LAST-MINUTE TRY

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22404, 11 August 1947, Page 7

LAST-MINUTE TRY

HUTT NAILS GAME INTER-SCHOOL RUGBY GOOD HOME FORWARDS Showing a substantial improvement on the form of recent weeks, the Gisborne High School gave Hutt Valley High School a hard tussle on Saturday in the third inter-collegiate match in Gisborne of the 1947 season, and though beaten by 12 points to six \rre by no means outclassed. Up to within a minute of the close of play Hutt Valley had only a one-point margin, and it was a try scored and converted in that last minute that removed the issue from doubt. Honours of the match so far as the Gisborne team went were with the forwards, who played well above the standard of the Napier match and made an all-out bid for victory in the last quarter of an hour after Hutt had seized the lead. The reverse which added five points to Hutt Valley's advantage at the finish was no fault of the Gisborne pack, who had done a full share towards winning the match for the home team. The decisive factor was that the Hutt players had just a little sting left after a gruellllllllllltHimiHHllllHlttlllllimilHlllllMHMltlltllflllltlllHlll

ling test, and followed up to exploit an opportunity which caught most of the home backs flat-footed. The visitors scored a field goal and two tries, one converted, while Gisborne's six points were from unconverted tries. The teams were:—

Hutt Valley—D. C. Osborne, D. W. Jowett, L. R. Smith, R. A. Jarden, N. A. Langdon, J. F. Fitzgerald, captain, P. Sukolski, G. A. Murray. W. Double. ,G. H. Overton, W. D.. McLaren, M. E. Collins, B. R. Waters, J. H. Burridge, R. J. Street; reserves, R. A. Smith, T. G. Humphrey, and N. Deal.

Gisborne,—M. Dunphy, W. Bignell, M. Nikora, W. Grace, C. Torrie, R, Preston, J. Stainton, R. J. Preston, captain, A. Leggat, K. Bagley, W. Robinson, C. Ngata, G. Nepia, C. Matches, E. Wilkinson: reserves, B. Williams, F, Grierson, R. Havre, E. Blackburn and G. Gibson. Forwards Dominate First Half

For the first half of the game Gisborne was winning the great majority of scrums, and their backs were getting a rare feast of the ball, with Stainton working smoothly behind the scrum and sending good level passes to Preston. The backs made many fine runs, but their efforts to get the ball out to the flying winger Bignell were frustrated time and again by the clever tackling and shrewd tactics of the visiting side. There was one occasion on which the Gisborne winger, waiting for the ball, was completely blocked off by his opposite number in the Hutt team, whose policy was to bottle Bignell up and who made it evident that if he did nothing else ho had nothing to fear by way of team criticism. In itself, that was no light task, but it was so well done that only two or three times did the crowd see the Gisborne winger in full stride.

He would have done better had his inside backs given him more opportunities late in the game, but by that time the Gisborne policy was to get the ball to the five-eighths and then kick. Even in this they neglected to. kick to Bignelhs wing, missing more than one golden opportunity in this way, Back-play in the Hutt Valley side was largely defensive throughout the first half, for with the ball coming out on the Gisborne side of the scrum with regularity the visitors were busy keeping their territory clear. Most of the game was played in their end in the first half, and apart from a brilliant field-goal shot by Fitzgerald, as he was going down to a Gisborne tackle, Hutt Valley scored no points up to half-time. Not Lucky With The Kicks

The Rome side, on the other hand, scored two tries, both unconverted, Grace scoring one with a determined run from loose play inside the Hutt Valley 25-yd area, and Stainton putting on the other by a solo effort from a scrum syds. from the goal-line, dummying off one tackier and reaching the line as another Hutt player bowled him oyer. They were both good tries, and With a dry ball and a windless atmosphere they should have been converted; but Gisborne was not lucky with the kicks.

The loss of Matches from the front row of the Gisborne pack through injury had a marked effect upon the set scrums in the second half, when the slightly heavier Hutt Valley lads packed down better and began to win the ball almost as steadily as Gisborne had done in the first half.

The home forwards had recourse to fast breaking and spoiling play, and they practised these tactics with success. tearing in among the Hutt Valley backs and keeping them under control for most of the half.

The visiting backs were playing deeper than in the first half, and working hard to get the ball out to their wings. Jowett was given a few runs on 'the right wing, but Bignell was more than a match for him. and he never got far. Jardcn, on the other hand, furnished winning talent when he got his opportunities. Grace stopped him several times, but his brilliant handing and running paid dividends when the ball came right across the field from a lino-out on the right-hand boundary. '['he Gisborne defenders were a "shade late with every tackle, and the ball went on and on until it reached Jarden. who ran around the end for Hutt’s first try. The kick failed, but at this stage Hutt led 7—6. Visitors Survive Torrid Attacks

Now the crowd saw a really excellent effort by the home forwards, who bustled their opponents with closepacked charges and got within touch of the Hutt goal-line on a number of occasions, only to be beaten back by good line-kicking, or held up by knock-ons or forwad passes. Hutt shone in defence, when hard pressed, and profited too from over-eagerness among the attackers. who just could not get their hands on the bail when it really mattered.

The Gisborne backs could probably have made something of the situation if they had varied their tactics a little. The visitors always retrieved their high kicks, which were not expertly enough directed to open spaces in the defence; and the home forwards battered themselves to pieces making opening which no-one could exploit. The effort told in the long run, and in the last few minutes the Hutt forwards still had enough in hand to take charge and push Gisborne back on their own defence-line. Gisborne came back repeatedly, but the sting had gone out of their attack, and the last two minutes found them hard pressed. Here Jarden came to light again with a good reception of a Gisborne kick right on the boundary, returning a high punt to a point near the goal and then following up fast. The bail was no! cleanly fielded, and in the ensuing rush into the goal area Jarden beat the nearest Gisborne lad and scored his second try. This time Fitzgerald added the extra points, and the game ended: Hutt Valley 12, Gisborne 6. For the winning team, Burridge, Street and Overton played outstanding forward games, and Sukolski, Smith, Jarden and Osborne were the pick of the backs. Gisborne's best forwards were W. Robinson. Nepia, Matches and R. ,T. Preston, and back of the scrum Stainton. R. Preston and Nikora were always useful, though not always tactii'ully sound. Dunphy played a good l'lill-back game. The referee was Mr. P. Balfour.