RANFURLY SHIELD.

Hawera Star, Volume XLIX, 19 August 1929, Page 3

RANFURLY SHIELD.

<f RETAINED BY WAIRARAPA. MAN AW MENU A DEFEATED BY 37 TO 16. 1 (By Teiegr«ipU—Press Association.,) 1 MASTERTON, Aug. 17. o’ The Wairarapa Rugby representa--3 tive.s successfully defended the Ran--1 fmiy Shield for "tlie third occasion this r season, this time against Mana- - whenua, who were- defeated to -the - time of 37 to 16. The weather conditions were unfavourable to good foot- . ball, the ground being softened by rain , in the morning, and a strong westerly wind prevailed throughout the afternoon. The game was mostly of a-For-ward nature, with occasional bright . openings by the back divisions. Wairarapa were definitely superior,' although the visitors’ forwards domin- [ ated the play in the first spell -with the help of the wind, the half-time score being: Manawhenua 13. Wairarapa 8. In the second spell AYaira- ■ rapa rattled on scores in quick succession. Play in the first spell was ' mostlv confined to AVairarapa. territory, 'but the shield holders did well to keep Manawhenua’s score down under the conditions. The visitors’ big, bustling forwards frequently broke away from the line-outs and loose melees, invading Wairarapa’s territory'. but the superb defence, mostly

t>y uooKe ana utrnrn, iveut- vu*; line intact. AVitliin three minutes of the startManawhenua opened their account with a free kick by Fletcher. After a considerable period of give and take play there was a good forward rush bv AYairaraoa. All 11 snapped up near the line and dived across. Fuller failed to convert. Manawhenua were having slightly the better of things, which culminated in Parsons crossing the line and Fletcher converting. Shortly afterwards Cooke broke away and scored in bis characteristic style. Fuller converting and making the scores eight all. Just before- half-time Mills crossed for Manawhenua from a loose forward rush. Fletcher again converting. Half-time sounded; with t-lie -score: :f . Manawhenua 13 Wairarapa 8 AVith the aid of the wind and sun ill the second, spell, Wairarapa penned Manawhenua in their own territory, except for very occasional sorties. Towards the second half of the spell, especially, Wairarapa scored in quick succession, which soon left no doubt about the shield remaining in Wairarapa’s keeping. Play was considerably brighter in the concluding stages, when the AVairarapa forwards played splendidly 7 and fed the backs -well. The Mill-Corkill-Cooke combination worked 1 splendidly. Gundy was the first to score for AYaia-rrapa in this spell, following good play by Reid. Fuller failed to convert. * Manawhenua replied with-a great rush, which saw Parata- diTe across for a good try, hut Fletcher found the wind too great to convert-. All the hacks handled in turn in the next scoring movement, Mill sending the hall away for Fuller to cross, hut he failed with the kick. Immediately Mill secured again, fooled the opposition. and put in a good run to send J. Donald- across to score. Fuller converted. From then oil Wairarapa completely 7 dominated the play, and rattled on an additional IS points per medium of Gorkill. C-ooke and Stringfellow, all of which Cundv converted with beautiful kicks. Gundy also landed a great penalty from near half-way. the final score being: AVairarapa 37 Manawhenua 16 Mr T. Fletcher refereed. s