Rugby Notes

Hutt News, Volume 13, Issue 6, 12 July 1939, Page 5

Rugby Notes

The championship leaders proved to be -too solid for Hutt, winning by the comfortable margin of 19 to nil. The score, however, does not indicate the trend of the game as the losers had a decided territorial advantage in both spells, but were unable to finish off their movements. The Hutt forwards had the edge on Wellington early in the game and were on top practically throughout the match, but showed their best form against the wind in the first

half. The Wellington backs showed up a? a dangerous combination 1 but were kept well in check by good

tackling. Of the winners' three tries, one only was the result of a ; back movement. On attack the i Hutt backs did not show up well ; until rearranged about half way I through the second spell. From this stage onwards they went well, keeping Wellington defending hard I for about twenty minutes. It was only 'ifn the dying of the game that the winners scored and converted to make the total 19-0. All Black Taylor kicked splendidly for Wellington, converting two tries

and a similar number of penalties. The losing of the match leaves Hutt in the bottom six for the second round, to play for the ham Cup.

The reappearance of E. T. Kilmister behind the Hutt scrum made a, great difference to- the work of the backs against Wellington. He gave splendid passes to his fiveeighths who really should have made better use of their opportunities. In spite of being a bit overweight, Kilmister did good work in other directions, making one or two smart breaks round the side of the scrum. Evans played the right type of game in the first spell by coming back into the forwards as much as possible thus keeping the game reasonably tight when battling against the wind. In the second half he repeated these tactics instead of letting the ball out and giving the other backs a run. When Sargisson moved in to first five-eighth some good movements were turned on, and it was obvious that better results would have been attained by giving the backs more of the ball. Sargisson played a very sound game on Saturday last, being at his best in the second spell when opportunities for making play came his way. Burton was sound also and was not overawed by the fact that he was marking Fulton. Burton ; made one fine opening in the 'second s£ell when he ran through the opposition and passed to a forward who had a clear run in. This player,, unfortunately, knocked on. Of the wingers Phillips had most to do. His defence was sound and he made some fine runs on attack. Williams was marking a hard man in Skerratt, who had the edge on ' the Hutt player. A. Whitcher at full back did some good kicking and caught the ball well in the air. When it was on ' the ground however, he appeared less certain. | In the forwards Cassidy played a ' fine . ,all round game, showing up well in the loose in addition to working hard in line outs and rucks. This player and Foley gained possession in most of the lineouts. Potter again showed up prominently in the loose being on-the ball all the time. Duffy showed a much greater appreciation of a side row man's duties than in the previous game. He showed up well with some solid tackling. Haigh was a very honest toiler in the tight stuff and gained a good share of the ball in set scrums. Guy showed up in the loose play. Flanagan also show ed up well during the play. Kemp was responsible for one fine bit of dribbling when he took the ball up to the full back for Williams who just failed to touch down before it went into touch-in-goal. Hutt teams have reasonable prospects of winning three lower grade championships. The Fifths and Junior (3rd Division) are as yet unbeaten while the Sixths are two points behind Petone with which team they played a draw in the first round. The Sixths provided the curtain raiser on Saturday last and turned on some* entertaining football. The star back was Rariti who was hard to bring down when in possession. He would be of more value to the team if : given more opportunities. The forwards have plenty of weight and lower packing would improve their scrum work.