RUGBY

Hawera Star, Volume XLV, 27 July 1925, Page 6

RUGBY

SATURDAY’S FIXTURES,

BAD WEATHER CONDITIONS.

NO CHANGE IN LEADING TEAMS.

The condition of the grounds and! the -weather did) not conduce to great displays of football on Saturday, and in addition there appeared to be a, general waning of interest because of the fact of the assured positions of the leading teams. Tukapa had a keen struggle with Clifton. Stratford had hard work to lceep Star from lowering their colours, and the match ended in a draw. However the result cannot affect the position, and they will be the team to play off with Tukapa. Okaiawa had great difficulty in securing a team, and are to be commended for facing Hawera with a scratch lot of players, including several veterans, As it was they put up a. good fight, and though Hawera had a long way the best of the second spell they were unable to spore more than one try.

Results were as follows: —

SENIORS

Tukapa 11 v. Glifton 3. Hawera S v. Okaiawa. ■">. Star 3 v. Stratford 3. Old Boys 8 v. ICaponga 3. Opunake 3 v. Athletic 0. Patea won by default from Tngle wood.

SOUTHERN DIVISION,

First Juniors.

P.W.D. 13 v. Eltham 3. Waimate, Opunake and Hawera- secured wins by forfeit. Third Grade. Patea have withdrawn, leaving only Eltham and Hawera. in the. competition. No matches were therefore played. Fourth Grade. H.T.H.S. A 11 v. Okaiawa 0. NORTHERN DIVISION. First Juniors. Tukapa won from Clifton by default. Lepperton won from Star B by default. „ ' WESTERN DIVISION. First Juniors. High School 21 v. Star A 3. Second Juniors. Old Boys won by default from Clifton. Tukapa 6 v. Star 3. Third Juniors. ' School B 6 v. Clifton 3. School A 9 v. Old Boys 0.

The position of the sensior teams in championship points is as below: —

Group I.

HAWERA (3) v. OKAIAWA (5)

JiYirvy'iiird ru&hou marked tho play id both teams for tho lii ait- ten muiuite.s, tho backs hardly handling, the hall at all except for line kicks. Hawera •went very close to scoring, but a lree kick relieved Okaiawa ancl a loose rush saw them on the attack. The ball came out from a scrum .and Sage sent it on to 'Roberts, who, taking brilliantly in his stride, streaked, for the line. He (sent it out to -Crawford, and the latter in passing to Roberts the veteran dashed over and scored. Ink. added tho major points with a perfect kick. Ofkaiwaa 5, Hawera 0. Immediately after Hawera forwards went upheld and Robinson transferred to R. Paterson-, who finished a. run by scoring in a handy position. Cameron goaled, and the scores were level. Okaiawa 5, Hawera 5. Okaiawa pressed for some time, Phillips putting in a bri-liant run, -the result of which he threw .away by passing wildly. Twice Okaiawa were within an ace of scoring, and they were unlucky not to cross the line. Using •'their feet to good effect, Paterson and Robinson went upheld and play centred for some time till- Crawford broke away and made a brilliant dash down the line. He kicked over tho fullback’s head .anti a good opening was lost. Half-time wais called and the teams turned round at once. Hawera -attacked with a strong forward rush, and the ball came out from Barron.'+ ' Cameron, -but the latter passed forward ami a good opening was last. Piarslow tame through tho .scrum, but Hawera Returned, laud in a close rush the forwards got across, but could not hold 'the ball. Keeping up the pressure, 'Hawera had their opponents penned on tho -Line for a. time, and only good defence kept them out. At length Okaiawa cleared, Tuki in the lead, and the ball went out at Hawera’s -twenty-five. But back went .Hawera, and fast following up enabled Halbert to clash through and .score. The kick hailed. ‘Okaiawa 5, Hawera 8. Hawera attacked, and in a strong position got on b useful passing rush. !>. Roberts, however, brilliantly intercepted and clashed up to the centre-. Hiis pass 'was poor ancl a great chance went West. Play way scrappy till Okai'awai by nice intercepting play went upfield in. goad style, ancl Hawera were 'on the defence. A clj.ts.hy forward 'rush -took play ten Okaiawa’.s twentyfive, and the hall coming out Cameron all but got across. A. force kick gave belief, ancl then Ike made the run- of the day, and with Phillips went- rightbo the opposing twenty-five. Just after the ball went out and no side was Palled with the score: Hawera 8, Okaiawa' 5. Mr. A. Neilson was referee.

OPUNAKE (3) V. ATHLETIC (0). At Opunake the home team defeated Athletic by 3 points (a try) to nil. The pace was handicapped by the sodden ground and greasy ball, but considering these difficulties a fair standard, was maintained, .and the forward play which ruled was relieved with hashes of -rear division combination, which, together with the narrow margin between the teams, sustained interest til] no-side sounded. A strong southerly breeze assisted Opunake during the "first spell, but fell before the start of the second. Facing the wind, Athletic pressed from the kick-off, but after L. Hunt had unsuccessfully tried a goal with a penalty, C. Hohaia relieved, and then O’Brien, taking a lucky pass, found touch in the other half. A penalty kick taken by W. Hohaia, about 10 yards inside half-way, fell short, and, headed bv O’Rorke and Jlrooker, the Coast forwards launched an attack, which ended in a five yards scrum, and H. Mason sent E, Mason, round to open tlie score with a try near the corner. IV. Hohaia’s kick tailed to improve. Following the kick out exchange, Hall took the blue pack on another invasion ancl in the home quarters Owens and Lay developed a promising movement, but Hunter, with two- supporters unmarked, held too long. In the scrimmage almost m front of the goal Opunake were penalisecl, and E. Hunt had a. fine chance to equalise, but the greasy ball screwed off liis boot. H. Mason e'earecl from a following mud polo scramble in a, immature lake, and eventually O’Rorke and Lusk took the green forwards on a vigorous counter, which was turned bj L. Hunt. After a series of line-outs m the home 25, S. Hunt Broke through with the ba’-l at foot and was narrowly beaten by Bennington's force. A moment later Brooker figured m a P re tty dribble, which traversed half the length of the field. MeCaskill checked, ktd from the scramble W. Hohaia dashed after his own punt and appeared a certain scorer till Mc-Caskill cut in just in time to force. From the kick out play went to midfield, where both sets oi backs handled well. Fro pi one Opunake bout W. Hohaia made an opening, and fending his vis a vis, Nicholas, vent down the line till stopped by Lay. From the line-out flie home forwards swarmed across, but had to cede a- foice down. A following Opunake attack was turned by Hall, and just oil halt-tune Laing, fielding a short punt from C. Hohaia, had to face a forward charge and made a good clearance Opening the second spell, the Upu~ nake forwards maintained the aggressive till sent- to midfield by Flank, and a rush by the blue forwards put the home line in danger. In some loose play near the line the ball went across and Lay made a bid, but a force was claimed by H. Mason. During the ensuing exchanges Thomas fielded cleverly and sent Lay racing, but the latter’s foot went into touch". At this stage the pace was fast, the venue being transferred rapidly. Handling smartly, the home backs almost penetrated, but bay intercepted, and with liis kick the bliies were attacking. C. Hohaia checked and made a startling counter, which had th e full-back in difficulties, Owens being called on to retrieve a critical situation. The n Laing raced up to field a ball from Bonnington and charged to the line, where he was held up, and Opunake relieved with a penalty given in the scrimmage. Again the blues pressed, and V\. Hohaia, penned near the line, was thrown by L. Hunt, hut O’Rorke cleared with a mark. In quick succession Evans on ri'jcht wing, and W. Hohaia -on the left, were stopped respectively when in scoring position by Nicholas and Greig. The final stages found Athletic making determined bids, but the defence proved impenetrable, and full time sounded without alteration. Mr Whittington was referee.

OLD BOYS v. KAPONGA

Jii a match almost devoid of incident, Old Boys defeated Kaponga at Hew Plymouth by 8 points to 3. Contrary to public expectations, the game was characterised by weak passing and poor tackling, both sides having their faults in this respect. Kaponga were given several good opportunities! to- score, but failed to turn them to account, while the tackling of the Old Boys, especially the- inner backs, was very weak. Play havered in mid-field for -a time after the kick-off, hut eventually the Old Boys backs got moving, iancl when right, on the Kaponga line Brown passfed forward -to Boon. From the resulting scrum Kaponga forwards broke away, but an infringement gave Brown an opportunity to goal, and he narrowly missed. ’Kaponga again attacked, but were checked by Boon, who lined nicely. Guy broke through and opened the way for a dangerous Kaponga forward rush, which carried play to the Old Boys’ goal-line, where Thoumine secured and dived over tor a try. which was not- converted. Kaponga 3, Old Boys 0. Old Boys were awarded a penalty, and Brown made another unsuccessful attempt to goal. Frethey broke away from the scrum, buit was unsupported, and folowing obstructive play by Old Roys, Kaponga were awarded a free kick, which narrowly failed. • The visitors maintained the pressure, and were almost over on several occasion's, but sound defensive play kept them out. Play remained in the home team’s quarter until suddenly the ball was shot out via Old Boys’ chain of backs to Brown who, with a- characteristic run, .swerved his way through almost the whole team and outpaced the remainder to score a beautiful try between, the posts. He had no difficulty in adding the major • •-.hits, making the score Old Boy** 5, Kaponga 3. Towards the end of the spell play livened considerably and Brewster was prominent in some dribbling rushes by the Old Boys forwards, but the first half ended without further score.

On resuming Boon punted well upfield and followed up fast, but Malone lined with a good) kick. The Old Boys forwards gradually worked upheld to the Kaponga line, and following hard play in the corner Leg gat secured and dashed across. Brown’s kick failed. Old Bov« 8. Kaponga 3. Kaponga retaliated with vigorous forward rushes, and for a long time penned Old Boys in their own quarter. They were unlucky not to cross on a number of occasions, but the failure of their attempts could only be attributed to their weak passing and not to the tackling of Old Boys. After a long period of defensive play Old Boys rallied. and although they made several good attempts to score, they could not. overcome the stubborn' resistance offered by Kaponga. Off-side play by the visitors gave Brown a chance to goal, hut the distance proved to be too great. Both Deem and Meuli made good runs, but failed to penetrate the defence. Brewster dribbled through, but the ball rolled into touch, and shortly afterwards time sounded with the score: Old Boys 8, Kaponga 3. Mi* F. G. Eggleton was referee.

METROPLITAN GAMES. (BY TELEGHAPH PHESS ASSOCIATION.) WELLINGTON, July 26. Yesterdav’s Rugby matches resulted as follows :'Petone 29 v. ’Varsity 0; Old Bovs 28 v. Poneke 14; Maris.t 18 v. Oriental 4; Athletic 21 v. Berhampore 4; Wellington 33 v. Selwyn- 3. The defeat of Poneke came' as. a great- surprise. Poneke is now leading by three points in the championship contest. CHRISTCHURCH, July 26. The results in yesterday’s Rugby matches were: Old Boys 25 v. Lniwood 3; Merivale 19 v. ’Varsity 6; Albion H v. North Canterbury, 3. DUNEDIN, July 26. The senior Rugby matches resulted as follow: Pirates 6 v. Alhambra 0; ICaikorai 15 v. ’Varsity A 9; Zmgaii 9 v, Dunedin 3.

INTERPROVINCIAL GAMES

AUCKLAND BEATS THAMES

AUCKLAND, July 26. The. Auckland Rugby team defeated the Thames team by 22 points to 11. The ground was wet and the game was not brilliant. At half-time Auckland led by 16 points to 3.

MARLBOROUGH BEATS BULLER

BLENHEIM, July 25. The first match of the. season for the Seddon Shield was played to-day between Marlborough and Fuller, and ■was won by Marlborough by 15 points to 3. Fine weather prevailed.

WHAN GAR El WINS HARDING

SHIELD,

DARGAVILLE, July 25. The second game for the Harding Shield was played to-day in- fine: but windy- weather on a ground somewhatlieavv. The contesting teams were Northern Wairoa (holders) and \\ hangarei (challengers), and after a splendid game, of which the holders had slightly the better, Wliangarei won oy 11 points to'6, three tries, one converted, to two tries.

WELLINGTON’S REP. TEAM.

WELLINGTON, July 26. From the following the Wellington team to play Southland will be chosen: Backs—Walters, Svenson, Johnson, Bedell, Hickey, F. Tilyard, Love (Var-sit-v), M. Nicholls, Warwick. Forwards B. Wilson, Shearer (2), Martin-Smith, Sly, Young (Selwyn), Porter, Thomas, O ’Regan, Matlieson (Wellington), Duncan (Athletic).

COMMERCIAL TRAVELLERS AT PLAY.

AUCKLAND, July 26. The Auckland commercial travellers beat the Wellington commercial travellers by 9 points td 6.

JUNIORS,

Public Works Department played L!tham juniors at Manaia on Satmda>, and a well-contestd game resulted in a win for the former by 13 points to A. Public Works Department kicked off, and after a good deal of even play on both sides Rei Robinson kicked a i penalty goal. Eltham, after a good display of back play, was very near scoring', when J. Adamson took a mark and relieved P.W.D. The forwards, following up fast, gave Whalen an opportunity of getting the ball, and aftei a good run he scored a try, which he converted. The forwards of the 1 •'\ Dwere superior to their rivals; the backs oil both sides were good, especially J. Adamson and Whalen the second half commenced with Eltham kicking off, and P.W.D. were soon on the defensive J. Adamson relieved with a mark. Eltham put in some good work, which resulted in Slight scoring. A forward rush was started by Galglier for P W.D., and brought the ball right ur> to the Eltham 20, where \oung secured and scored. Adamson converted The game ended shortly atteiwards with the score: P.W.D. 13, El--I,ham 3. Mr W. Badley refereed.

FOURTH GRADE

TECHNICAL HIGH SCHOOL (11) v OKAIAWA (0).

A well-contested match on Saturday resulted in a win for School from Okaiawa by a good margin. The keenness of the struggle is shown by the fact that at half-time there was no score. Tho superior weight of the Okaiawa boys prevented the School backs from coming into action. But after halftime they got to work, and their running and passing was a feature of the match. Walker, using the blind side, cut through and passed to Gower, who dashed across at the corner. Then Cheevers, with a brilliant run. made through the whole of the opposing defence and scored a great try. He converted with a fine kick. The third try was the result of a great passing rush by School hacks, which ended in Gower scoring his second try. Mr E. Hurley was referee.

SCHOOL FOOTBATH

Trial games were played) at Manaia on Saturday between teams selected from the Hawera, Manaia and Opunake groups. Very good form was shown by the -players, and the selectors had considerable difficulty in choosing a fifteen to represent these groups against the Stratford group, at Kaponga, on August I. at 11 a.in.

Aisi the Hawera, Main School is playing with the Stratford group, the players from that school were nob considered in the selection of-the team. The following team was chosen:

Bickford (Kaponga); H. Jackson (Okaiawa), Ngaia (Okaiawa), Hi-si op (Kaponga,) ; R. Murdoch (Okaiawa), Malcolm (Olpunake); Cleaver (Norma nby); W. Rui. (Op intake, winger) Preston (Norma,mbv), L. Retter (Okaiawa). Noonan (Kaponga), Morehu (Okaiawa), Thomas (Kapuni), L. Hiarvev (Opunake), Kehely (Kaponga). Emergencies. —Forwards': Egnon (Okaiawa). Haweturi (Tawhiti), Christiansen (Okaiawa); backs: McDonald (Manaia), Malcolmi (Opunake).

Pts Pts. Ch P \V L D ■ ior. agst. pts. Tukapa 13 13 - — 137 23 26 Okaiawa .. 11 6 5 — 85 73 12 Clifton 10 5 5 — 61 65 12 Hawera 12 4 6 o 57 101 10 Patea 11 3 7 1 32 70 5 Inglewood . 11 — 8 . 3 26 66 9 •J GROUP IT. Stratford .. 11 9 1 1 129 49 19 Kappnga .. 11 7 4 — 117 67 14 Opunako .. Star 12 11 4 2 60 61 34 80 12 10 Old Boys. .. 10 5 5 — 97 109 10 Eltjiam .. . 11 3 7 1 71 104 7 Athletic 10 2 8 — 63 114 4