Kiwis’ Thrilling Display

Greymouth Evening Star, 29 July 1946, Page 8

Kiwis’ Thrilling Display

Brilliant Exhibition at { Christchurch (P.A.j CHRISTCHURCH, July 27. Playing a fast and open type of football seen all too seldom m Christchurch in recent years, the touring Kiwis-* Rugby team gave a delightful exhibition, which was thoroughly appreciated by a crowd of 20,000, when it beat Canterbury by 36 points to 11 at Lancaster Park to-day. Extremely fast and remarkably fit, the Kiwis handled the ball with complete confidence, and showed an understanding which was at once the despair of the defence and the delight of the spectators. The pace at which the game was played can be measured by the fact that the match had been in progress for 23 minutes before the forwards went down in the first set scrum. . The two foremost features of the Kiwis’ play were the manner in which the ball was got away to the backs, and the backing up of the whole side. Apart from the scrums and line-outs, of which the Kiwis won a clear majority, the backs were sent away time and again by a Kiwi forward performing a minor miracle of handling in the loose play. J. Finlay was outstanding in the Kiwi forwards. Others who showed, up frequently in support of the backs were "N. H. Thornton, K. D. Arnold, L. A. Grant and A. W. Blake. In the tight work the way, was led by N. J. McPhail, F. N. Haigh and Finlay.

Saxton in Form. j The captain, C. K. Saxton, played ! an excellent game at half-back. Allen, for all his heavy build, was' quick and neat and had all the hallmarks of a first-class player. W. G. Argus, on the left wing, who has a deceptive change of pace and swerve, was frequently dangerous,' but J. R. Sherratt, on the other wing,, had few chances and was well stop-I ped by the young Canterbury player, R. S. Thompson. The performance of the full-back, R. W. H. Scott, was exceptionally good. Extremely cool, Scott was caught in possession only once, and his line kicking was long and accurate, even when he was close to the touchline. , If the performance of tne Canterbury team suffered by comparison, it was only by comparison. The forwards did a grea job, and at times attained heights not reached by a local pack for many a clay. D. Herman and M. Henderson were exceptionally good in the loose rushes, and received sound support from F. G. Hobbs and K. Bain, who also did some great work in the line-outs. A. P. Lee and P. Carroll were hard workers in the tight. The backs played solidly, but were quite unable to cope with the reverse passing and deceptive running of the Kiwi backs. The teams were: — Kiwis.—R. w. H. Scott; J. R. Sherratt, R. L. Dobson, W. G. Argus; J. Proctor, F. R. Allen; C. K. Saxton; J. G. Bond, F. N. Haigh, N. J. McPhail; L. A. Grant, A. W. Blake, K. D. Arnold, J. Finlay; N. H. Thornton. Canterbury.— P. R. Callanan; W. P. McHugh, P. Kearney, R. S. Thompson; J. Roach, J. D. Morton; R Monigatti; S. O’Neill, A. P. Lee, R. Miles; D. Herman, P. Carroll, K. Bain, F. G. Hobbs; M. Henderson.

Scott Converts Six Tries.

Tries were scored for the Kiwis by Argus, Thornton, Grant, Finlay (2), Allen, Arnold and Scott. Scott converted six of the tries. For Canterbury Henderson scored two tries. Morton converted one and also kicked a goal from a penalty. Final score: Kiwis 36, Canterbury 11. Mr. A. Fong (Greymouth) was referee. ________