SPECTACULAR RUGBY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20983, 21 September 1931, Page 13

SPECTACULAR RUGBY.

I jifeAND TEAM'S SUCCESS. DEFEAT OF WELLINGTON. POINTS TO 19. In a spectacular exhibition of Rugby the •Iceland representatives defeated Welling. onJ tEdan Park on Saturday by 27 points Auckland scored five tries, three of •hitb Vere converted, and two penalty a nd Wellington's total was made i L four tries, two of which were con- ' and s penalty goal. Each side look plenty °* " s^s anc * although miswere made some brilliant movents were carried out, . it half-time Auckland led by 9 points foO. Wellington then made a fine rally added 8 points in a few minutes, but inland soou regained its lost grip of the -Me and rattled on three fine tries. The ' {coring then see-sawed until the end. Auckland was the superior side on the and thoroughly deserved its win. Haslam stood out for a fine all round game and paved the way for three tries scored by Caughey and scored another good tjyiußJelf-The Auckland defences covered tip much more quickly than those of the , opposition, and this in a large measuro sras responsible for the team's success. Excellent conditons prevailed and there vras an attendance of Hbout 15,000 spccta- • tors. The teams were as follows: Wellington.—Fullback, Pollock; threequarters,', Mackay, Page, Ball; fiveeighths, Griffiths, Kicholis; halfback, j|[by; wing-forward, Price; forwards, Jessup, Couiston, McLean, Barry, McJherson, Deidrich, Reid. Auckland.—Fullbacl<, Davies; threequarters, Millikon, Caughey, Hutchison; five-eighths, Uaslam, Jamiesou; halfback, Corner; wing-forward, Solomon; forwards, Hsdley, Fulrncr, -Finlayson, Knight, jjatty, Anderson, Satherley. Auckland won the toss and played trith the advantage of a strong sun and slight wind. Ihe Auckland forwards in smm loose rush gained considerable / ground until Page saved with a good line-kick. The Auckland backs were twice set in motion by Corner, first Haslara and then Caughey knocking on. Wellington hooked the ball from the first set scrum and the Auckland players came iotmd too fast and Nicholls macle a fine attempt at goal , from a few yards inside halfway. Sun Troublesome. The sun was troubling the Wellington > backs and Pollock was caught in possession by Knight, but Griffiths went round and saved nicely. Through the forwards gaining the ball from the loose and lineouts, the Auckland backs bad one or two chances, ..but their passing was poor. Nicholls beat Jamieson badly the first time he got the baD from Kilby, but on working his way back to his forwards his in-pass went astray. The Auckland forwards were gaining . (ho upper hand and once Knight broke clean away near halfway. On coming to Pollock he transferred to Anderson, the last-named missing a scoring opportunity by failing to take his pass. Auckland kept Wellington penned in its own half and a free kick against Price saw Davies raise the flags with a nice goal from just outside the twenty-five, fairly wide out. Auckland, 3; Wellington, 0. Satherley took the kick-off and cut the defence to ribbons and a try seemed certain until a poor pass spoiled the movement. However, Wellington was penalised under its own goal and Corner easily tacceeded with the kick. Auckland, 6; Wellington, 0. Fast Pace Maintained. Good play by Kilby placed Wellington h an attacking position and McLean was tackled 10yds. short of his objective. The tfA&cY was short-lived as Auckland was soon back. Corner making a good opening on the blind side from a scrum, but Ball tackled Milliken safely a few yards from the goal-line. Jessup went off for a few minutes with a slight injury. * The fast pace at which the game commenced was still being maintained. Davies twice drove Wellington back with magnificent line-kicks. Although Wellington was settling down better there was no linish to its "attack and one or two likely chances were missed. Failure by Pollock to find the line cost his side a lot of ground as great kicks by Davies placed Auckland in good positions. Haslam once cut through the opposition, but his failure to run straight crowded Caughey on thes touch-line. Satherley broke clean awav 'rora the line-out, but with two player's in support delayed his pass and a certain trj was lost. TLe Auckland rearguard was combiu ing better than the opposition and onlv sound defence kept Wellington's line intact. The Auckland forwards were gaining the ball from almost any position and although the backs had uumerous opportunities thoy failed to gain much ground. Wellington gradually worked down to the 'Auckland line, but a magnificent counterrush made by the home forwards and backs earned play the whole length of the tield. Corner set his backs going from a line-out and although a wild pass was sent oui by Haslam, Milliken gathered in find dashed over at the corner for a splendid try. Davies failed to convert, i Half-time came a few minutes later with the score:— Auckland • . • 9 Wellington .. •.- * .. 0 Wellington Rallies. Wellington used its backs right from ' the commencement of the second half. A tninute after the resumption, Kilby sent Nicholls away on the blind side, the Wellington captain making a nice opening before sending Barry over at the corner. Nicholls failed with the kick. Auckland, 8; Wellington, 3. Wellington was now playing much better, the forwards infusing far more dash J nto their effort while the backs were throwing the ball about at every opportunity. A fine cross-kick by Nicholls carried play light to the corner flag, rrom the line-out Kilby sent the backs j away and Page finished off a clever side- j stepping run with a brilliant try behind | the posts. Nicholls easily converted. Auckland, 9 ; Wellington, 8. Wellington was having the better of tho exchanges until Griffi'hs failed to take his Pass in a back attack. This let Auckland up and Haslam cut right through to ?- a S OOf J try. for Caughey well out. failed to convert. Auckland, 12; Wellington. 3. A little later Haslam was again conspicuous for splendid play. Cutting through the opposition he in-passed to 2?. m °n instead of sending the ball on. s caught the opposition unawares and ->anghey came up fasL to accept his pass ®nd score behind the posts. Corner easilv converted. Auckland. 17; Wellington, 3 A Fine Try. ril . v afterwards Haslam was again ♦ ' n , . ? picture and scored a brilliant Gaining possession near half-wav, he right through to Pollock. With j-aughey m support he sold tho Welling°n fu.lbaek a beautiful " dummy" and °uched down behind the posts. Corner converted. -Auckland, 22: WellingWellington after these reverses again °°k up the attack and Nicholls was sucessfnl from a penalty in a fairly handy Position. Auckland, 22; Wellington, 11. ® Wellington forwards seemed to tire e and after Corner made a nice run th° m . .' oose Haslam further improved tat O . si^'on - Caughey came up fast to *e his pass, outpace the opposition, and » try. Corner easily con«I rom ' n front of the posts. Auck--452 7' Ellington, 11. .L" minuses before time McLean an j ec L Wellington Between the posts °''°ck converted. Right on time V; ■wwd another try near the corner. endJ? to convert and tho game with the scoreton 19 P- E. Sutherland was referee.