RUGBY FOOTBALL

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXXIII, Issue 4817, 31 July 1939, Page 5

RUGBY FOOTBALL

WAITETE SCRAPE HOME. MATCH WITH HANGATIKI. Hangatiki gave Waitete a fright in their match on Rugby Park last Saturday by gaining the first try, but in the long run the good handling of the Waitete backs won the day, the town team winning by six points to three. The game was a hard one, with little between the teams.

During much of the game Waitete threw away their chances by their inside backs, chiefly Franich, preferring always to kick for tolich rather than send the remainder of the line away. That this was a great mistake was shown by the manner in which the backs, when they did receive the ball, were able to make use of the weaker spots in their opponents' defence. ' The consistent kicking for the line kept the ball just where Hangatiki wanted it—in the forwards—for as was expected the Hangatiki pack were superior in most departments of the play except the set scrums, where Waitetes' low packing was effective. Te Kanawa was the outstanding player of the' Hangatiki backs, though the halfback, J. Kite, and the centre, B. Koroheke, performed good work. Of the forwards Ben Davis was easily the most useful, probably the pick of the remainder being his brother Ted. The veteran, B.

Nikora, once again took the field to play as rover.

Making excellent use of a gap in the defence, Wright was always a danger to hs opponents, and should have been far more used in orthodox back movements. With M. Anderson, whose anticipation was wonderful, he was probably the pick of the backs. G. Lee was the best of the forwards.

The teams were: — Waitete. Anderson; Thornton, Matthews, ' Wright; Prendergast, Franich; Graham; Grace, Keepa, Anderson; Lee, Warbrick, Emery, Emery; Waretini. Hangatiki.—Armstrong; P. Nikora, B. Koroheke, H. Koroheke; K. Davis, Te Kanawa; J. Kite; Ben Davis, Ted Davis, Arthur Davis, Roach, J. Titi, Koroheke, B. Nikora, J. Ormsby. For the first half the territory was mainly in favour of Waitete, whose handling was good, but who preferred always to kick even in their opponents' 25. They were given several chances at goal with penalty kicks, none being easy ories. On the other hand, the Davis brothers and Koroheke were bustling hard in the Hangatiki forwards and B. Koroheke was responsible for a couple of good runs. Not a great deal was seen of Te Kanawa until he made the spectacular run which opened Hangatiki's scoring account. Receiving from a scrum in midfield, he cut back to beat Franich, twisted a way through past Anderson, and scored. P. Nikora's kick was unsuccessful. 3—o.

Just before half-time a break by Wright nearly saw Waitete even the score, and just after the interval a penalty kick taken by G. Lee hit the crossbar. In the second half Waitete caused great excitement by suddenly electing to throw the ball about, and their reward came early when the ball was cleanly handled out for Wright to score in the corner. Lee missed the kick. Immediately afterwards, after work by K. Davis, Paul Nikora dribbled across, but he touched down behind the dead ball line.

After reverting again to kicking tactics for a spell, the Waitete backs went away once again successfully, Matthews scoring. Lee's good effort missed. 6—3.

With the Hangatiki forwards right on the job and preventing their opponents' backs from going away, much danger for Waitete foljowed. However, packing in the 25 was successfully relieved by Wright, G. Lee and M. Anderson, and the penalty kick taken by P. Nikora was unsuccessful. .

TE KUITI v. PIO PIO.

Pio Pio defeated Te Kuiti by 9 points to 3 in an attractive match played at Pio Pio on Saturday. Pio Pio had a decided advantage in the line-outs and set scrums, and the home backs had a feast of the ball, thus testing the defence of the Te Kuiti backs to the utmost. The score was a good indication of the trend of play, however,' and there was no doubt that the best team won, ais apart from the opening stages of the game when Te Kuiti were seen to advantage, Pio Pio were on the attack most of the time.

Shortly after the game started a kick by Barlow took play deep in the Pio Pio twenty-five and Byrne secured the ball to elude three tacklers and passed to Richards who crossed. The kick missed. Half way through the first spell the Pio Pio forwards, with Tarrant and Coffin in the van, were seen at their best in a dribbling rush and from a scrum Frerichs sent out to his backs. The transfer from Anderson to Smyth went astray but G. Buckley secured and drop-kicked a field goal. This was a clever piece of work and the spectators showed their appreciaion. 4—3.

The next try came in the second half when, with the defence rattled, Frerichs kicked through. He missed the try by inches, but Tarrant was at hand to ground the ball. Smyth converted to make the score 9—3, and though in the later stages they threatened to increase their lead the defence held.

Frerichs, the best back on the ground, was the pivot of the Pio Pio attack and his brilliant display at half-back should bring him into calculations for the rep. team. He was equally good in defence, and time after time drove the Te Kuiti forwards back with his line-kicks. The other backs, although not reaching the same class as Frerichs, were all sound, Anderson, G. and E. Buckley catching the eye. In the forwards, Tarrant, Battley and Coffin were the best, though the latter tended to infringe. A. Trust also made some powerful runs. Of the Te Kuiti team, Wilton and Wi impressed, and although not sighted P. McLean worked hard in the tight. The backs lacked opportunities and rarely reached great heights, Shaw and Barlow defending resolutely, and Jackson at times effecting some good saves.

REP TEAMS.

The Maniapoto Senior A team to play Otorohanga on Saturday will be: Full-back: Franich (Waitete).

Three-quarters: Richards (,Te Kuiti), Kjestrup (West Coast), Wolfe (Aria). Five-eighths: Russell (United), vicecaptain, Te Kanawa (Hangatiki). Half-back: Frerichs (Fio Pio).

Back Row: Coffin (Pio Pio), captain. Middle Row: Rowan (Mahoenui), T. Davis (Hangatiki), Willison (West Coast), King (West Coast). Front Row: B. Davis (Hangatiki), Keepa (Waitete), Moir (Mahoenui). Reserves: Backs, Anderson (Waitete), Silcock (United). Forwards, K. Davis (Hangatiki), Warbiick (Waitete). Grahame and Martin will not be available. JUNIOR SIDE. The Junior Rep. team to play Otorohanga on Saturday will be:— Backs: McGregor (Te Kuiti); K. Robertson (Waitete), Prendergajt, (Waitete), Ringa (West Coast); A. Cressy (United), Smith (High School); W. Kitto (Waitete). Forwards: Ryder (School); Keighley (Aria), Carruthers (Te Kuiti), R. White (Waitete), McGregor (United); Heron (Waitete), Delaney (Waitete), Miln (West Coast). Emergencies: Backs, Walker (Waitete), Ople (Aria). Forwards, Robertson (Te Kuiti), Porteous (West Coast).