RUGBY FOOTBALL

Manawatu Standard, Volume LI, Issue 204, 30 July 1931, Page 4

RUGBY FOOTBALL

MANAWATU'S FIRST FIXTURE BADLY BEATEN BY BtTSH. The Rugby representatives of Manawatu made their initial appearance for the season at Eketahuna, yesterday, when Bush furnished the opposition. The Bush fifteen who have always included a formidable set of scrummagers, proved undoubtedly superior in this department and, with the inner defences of Manawatu flinching under the onslaughts, Bush were able to carry the day by a substantial margin. The Eketahuna ground was heavy with treacherous patches in places, and whereas the Bush players revelled in the conditions, the Manawatti team appeared to be anchored in the going, while their kicking lacked the power of the opposition. The teams filed out as under:—

'Bush (maroon). —Reeves,, Woolland Tait, Brown, Wopti, Petie, McCarthy, Galvin, Godinagh, Olliver, Smith, McKay, Moynihan, G. Mabey, Mahoney. Manawatu (green and white). —McKay, Griffin, M. Moffatt, L. Moffatt, Dewe, Robb, Shapleski, Le_ Quesne, Henry, Harris, Yendell, Dalziell, Findlay, McKenzie, Williams. Bush defended the western goal, Manawatu being required to face both sun and wind, and the opening exchanges found the homesters carrying the issue, but their rearguard,_ who displayed a partiality • for kicking throughout the full course of the Tame, thr'ew away several opportunities by overhard kicking when within striking distance, the greens being forced three times in almost as'manv minutes. A free kick gave Reeves a shot at goal, but the ball fell short and matters were again looking dangerous for the visitors when M. Moffatt saved opportunely. In the early of the play the scrums were indecisive, but on the occasions when the green hookers won Shapleski was whinoing the ball out to his backs, and his outers were displaying enterprise. Following a long neriod on the defencive Henry broke through in -possession and he handed infield to McKenzie, who carried on, but within a few. yards of the borne line the advance was stemmed. However, from the ensuing melee Shanleski sent the backs away and M. Moffatt ran Griffin into position to send the winger over at the corner. Yendell made a poor effort to goal.

Manawatu 3. Busli 0

Immediately following,. Manawatu caught the opposition napping and M.'Moffatt timed his hand-on to Griffin nicely., but he sent the ball head high and Griffin failed to' hold it when a certain try was promised. A pretty effort by Findlay wherein he snapped up the leather after getting clear was halted when the referee ruled a prior knock on. A high kick by Petie found a gap in the green defences, and the maroon forwards piled through for Mahoney to carry on and go over by the posts. Reeves failed with an easy shot. Bush 3, Manawatu 3.

A free kick for feet up gave McKay (Bush) a shot at goal, but while he failed, Bush continued to carry the aggressive and McCarthy, the onetime United donkeyman, set his line racing and Woolland completed the movement on the right wing. McKay failed. Bush 6, Manawatu 3. A simple try came the way of Woolland a few minutes later when, with the. ball bouncing high, several defenders rushed in only to fail to grasp it and "Woolland took it at his finger tips to go over. Again the kick failed. Bush 9, Manawatu 3. Manawatu replied with a .solid rush to the goal front, Le Quesne being halted when almost through. However, the ball swung wiugwards and L, Moffatt received it to dance his way over at the corner. Le Quesne failed and the teams left the field for the interval with the visitors holding a promising enough position. Manawatu 8, Bush 9.

With the wind now assisting them it was expected that Manawatu would play a more prominent role, particularly when M.- Moffatt was unfortunate not to be awarded a try on resumption, but the onslaughts of the more rugged Bush forwards sapped the strength of the greens and their play steadily deteriorated, the inners declining to get down on the ball in the face of the rushes of Galvin, Mahoney and company. Shapleski, who met with a leg; injury, was compelled to retire and Dewe went to half with Fletcher coming into the five-eighth line. Galvin, who was playing a great game for Bush at rover, was continually breaking away with the ball at his toe and, although disappointed more than once, the maroons came again and Petie worked the blind side to send Brown over. Reeves goaled with a nice kick. Bush 14, Manawatu 6. Manawatu made forays on occasion, but something would always go wrong at the critical juncture, and the game as it advanced found the maroons doing all the attacking. Before the close, another try came their way when a hand to hand bout among the forwards terminated in Smith scoring, although palpably offside. Manawatu left the field a well-beaten team by a margin of 11 points. Bush 17,. Manawatu 6.

Mr J. Ryan, who refereed, differed in many of his interpretations from the local referees, he never once during the whole game awarding a free kick for holding on in the melees, which were frequently of considerable duration. SECONDARY SCHOOLS’ MATCH. AN EXCITING FINISH. Played under ideal conditions, and watched by a good attendance of the public, the match- between the Boys’ High School and Wanganui Technical College, which took place at the Showgrounds yesterday afternoon, resulted in a draw, each side scoring three points. The game was fairly evenly contested, and though the visitors had scored an unconverted try in the first half, it was not until the last minute that' High School pulled the match out

of the fire by scoring a goal from a penalty kick. It was a splendid display of college football, the crispness, speed and wellplanned tactics that are usually associated with secondary school matches were not lacking, and the spectators were, fully appreciative of the fare provided. IBoth sides had faults, but both displayed ability that amounted on occasions to brilliance. The High School forwards were superior to their opponents, 'and lost few opportunities of feeding the backs. The latter, however, for the most part did not pass cleanly, and as a result many opportunities were nullified. It was only in the closing stages, when the High School full-back brought the ball up and set backs and forwards going in passing bouts that there was a very real danger to Wanganui. The latter were a fast-moving team, forwards and backs combining well and defending soundly.' In fact, the spoiling tactics" of the forwards and the sound tackling of the backs was a feature of the game. The Wanganui fullback, Wishart, gave one of the fin'est displays of play from this position seen in the local oval for many a day.

The teams were as follow:

Palmerston North High School (white).—Hoffmeister, McCorkindale, Calvert, Gardiner, Apatari, Hatch, "Lang, Chin, Smith, Crawford, James, Waldegrave, Moxon, Robertson,'Beard. Wanganui Technical School (dark blue). —Wishart, McLean, Rogers, Pargeter, Mete Kingi, Gregory, R. Mainwaring. A. Mainwaring, Jackson, Robinson. Vosailacii, Dawson, HildePaul, Mc'Glynn. Wanganui kicked off and were soon in the High School twenty-five. R. Mainwaringset a dangerous passing rush in motion, the visiting backs being stopned onlv when they had reached the line. High School were losing ground by faulty passing, though they were being well served by Lang from the scrum*. "Working the line to advantage, Wanganui reached an attacking position, and from a scrum the ball was whipped out _to Pargeter, to Rogers who cut in nicely for a good try. Mete Kingi narrowly failed with the attempt at goal. Wanganui 3, High School 0.

High School commenced to showbetter form. The backs handled to better advantage and opening up the game were having more than a fair share of the ball. However, they resorted to kicking to touch, which proved more successful though less spectacular. McCorkindale narrowly missed with a fine shot at goal from a penalty, and shortly afterwards Lang sent Apatari, Hatch and Calvert away, a faulty pass spoiling the movement. Two more attempts were made to reach the line, but the handling of the white backs again left much to be desired, and "Wanganui put up a rocklike defence. The full-back, Wishart, was doing particularly good work, though he fumbled badly on one occasion and Waldegrave, . Moxon and Crawford, who had followed hard, were unfortunate in not scoring. High School continually failed to take advantage of the breeze in finding the line, the kicking in this respect being poor while the Wanganui backs rarely failed to send the ball out. Chin put in some good work and got the leather away smartly to the backs, but Calvert was well tackled, and half-time saw play in midfield with the score 3—o m the visitors' favour. . Play opened at a fast pace m the second spell, and High School were called upon to touch down when _ the visiting forwards broke through in a bunch. Me'tekingi made a good attempt from a penalty luck, the shot going just outside the uprights. A snap kick by Gregory put the bhies in an attacking position, but Hatch, Apatari and Calvert transferred play, Gardner failing to accept a pass when there was only the full-back to beat. Twice James endeavoured to get through the ruck, gaining ten yards with one burst, but being grassed by Wishart. The white forwards were putting plenty of pep into their play at this stage, and were assisted by an advantage in weight. However, the backs were unable to finish off the movements, and play reverted to midfield, an exchange of kicks intervening. A" long punt put the ball out within a vard of the High School line, but a force down resulted. The visiting backs, who had hitherto confined their tactics to defence, were seen in a pretty movement in which Gregory, Metekingi and Eogers participated, the last mentioned being unfortunate enough to put his foot out as ■he crossed the line. The whites worked play back, but Dawson and Hildebrandt broke away, from a scrum fast and took the ball at their toe to the goal mouth. High School were saved by a free kick. After a series of lineouts in midfield all the High School backs handled in a series of short rushes, the display being the finest seen in the match. Hatch cut in but was brought down a few feet from the line, Wanganui clearing from the ensuing scrum. Another chance went begging when Calvert dropped a pass. Line kicks gave the advantage to Wanganui. Rogers cut in but was soundly tackled by Hoffmeister. Another exhilarating bout of passing took play to the Wanganui line, but the defence held, and no score resulted. Twice Wishart' brought McCorkindale down as he flashed for the line. Right on the csill of time Wanganui were penalised for off side and Hatch landed a fine goal amidst the greatest enthusiasm. The game ended with the score: High School 3. Wanganui Technical School 3. Mr A. McKegg was referee. COLLEGE MATCH. WELLINGTON, July 29. In the annual Rugby match, Wellington College defeated St. Patrick's College by 5 points to 3.