ASHES REGAINED.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20977, 14 September 1931, Page 11

ASHES REGAINED.

WIN FOR ALL BLACKS. WALLABIES SUFFER DEFEAT. VISITORS' GOOD REARGUARD. BUSH KICKS FIVE GOALS. The only Rugby test between the All Blacks and the Wallabies was played at Eden Park on Saturday, and resulted in a win for the All Blacks by 20 points to 13. Tho All Blacks' score was made by two tries, ono of which was . converted by Bush, who also kicked four penalty goals. Bush kicked magnificently and as a result 11 of New Zealand's points were registered by him. Tho Wallabies scored three tries, two of which were converted by Boss.

By their success the All Blacks have regained tho ashes lost to Australia two seasons ago. In the first spell tho Wallabies had all the better of the play and scored three really brilliant tries. The All Blacks settled down better in the second half, during which the visitors failed to score.

Tho match was really a duel between the All Black forwards and the Wallabies' backs. The visiting rearguard gave a fine exhibition of polished passing, \#iich was in strong contrast to that of the All Black backs. Its speed and accurate handling, with penetration by tho inside men, always made it a dangerous attacking force. The. All Black inside hacks were extremely disappointing, Strang and Lilburne repeatedly taking their passes standing and their tackling being weak at times. Corner was not in the same form as that which gained him All Black honours last season, and at times sent out some impossible passes. Page, who replaced Oliver, in spile of the fact that the inside men were at fault, was disappointing except for good defence. Threequarters Starved. It was a great pity to see Hart and Ball having to make their own opportunities. Hart, especially, played a very good all-round game. Credit for the All Blacks' rather lucky win must, therefore, to a great extent be handed to the fine goalkicking of Bush and the work of the pack, especially in the second spell. The match was played under'splendid weather conditions, the ground being in good order. There was an attendance of about 15.000 spectators. The teams were as follows: ALL BLACKS. Fullback. —R. G. Bush. Threequarters.—N. Ball, R. Tage, G. F. Hart. Five-eighths.—ll. Lilburne, W. A. Strang. Halfback. —M. Corner. Wing-forward.—F. Solomon. Hookers.—A. I. Cottrell, E. Jessup. Lock.—E. B. G. Steere. Supports. —G. i'urdue, D. Max. Back Row. —W. Batty, T. Metcalfe. WALLABIES. Fullback. —A. W. Ross. Threequarters.—'W. Hemingway, C. H. Towers, D. L. Cowper, H. Tolhurst. Five-eighths. —J. Steggall. Halfback. —S. J. Malcolm. Front Row.—M. R. Blair, E. Bonis, W. H. Cerrutti. Middle Row.—M. White, B. Judd. Back Row.—J Clark, T. Perrin, L. J. Palfrey ma n. Strang captained the All Blacks and Malcolm led the Wallabies.

The All Blacks won the toss and played with the sun and slight wind. Immediately following the kick-off a scrum was formed, the All Blacks hooking the ball, but Corner was caught in possession. Steccall intercepted a pass from Corner brilliantly and started a passing movement which gained considerable ground and earned the applause of the spectators. The All Blacks retaliated, and Strang made a fme cross-kick, which had Ross in trouble. Hart dashed up while the visiting fullback was waiting for the bounce, kicked on and gathered possession well, to score well out unopposed. Bush landed a fine goal. All Blacks 5 Wallabies . . ■ • . . 0 Malcolm Shines. The All Black forwards were being penalised for offside, and play was being confined to the home team's quarters until Ball fielded a cross-kick and found the line well in the Wallabies' territory with a great kick. The visiting backs were throwing the ball about from all positions, and Malcolm shone out in clever play behind the scrum. The All Blacks were in a good attacking position in the visitors' twenty-five but the advantage was lost when" Lilburno dropped his pass in a hack attack. Good play by Steggall saw the Wallabies in a likely position, a touch-in-goal resulting. Twice Lilburno was conspicuous for lieadv play, and twice all advantage was lost, 'through Tape failing to gather his pass cleanly. 'lhe Wallabies were gaining a little more of the ball from the scrums, but the backs made little headway. The first time the whole All Black back line handled the ball correctly Hart beat Tolhnrst, who, however, chased and lowered the All Black threequnrter. It was then the Wallabies' turn. Malcolm started a movement cleverly and Steggall made a splendid opening before drawing Bush. Steggall transferred to

Cowper, who outpaced the opposition and scored behind the posts. Ross easily added the goal points. All Blacks .. .. *.- 5 Wallabies .. .. ..-5 A few minutes later Bush landed a magnificent goal from a penalty about five yards inside halfwa^. All Blacks . , . s . > 8* Wallabies 5 Belter passing by the Wallabies and superior speed gave the visitors the advantage, the All Blacks being kept on defence. Towers then made a lovely opening and with no support when reaching Bush kicked. Judd gathered possession and Towers came up fast on the outside to accept a pass and score near the posts. Boss converted. Wallabies 10 All Blacks . , . . • • 8 Second Try for Towers. The Wallabies were now throwing the ball about in fine style and gained applause for several spectacular movements. Steggall made a splendid opening by beating the All Black five-eighths, and in a (lash Towers was up alongside him to accept his pass and score a fine try near the posts. From a free charge Ross missed the goal points. Wallabies 13 All Blacks 8 The All Blacks made a brief attack and Bush just missed at goal from a penalty near halfway. A few minutes later the fullback was successful with another magnificent kick. Wallabies 33 All Blacks 11 In the few minutes remaining before the spell the Wallabies had all the better of the exchanges, but there was no further scoring. The All Black forwards commenced the second spell with more dash, but a penalty and a magnificent kick by Ross drove 'them back. The All Blacks maintained the attack, but the passing of the backs was too slow and deliberate. Short kicks bv the visiting backs had the home team troubled. The two fullbacks came into prominence for good kicking, and then clever play by Malcolm placed the Wallabies on attack, a force down eventually resulting. Batty broke clean away from the loose but kicked and Ross saved nicely. Then Bush landed his third penalty goal with another great kick from well out. A little earlier the fullback had narrowly missed with another free kick. All Blacks 14 Wallabies 13 The All Blacks were now continually on the attack and Steggall stood out for some fine defensive 1 work. A bad offside by a visiting forward outside his twentyfive gave Bush another opportunity and the fullback again raised the flags. All Blacks 17 Wallabies . . . . . . 13 The Wallabies took a brief turn on attack during which Ross was unlucky when his penalty kick hit the upright. Clever passing by Page, Strang and Hart drove the attack back past halfway. The All Black backs were given several chances, but generally a bad pass spoiled the opportunity. The All Blacks had the better of the remaining exchanges, and just on time Corner made a clever opening on the blind side. Solomon further improved the position and drew Ross before sending on to Ball. The All Black wing took advantage of his only real opportunity during the match by scoring wide out. Bush failed to convert and the game ended with the scoreAll Blacks 20 Wallabies 13 Mr. S. Hollander, Christchurch, was referee, DEPARTURE FOR ROTORUA. TOUR DRAWING TO CLOSE. The Australian Rugby team left by motor yesterday morning for Rotorua. From there it will proceed to Napier to play Ha-wke's Bay on Wednesday. The ! match against Taranaki will be played on Saturday, and the tour will be brought to a close with a game against Waikato at Hamilton on Wednesday week. The visitors will return to Auckland after the Waikato match and will leave for Sydney from Auckland on the Friday following. RANFURLY SHIELD MATCH. CANTERBURY DEFEATS OTAGO MARGIN OF 17 POINTS TO SIX. [BY TELEGRAPH. —PRESS ASSOCIATION.] CHRISTCHURCH. Saturday. By 17 points (five tries, one being converted) to 6 (a try and a penalty goal), Canterbury beat Otago to-day in a challenge match for the Ranfurly Shield. The weather was fine and the ground was in perfect order. The game had many fast movements, but the chief feature of it was the speed and thrust with which Canterbury broke away in scoring their tries. Splendid backing up gave the Canterbury team an attacking finish, which Otago lacked. OUgo had most weight in the forwards and had the lion's share of the ball from the scrums, but were not so successful in the line-outs. In the first half, the 01 ago forwards appeared to play sluggishly, but speeded up in the second half. They had not, however, enough scoring power themselves against Canterbury's good defence, and their backs had not sufficient penetuition in the centre. Many of the Otago passing movements went almost straight actoss the field. Indeed, the side was deficient in attacking tactics. Their spoiling work was admirable and for a great deal of the game they had a territorial advantage, but Canterbury's superiority in scoring ability made them definitely the better side.

Canterbury won the toss and played with the wind in the first half, which advantage enabled them to run up a score of 14 points to nil at half-time. Tries were scored by Day, Hazlehurst, Sweeney (converted by Roberts) and Innes. In the second half Otago scored six points fairly early. Mullan was penalised for lying on the ball and Souter kicked n good goal. Robilliard scored a try at tho corner. The last score of the match was a try scored by Dunshea wide out after a. fine passing bout, which took the ball from Canterbury's sido of the halfway lino.