Rugby Notes

Hutt News, Volume 16, Issue 4, 24 June 1942, Page 5

Rugby Notes

JIcBAIX KfHI'XI) MATCH PETONE G; Hi "IT 3. There wci'c l'i'W supporters who expected Hutt to beat. Petone. having in mind the form oi' the local lea in of late. "Whereas Petone are fortunate in being; able to concentrate on team work in their gymnasium training, because of the attendance of key men, Mutt have to practise minus the Services of one lock forward, half back, first fiveeighth and two winders who are unable to attend because, of Army duties or other reasons. Having this in mind it. can be conceded that Hull, put up a remarkably good light against the championship leaders. Actually llufl never looked like winners, hut (hey made matters decidedly inlcresting. It. was a \ery keen, hard game, notable for spoiling tactics and sound tackling. Of the chances which went, beggin.g during the game Petone certainly suffered moat through .shear overeagerness. The goal kicking was poor on both sides and here again Petone missed more chances than I-Iu(: I. The forwords were I'airlv evenly matched in the line outs Iwt Hutt appeared to have the advantage in the set serums, hut slow heeling to a certain extent offset this advantage. Petone were definitely superior in the rucks and loose; 1 play where their forwards showed speed and clearness in handling and backing up. It was this quick heeling from the rucks and the assistance given to the back's which caused Hutt. so much trouble. Hehind the scrum and at first, liveeighth Petone had two players with a thorough understanding of one another's play. Apart from these two positions the Hutt backsi showed up, if anything, a little better than their opponents. Guthrie was a match for McGrath, and Millard and Rout had' the edge on the J.'iegar brothers. I-iammoiid marked Hudson effectively. At full back Syruons had more to do than Kent and lost nothing by comparison. Grant was not. exactly happy at first five-eighth. It is obvious that lack of practise is affecting his play-— he journeys down from Wanganui each Friday night. King at half showed gameness in the face of .-.e opposing pack. Until the half receives the ball more speedily from the scrum and is afforded some measure of protection by his forwards, he will not be able to feed his insides as they should be fed if the back-line "is to function smoothly. In the Hutt pack Cooke. Haigh, Martin and Marsden were consistent in following up with Burns, Cheeseman and Bramley playing their parts also. Bougen locked the scrum effectively. LOWER GRADES Juniors lost to Wellington Regiment 21-12. Hutt Army defeated Old Boys, 22-3. Fourths defeated Johnsonvme 8.3 Fifths defeated Mivamar 9-0. Sixth A defeated Petone 11-o.'

Sixth B drew with Athletic 6 all. . The last named team played its Urst game, showing very good form indeed. They were distinctly unlucky not to win. The forwards played particularly well with Clark showing outstanding form. The Clicks were not so impressive, bur. as they were a man short they did well under the circumstances. The A's did not show their best form to defeat Petone 11-0. The; backs could not get going until well into the .second spell when they came into the picture and assisted in scoring three tries. The torwards were inclined to play too loose in the rucks often .getting in the half back's way. Another fault was a tendency to pick the ball up off the ground with the result that it was more often than not knocked on. Apart from these faults they played well with Stratton, YVilmot, Jameson . and Mustard the best. James showed a lot of determination in his play. Harold also did well but should use his weight more. McKechnie, Bracley and Baker also caught the eye. .. the backs Cocker was very much to the fore with some tricky running, Potter was .sound, connecting well with his outsider. Sim showed up well also. The wings, Swain and Langham did not receive many opportunities. TFiey showed plenty of pace when in possession. We acnowlodge with thanks a donation from Mr. F. A. L. Hunt.