AUSTRALIANS SCORE 35 POINTS TO 8 AGAINST BAY OF PLENTY

Grey River Argus, 22 August 1949, Page 7

AUSTRALIANS SCORE 35 POINTS TO 8 AGAINST BAY OF PLENTY

Crowd Pleased By Visitors’ Style P.A. WHAKATANE, August 21. In a match before a crowd estimated at over 6000, superior combination and fitness gave the Australian Rugby representatives a convincing victory by 25 points to eight in the second match of their tour against Bay of Plenty. The game was played under ideal conditions at Whakatane on Saturday. Bay of Plenty held the visitors to half-time, when the score 'yas 8-ail, but the home team faded badly m the second spell, when the visiting forwards shared with backs in passing rushes that gave a constant overlap and cut a somewhat slipshod defence to pieces. The' teams were as previously announced.

VISITORS WIN SCRUMS , , With a consistently good hooker m Furness, the Australians won the scrums, three to one, and they also were successful in the line-outs m about the same ratio. This was largely due to the efforts of the tai forwards Shehadie and Cornforth.. Though completely outplayed m the second half of the mate};, the Bay of Plenty forwards more than held their own in the loose in the first spell, being well led by McLaughlin and the Maori All BMCqRanapia, with occasional bright bursts by Gabolinsky, Moses and Ratohi. .. . , , Behind the pack that failed to get their fair share of the ball the Maori All Black haif, Laurie Raureti, was not given much chance to show his paces, and lie had somewhat pooi support from the five eighths, who failed to handle well. The home three quarters were starved all day, though last year’s All Black tnalist McGougan, showed out well m tne last 10 minutes, lasting better than some of his team mates. The Bay of Plenty tackling, all round, was below the good representative standard, with a few exceptions, notably E. Welch., who played consistently good Rugby, as full back, handling and kicking even better than the Australian Piper, altrough consistently being harried by the fast following Australian forwards. . Bustled by hard rucking tactics of the local forwards early m the match, the Australian backs took time to settle to the work, and the Bay of Plenty were first to score, when Goldsmith sent Martin oyer for a neat try, which was converted by Welch i.n the first ten minutes of play. The Australians replied with a preview of what was to come later when their forwards swept away in a passing rush, started by the hall Cawley, for Windon to score. Piper s conversion squared the account. With the advantage of clean hooking from the scrums and rucks, the visiting backs had a much bettei chance to get going, but they found the bustling of the Bay forwards hard to handle in the early stages. However, their standard of handling and their penetration were generally much better than that of their opponents. The second half was a walk-over for the Aussies, who now had the advantage of a sharp-angled sun at their backs, and they made the most of it. Paving the way for fierce passing rushes with kicks dowmield, the forwards . combined with the backs in throwing the ball about and providing a consistent scoring overlap. This type of game obviously had the locals at a loss, and the defence cracked up, the tackling, with a few exceptions, being poor, and the handling generally not up to the mark. The Australians gave the impression of a speed and combination that .will develop them into a truly formidable side, and they play a type of Rugby which the crowds in this district rarely have a chance to see. If they continue to exploit the open clean game, their tour should be a great benefit to the game m this country. The nick' of the backs on the day were Welch and Rarreti for Bay of Plenty, and Allan, Fogarty and Blomiey for Australia. Of the forwards, for the Bay of Plenty, Ranapia, McLaughlin, Moses and Ratihi were the best, and for Australia, Shehade, Cornforth, Brockhoff and Furness. Scorers for Australia of the 35 points were.—Allan, Bromley Brockhoff, two tries each; Windon one try. Piper converted four tries and kicked two penalty goals. Fpr Bay of Plenty the eight points comprised tries by Martin and Morrison, one being converted by Welch.

Australian Full-back Breaks Arm in Fall From Balcony

WHAKATANE, Aug. 21. Brian Piper, the full-back with the Australian Rugby team, received a compound fracture of the upper right ■arm, and concussion, when lie fell fifteen feet from a hotel balcony to a concrete yard at 1.30 o’clock this morning. He had regained consciousness, and his condition was reported to be satisfactory this afternoon. Piper and other members of the team, who had been to a dance, got back to their hotel, and, on missing one of their party, Piper offered to go outside and look for him, apparently, he either tripped on the top step ,or else stepped off the end of the balcony, and he missed the steps on a fire escape. The team manager, Mr Waldon, saw Piper at the hospital today. He says he seemed to be cheerful enough but he remembered nothing of the accident. Piper naturally will not be able to play football again this season.

NORTH OTAGO TEAM’S CLEAR WIN AT MOTUEKA

NELSON, Aug. 21. The North Otago Rugby team touring the SedcTon Shield districts bent the Golden-Bay-Motueka representatives yesterday by 16 points to nil at Motueka. The visiting forwards had the advantage throughout. The tries were scored by K. Nuttall, H. Gilerour and A. Ross. Two were converted by Halverson, who also kicked a penalty goal.