RUGBY FOOTBALL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 19039, 9 June 1925, Page 6

RUGBY FOOTBALL.

FINAL UNIVERSITY MATCH. EXCITING FINISH TO GAME. COMMENTS ON THE PLAYERS. A more exciting finish to a representative football match than that in tho third test between the Sydney University Rugby team and the New Zealand University fifteen at Eden Park on Saturday lias' rarely been provided. Whatever fault might be found with the earlier part of the game the concluding stage certainly left little, to be desired. The display given by the visitors indicated that had tho best fifteen been available for the trip to tho Dominion New Zealand would have been hard-pressed to win the rubber. One of the features of the contest was the fine defence by the Sydney team in the second half, after having had somewhat the better of play in the first spell. For a long time it seemed as if tho visitors would carry the day. It was only in the last few minutes that their defence collapsed under persistent attacks and New Zealand's desperate efforts to overtake their score wore rewarded. It cannot be said the standard of play on the whole came up to expectations. The game was fast and open, with flashes of brilliancy, but was marred by wild passing and poor handling. Numerous i good scoring chances on both sides were | lost through these faults. The Sydney Players. The Sydney forwards gave a good account of themselves, particularly in tho set scrums, from the majority of which they got the ball, although it was seldom heeled out cleanly. The New Zealand pack held its own in tho loose and had the upper hand at tho finish. The work of. the visiting backs, among whom there are several very fast men, improved considerably as tho game progressed, and their defence for the greater part of the game was sounder than that of the opposing back division. The Sydney fullback, Williams, -who was severely tested, gave a first-class display. His tackling was sound and his kicking good. Johnson, a wing-threequarter with plenty of pace, was very consistent and took a lot of stopping. He handled the ball well. Although Tilbury missed a number of passes when in a good position some of them were very poor, and he was often a source of trouble to the New Zealanders. Pratt was the best of the inside backs and played a good game all through. His passes generally were crisp. McDermott made a* very unimpressive start, his handling in the early part of the game being poor, but he settled down later on and made amends for his mistakes. He has a great turn of speed and showed considerable cleverness. The visiting forwards showed more dash than the New Zealand vanguard and combined well with their backs in passing movements. They showed good footwork in clearing their line in the second spell, but the repeated attacks which they were called on to withstand told on them and they seemed to tire toward the end. Wiseman and Flynn were generally in the picture. , s The New Zealand Backs. The New Zealand University fullback, Stevenson (Otago), got through a lot of work with credit, not only saving well but also putting his side on attack again. Malfroy, the fast wing-threequarter from Wellington, made a very favourable impression for he played a fine game, seldom making a mistake. He has plenty of determination and is a dangerous scoring, back. He was probably tho best of the New Zealand backs. Olsen, on the other wing, was patchy, but did a lot of good work. His tackling was sound. Murray (Otago), the centre-threequarter, gave a very fair display. The main weakness of the New Zealand back division was in tho five-eighths line. Both Shaw (Canterbury) and Gilberd (Otago) were weak on defence. They showed brilliancy on attack at times, but often spoiled promising openings by holding on too long or sending on a bad pass. Gilberd proved very elusive but tried to go too far. Shaw paved the way for New Zealand's first try, by snapping up the ball and making a nice opening for Malfroy by cutting in cleverly. Brodie (Canterbury) played a solid game behind the scrum and was sound on defence. ' Among the New Zealand forwards the most prominent were O'Regan (Wellington), Millar (Auckland), Martin-Smith (Wellington), and McKenzie (Wellington). Miles (Auckland) also worked well. O'Regan had the satisfaction of kicking the penalty goal that decided the match. It was a fine kick. Final Game of the Tour. The final match of the Sydney team's tour will be played at the Domain tomorrow, when the visitors will meet the Auckland University fifteen. Judging from Saturday's game the local players will be up against a tough proposition, but a bright display of football should be witnessed. Tho Auckand team is as follows :—Fullback, Blakey; threequarters, Macken, Olsen, Sinclair; five-eighths, Carter, Hamilton; halfback, Cashmore; rover, Keene; forwards, Miles, Brooker, Stone, Anderson, Brendel, Keegan, Millar. ' THE SECONDARY SCHOOLS. J ■ GOOD GAMES ANTICIPATED. The secondary schools Rugby competition this season promises, to be very interesting. Auckland Grammar, after a convincing victory over Sacred Heart, were beaten by Hamilton High School last week, while Mount Albert Grammar and King's College, last year's champions and-runners-up respectively, played a drawn game at Middlemorc on Saturday. In their game against Hamilton the Auckland Grammar backs were rather handicapped by tho fact that the game was played under New Znaland rules The backs of both sides in the M ounf; Albert Grammar-King's game gave bright displays and should produco bright football later in tho season. Both teams were also sound on defence. The game was a very even one, although King's showed a slight superiority as they had the ball from the great majority of the scrums. > The backs were evenly matched. Vosper, at centre-threequarter for the homo team, played a fine game, in spite of the handicap ot an injured jaw. Simpson was safe at fullback, and McCrystal played a good attacking game at half. In the King's forwards Forbes, Mirrielees and Gillett were conspicuous for good hard work. Mounti Albert Grammar's backs showed up well when they got the ball, and they should develop into quite as good a combination as last season's. Jenkin at first five-eighths was a tower of strength and was an able leader. Butler got through a lot of strenuous work very creditably at naif back while Monk was sound at centre. Howell impressed favourably at fullback, handling well 'and coming up nicely with the ball. The Mount Albert forwards could do with a great deal of improvement. Johnston and Kinnear, however, played welL TAURANGA V. TE PUKE. [BY XELEGEAPH. —OWN CORRESPONDENT. ] TAD BANG A. Monday. A representative team will play the To Puke representatives at To Puke on Saturday. The Tauranga team is as follows: —Backs, G. Tangitn, C. Haua, G. Hes, P. Ngatai, L. Bourke, D. Borell, P. Reweti; forwards: D. Tapeta, Camble, T. Tangitu, D. Nathan, McKinnon, Turner, C. Faulkner, H. Barton. Emergencies: Forwards, C. Borell,- G, Mason; backs, J % Bourke, Bidos..