RUGBY.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVI, 5 August 1926, Page 3

RUGBY.

ALL BLACKS IN AUCKLAND

FINAL MATCH BEFORE DIS-

BANDING

(IIY TELEGRAPH —PRESS ASSOCIATION.) AUCKLAND, Aug. 4.

The All Blacks of 1926, playing their last game lief ore disbanding, defeated Auckland by 11 points to 6 at Eden Park to-day. A steady drizzle of rain which commenced shortly after the kick-off and continued 1 throughout, the match destroyed all hopes, of a fast, open hack game, lint as a. compensation the large crowd which packed the stands and sheltered beneath umbrellas on the hillside was rewarded with a magnificent exhibition of forward l play, in which Auckland stood up> unexpectedly well against the very formidable opposition. Weakened by injuries the All Blacks’ back combination was somewhat disjointed. So seriously were New Zealand’s hacks affected by the earlier casualties l that the retirement of Dailey iir the first spell necessitated his replacement by 4Y. Wright, an Auckland emergency. In spite of a tendency to raggedness the forwards oil both sides played an inspiring game. Finlaysoii, Alley, C. Brownlie, 51. Brownlie, and Knight, sweeping down the field in: close formation and with -the ball at their feet, were time and again held up and driven hack by the Auckland pack, who rose magnificently to the occasion. Every man played at the top of his form throughout, hut Batty’s display must undoubtedly be ranked as outstanding.

The All Blacks, before the rain upset their plans, endeavoured to open up the game from the scrum, hut the Auckland forwards swooped down on Dailey in the twinkling of an eye, and' the members of the AH Blacks’ rearguard had thereafter to make their own opportunities. The Auckland, backs had few opportunities' to .shine other than in individual bursts. Instead, as conditions made passing bouts almost prohibitive, they kept the ball at their feet, a policy that met with a fair measure of success.

Although the All Blacks led by three points to nil at half-time, Auckland had the better of the' play in the second spell. After the interval, however. the All Blacks’ forwards mastered the situation, although they never succeeded in overshadowing their opponents. Robilliard. Hazlett and' Blake were the scorers of the tries for the All Blacks. Svenson converting the last one. Hadley scored a. try for Auckland. and the other three points were made no by a try awarded for obstruction.

AUCKLAND REPRESENTATIVES i

TO MEET TARANAKI. AUCKLAND, Aug. 5. The Auckland Rugby team, to play Taranaki, at New Plymouth on Saturday will 1m? the same as that, which played the All Blacks yesterday', except that Webber (lock) will replace McWilliams, who will he omitted owing to injury.

DANNEVIRKE BEAT BUSH. DANNEVIRKE, Aug. 4. A return match between Dannevirke and Bush was played here to-day on a greasy ground, hut in fine weather. Daonevirke won by 14 to 11. The first .spell ended 3 all, and with ten minutes to go each side hail 11 points to its credit In the last half-minute the Dannevirke hacks, by a splendid concerted movement, scored the winning try. Craven, a Dannevirke forward, retired hurt in the first few minutes.

M LD-WEE K COM PETITION,

In. view of the fact, that the Eraser Road, team, will .play Stratford to-day in the som i -fi nnl of. the .junior comlpetitiijn, no matches in the mid-week competition. took .pla.ee vest or.. y. -instead, a, practice was held, between teams composed of the City Club ami of members' of three, other clubs for tine purpose of permitting those likely to gain a place in the Wednesday division. representative si to maintain their form. A representative fixture against the central division will bo arranged short.lv.

SATFIRDAY’S FIXTURES

Fourth grade matches and 'referees for Saturday next are as follows: — Waimate v. Okaiawa, at Alan air,; W. Badly, 1.15 p.m. TLnwera Cv. High School B, at Hawerr ; Af. Bailey, 1.10 p.m. FTawera v. Kapongg. at Ka.pon.ga : Air Jim Kissick, 1.15 p.m. Eltham v. Paten, at. Patea; F. AlcKenna, 1,15 p.m.

KAPONGA v. OPUNAICE

In consequence of Ivaponga fielding practically a hospital team it was genera llv expected that Opunake would have no difficulty in downing the Blacks on Saturday last at Ivaponga, more especially so as the former was represented by a strong fifteen. I\.aponga, however, with their backs to the wall, decided to die hard if they died at all. Equal scores at half-time promised well for the local team, and a judicious change of positions by Ivissick and Guy, from five-eighths to rover, proved the deciding factor and

gave Kaponga a nine points to six victors. The Black forwards, though handicapped by tire absence of Guthrie and Eddie Scott, were quite as good in tight work and better in the loose than their heavier opponents, who nevertheless played a hard, fast game from whistle to whistle. There were no beg pardons about either pack. . AA’ith the solitary exception of AVaimate, there is not a weak pack in the southern division this year, and a review of the Ilawera, Athletic, Oltaiawa, Patea, Opunake and Kaponga forwards inclines one to the conviction that the two lastnamed .are the most compact and fastest combinations at this end of the province. ft has long been an accepted fact that the superior forward team usually dominates the game, and if, in the play-oil' for provincial honours, the northern division winners, defeat the southern, no fair-minded footballer will begrudge the win, but these south forwards have yet to be beaten. . Taihoa! In Saturday’s match, play was conlined chiefly to the forward divisions, the backs of either side being decidedly patchy and slipshod in their work, with few exceptions. The brightest piece of combined play was that by which Kaponga gained their second try, when Kissick followed his own kick, picked up and sent a long pass to Guy; the latter found himself crowded on to the touch-line and passed in to Paterson, who side-stepped two Opunake backs, gained about fifteen yards and transferred infield to B. Hammersley, who went over in a good position. (This try was incorrectly reported as.being scored by AA r illiams.) Kaponga backs handled and picked up in better style than did those of Opunake, who, however, were superior in kicking, though their linefinding could easily have been better. For the Blacks, C. Whalen, Eliason and AA’illiams were the pick of the backs. Paterson’s performance was an improvement- on some of his recent games. In the rover position, Guy and Kissick in the first and second spells.respectively, played up to their reputations. Guthrie was much missed in the loose forward rushes. Luckily the club has a good stand-by front ranker in Tlioumine, who combines well with either Guthrie or <T. Hammersley. The front rankers were well to the fore in open work with Espin and P. Hammersley. Tyack, a prominent junior, and substitute ATncent performed very creditably. The Opunake forwards were a fine even lot, a shade heavier than the home team, and not quite as fast in the open, in which phase of the game O’ltorke and Graham were conspicuous. Brooker, as rover, suffered by comparison with Kissick and Guy, although he, nevertheless, played a useful game. C. and AV. Hohaia in the three-quarter liue and Owen, first five-eighths, were the most, prominent backs. Each at times ran strongly, and threatened the home line, but were equally guilty of dropping passes. This defect and failure to pick up cleanly 'probably cost Opunake the mutch. Mourie, at half-back, was sound and compared favourably with his vis-a-vis, B. Hammersley. The chances they gave their backs should have produced better results.

Jn its closing stages the game was fast and furious, the opposing forwards alternately showing to advantage in fast, determined rushes which only equally determined defence could stem: in fact, anybody’s game up till the whistle, i

TEAMS FOR SATURDAY

Fourths.—Tippett, Anderson, Walden, Stewart, Crann, Cleaver, Allen, Evnnr (2). Blair (2), Hooper (2), Fed die, Clarke, Walker, Badantyne, Robertson. ’Bus leaves at 12 p.m. sharp.