TARANAKI RUGBY

Hawera Star, Volume XLVII, 14 June 1928, Page 7

TARANAKI RUGBY

PLAY IN THE SOUTH. SATURDAY’S GAMES. FEHEGH MANGES HEVIEWED The sensation of Saturday's games in the South division of the larauaki nugbv union, lirst grade competition, was" the decisive do.eat on their own ground ot Ivaponga at- the hands oi r.punaKe. 'I he result allowed v-punake to draw • le.el with UiKaiavva at the head of the ladder. These clubs, with ten points ciuli, being three clear 01 ivaponga next in succession. in the eomiii" Saturday s engagements Date a, the onlv club to beat Ukaiuwa so far will meet the. latter at Patea, while Wiiiniitto and JKawcru will pi**.} at xiaworn and Kaponga will be at home witli Athletic. OPUNAKE v: KAPONGA.

One of the best exhibitions of the Himbv code seen in South Taranaki this season, was the game between upuuaKe and ivaponga, last Saturday, brilliant individual movements, pretty passing rushes characterised the match right from start to finish. There were in? passengers on either side. **•*"*

it wa.s a spirited forward game which kept up the. intense excitment. but the brilliant handling of the Green s backs uu> an eve-opener, and' would do credit to anv eitv team. The Ivaponga backs also pkned with excellent, combination, and it was no. disgrace, to be outmanoeuvred by their opponents on the ciav. * * *

To Hilev, must the honours go, his great kicking was a treat to see, and out cf the points scored bv Ins side, Hilev .scored 12, the result or excellent pi ace-kicking. It is saic to feay that j{i lev beat Ivaponga. ' *• * * * *

Opunake have improved wonderfully since they were defeated by Okaiawa earlier in the season, *and if they retain their present form they will be a haid nut for anv team to. crack. **‘ * *

Thev now have a nicely, balanced pack. ‘Hilev and O’Brien, the hookers, getting more than their share of the half. The former player is very smart in the open, and is a great goal kick. * * * * *

Clark. J. Lusk. Hunt, Conroy and Martin put plenty of dash into thenwork. Conroy on his recent play must be a hard man to keep out of the- next run:esentative team.

O’Korkc. who was playing against Guy. the repre.senta.tive wing forward, wa> the best forward on the field.

Aii the Opunake bucks played well. Hat lie r ford, in parti ulur. doing good work.

\V. Tlobaia scored three nice tries, lmt lie did not play liis usual game, in defence, be inn inclined to speculate too often. -3C- *• * *

The Ivaponga pack played well, and held their own against their lively opponents. Martin and Espin. in particular. doing good work.

Guy did some useful work, but was not allowed to shine- out as- he usually docs. Tn the backs, Whalen.- Eliason and Mercer went best, the former thoroughly deserving the try which came of his fast following up.

HAWERA v. PATEA. The feature that made the struggle between the old rivals. Hawera and I’atea, specially interesting, -was the thrilling snatching of victory from the southern team just when they and ‘their supporters thought it was safe. There had been many delays from injuries lo players and 'the light was very bad. when the attention -of the crowd was suddenly arrested by a strong for. ward rush in the south-west 'corner. Over on the other side, nothing definite could be seen and only when the sh'oii't came across “They're over.” was it realised that Hawera. largely thanks to W. Robinson "s sterling play, had lasted out the extreme effort of their opponents and. putting in the extra pressure, had run through the forwards and plucked victory from -t-lie hands of the Pa-tea team. Tt was another indication of the efficacy of training and being in fine physical 'condition. Time and again one lias seen a player, who is fit and able to put in a bit extra in the last few minutes, come through fo score. Tt is alas so often That, spectators see the -teams die away instead of being able to go “eyes out” to the very end. The match was interesting in most of its stages and at times ex-cellent play was witnessed.. The game was •often Hawera backs against Pa-tea f or. i wards, far the latter had a good deal better of the play, taking- a line 'through the whole struggle. The first part was exceedingly fast and on the 'whole very even and alternated from one end of - the field to the ether with startlingrapidity. The strain appeared to tell more on Hawera Ilian on Patea, and in the greater portion of the second spell Patch forwards gave the visiting backs a very s'tremrruis time and often ran clean over them. But some of the Havre ra -men remained full of fight and Unbeaten, and this became the deciding factor.

The Hawera backs combined very well in the first half and made exeeilenr passing- rushes, which • succeeded once, ami all but*-got over on several other occasions. But the retirement of Tinner threw their, back line out of gear, and,-after tlial rarely did they look like scoring. *****

Busing shaped like a veteran at fullback, until lie was hurt in stopping a hot rush.

In the back line, from half to wing, ITnwent have a good combination, that, with a bit more practice would take a lot of beating.

Ifilev played .his usual keen, plucky game and opened up play on every possible .occasion. He was often 'there to save when the fullback was in dift’icul ties.

.1. Henry and iChecvers combined well and both did good -work, while Hammond and C'. Paterson were both excellent. The later played one o'f his best games, save for a -few .missed passes and his kicking was a great asset. His conversion of Hammond’s try from the side line was a magnificent effort. * » # • * The Robinsons and IJ.urphvs and D. Paterson -were perhaps the pick of the Hawera vanguard.

Mills, at rover, is ft useful man and ! does a power of \vork, getting quickly , among the opposing backs and playing a fine heady game. The position suits him better than wing three-quarter.. * * * * *

The Baton forwards excelled themselves. Kcrrisk. O. Murphy, Guy. Baldwin and Wills-being at all times prominent. They beat Hawera consistently and often. It was only towards the end that Ila-wera prevailed long enough to get the winning points. * ■ i' • w * * 1 ? * * Kerrisk’s try was'the'consequence of a fine example 'of' clever dribbling, which to-day is largely a lost art. K- it *- «■ *■ Fatoa\s back line is a good one, but so far they have shown little combination, with the result that, they have net done much good. This was so for a large portion of the match on 'Saturday, but t.lie one movement, from which came the second, try, was splendidly executed, and indicated what the backs were capable of. * * * * * Marchaut did very well at half and gat his passes away promptly besides going down pluckily to the forward rushes. .). 'Crawford played about his best game of 'the season ami was in every move during the match. running straight and 'cutting in. The threequarters were a good trio, and did useful Work. * * * * Thompson, -at fullback, is one of the best, and put in a (heap of effective work, especially with that useful left foot of his. ***** The match, taken all round, was one of the most interesting of the season s<> far, and was exceptionally fast and jdayed in excellent spirit. STRATFORD v. INGLEWOOD First, last and all the time, the match between Stratford and Inglewood at Inglewood was a battle of the forwards. Under the circumstances it !-could (scarcely be otherwise. In the majority of instances the Inglewood forwards held the mastery in the scrums, gaining possession of the ball and showing a decided disinclination to allow it to get out to become the plaything of the husky, fast moving St rat-ford vanguard. This style of play necessarily Iresulted- in protracted scrummaging which, after all, constituted only a form of defence and did not assist the home team one iota in the direction of attack. In open order tactics the visiting forwards wore suj'erior. their weight and pare carrying them through many smashing movements, and had it not been for deadly, determined tackling on the.part of the home backs, their methods must surely have resulted in iseores. There was little difference between the two sets of forwards in the linc-outs.

With occasional Hashes among the backs the game was practically a succession of forward -dashes, between either team’s quarter lines, each advance. to enemy territory being vapidly countered by a similar movement. Though there were no outstanding instances of brilliant play, the game bristled with interesting incident, play sweeping up and down the field and keeping the great crowd of spectators on the fip-toe of expectation. * » * * *

In the matter of attack the backs of either side were a negligible quantity, but in fairness it must be said that ..hey excelled in tackling and kicking. Brown and -the brothers Ross -were sent, on scoring missions, equally as often as were their opponents in the same position (Wynvard,.Kivell and Bonner) but each line found it -a hard proposition to get through the ojiposing forward ranks.

For the winners, Arthur Collins was invulnerable' in the last line of defence, his kicking, taking and tackling being perhaps his best .performance this season. His place kicking, however, was not up to his usual standard.

The Red three-quarter line should have done better than they did, for they had ample chances coining thenway by means of high and long returns and interceptions. It must be said, on the other hand, that transfers from their inside backs were in many instances too long delayed.

Carter and Owen have been seen to better advantage. Shugstor’s absence from the base of the scrum may have had something to do with their falling off. They must remember that innumerable bright lights in the .Rugby world long ago gave u-p the idea that -they ir-outd tbeut Itheir .opponents singlehanded. The inside back in possession should always be -content to draw his man and then -give his own supports a chance to carry on the good work. Aided .by such a pack as Stratford possesses, the playing of the 'correct game by the -five-eighths will be found a sure road to success.

There was not a slacker in -Stratford’s vanguard, and of these Walter, Young. Smith and Bond were outstanding in dash and brilliance, and were well bolstered up by O’Keefe, Hinton and Coleman. Fry day, as rover, had a handful tq look after in Coutts and came through the ordeal with credit.

, Although so. far unbeaten, it was generally conceded that the home team Wculd go down before the also unbeaten Stratford men, and on the day the better team prevailed as anticipated. That the winning score was kept down to 3 —o was due primarily to the wonderful stand made by the Inglewood forwards against the undoubted best pack in the province. * * * *

Where all seven did so well it. is hardly fair to individualise. Fussell, however, was übiquitous and combined well with Coutts. 'The latter was unfortunate an missing two field goals. Which, however, 'he should never have attempted, as in the ordinary course of events it is liard enough for a team to get within “potting” distance without 'having its chance of a try thrown away by 'a single player, who may not be a wonderful drop-kick when all is said aud done.

The home inside backs strove manfully to open out the game when opportunity offered, but the smothering dash of the opposing forwards negatived much of their good intention.

Although, as stated, the better team won the day, it must be admitted that Brown had sore luck in being deprived of the chance of making a drawn game of if, as after a solo effort he beat Collins to t'lie touch-down in Stratford’s goal, but it Was over the dead 'ball line.

X. and L. Ross and Brown had as few chances of fruitful runs as did the Stratford three-quarters. They were all very souud in dcfcu-ce and the same may be said Of IC. tlian!, as full-back.

WAIMATE v. ATHLETIC

Though they finished the round with tiie aII but and the Jast positions on the eliyinpionship ladder, the Waimate and Athletic fifteens have been noted for their proclivity to try bright, open . ootuall and their meeting at Hawera pro.etl brimful of interest, display certainly meriting a much greater measure of support than was accorded by the public. From the point of view of spectacular play it was unfortunate that the Plains team wits minus, its clever middle back, Wineera, as the presence of the Maori All Black would have greatly improved Waimate’s rear cli.isitm play and helped very largely to c.imter the superiority maintained 0/ the Bed and White rear division. While their backs were inferior by oomparision, however, the Blues held the advantage in loose forward play, though their hookers had, on the whole.’ to cede the honours to the Bed front row. I',. Sotton was the better of the WaiJudging on that analysis of form, victory should have gone' to Athletics, but faulty passing and consequent insecure acceptance at critical moments, together with the last minute penalty ceded to the visitors, cost the home team the game.

Waimate's star was the half hack, J. I’aterson, who played, well above his usual form and delighted the club’s s..pp liters with an exhibition which made him the best back on the ground. Had he been partnered by Wineern, Wnimutc would probably have got home without the aid of Hughes’ last initiate goal.

IC. Sutton was the better of the Wainiate five-eights, and behind him, E. Gri.lin was sound at centre.

Eergus and A. Langsford were sti ad\ on the wings, but in attack neither was up to the standard of their respective markers, M. Owen and B. M Carthy.

L. Hughes was a reliable lull back Who took his man surely, fielded well and was nut bustled when, with less than a minute to go, he accepted the opportunity of turning an eleven point draw into a 14—11 victory.

\Y Sutton, who accounted for two ov Waimate’s three tries, was the pick ol tile loose forwards and was seldom lav from the ball, the rover (\Y Bourke), the captain (E. Long), and lv. Murray (the last-named in the tight) being the best of the remainder.

Among the Athletic backs the brightest exponent was the promising liveeighth, L. How die, who is improving with each game. Behind the scrum the skipper, H. Simpson, was below his usual form as a rush-stemming unit, but was not slow to set his opponents going when the ball came out. * * * * * 11. Sjyinc proved useful at centre and showed pace and determination in going home for the team’s final try, though he was apt to send hurried passes to his wings. *** * * ■ Both B. McCarthy and M. Owen were determined bidders on the respective wings, and with a hit more luck the second-named would have added another three to the single try ho annexed. The crowning point in a day of ill-luck was the last-minute penalty against him, under circumstances which left it open to doubt as ter whether lie was actually! culpable; * * * * * No fault could bo found with S. F. Taylor on the last line.

Bearing a name famous among Taranaki forwards T. Tamil «lso played with distinction in the red pack, while J. Tbomlinson and H. Phillips were noted constantlv.

Always willing, D. Byan, whose former lack of finish has meant the loss of. .several tires this season, annexed the coveted score in this game, and in doing so scooped a difficult ball which would have beaten many players of much greater experience. .