RUGBY SIDELIGHTS

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXIV, Issue 235, 17 September 1934, Page 8

RUGBY SIDELIGHTS

NOTES AND COMMENTS Points in Saturday’s Games BACK TO CLUB MATCHES The probabilities are that there will be only two more series of club matches before the Rugby season closes. On Saturday all lour leading teams emerged victorious from their various encounters and the indications point to Hastings and Hastings Old Boys, who have each played one game more than Technical Old Boys and Marists, the present leaders, being given the bye, or being pitted against each other, and so bring about some finality.

Thompson (Pirates) made many good openings against Tamatea, but generally marred the good work with a bad pass.

Promoted juniors in Marist’s ranks on Saturday were Allen (wing-three-quarter, two tries) and O Rourke (centre, one try) and their inclusion improved the Green attack immensely.

With an assisting breeze, Harvey (Tamatea) at times gained amazing lengths with his punts, one reaching touch after travelling 65 yards.

Dennett, a new forward jn the Marist seniors, hails from Taupo and is an acquisition to the team, judged on Saturday’s exhibition against Napier H. 5.0.8.

Rolls (Napier H. 5.0.8.) again gave a great exhibition against Marist oi how not to tackle effectively. Many ol our present-day exponents consider it too much lag to go for an opponent lower than the eyebrows.

Tamatea played skittles with Pirates lor 75 minutes of their game, after which their “bellows” gave out and Pirates scored a brace of tries and finished all smiles two points ahead.

“If I had long pants on I would crown you,’’ was the advice tendered free by a senior player on Saturday who considered that the line umpire should have ruled an opponent as in touch.

Joe King, Celtic full-back, gave the crowd as many thrills as a dirt-track rider and he gave his team-mates many heart-throbs. Joe’s intentions were good, but things just would not go right.

Jloe Setford, Technical Old Boys, was in brilliant form and besides scoring three tries had a big hand in the remaining three, but the Technical goalkicking—well it was worse than in the shield game.

• • • After two Saturdays of representative Rugby it was quite a change to revert back to the club championships games once more. The attendances at both Nelson Park, Hastings, and McLean Park, Napier, were quite up to the average for the season.

Chief interest in Hastings was paid to the meeting ol Hastings Old Boys and Havelock North and the spectators were not astray in their choice, for this was the better of the two fixtures and provided some bright, fast and interesting play.

« • • Celtic managed very well against Technical 0.8. as long as the ball did not get past “Tut” Geddes, but the Greys were in sportive mood and persisted in passing bouts, many of which were really brilliant affairs.

Speed was a big factor in Hastings Old Boys’ victory over the Villagers at Hastings. Both forwards and backs showed the “winged feet” to their opponents and a goodly share of the points came their way as the result of the Villagers being out-raced for the touch-down.

Harvey (Tamatea) was in his element against Pirates and early in the game he fielded the ball at half-way, stood hesitant a second, then waved his arms and flitted through the Blacks like a shooting star to score a great try. Pirates, like Tamatea, threw the ball about with great abandon, but their efforts were a delightful mixture of the skyscraper and submarine type.

Referee Laws, in awarding the fourth try to Technical 0.8. on Saturday, raised his foot in the time-honoured fashion, but when he put it on the ground Laurie Hannigan’s face was there and the ambulance got a job effecting repairs Hannigan will agree that McLean Park is a small place after all.

Hastings experienced no great difficulty in beating Eskview at Hastings. The nippy play of the backs, combined with the dash and persistency of the frontal division, proved too much for the suburbanites. The latter, however, put up a good, clean fight and at times, especially in the first spell when they had the wind to assist them, they gave Hastings some anxious moments.

The experience of the Hawke’s Bay representative side in the matter of an accurate goal-kicker was also the lot oi Hastings Old Boys against Havelock North. Several very easy, and others comparatively so, goals were missed, Les. McCarthy, who strangely enough was the first sub-union player to reach the half-century in the matter of points scored by way of goals during the season, being very much at fault in this direction.

More public interest was displayed in the third grade final between Pirates and Technical Old Boys at Napier than in the adjoining senior fixture between Marist and Napier H. 5.0.8. H. 5.0.8. displayed little enthusiasm at the commencement of the season, and, now that, the representative season is over, have lost every ounce of interest. On Saturday there were many new faces in their tanks.

Though Vartan might be the outstanding full-back in the province, he cannot hold a candle to even the secoml-< lass wing-threequarters as a winger, which was his position for Old Boys against the Villagers on Saturday. He was never sure of himself and appeared “all at sea,” though he was instrumental in paving the way for a try. It was significant that when he returned to his accustomed position as last line of defence towards the close of the game tho Old Boys, as a team,

played with more confidence than belore and it was only then that they were successful in placing the issue beyond all doubt. It is seldom that one sees a captain, or lor that matter a member of any side, appeal for a field goal attempted by an opponent Yet such was the ease Hi the Hastmgs-Eskview game on Saturday. Towards the close of the game, McNeil, the Hastings full-back, took a long-range drop at goal and one of the first to signal to the referee that the ball had sailed over the bur was Jack Le Quesne, the Eskview skipper. It was a very fine sporting gesture and one, incidentally, that did not escape the notice of the Hastings players.