RUGBY FOOTBALL

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21529, 28 June 1933, Page 17

RUGBY FOOTBALL

fTHE SENIOR CHAMPIONSHIP • INTERESTING TEAM POSITIONS MOST POINTS TO SLYFIELD Last Saturday's series of games completed the first round of what is proving to! bo a particularly interesting senior championship competition in Auckland. There having as yet been no interruption by representative matches, all clubs, save University, which was without several of its players during the Australian universities' -tour, havo been practically at full strength, with the result that competition has been keen and the standard of play hi'gh. •

Ponsonby, which acted as runner-up last year, leads University by ono point, with Grammar, last year's champion side, Grafton and Marist equal in third place. The remaining positions ore taken by Training College, Otahuhu. College Rifles, Manukau and Technical in that order. The individual performances of many tof the leading players have been worthy of praise, and it is interesting to note that the scorer of most points so far is A. J. Slyfield, of Grammar, who has been in senior football a comparatively short time. His tally at; present is 51. Next comes Paton, Grafton's fullback, with 46, and Townsend, fcf Training College, 43 points. Jamieson's Usefulness Ponsonby has in some respects been Jperhaps fortunate to go to the top of the< ladder, considering that besides being beaten once and having one draw, it has on some occasions only just evaded defeat. Jamieson has been playing consistently well and he is now developing into a very useful man with his boot. His kicking has helped to place him fourth in the list of individual scorers, with 28 points.

Solomon continues to stand out as s fast-breaking forward, and lately he has been playing more like a back. This was very noticeable last Saturday in the game against Marist. PonBonby packed only seven men in the set scrums, Solomon standing off and joining in the back movements with much success.

University was unfortunate in that it suffered two defeats when weakened by the absence of its leading players, but it has settled down again and its chances of winning the championship are very good. University's chief strength lies in the backs, who, besides being fine individualists, combine well. Caughey is fulfilling all the promise he showed last season.

Hard Working Forwards

The wings, Milliken and Kedgley, are both very difficult men to stop, and being well fed by Caughey, who frequently draws his man and makes things as easy for his wing as possible before passing to him, take full advantage of their opportunities. Bush is /very sound, and has been kicking this season with tremendous power. The forwards form one of the hardest working vanguards in the competition. Grammar, which was successful last year, i 3 not doing as well this season as was expected. This is perhaps due to the fact that the standard of its forward play has fallen off considerably. There has also been a great deal of alteration in the formation of the backs, so that they have not been able to wnrk up a good combination. However., Corner is now playing at the top of his form, and keeps the rearguard well supplied. Slyfield ia doing well at five-eighths and his ability at placekicking alone would make him an asset to any side. A team that has improved wonderfully this year is' Grafton, which finished up last season at the bottom of the list. Credit is due to the pack of fast forwards, and to the good showing of the fullback, Paton, whose defence, line-kicking and place-kicking have been a feature of all Grafton s games. He shares with Slyfield the distinction of scoring points in every game so far, which is commendable when it is remembered that he is practically a newcomer to Rugby football, being an ex-Y.M.C.A. feoccef player. Improvement of Marist Marist is also showing a return to the standard of a few years ago and with such, a conscientious leader as S. Hadley it should finish the season near the top. Training College, essentially a young team, has bad several gcod wins. Townsend, its first five-eighths, is the most outstanding player, and he has scored more than half the team s points. Otahuhu is not doing quite so wel ai expected, but it is making good showings against the more experienced teams. The suburban club has been distinctly unfortunate in regard to injuries to its best players. Manukau and Technical, tho two bottom teams, have both hefen disappointing, but the former again has the services of Heazlewood, whose support will give the team confidence. Zron<; Bow ol Scrummage

" Sport," Cambridge, writes: —Is it illegal to play only two men in the front row fct the scrum ? I understand that in the South many clubs have reverted to the 2—3—2 scrum, allowing, of course, only the Offside front row man to hook and only with his outside foot. Before, however, trying this, I want to be sure that it is legal.' The practice of playing two men in the front row is not illegal, as the rule states that it is illegal for,more than three players to form the front row of a scrummage. With two front row men playing against three, however, it would be practically impossible for the side playing two to secure the ball from the scruni3. The law relating to hooking used to permit the raising of feet once the ball had passed a foot of a player on either side, but now it reads as follows: —No player jn a scrummage shall raise a foot off the ground or advance either foot beyond the line of feet of the front rowforwards until the ball is fairly in the scrummage, and the first three feet ot the front row forwards of each team on the side on which the ball is being /put in shall not be so raised or advanced until the ball has passed them. It will be seen, therefore-, that with the ball being put in on the "loose Lead" side of a three-men front row, the chances of the two men securing .possession .are jail.—rAthletic .Editor.