OUT IN The Open

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXVI, 15 June 1932, Page 9

OUT IN The Open

RUGBY FOOTBALL NOTES

COMMENT ON SATURDAY’S PLAY REPRESENTATIVE MATCHES THIS WEEK

The first representative mulches oi the season will he played on Saturday when the Nelson seniors travel to Blenheim to play .Marlborough in a home and home maieh, and the Nelson junior representatives meet the Marlborough juniors at ’Trafalgar Park in a match for the Ryder Cup which is at present held by Nelson. In previous years the NelsonMarlborough junior clash has produced some of the host football of the season, and on Saturday another good game should result as keen rivalry exists lor the possession of the Cup.

Marlborough Teams The Marlborough teams to meet Nelson have been selected. The seniors include ex-All Black K. S. Svenson. '1 ho senior representatives are as follows: — Pull-back: E. Aldridge. Three-quarters: 11. Phillips. J. Corliss, E. Bartlett. Five-eighths: K. S. Svenson, K. Roberts. lla.lf-back: A. Robinson. Forwards: L. Patehett, J. Tapley, R. Woolley, H. Mulloy, C. Baker, J. Botham, j. Mai ler, L. Gee. Emergencies:—Backs: P. McLaughlin, It. O’Connor, L. Newman. Forwards: B. Dabsoii, M. Woolley, J. Mcßryde. The junior team has been selected as follows: , Full-back: Liley. Three-quarters: Boniface, Oldham, Neilson. Five-eighths: Grimslcd (capt.), Mead, Half-back : Ross. Forwards: Harris, Price, Bragg, Iloare, Morrison, O’Halloran, Ewart, Fuller. Emergencies:—Back: Stafford. Forward, Tyler.

School Footballs “If decent balls are needed for tho seniors, why are not decent balls needed for the schools?” asked Mr 11. Silcock at Monday night's meeting of the Nelson Union in registering a protest against the class of the ball the union hud purchased for the playing of inter-school matches.

Mr R. Brownlie, on behalf of the country schools, thanked the Union for their ball and expressed satisfaction with it. Mr Silcock said he was not satisfied.

The chairman explained that a member of the committee had been appointed to purchase tho balls, and had done so and submitted them to the Management Committee at its last meeting, and they were approved. llowever, Mr Silcock wished to register his protest on behalf of the school boys of Nelson.; No "Dead Heads” At Monday night’s meeting of the Nelson Union a letter was received from the Canterbury Union stating that six tickets had been handed to D. Max for a party of Nelsonians at the North v. Soutli fixture played in Christchurch. It. was pointed out that two were complimentary hut the others were not. The Canterbury Union requested the payment of the amount involved in order that the accounts of the match could he balanced.

Mr B. Edwards: -“They’ve taken a leaf out of i Nelson’s books and have no dead heads.”

The chairman, who was one of the party, stated that the money had been collected from the persons concerned.

Third Class Match In a third class championship match played at College yesterday afternoon, College A defeated College B by 1U points to 3.

Mrs Malaprop at Union Meeting. “They were returned unanimous,” replied a member of the Nelson Rugby Union Management Committee in answer to a question of who returned tho representative jerseys which had been stolen at the Max.- Shield match. The remark was almost unanimously appreciated—hut the perpetrator must remain anonymous.

Waimea v. Rival. The Waimea forwards in their match with Rivals on 'Saturday were without the services of their two stars, Sutton and Sehwass, but on the day they managed quite well without them. Watson and llill hooked consistently right through the game, the ball going out in great style. It was a pity that Hill did not get a place in the country team for he is a star hooker and a grafter of the Bird type. He is still worth a try out in the representatives. K. Sutton, in the loose head position, was quite a success, and worried his opponents all day. Bird played his usual game. He is one of Nelson’s most consistent grafters. Mcllarg is playing much improved football this season. He battled hard from start to finish on Saturday. Craig is capable of great things and should bo encouraged. Strong and fast with plenty of weight bo just needs experience. Phipps and Taylor completed a hard working pack.

Brooks went back to half and lie certainly gave a great display. Playing behind good hookers he saw plenty, of the ball and made good use ot it. His kicking and geneial defensive play was splendid. F. Fowler and'Hardy the five eighths were a lively pair. The former did great work against solid opposition, his try being the result of one of iiis hairtrigger dashes. liardy is as elusive as air eel and runs straight but bis handling is not 100 good. Wnimca’s difficulty is to find a man to follow him. It might have been wise if be and F. Fowler bad changed places. P. Fowler at centre is not a success as an attacking back. Wells, who is still on the injured list was sadly missed here.

Kearns, on the wing, was not as good as usual, lie was inclined to pull up as he reached an opponent and his high tackling was, Iq say the least, not attractive. ‘ /

Wilson, on the other wing, did not have 100 much to do. Will lie never learn to use two hands in taking a pass: C. Watson was right at his best and let nothing go by him as the last lino of defence.

Rivals had two experienced hookers in llowal and Rusty but Waimeas were too rood for them.

Durnblcton and Snowden made good use of their weight and reach whilo Greiner, Hughes and the Biggs brothers all toiled hard to the end. West Icy was not in his best form and did not look like a representative pßiyer. Allowance must be made for the fact that his forwards were beaten for !he hall, and “stage whispers” from the touchline about the “rep. half” did not improve mill tars. Ho was much better in the second spell. The Thompson brothers were solid as

j usual, but N. Thompson generally keeps possession of the hall too long. Clover, at centre, defended well and ran strongly but ho seldom handed tho ball on.

Boyce, on the wing, gave an almost faultless display of tackling. In fact this was the outstanding feature ot the Rival hacks’ play. Burns, on the other wing, did not get many char,cos. In fact the Rival inside hacks appear to consistently starve their wingers. Revan at fullback was patchy, varying from ordinary to occasional brilliance, lie was not called on to do much tackling. The other hacks attended to that.

Nelson v. Old Boys The star hack on the field at the Bark oil Saturday was Alexander, who stood out head and shoulders above anyone else. lie was sound on defence and on attack for Old Boys was brilliant at times. It must have nearly broken his heart to see the outside backs lose chance after chance after he had paved the way for them. Two certain tries were lost after he had done all the work. Saturday’s match confirmed the opinion held by the greater majority ot Nelson followers of the game that he is Nelson’s best live-eighth, either tirsL or second.

Long, Vass, and Ross were fair, but the least said about Mubin's and Busch’s respective displays the bettor. They both had a day off. Alexander had to be an acrobat to get most of Ross’s passes from tho scrum.

Old Boys in large measure helped towards their own downfall by playing Smith, a junior player who had played in a match just previously, as second five-eighth against tho Nelson team’s best back, S. Stewart, who appreciated the great opportunity gifted to him and scored one try and was responsible for another; before Old Boys realised their mistake and moved Long in from the wing to that position. Smith played quite well in the second half. Ferguson was Old Boys’ best forward and lion. Busch, Caimingtou, James, Johnston and Nottage were all credited with hard work all day. Todd has been off colour for several games now. In the first half McKay was among the backs part of the time, but after the interval lie got right into the play and for the last half-hour was one of the best forwards on the ground. S. Stewart’s try was a good effort and he and Kciley were Nelson’s best backs. Mclhvraith was not impressive, but did not let his side down.

The three-quarter line, Beard, F. Stewart and McKenzie were just ordinary. Reed did not get the ball away fast enough to give them the best chance.

Reed’s general play was good and his knowledge of the game stands Nelson in good stead, but he is visibly becoming slowcx'. McLean, Young and Austin were Nelson’s best trio in the forwards. Austin was again a great worker and obtained the ball in line outs. Drummond was a solid worker and is the type of forward required for a hard tussle among packs, lie replaces McLean,in the team to play Marlborough on Saturday, as McLean is not. available.

Harris, Flowers, Martin and Phillips completed a solid pack. All considered the game, which promised to bo one of the best of the season, proved a great disappointment.

A Fitting Send-off Two remarkable tries were scored by Bullock-Douglas, the Wanganui All Black and Old Boys’ fast wing threequarter, in the match against Kaierau last Saturday (reports the “Chronicle”). Both were scores of a type which never fails to appeal to the Rugby supporter. The second was tho more outstanding of the two. Not only did it win the quit eh for Old Boys, but it served as a fitting farewell to the scorer, who sails next Friday with the All Black team for Australia. It was a match of comparatively small scoring, hut the fluctuation, first in favour of one team and then the other, assisted to make the tussle one that will be remembered for many years. When Old Boys’ hopes wore at their lowest—one minute to go and three points to be made good—clean handling by the inside hacks gave Bullock-Doug-las a chance to display his ability. He received the ball mid way between his own twenty-five and the half-way line, drew and boat the most reliable tackling full-back in Wanganui, and outpaced two fast Kaiorau challengers coming at him across Hie field. In the Inst minutes of his last game before sailing ’under the sign of the Silver Fern lie gained a remarkable victory for Old Boys at a time when they most dearly needed it. The cheers which greeted the effort wakened memories of Spriggcns Park of old, and the days when it boasted the less auspicious title of “the Roc.” They lingered until the central figure was carried off the ground shoulder high.

BAYS DEFEAT MOTUEKA IIY 22 POINTS TO 7 GOOD MATERIAL FOR SHIELD TEAM (From Our Own Correspondent)

TAKAKA. 13th June. Heavier forwards together with faster and more enterprising backs enabled Golden Hay decisively to defeat Motueka in the first Rugby representative match of the season at Talcaka on Saturday afternoon. r J’he score was 22 points to 7 While the Hay forwards played an important part in wearing down the opposing pack, the outstanding men in Die home team were Itohaia, the Maori half-back, and Mann, centre three quarter, who, on the day, were brilliant, especially the former, whose play was up to the best representative standard Hansen, Wood, llickmott, and Dandy were the pick of (lie forwards, although, all things considered, there was but lit - Lie to pick and choose between any o r the packmen.

I The Molueka forwards were faster than the Bay vanguard, but they were outweighed in the scrummages, which mostly were dominated by Golden Bay. Bark Starnes and Askew put in a lot of good work, but the side seemed to lack the ability to finish promising movements. This was particularly noticeable among the backs, the erratic handling of the inside men spoiling many likely movements. Kinzetl (half-back - ), Osborne and Fry (five-eighths), together with Wright (centre), all showed individual (lashes of brilliance, but anything in the way of cohesion was conspicuous by its absence—in marked contrast to the Bay hacks, whose combination was a j revelation to their supporters. Another ! lino back in the Molueka. side was Silk, wing three quarter, who handles well and , has plenty of pace. But he had little to do, the ball seldom coming his way with anything like precision. Apart altogether from the result, of this match, the game proved conclusiveI ly that the Motueka-Goldcn Bay selectors should Held the host Scddon Shield team in recent years, and one which should have a splendid chance to bring , back the coveted trophy. i | THE PLAY | ! The teams lined out ns follows:j Golden Bay: Harwood; Courtenay,

Mann, R. Ilickmott; Rensemann, Smith; Iloliaia; hash, Wood, Roitch, Teague, .McKay, 0. Jlickmol.l, Dando, Hanson. Motueka: Rankin; Silk, Wright, Limn; Osborne, Fry; Kinzelt; MaeArIhur, Starnes. Funniore Park, Henderson, Askew, Buttress.

Attacking from the kick-off, Golden Ray swept play to the Motueka 25, where Mann /secured possession and opened up, play -swinging to (ho left wing, Hickmolt passing infield to I’enxomann, who dived over near the posts, llohaia converted. Ray 5, Motueka 0.

The game had not been in progress seven minutes when Rensemann, following the elusive llohaia, took a smart pass and raced over for his second try. llohaia this time failed (o convert. Ray 8, Motueka 0. Attacking with grim resolution, the Ray forwards continued to dominate the play, and another few minutes saw Mann take a reverse pass from the left wing and cut inlield between two opposing backs to touch down for a beautiful try, which was not converted. Ray 11, Motueka 0.

With 11 points up against them in almost as many minutes, the Motueka men began to put more life into their work, and it was Bay’s turn to defend. On two successive occasions the visitors were nearly over, but the defence was sound, all the Ray forwards toiling honestly in the tight. Smith at last gained relief with a short kick to a. gap. The forwards followed fast, but one of them infringed, and Motueka was awarded a free kick, which Fry sent, between the posts. Ray 11, Motueka 3. The next 10 minutes saw play confined practically to the Ray 25, with Motueka. making determined efforts to score. On more than one occasion a likely try was thrown away by faulty handling, Osborne, Fry, .Wright and Co. not combining at all well. Just before half-time Ray changed the venue of the game with a forward rush which went nearly the length of the field, but offside play lost the l advantage, and the spoil ended with play in mid-field. Golden Ray 11, Motueka 3. During the interval alterations in positions were made in both teams. In the Motueka side, Wright moved in to first five-eighth, Fry going to centre, while in the Bay team Smith replaced Harwood as full-back, the latter going out to the right wing, with Courtenay in the five-eighth line. Motueka. was the first, to swing into action, Fry throwing a long pass to Silk, who made a. slashing run down the line, eventually being tackled by Smith. Again Motueka went to the attack, and Silk bad an unsuccessful drop-kick from the field. Then the Ray forwards went away in a devastating forward rush, which took play well inside the Motueka 25. llohaia came round the scrum, and shot out a long pass to Mann, whose speed carried him over at the corner. Dando had no luck with the kick. Ray 14. Motueka 3.

The Bay team again dominated tho play, and* two or three, minutes later llohaia, obtaining possession from «.i scrum, beat two men, and sent the ball to Rensemann, to Mann, who threw a long pass to Ilickmott, who streaked for Lhe line, forcing his way over at the corner. Dando converted with a magnificent kick. Ray 19, Motueka 3. At this stage’, Rensemann, whoso hip had been injured early in the game, went off, being replaced by It. Hume. Ricking up in a ruck, Dando broke through tho forwards, passing to Holiaia, whose pass to Mann was intercepted by Fry, who went down the field with Sillin support. A Irv looked certain, but Smith made as though to go for Silk, but instead dived at Fry, at tile same time smothering tho pass. It was a clever piece of work. The Bay forwards then came through a ruck with the ball at their feet, and Hansen carried on to score in the corner, after a spectacular rush. Dando missed with the kick. Bay 22, Motueka 3. Within a couple of minutes of time. Silk, accepting a pass, from Kin/.eft, snapped the ball between Hie posts with a really clever drop-kick. Time sounded with the scores unchanged Golden Ray fl2, Motueka 7. Mr R. M. Kirk ably controlled tho game.