RUGBY FOOTBALL

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22191, 19 August 1935, Page 13

RUGBY FOOTBALL

SENIOR CHAMPIONSHIP GRAPTON BEATS UNIVERSITY PLAY ON HEAVY GROUNDS By defeating University in the principal game at Eden Park on Sat.trJay Graftcm retained its leading position in th>s senior championship o; the Auckland Rugby Union. Grafton now leads by one point from Technical Old Bovs, while Marist is one point behind, followed by Grammar, Otahuhu and University, and the ultimate -winner of tho competition seems as difficult to pick as ever. The sole selector to the New Zealand University Rugby Football Council, Mr. P. Martin-Smith, was p-enent to watch the Auckland University fifteen in its match with Grafton, victory going to the latter team by nine points/ to three, as a result of allround superiority. It was found after the match that R. G. Bush, tho University captain, had broken a lone in his hand, although he continued to play throughout the game. Conditions were fairly heavy on all grounds, and Marist owed much oi' its Buccets to its forwards in b?ating Manukau on the No. 2 ground by eight points to five. Technical Olct Roys defeated Grammar Old Boys by 12 pointii to CI, after an even contest at the Show Grounds, and Ponsonby caused a surprise by beating Otahuhu at Stirpes Park by 16 points to 7. A secondary schools' match played es a curtsiin-raiser on No. 1 ground resulted in a win for Sacred Heart College over Stratford High Schsol by 20 points 'to 3. On No. 2 ground the Auckland 'Grammar School second fifteen beat Rotorua High School by 15 point* to mil. Following, are the results of the inatciaes: — Grufton, 9; University, 3. Marist, I?; Manukau, 5. Technical, 12; Grammar, 3. Po:ir>onby, 16; Otahuhu, 7.

SUPERIOR FORWARDS GFtAFTON BEATS UNIVERHTY Grafton showed a fairly definite a'l-iound superiority to defeat University by i joints to 3 in the principal match at Eden i?ark. A heavy ground and Blippery ball landicippid both sides, but the more intensive ■work of the Grafton forwards, couplsd with * valuable nense of opportunism, prove! the deciding factor. Actually the game was fairly evun, and both teams had lengthy periods wh»n they »et ip sustained attacks. The first try came 15 minutes after the start. *ien a "University movement broke down. :tni the Grafton forwards, hard on the ball, swung play out to their backs. A kick infield, ■which looked almost like a pot j,t goal, was well fielded by Bunting, who icored by the posts. Paton missed an eaiiy kick. Thereafter there was a period )f even eifihijiges, but University, ill. spite <f the three poict-e against it, had aliel tl;' the l)etter of the first apell. Favourt-d with the wind in the second half, it snemed that University should have an ncellent change of victory, but on the res an ption of play its defepce was twice caught napping. Firnt Inglis dashed round 'Vw aide of a scrum to score. and a few mnutes later a perfect dribbling rush carrie 1 the ball past flueh, for Neal to follow ui> and fall iim it for a try. University's only score ttnui later, when Mulvihill, who hid made fine dashes, went through vita the iall lit toe for Drake to touch dowi. None tlie-thne tries was converted. In some respects the game was a strange conti'ad.ction of form. The Univrmitr forwards dominated the line-outs. whuri Gib»on performed brilliantly, and wer>! I>y no means outclassed in the set »crum*. However, H. Inglis marred an otherwiie jeound gamit by occasional erratic passes iroin the base of th> scrum, unc. Mulvihill *ai hamperm! by the over-zealous attention» oil Neal and the Grafton breakaways, wlO were ofteir; on top of him too quicker to .be then) lega'ly. In spite of that, \ht Uni▼ers:ty five-eighth played an admirable gams, and his low tackling was ai good as anything seen at Eden Park thii (eason. Tl:e other University backs had nlso to contsnd w:th the spoiling piny of this Grafton reargtard, and their work suffered in comiequence. Bush played a reiy steady gains at fallback. Tie Gra'ton forwards, although th<T were bealen in Ihe line-outs, and could nol claim any markud advantage in the set, iterums. weriii far more dangerous as a pick: than the University men. Roddick. Bun ;iiig, Anderaon anil Mills were the pick cf i» very sound pack. The Grafton backi issayed Ten 1 little ,in the way of combin *d work, but Inglii and Neal combined Msl and plaj ed wi; h plenty of dash. Kill sen, still nursing his injured knee, played lit fullback, anc. in addition to kicking well, ofts:n made ground by "dummy ini:" his way through the University forwardn. Had he i>een playing outside Neal, Grar:as.'a victory might have been more decisive. I'ir. A. E. Austin was referee. VICTORY FOR TECHNICAL GRAMMAR OLD BOYS BKATEN Stout defence by its backs and 3nt loosp plajr among the forwards gave Technical Olti Boys a victory over Grammar Old Boys at i:he Bht)w Grounds by 32 points to 3. Six of points, however, weiw from # mark and a penalty goal, and Vj*?re was litlile between the teams until tie closing stages of the game. '!hat th»* ultimate Tpsnlt would reit with tht! forwards was shown by the finst few ha.:k movements. Grammar was felting a goad share of the bnll from set sc; Turns. bnt this defence of the Technical backi nas impenetrable—only once in the El ml! were th:y at fjult, and on that occasi in Gramfflur scored a very fine try. The Grammar jjluyers tried the stab kick in var: ine their T|lui, but the safe work of Turliotjt, the Technical fullback, checked this Jiioie. Tbi> Technical backs received few c istces of •tlacking, and they also were confronted by a sourd defence. Each line of :ia :ks was hiinnered 'by the attention' paiil to the Jniide nun by the forwards. Ihe forward struggle was a keen and exciting tine, with the honours faii'lj evenly diitributed. Grammar una superior in the s*t scrums, but Technical wisely t;n:ped 31cK'lnzie. t fine loose forward, in lh( wintrloi'ward (position. The loss of height it the scrum was more than made ?!' by h:is marking of the opposing Wtide backs. Grammar in (urn ven> quick to choke any attacks by the Technical busks.

Line-or/. work wns of n high standard. Wj.Kh August and TWber. for Technical, and willett, Lockington and Morgan, J'or GrurriWiir, figuring in a keen struggle lor posses•imi. Grnmmar was not lit its hi'ft in the Jc<>se game, whereas Technical played with •liergy combination, gainimg much gissund until loose rushes. I Jnrbot't whs an effective last linn of de"*nP* * o: ', Te6liriic.il, his positional play Waking hi* task locik easier thai it was. -oS'S tackling was never in -doubl, but hi? clearing kicks, although they alu nyii found "B line, <2id not gain the amount of have. Murdoch gave a e'jod individual displsr when oifip:rl unity tiered. Of the forwards, -Ansley v-b* prominent thronghoii'. while August it'nt) Weber weie a pair whose rushes were ha: d to ston. »i!i v ®' fullback for G ramus!,r, gained ucb gipunc] with line kicks, hint forward ".sues Bi»trn';d to trouble hi* defence, Swnin i.V n of cltna hand] m; behind tk« r nillD '," lr "ernni. and utood ::p w-ell to tiii+t'i *he opposing forwards, 'ilrfl • ° n * wing, p.hc'wed itpo?d and fn»J mua V J't'ckiugton whs thr est for-Iri-n. . 8 Mcßeath and Don irtsre pron tight iinf ] 1 00 ,. pi„ y . ltltll Oldbury and Aiu'ey scored. i ml v' 13 -!?'''' fro "' B from " pcnjlty and tnU 1 Gr «£niur. Spittai 'j.'aj the »iaiy set rer. G. Peace was referee. AN EVEN CONTEST Ijfc'lv j[: . MANUKAU'S IMPROVED if'ORM !l iU » Irr>ll P , ' Bt fiftfen on No. Itecent ° a aecon,,t of Minnktu'e llorublr r/ < f m iV v ' lls elpected l t' 'V in <"omilaid - D iS • Bcrt?lQi ftnt * iJ > ! u nK üßsU^rioru ßsU^ rior ha * dHn i a,« 3 peneiaiW n % pmtiU - n »"e»Ti, with the udviatahowever, after tiie interval l»»ay .5j * *V breeze, held complete in not <;iv;.'ding the

Maris! opened its account a minute after the commencement. Smith racing across at the corner alter Curtnyne had placed the opposing backs out of position by neatly punting over their huads. Manukau immediately made amends. Flett and Pearce taking a high limit together near Marist's line and crashing jcross. Flett being awarded a try which Berridge converted. The deciding points came when Smith, receiving a long minster from Curtayne. paved the way by sidestepping Carrington before sending infield to Fitzgibbon. who went over unopposed for Curtayne to convert. From this stag? Manukau's defence was very sound, lov: tackling and splendid ri'sh-stopping keeping Marist at bay. The half-time sco:re was:—Marist, S; Manukati. 5. On resuming play Manukau took the offensive, and was unlucky when a penalty kick from half-way by Berridge struck the cioss-bnr. The vanguard worked willingly against the heavier Xlarist pack, while the hacks improved grea'tly, displaying crisp passing and accurate handling. At every oi>oprtunity Berridge raced his rearguard into position, and llarist experienced many uncomfortable niofnents. Occasionally the Marist vanguard broke away, but its advantage was always ithort-lived. Elliott played soundly for the victors. He was given a great amount of work in the second spell, but cane through without a blemish. Sntith also was prominent, and when in possession v,-as a decided danger. The Marist pack played vigorously in the first spell, but tired toward the finish, when Manukau secured mere regular possession. Kereol>a was a tower of strength in the Manukau scrum, being also conspicuous for excellent dashes un the loose. Berridge was the best player o:n the field, and in the first half repeatedly extricated the losers from despemte situations, bis handle of the wet ball being brilliant. He marred an otherwiee excellent display by being caught in possession once or twice by the bustling Marist forwards. Bri:nble revealed fine defence, while Beveral of his attacking moves had the defence beaten. Manukau was very unlucky when, with, n few minutes to play. Brimble ess,aye>d a lield goal, which rebounded from an uptight. The game ended with Manukau attacking desperately. Mr. J. Fmjayson lias referee. POINTS TO PONSONBY OTAHUHU FAILS TO LAST Ponsonby scored a well-merited win over Olahuhu at Sturget, Park by 16 pointß to 7. The strong wind and rain-squalls militated against good football, but a high standard of team play was shown by the winners. Forwards and backs co-operated well, and Ponsonby's strength ia defence confined Otahubu's scores to a :Geld and penalty goal. Otahuhu faced the* wind in the first half and, after Carter had all but ecored for Ponsonby, Beyer essayed a shot from a penalty. Ti.e effort; v.as cleared and Pearson, gathering splendidly, kicked a fine field goal from 35 yards. A few minutes later the same player was unfortunate when the bounce of the ball prevented a certain try. A bac's run by Otahuhu saw Ramsay cleverly intercept and run from midfield to score m?ar the corner, Jameson's kick missed.

Otabuhu harrassed the opposition and Hayden and Hedge twice went close to scoring. From the clearing kick Pearman received outside the 25 yards line and dropped a field goal. Poitsonby came again and F. Solomon, playing wing-forward, sent Rnmsay over Jatr.eson's angle kick fell short. Solomon and Hedge made ground and a melee in front of the Ponsonby posts yielded a penalty, which B»yer turned to account. A likely chance was missed when Knight kicked ovej' the dead line when unopposed. Half-time arrived with the scores:—Ponsonby, 10; Otahnhu, 7. ' Ponsonby pressed and F. Solomon opened a way for Cleghorn, who sent Knight over "tmopposed. Peanngi t*s Icicle znisßed. Otahuhu rallied and C.. Willi* m* and Pearson combined well, but Solomon failed to re-ach a long pass near the line. Carter intercepted in another Otahuhu attack, and F. Solomon carried on to send Knight over beneath the posts. Pearman failed to convert. There was no further scoring. All the Ponsonby backs played soundly, with Jameson and Frankham outstanding- The latter received every opportunity behind the scrum, and frequently sent his supports away. F. Solomon roved at. will ami functioned mostly as an extra inside back with success. Ponsonby's puck dominated play aft«r the first 15 minutes ; its scrummaging and following np being superior. Knight and Cleghorn "were oln j' inent in fist breaking rushes, with Bond and M. Fraser doing good work in the "Beyer wiis sound lit fullback for Otahuhu. The inside backs i'ailed to impress, both Hedge and "Williams being patchy. Pearson playeci a sterling game at centre and his covering up on defence saved many an awkward itituation. Moyle, at half, played a fine game in the first spell, but later received too much attention from the opposing forwards and too littlp of the ball to snow to advantage. The pack was ragged, with Breed, Ross and Jury impressing most. Scorers 'for Ponsonby were:—Ramsay, two tries; Knight, two tries; Pearman. one field goal. For Otahuhu Pearson kicked a field goal and Beyer converted a penalty. Mr. C. W. Henderson was referee. SECONDARY SCHOOLS WIN FOR SACRED HEART Playe-d as a curtain raiser on the No. 1 ground at Eden Park, the match between Sacred " Heart College and Stratford High School whs practically devoid of exciting incident, and resulted in a win for the former team by 20 points to three. Sacred Heart early asserted its superiority, and by half-time had tistablished a comfortable 12 points' lead from tries scored by Twomey and Gnrdener, and from two penalty goals kicked by Hare. From then on, Sacred Heart had the game well under control, and although its opponents made some spirited efforts during the second half ' they were unable to penetrate the tight defence of the Sacred Heart team. Toward the clo&e of* the first half, Stratford High School, for the first time, had its opponents bustled, nnd the game showed promise of developing into a keen contest. Obstructive tactics by the Stratford forwards resulted in Hare gaining three points for Sacred Heart from a penalty, and shortly afterward the spell ended. Danger threatened the Stratford defence when Sacxed Hear, opened the second half with a vigorous which was finally checked by a pena.lty. The Auckland_ team s backs were powerful on attack, and, in spite of sloppy conditions, they handled the ball well. A iihort punt by Cooney. who was well supported by his three-quarters, saw Sacred Heart again on the Stratford line, and in the forward scramble which followed Sullivan forced. Bure converted. It was not long before Sacrecl Heart again scored. A passing bout, in which Molloy and Cooney featured prominently, gave the latter an opportunity to sccre. Hare converted with a splendid kick. In spite of losing three players in the last quarter. Stratford retaliated and the forwards carried play into the Sacred Heart twenty-five. From a loose scrum on the line. Jackson gained control of the ball and scored Stratford High School's only try. The try was not converted, and at the final whistle the score was:—Sacred Heart, 20; , Stratford High School, S. , Dr. L. H. Brigfs was referee. GRAMMAR'S VICTORY • MATCH AGAINST ROTORUA For the first time m several years, the Auckland Grammar second fifteen registered a win against Rotorua High School in the annual match played on No. 2 ground at Eden Park. A fast pace was maintained throughout, and the forwards of both teams showed up well in the muddy conditions. The Grammar five-eighths. Bilkey and Martin, played outstanding games, and the side owed much to the frequent openings made by these players. At half-time. Auckland Grammar was 10 points ahead from tries scored by McKeown and Conway and converted by McKeown. During the second half this lead_ was further increased by a try scored by Bieleski. which McKeown nlso converted. Toward the close of the game, a Grammar player, Milligan, was injured and was replaced by Neal. The game continued to be keenly contested. bat there was no further score. The final score was:—Auckland Grammar, 15; Rotorua High School, 0. CALIXYUS SHIELD COMPETITION In the final for the Calixtus Shield trophy, competed foT by primary school teams ard playeci at Eden Park on Saturday. the Western Suburbs Group drew with the Eden Group, three all. The match will be replayed this week. MATCHES IN THE SOUTH TBT TELEGBAFH —PRESS ASSOCIATION] Christdhurch.—"En the Kugbr challenge cup match Albion, 11., beat Old Boys, 0. Greymouth.—Dittman Shield: Westland (holders), IS; South "Westland, 8.