Football

Matamata Record, Volume XVII, Issue 1544, 19 July 1934, Page 8

Football

ANSWER TO CORRESPONDENT i J.H.—.(l) The captain of the New j Zealand Army team which' visited South Africa was Staff-Sergt. Brown, of Taranaki. .Sergt.-Major J. Ryan, of Wellington, was vicecaptain. (2) The Springboks have never won the ashes from the All Blacks. The test scores in New Zealand were as follows: Dunedin, Springboks 5, All Blacks 13; Auckland, Springboks 9, All Blacks 5; Wellington, Springboks 0, All Blacks 0. In South Africa: Durban, Springboks 17, All Blacks 0; Johannesburg, Springboks 6, All Blacks 7; Capetown, Springboks 11, All Blacks 6; Capetown, Springboks 5, All Blacks 13. (3) Australia won the ashes from the All Blacks in 1929 when they won all three tests. Porter captained the team and Dailey \yas vice-cap-tain. The' scores were : At Sydney, Australia 9, All Blacks S; :it Brisbane, Australia 17, All Blacks 9; at Sydney, Australia 15, All Blacks 13.

WAIKATO TEAM Oliver and Slhaxpe Not Available Ellis on the Wing Last night the Waikato selector, Mr. J. Mclntyre, announced that Oliver (wing threequarter) and Sharpe (hooker) were not available for Saturday’s match at Manama *h against Thames Valley. Ellis (Matamata) and Carter (Morrinsville) will fill the vacancies. D. Carlson has been selected as emergency back.

The Waikato team to play Thames Valley at Matamata on Saturday does not impress, especially so far as the forwards are concerned. If the Valleyites reproduce the form they showed at Auckland in the cur-tain-raiser in the inter-island match Waikato may go under. In view of the fact that several Matamata players not selected are on the verge of Waikato form, a good opportunity to try them out on their home ground, where they might be expected to show their best form, has been missed. Such a move, besides being wise from a selection point of view, would also have been shrewd tactics from the point of view of gate receipts. Carlson, Warrender, Settle, R. Johns and Simpson are all worthy of a trial, for players of les3 ability have won the red, yellow and black jersey. If as much persuasion and boost is necessary to secure some of these a trial as has been necessary *to get Solomon, who proved an immediate success, in, then they must wait for some time yet. On this season’s form the players named are at least equal to, if not better than, some who have caught the selector’s ejre. It would appear that a main essential for selection is size; but size alone never won matches. If Thames Valley can show the form they displayed in' Auckland, then the spectators are certain to get a fast, open and interesting match.

REPRESENTATIVE MATCH

Notes and Comments (By “ Crossbar.”) Matamata gained their usual sub- | stantial victory over Te Aroha on Saturday, but it was not until the second half that the home team was | able to show marked superiority. In the first half Te Aroha gave a dis- ( play of solid all round forward play j and covering such as it not usually | associated with the play of this i union, and in consequence Matamata | had a lead of only three points at j half-time. The visiting forwards covered well, and Jackson and Williams, in particular, among the .backs did good work on defence. Williams . proved a great worker and the man- j ner in which he got off the mark in j his endeavours to stop Carlson was , reminiscent of Jack Wilson’s game j against .Caugbey last season. All ' through the Te. Aroha forwards worked as an eight in the loose, and it was only well on in .the second half that they tired and thus gave ■the home backs more room to move in. It was only in the second half that Matamata rose near the heights of cup form, but there is little doubt that the .players are available if they can be got into position and turned out right on the day. At fullback, Chase played a really good game and kicked with power and confidence. With an improvement in positional play he should hold his own with most fullbacks he would be called upon to meet. The threequarter line did not get its usual share of the ball, chiefly .because of the fine covering of the visitors already referred to. Both of the fiveeighths were inclined to run juSt that yard too far before parting with the ball, and Solomon’s backing up of passing rushes was missed when Carlson was collared. Swap was the best of the threequarters, and although Jim Wilson has fined down a lot, he is not yet in tip-top condition. With Swap, D. Carlson and Ellis offering for the wings he will have to improve to hold his position. Ellis does not impress, as an inside man, but his work on the wing—especially his dashing try just before time—demands that he be given a- further trial. His try was one out of the bag. He cut in ■with/ great dash to beat two defenders and to catch the defence off its balance. If he can do it once he should be able to do it again. Settle gave the best exhibition the writer has seen from him. He was right up to Waikato form. His passes from all angles were uniformly good, and like Malcolm, of Aussie fame, he can throw a long pass without any suspicion of lobbing. He varied his play well and snap-kicked with precision. His only defect is lack of height and weight. Corners are not bom every day, but on Saturday’s form Settle showed he was following in the footsteps of the great little Aucklander. In passing, at least, he was Comer’s equal, if not superior.

The forwards were a hard working lot. The hooking improved when Simpson took over the job. The pack more than held its own in set scrums and lineouts, but was . not quite so dashing in the loose as their opponents. Warrender was the best of an even bunch, among whom R. Johns played a good game in the loose. Simpson closely followed Warrender, and Hills proved a hard player. A. Inman's lack of experience, coupled with a similar defect oh the part of Settle, who stood too close to the lineout, resulted in several passes going astray. Fully half a dozen times Inman took the ball at the end of the lineout with great cleanness, only to miss Settle or bounce it off his body. Balls taken in such a position should not be lost as they are very valuable. It is a defect which should be easily remedied. All of the forwards were workers and battled on hard. Midway through the second spell, however, there were periods when both packs were too tired to follow up. A noticeable feature of the forward play was the lack of fast support to the backs in passing rushes, and Machin, of Patetere, appears to be j unfortunate in failing to catch the selector's eye for a trial. Such a forward is invaluable at times in finishing off a passing rush, and Machin possesses the necessary pace to enable him to play his part in an outstanding manner.

WITH THE JUNIORS Boyce Cup Won v The Matamata juniors excelled themselves on Saturday and, won the Uoyce Cup with a display of tip-top: Rugby. Facing a very heavy team-4 one competent critic described Waipa as the heaviest junior team he had ever seen —the Matamata. .players; tackled their job in fine style, and ill the second half were definitely ! superior. . At fullback Phil Hawke played an. outstanding game. His touch-find-ing was up to senior standard, and he played with the coolness of a veteran. Especially, good was his fielding near touch. Repeatedly he gathered the ball a yard from the line, and, running infield several yards to get a broader angle, he landed the ball out SO or 40 yards j down field after drawing the oppos- ■ ing backs. Cole, until he was injured, stood out at five-eighths and was clever and nippy. Unfortunately a knock on the head left him hazy in the second | half. All of the threequarters play- , ed well, Germann and Hopkins be- | ing the best. Germann improved his j defence, while he showed his usual ■ safe handling and speed on attack. Hopkins played well, but was inclin- * ed at times to get out of position* Dixon was very sound if not bril- | liant. Wallace did all that was required of him and played very nip- ■ j pily. He was handicapped somewhat. by O’Brien’s erratic play, for the ‘ half ran too much and failed to get ' his passes away snappily. j Delaney was the best of the for- | wards and played an' outstanding ! game. "Weston, Hayes and Connell ! were particularly good in the loose i and in following up. All of the fori wards were up to representative ! standard, and there were no slackers ' among them. ' j A feature of the play of the team • was the way that backs and forwards played as a whole, each' secj tion doing its part and fitting in. j The forwards were beaten in lineout play and in loose rucks, but in other phases of,play were definitely superior, being yards faster. The winning try came as the result of good work by Delaney, who put in a solo drib-; ble of some 30 yards, picked up, and ‘ 1 sent to Madill, who sent Weston over. 1 For the next cup game Hughes, | who was prevented from playing on account of illness, takes his place on the wing, as does Blackett in the forwards. Walsh, who played a sound game against Te Aroha for i the B team comes in at half, and if f he gets the ball away as he did in ! this game some fine back play ! should be witnessed.