AUSTRALIANS HAVE CONVINCING WIN IN OPENING MATCH

Greymouth Evening Star, 18 August 1949, Page 10

AUSTRALIANS HAVE CONVINCING WIN IN OPENING MATCH

TAUMARUNUI, August 18 (P.A.). —Australia beat King Country, 24-6, at Taurnarunui today. The match at- : tracted the largest crowd ever seen in Taurnarunui, the attendance being estimated at between 7000 and 8000. The weather was fine and the ground in perfect condition for fast, open football. The Australians outclassed King Country in all departments of the game. They got the ball from most of the scrums and line-outs. Behind a. winning pack, Burke had no problems to solve and he sent Emery, Blomley, and Allan away time and again in scintillating passing movements, many of which were held up by solid tackling by Gotz, Katene, and Shaw. The King Country forwards did not play with their customary dash in the first spell, and appeared very sluggish. They improved vastly in the second spell, however, McGuigan, Marriner„ Bryers, and Pevreal being prominent. Had they played with the same dash in the first spell, the Australian score might not have been so big. The King Country backs were outclassed, but they did not disgrace themselves. They stood up on the Australian backs in the second spell, and thus kept the scoring down. Kenyon and Gotz were particularly effective in this respect. Wiridon, Cornforth, Mossop, Cross and Shehadie were grand forwards, Cornforth in particular playing a dashing game.. The teams were:—

Australia: B. Piper; A. Ware, T. Allan, R. Garner; J. Blomley, N. Emery; C. T. Burke; R. Cornforth, C. Windon, K. Cross, N. . Shehadie, R. Mossop, N. T. Betts, N. Cottrell, J. ’Baxter.

King Country: A. E. Clark; T. Katene, W. E. Gotz, D. J. Shaw; K. J. Kenyon, R. Akapita; F. J. McKenzie; J. S. McGuigan, J. H. Marriner, R. F. Bryers, J. Ratima, F. J. Spry, L. J. Tarrant, R. A, Pevreal.

Otago Beats Waikato By 27 Points To 5 DUNEDIN, August 17 (P.A.) .—Otago beat Waikato by 27 points to 5 in the fourth Ranfurly Shield challenge match of the season, played at Cansbrook this afternoon. For Otago, W. I. Perriam scored, a try and kicked • two goals from tries and a penalty goal. G. J. Moore scored two tries, W. Lunn one, and R. F. Waldron one. R. H. Bell kicked a goal from a try and a penalty goal. For Waikato, Rex Hinton scored a try and G. Brunskill converted it. Waikato tried to throw the ball about at all times, but the backs did not handle crisply. Waikato fielded some excellent forwards, but their type of loose play was not effective. Tire Otago backs did well in passing movements and ran up to their men well on defence. The Otago forwards played characteristically in the first half but were, inclined to open out too much in the second spell. There was an attendance of 20,000. North Otago Has Win In First Match Of Tour BLENHEIM, August 17 (P.A.) .—The North Otago Rugby team beat Marlborough today by 11 points to 6 in the first game of a tour of Seddon Shield districts. The ground was heavy after rain, and there were few opportunities for good movements. The scoring opened early, with Kilgour, the North Otago centre, going over for a good try, which was converted by Halvorsen, who later kicked a penalty goal. "Kearney kicked two penalty goals for Marlborough, and North Otago led 8-6 at half-time. In the second spell, North Otago again started well, Ross- scoring a try. Thereafter the game developed into' a forward struggle. • The outstanding player was Halvorsen, full-back, who brought his tally of points for the season'to the century. North Ota on will play Golden, Bay, at Motueka on Saturday. •