RUGBY NOTES

Hutt News, Volume 18, Issue 2, 14 June 1944, Page 3

RUGBY NOTES

RESULTS \ •Senior (Ist Division) lost to Wellington .14-12. Senior (2nd Division) lost to :: University 3 4-0. Thirds defeated Athletic 37-0-; Fourths defeated St. Pats Old Boys L'o'-o Fifth (Ist Division) lost to Ath-= letic J I-.'!. Fifths (i?11»i Division) defeated' Athletic .".i'-.';. SENIOR I-lult supporters have a right to feel aggrieved over the manner in which their team is throwing matches away. On Saturday try after try was given away either through bad handling, rough passing or selfishness. There is no excuse at alt for the lapses by senior players and some straight talking should be indulged in by the coach at the teai.i talks. We had the spectacle on Saturday of the local team monopolising the ball from the scrums with the backs receiving unlimited opportunities of which they made very poor use. The visiting team staged one passing rush from a scrum during the game yet they won through the abundance of mistakes made by Hutt. Another bad feature of Hutt'is play was the very poor defence of the inside backs particularly when it came to stopping rushes. No attempt at all was made to fall on the ball under these circumstances with resultant large stretches cf ground gained by Wellington. The Hutt forwards were re-arranged for this match Morehu and Tutaki being brought up from the second division team to give more weight to the scrum. This had the desired effect. Tutaki showed up as a very good forward. He was on the ball all day. He received fine support from Miini. Bougen and Haigh. E. Bligh was the best of the backs with Perrett also showing up strongly at times. Bligh showed up best when he moved to second five-eighth. What the team now requires is a capable centre who can run his wings into position. SECOND DIVISION. This team suffered yet another defeat but to lose to University by 14-0 was no disgrace. Due to Morehu and Tutaki, their weightiest lorwariit heing promtecl to first division,' the oide had to call upon Geo. Philips and Les. Duffy to lock the seruui which was greatly outweighted by the students. Only very determined tackling by the backs kept the score down to reasonable proportions, ileedv, the ex-Poverty Bay representative, played a very fine ganie at full back. McLeod, a centre from Canterbury College also played In the forwards Phillips, Duffy, >Pollard and Pohu were to the forer. LOWER GRADES [f The fourths turned on some bright football in the curtain raiser winding easily by U(»-0. Potter, Harrisfjand Childs showed up well in the backs. Swain was also prominent but- has yet to learn to handle In the forwards Garrett, Brailey and Wilmott yere consistent. The- latter spoils a lot of good work' by getting offside. The Fifth, second division, gave a convincing display to beat Athletic by .".i!-::. Except that their positional play on attack could be improved, the backs showed up well in combined movements. The first <fiveeighths, Langliam, is a very capable player, for his age. He is, however, inclined to stand too close to' his half with the result that he often receives the ball standing flat-footed. The second five-eighth also stands up too, close; very often he is in front of his first, consequently when; he receives the ball he has not got liny pace on. "Burberry, a winger, sliSpes well as a half back and McPherson is quite a good centre. All the forwards work well with Keenan, Baker and Laing leading the way. The former did some fine tackling. The Thirds showed fine combination to defeat Athletic 27-0 Their last four games have resulted. in win by the following margins: o(>-0, .",1-0, 21-0, and r.7-0. As indicated before there is not much weight in the team but fine team work more than compensates tins handicap. players are reminded that subscriptions are now overdue. They may be paid to the treasurer, club captain or banded to the coaches for transmission to the proper quarter. A donation is gratefully acknowledged from Mr. R. Wilson.