NOTES ON THE GAME.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 13761, 28 May 1908, Page 6

NOTES ON THE GAME.

VISITORS' LACK OF CONDITION. A DISAPPOINTING DISPLAY. [BY TELEGRAPH.— KCIAI, CORRESPONDENT.] Wellington, Wednesday. Wellington won the game mainly on the condition of their forwards, and the fact that their backs showed themselves capable of retrieving their mistakes, which in several instances were changed into trumps simply by quickwittedness. Had the Anglo-Welshmen played in the first spell as they did in the second half, there is a slight probability that they might have won. In making a fair comparison between the capabilities of the two teams, it should be remembered that the visitors lost the services of Jackett, their fullback, for quite 40 minutes of the game, and that during this time they played with 14 men, although they were invited to effect a replacement by Roberts, the Wellington captain. Tho question as to which were the better men was quickly settled in the second naif, when the Anglo-Welshmen had run their score up to 13 points, and were only three points to the bad. The Wellington men immediately threw themselves into

t the vortex of the struggle, with all the - skill ' and strength „ for which they were - capable. The visitors had exactly the same i chance of stemming the tide, and, it possible, turning it into a victory, but they were manifestly not equal to the effort. Where the Anglo-Welshmen failed wao in. the fact -that when they , had chances w scoring amongst their backs they missed ; 5 a, number of them badly, and that their for- • wards did not evince sufficient untiring ' dus try. A number -A them, notably Wil- • liams'and Morgan, played a very hard game 3 in every-particular. The Wellington forwards " almost" invariably followed up in a body, 1 and it was only on a few occasions that c there was observed a solitary unit chasing up the leather. • An analysis of the Anglo-Welshmen's ' style of play shows that they are making • a mistake in committing themselves to the 1 introduction of the New Zealand wing-Sr-ward system, and at the same timekeeping 7 a scrum formation of threo-two-two. lis ' visitors' scrum to-day was at times a litt'e 3 more than a rabble," and then iu addition 1 they were handicapped by the infusion of 3 a winger who really knew very little about the game. ' Taking everything into consideration, I" there is no doubt that the visitors' play ' was rather disappointing. They had given ' an indication at Wairarapa- that they .vere ! decidedly an aggressive combination ' amongst their back division. but * to-day portions of ' the rearguaid ' failed lamentably. l'hey lost innumerable chances by long, insuf- : ficient passing, and in this repect " Pontv" j : Jones has a, lot to answer for. Then, j ! again, their backs evinced a selfishness totally at variance with the reputation of 1 such a team, and, generally, .in marked j contrast to the display of the Wellington i - backs. " j 1 It must be admitted that a, team widen ! can put.' on 13 points in one spell knows j 1 something about aggressive tactics. I'hft j • visitors scored this number in the second half, but it must be remembered that We 1 - lington scored 16 points in similar circum- * stances, and then, as a finale, added cm 3 another three points against the most adverse conditions. There is therefore .• bsolutely no doubt that Wellington proved themselves the better team. Summed up, one might say that the Anglo-Welsh men lost the game through . indecision and lack of condition. There , was a disposition in Harding's backs to k i bunch too much at times, as, for instance, I when Roberts scored the first, try for t ' ! Wellington from Green's pass, then again i when Roberts seemed to run straight j , through the visitors' ruck, and passed to j Hardham, who scored. The bunching in : this case seemed to be of a description i which allowed the Wellington skipper to i run as far as he could without being j touched by any one of the opposite side. j 1 ! In eleven minutes' plav the visitors ! ' j lost eight points by mistakes which ' ! should not have been permissible in an ' ! ordinary club fifteen. ' ; It is very probable that there was every ' j excuse for the next score by Wellington, | j that by Green, who slid over in a very ' j smart dash just on the visitors' goal-line, j but the same bunching of players was ; j apparent when Thomson badly beat the j 1 . colours and scored the try at half-time j I which brought Wellington's score up to j j 16 points.' > | j From the spectators' point of view it ■ ' ] was fortunate that Wellington proved | > themselves unreliable to a degree in de- ( • fence. Had it been otherwise the match i , would have been tame. With the visitors j t attacking desperately, however, and scor- j j ing, and with Dykes' magnificent place- j , 1 kicking, the issue was in doubt right up ; to nearly the end of the game, when Mit- ; chinson" scored the try which practically j settled all chances of the visitors winning j so far as they were concerned. Wellington "all-round played, a good and attractive game. They scrummed well, their forwards broken up and followed up smartly, and their backs seldom hesitated to throw the ball about wlien occasion de- < manded that procedure. Roberts possibly might- be charged with showing suspicions of selfishness, but, with few exceptions, the other players never hesitated to hand the ! ball about to comrades who happened to be in a better position than themselves.; Although the Wellington forwards were superior in the scrum generally, in follow-' ing up, and also on the line-out, and theic backs were much better at passing, the Anglo-Welshmen may be said to have taken' j the honours at kicking. . Dyke's place-, i kicks over the goal from different angles were features in themselves, while the same player was also very successful with his touch-line kicks. It is perhaps only in this department of the game that the visitors were superior. ; The most noticeable back on tho field j was Green, the Wellington halt', who play- | ed with'the shrewdness of a veteran. lie i worked, kicked, and passed in quite tho approved style, and although ho was one i«f the lengthy list of players who were temporarily incapacitated, he stuck to his work through thick and thin, and came out' with flying colours.