playercoach, with the suggestion that they could secure the services of J. Cutbush, who recently returned from England. The president said that they Avould have to bo satisfied first that Cutbush was off the register of the club he had played for in England, otherwise there would be the question of tho payment of £2OO under the international rule. It was decided to obtain information before taking any action. The following referees Avere chosen for the first tAvo matches of the English team's tour: Mr. M. Wetherill, at Auckland; Mr. P. Rogers, at Wellington.