KOHN SHIELD RUGBY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19417, 27 August 1926, Page 15

KOHN SHIELD RUGBY.

WELLINGTON KEEPS TROPHY. DEFEAT OF CHRISTCHURCH. TWENTY-ONE POINTS TO NIL. The Wellington Tramways Rugby team easily retained possession of th<? Kohn Shield, at Eden Park yesterday afternoon by defeating Christchurch Tramways in the final match by 21 points to 0. The weather was ideal and except for a soft patch in mid-field the ground was in good order. The game was hardly as interesting as the game on Tuesday when Wellington beat Auckland by 9 points to 6. . • ' . Wellington's win was well earned, for it was by far the better team and played a superior game in ail respects. It was seen at its best in the second spell when the backs got fully into their stride and harassed the defence with frequent sharp passing bouts. But for a tendency on the part of the inside backs to run across the field and crowd the wings on the sideline Wellington would have won by a larger margin. While the holders played for their victory they were aided to an appreciable extent by the off-side tactics of the Christchurch forwards, seme of whom displayed poor knowledge of the rules. Frequent stoppages for injuries—there were more than a dozen, and the Christchurch players were generally the sufferers—formed another feature of the game. All the Wellington backs were prominent., Walters attracting most attention, while Malm performed, a great deal of work among the forwards. Turpin played an outstanding game as rover for Christchurch and Holmes and Prebble gave glimpses oi' attractive play in the fiveeighths line. The forwards were an even lot. By winning the toss Christchurch had | a strong sun behind them. Consequently | " up-and-under " tactics were exploited with a good deal of success although the defence could not be penetrated. For most of the spell the game was spoiled by injudicious " speculating " and neither side seemed anxious to open up the game. Wellington opened its score when Walters landed a penalty goal. Christchurch replied with a lively attack only to be driven back and just before the interval Elliott made the scores: Wellington, 6; Christchurch, 0. The second half which was much more interesting, saw Wellington invariably on the attack. - Nicholls, Taylor, Lloyd, Debrencey and Elliott scored tries, none of which were convorted, and Wellington won by 21 to 0. PRESENTATION CEREMONY. SUCCESS OF COMPETITIONS. There was an attendance of over 500 at a smoke concert given by the Auckland City Tramways Club last evening in honour of members of- the visiting Christchurch and Wellington tramway Rugby football teams. Mr. J. A. Warnock, -Deputy-Mayor, presided. The Kohn Shield was presented to Wellington by Mr. E. Kohn. Mr. Leah, accepted the shield on behalf of the team, and Mr. W. Malin, team captain, replied to Mr. Kohn's remarks. The Morgan Banner, the Association football trophy, was presented to the Epsom Depot Club. , , Mr. Warnock mado reference to the record of the shield competitions. Twelve matches had been played since the shield was presented by Mr. A. Kohn in 1910. Wellington had won seven Of the matches and Auckland five. Every endeavour was being made to have Dunedin entered in the competitions. The exchange of visits had undoubtedly resulted in the existence of good feeling between the tramway men in the different centres. An enjoyable musical programme was given.