RUGBY FOOTBALL West Coast Below Best For Southland Match

Greymouth Evening Star, 19 August 1949, Page 3 (Supplement)

RUGBY FOOTBALL West Coast Below Best For Southland Match

West Coast did not enhance its reputation when it played its first match at Invercargill on Wednesday, writes the Evening Star’s correspondent with the team. Though Southland forwards showed splendid form, particularly in loose rucks and line-outs, . West, Coast 'could have won had it produced its form of the previous two matches, against Buller and North Otago. Southland Sub-Unions had many chances, mainly as a result of the splendid play of the forwards, who dominated the lineouts and scrums and loose rucks, but solid tackling prevented several tries. West Coast won enough ball to win, however, but it did not reach the outside backs quickly enough. H. Tainui did all he could to open up play, though in the second half he failed on several occasions to hold on to the ball, but C. Hunter, having his first game for the province was not an outstanding success. He was a little slow in passing but his tackling was quite good, and he kept a wellperformed five eighths in J. Hotop under control, though Hotop was able to beat him to score a fine try in the first half.

J. G, Fraser was missed in this position, though he adequately filled the position of centre vacated by E. G. Walker, who injured an ankle. IJ was unfortunate that after he injured a shoulder he did not retire, instead of moving to the full-back position and allowing Lindbom to come up to centre. While at full-back Fraser received another injury which caused his complete retirement, and it is thought that he has chipped a shoulder bone and may be out of commission for some time. ■ A late tackle was responsible for Fraser’s initial injury, and also led to G. Nelson being injured. In this respect the referee appeared to give the home players some latitude, though two late tackles by West Coasters earned penalties.

In Good Form T. Mathieson, who retired early in the game, was in good form, and almost scored when he injured a knee, which is now in’plaster. The remaining hooker in the team, K. R. Fisher, had to retire in the second half as a result of the recurrence of a strained shoulder muscle trouble. He may not be able to play for a while. M. Wells was among the best forwards up to this stage, but he was unable to, obtain much ball when hooking. Wells, with R. R. Eastgate, led many footrushes, but the latter lacked the dash of past games. Once he was given a pass with only a few yards to cover before the line, but the full-back grassed him. Two of the most solid forwards were J. Hagan and J. Flynn, who were working throughout- the game. Hagen frequently burst clear to open up play, while Flynn was several times only inches from the line. J. Woods, of Hokitika, a former Southlander, gave a fair display in his first game for the province, but he was unable to match his brother, a sixteen stone last-man R. W. Woods, who was one of Southland’s best. Like J. Curtain, who replaced Mathieson, Woods failed to jump at all in the lineouts. G. Nelson again played well in the loose, his anticipation being good, but once again he made a costly mistake when he. knocked on under the posts, and a forward ahead of him. J. Curtain, reached back for it—a blatant example of offside play.

Early Injury It was bad luck that J. Gillan had to retire with concussion, before he had a chance to show his ability on attack. Hurt tackling. Gillan played on for some time before he was sent to the sideline, and J. R. Steel came on. M. Stoop, showed, an overdue return to form on the wing, and his two tries were the result of quick following-up. Like Steel, however, he kicked when, in the final stages, it would have cost nothing for them to have had “a go.” While. he played up to provincial standard, J. Lindbom was not in top form, and it was bad luck for West Coast, for there were numerous, penalties awarded to both sides during the game, and some of the shots that Lindbom missed would have been no trouble to him normally. The fact that an eight-seamed ball was used affected the West Coast players to a marked degree, and Lindbom was unable, as a result, to'impart any “screw” to the ball, and his kicking length suffered. “Rubber” Squared Wednesday's win for Southland SubUnions squared the rubber as far as

the two sides are concerned. The first match between the sides was played in 1936 at Greymouth, the result being a draw, with each side scoring 11 points. Last vear at Hokitika, West Coast won 11-9. “ Southland Sub-Unions was actually without the services of 11 players who were with the Southland touring team. There were many, however, who have played prominently , in Southland Rugby. Hie captain, A. J. R. Anderson, who played a fine game, is a former Southland heavyweight boxing champion. R. W. Woods and L. Moynihan were All Black trialists last year when they played for- Southland, while the full-back E. Gorton, also played for Southland in several games last season. J. Hotop, a clever first five.-eighth, represented Bush last year, and wa sinciuded in the N.Z. Rugby Almanack’s five most promising players of the year. He was unavailable for the Southland touring team. J. Bovle and Anderson toured with the 1947 Southland team and Anderson was acknowledged by the Almanack to be worthy of consideration for South With just a bare team available, West Coast will have another hard test against the Otago Sub-Unions tomorrow and some improvement will be needed both in the forwards and backs if a win is to be obtained.

Blaketown And Celtic Provided A Bright Match

Despite the absence of representative players, the senior match at Rugby Park last Saturday between Blaketown and Celtic provided some bright football—there were five good tries scored. On the day Celtic should have been assured of victory, as Blaketown was without the services of J. Fraser and G. Richardson in the backs, and J. Hagan and K. R. Fisher in the forwards. However, the Blaketown substitutes made good and the team combined together in an effective defence against repeated Celtic attacks in. the first half and also showed ability on attack.

S. Leggoe, a junior, playing at half-back for Blaketown, overshadowed his opposite, W. Hamilton, who, affected by a nose injury received in a previous match, did not play his usual game. Hamilton’s passing was erratic and he often ran into trouble when he elected to go on his own. The best of the Blaketown backs was S. Stewart, and the try he scored in the second half when he slipped through the defence and went over before being tackled, was the result of speed off the mark. The fullbacks, J. Goodall and R. Fitzgerald, played well and made good saves, buf both missed easy opportunities to add to the score by kicking penalty goals and conversions. J. Fitzgerald, at centre, was the best of the Celtic backline, but he received few opportunities on attack through mishandling by the inside backs.

The two forward packs were evenly matched, but Celtic, due to good work by T. Harker, had the better of the line-outs. Blaketown, however, led by ~ McKendry and Tomlinson, excelled in the loose play. E. Cannam, the Blaketown breakaway forward, was also 'to the fore, following up with speed. "

AUSTRALIAN RUGBY TEAM ITINERARY

The itinerary of the Australian Rugby team, which opened its New Zealand tour against King Country at Taumarunui on Wednesday, is as follows;—August 20, v. Bay of Plenty (Whakatane); August 24, v. Poverty Bay-East Coast (Gisborne); August 27 v. Wairarapa-Bush (Masterton) ; August 31, v. ManawatuHorowhenua (Palmerston North); September 3, v. New Zealand (Wellington) ; September 6, v. NelsonGolden Bay-Marlborough (Blenheim) ; September 10, v. West CoastBuller (Greymohth); September 14, v. Ashburton-South CanterburyNorth Otago (Oamaru); September 17, v. Southland (Invercargill); September 21, v. Canterbury (Christchurch) : September .24, v. New Zealand (Auckland).