RUGBY FOOTBALL

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXXIII, Issue 4811, 17 July 1939, Page 5

RUGBY FOOTBALL

SPLENDID GAME. WAITETE DEFEATS TE KUITI. TRAINING TELLS. Waitete and Te Kuiti Senior A teams on Saturday provided the good crowd of spectators on Rugby Park with the best match witnessed there this season. Waitete won by 11 points to 6 after an open game, with plenty of incident played at high speed practically from start to finish. The greater fitness, induced by regular training, of the Waitete team stood them in good stead against their heavier opponents, and they showed the advantages of the team work developed at practices. Particularly was this benefit noticeable in their splendid tackling. Had it not been for this Te Kuiti, some of whose individual players were very capable, would have carried the day, but the honours were slightly in the Waitete team's favour, especially in the latter part of the match. Waitete throughout the match made use of the fast following and backing up of their team to very good advantage, on many occasions catching the Te Kuiti players out of position with these tactics. Only when in the Te Kuiti 25 did they use their complete set of backs as an attacking unit, Franich in particular on practically every occasion—too often it seemed—preferring to gain ground by acurate line kicks rather than give his outside men a run. The Waitete pack played an excellent game against their heavier opponents, hunting well together, and in the second half showed their ability to hold the pace in the hard play better than their opponents.

Graham and M. Anderson at halfback and full-back respectively were the pick of the Waitete backs, though the former showed a tendency to twist round before passing, thus losing time, and Anderson's line-kicks, though sure, did not gain very much ground. In other departments of the game these two players were very sound. Of the forwards Warbrick and G. Lee performed good work, the, former again backing up excellently.

The better hooking of the Waitete forwards and their work in the lineouts resulted in the Te Kuiti backs, except for a period of twenty minutes in the first half, being starved of the ball. This fact was unfortunate for Te Kuiti, for Byrne, R. Barlow and R. Shaw showed very good form as the three inside men, and only the determined tackling of their opposing men and the Waitete breakaways prevented their work from becoming effective. In the main Te Kuiti relied on straight running, R. Barlow playing deep, and cutting straight up the side of the scrum from a good start. On several occasions in the first half these tactics came within inches of scoring.

On the day R. Barlow was the best back on the ground, and he was well supported by that most consistent player, R. Shaw. Burrell was again promising, though the wings were not greatly in the picture. Of the Te Kuiti forwards R. Martin, Len Wi and Wilton came to light at different stages of the game in splendid, style. Wi, though not a particularly heady player, has been playing a powerful game this season. The teams were as follows: — Waitete: Anderson; Thornton, Matthews, Wright; Flint, Graham; A. Anderson, Keepa, Grace; Emery (2), Warbrick, Lee. Te Kuiti: J. Barlow; Richards, Collins, Burrell; Shaw, Barlow; Byrne; Waretini, Lennox, Turner; Hourigan, Turner, Wi, Martin; Wilton.

Both Wright and Len Wi were not far from scoring for their respective, sides as fortunes fluctuated in the first portion of the game, the fast following up of the Waitete team being countered by the hard rucking work of the Te Kuiti pack. The Waitete backs line-kicked until they worked their team to the 25, when they swung away, Flint crossing near the posts. The scorer converted. s—o.

Great excitement followed good work by Collins swinging Te Kuiti to the attack. A passing movement involving Barlow, Collins and Burrell penetrated to the 25, when Waitete was penalised. R. Barlow was successful with the kick. 5—3.

Te Kuiti were most unlucky not to score in the assault upon the line which followed. R. Barlow missed by inches after cutting inside the breakaways, Shaw and Richards crossed after a surprise throw-in, to be recalled by a knock-on, and Hourigan, Shaw and Richards were very unlucky when a passing movement was halted at the last moment. A penalty kick, however, placed Te Kuiti in the lead. 6—5. Te Kuiti maintained the assault for a further period, but though they were right out for a score, the sturdy defence prevailed. A lapse by the Te Kuiti defence and fast following up by Warbrick saw a try come to Waitete immediately Te Kuiti relaxed the pressure. He secured the advantage of the bounce, evaded efforts to tackle him, and scored. Flint's kick failed, and half-time came with the score B—6 in Waitete's favour.

With Thornton going away on an interception and Wright and Matthews passing their way down the line, the second half opened brightly, but as the pace slackened much rucking and kicking followed. Waitete still relied on opportunism and linekicking to gain ground, while the; Te Kuiti backs saw very little of the ball. Then Matthews brightened up play as he collected a kick which beat J. Barlow, the latter just managing to crowd him in. This stung both sides to activity. Te Kuiti fought their way solidly downfield only to be repelled by lightning thrusts. Wright and Graham almost in a passing bout down the line—towards the end of the match the greater fitness of the Waitete side began to tell. The final try came just before the final whistle—Franich slung out a long pass to Thornton, and this surprise move resulted in the latter crossing. G. Lee failed to convert, making the final score Waitete 11, Te Kuiti 6. ■

PIO PIO v. MAHOENUI. Pio Pio Senior A won 15—0 from Mahoenui in a rather ragged game at Pio Pio, the home team securing five tries. The best forward on the ground was Tarrant, while in his new position as half-back Frerichs played another good game, while Cullen was safe as full-back. Undoubtedly the best forward for Mahoenui was Rowan. He played a splendid game. Moir, though good, seemed to lack the sting he displayed earlier in the season. . y RAILWAY WATCH. OHAKUNE DEFEATS TE KUITI. The Te Kuiti Railway team was defeated 25—5 by Ohakune Railway in a Cascade Cup game played at Ohakune yesterday. Although Ohakune fielded a very strong team comprised of all senior competition players and several rep. players, Te Kuiti put up a good fight. Te Kuiti secured their points from a try by Robinson which was converted by W. Searancke.

By winning this game Ohakune have won the northern section of the competition and have to play the winners of the southern section for the cup.