RUGBY FOOTBALL

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22493, 10 August 1936, Page 13

RUGBY FOOTBALL

REPRESENTATIVE MATCH WIN FOR AUCKLAND B TEAM DEFEAT OF, THAMES VALLEY The annual representative Hngby match between Auckland B and Thames Valley was played at Eden Park on Saturday before a good attendance ol' spectators and resulted in an easy win for the home team by 39 points to 11. Auckland's su|>enority in all departments was most marked, the whole team displaying much more combination and dash than the visitors. Tho winning ieam's backline was in excellent form and, with Cooney and Logan outstanding at second five-eighths and centre-t li rec(| ua rter respectively, made numerous brilliant concerted dashes. Toward the tinish tho same became somewhat drab and uninteresting, but proceedings Mere livened in the final two minutes by two very spirited Thames Valley attacks, both of which yielded tries. The teams were as follows:

Auckland. — Hook, Flett, Logan, Ticll-nooth, Coonry, Hedge, Thompson, Mcllugh, McBratli, rearer, Mctirory, Carson, Armitage, Smith, l'raser. Thames Valley.—Castles, Ohilds, Wilder, Billing, < lotworthy, Mann, Robinson, Barhlich. Parker, Sisterson, Carrick, Jtadford, Tucker, Storey, Rowe. An outstanding performance was given by the Auckland centre-threequarter, tC. Logan, who was selected to fill the vacancy caused by the absence of the All Black, I'. 11. C. Caughey, 'he Original player selected. Logan scored "three tries, all ol' which resulted from iiis own cleverness and determination, while he brilliantly paved the way for two others. The game had been in progress a very short time before the Auckland centre's pace and thurst be can to bewilder the opposition, and Chiltis, a Thames Valley wing-threequarter and a resolute tackier, was moved in to the centre position in an endeavour to subdue the Aucklander fluids performed his task well, hut he hail to be constantly on th'e alert, for his opponent was always dangerous. Hook's Fine Display Making his initial representative appearance. <L Hook, the Auckland fullback, gave an outstanding disi lay. His fielding and kicking were well up to standard, and "lie exploited the amended kick-into-touch rule to great advantage. He did not find the line on the full, except when severe pressure necessitatd such a measure, but repeatedly used his speed to come up into line with his backs to open up attacking movements. On occasions he was seen neatly evading two or three would-be tacklers before getting in his clearing kick. In the second spell, after combining with his threeijuarters, Hook came into position to form an overlap, and raced 30 yards for a splendid try between the posts. Throughout the game the visiting backs showed a decided tendency not to tackle their own opponents, this enabling the Auckland five-eighths to break through repeatedly. On attack the visitjfs were even less impressive, and not once did they combine effectively. Many of the Thames Valley back attacks were nipped in the bud by the Auckland captain, Fraser, who, playing as a loose forward in the Auckland pack, accomplished a great deal of spoiling work, anion;? the opposing fiveeighths The winning team's forwards gave an energetic display, but revealed a fault of hangin? back ;-.i!er their team-mates had punted downfield and allowing two or three of their members to do the fast following-up. Pearce, McGrory, Carson and Smith were always prominent in loose skirmishes and in the lineouts, while Mcßeath did excellent work as hooker.

An Early Score Play had heen in progress four minutes when Logan broke through in splendid style, drawing the Thames fullback before sending Flett away unopposed. The winger looked certain to score, but Childs came fast, and grassed him from behind. Mcßeath had followed fast, however, and kicked the ball over the line to fall on it for a try. Hook failed to convert. The Thames forwards attacked strenuously, but Auckland was not long in breaking clear, and a bright back movement saw Cooney cut through cleverly before passing to Logan, who outpaced the defence to score between the posts. Hook converted. Thames rushed play to Auckland's twentyfive, but Mcßeath again gave Auckland the ball, and Logan cut through brilliantly. A great run from halfway took him to within five yards of the Thames line, where a great tackle from behind by Childs brought him down. However, Cooney had again followed in support, and the second live-eighths picked up the ball to score an easy try. nook failed with the kick. >

At this stage Childs was moved from wins? to centre in order to keep a check on Logan. Play was even for some minutes until, from a scrum on the Thames line, Thompson, the Auckland halfback, shot round the blind side for a neat try, which Hook converted with a great kirk from the sideline. Half-time arrived shortly afterwards with the score:— Auckland, 10; Thames Valley, 0. Soon after the resumption. Logan cut through in splendid style, raring from midfield to beat the fullback by sheer [tare and cross for a fine try well out. Hook found the posts with a not tier good kirk. Auckland's backs were now combining excellently. Hedge made an opening before passing to Coone.v, *ho sent Logan across for his third try. Hook again converted" from the sideline.

Highlight of Match The Thames Valley forwards made strenuous efforts, and tarried play close to Auckland's line. From a loose melee the halfback, Robinson, sent Childs over for a good try. Auckland had another (urn on attack, and a good back movement terminated with a try at the corner by' Coone.v. Hook missed narrowly. A highlight of the match followed ivlicn Hook, the Auckland fullback, raced into line with his threequarters, took his pass at top speed and showed a clean pair of heels lo the defence to scoro between the posts. Hedge converted. Auckland now had matters ai! its own way. Its forwards dribbled the to Thames' line, wh?re Fraser picked up a i'i sent on to Smith, who dropped across for an easy try between the posts. Hedge again k true.

iif 4 *'age, with two minutes of play t. ,' Ainkland team seemed to tire badly. ■ Kn =on, the Thames lnlfback, broke away anu passed to ftowe, who scored as Logaii incd on his bark. Barblich converted. The c.ocK showed time up when the Auckland " Cks fumbled a kick badly, and Sisterson, lowing smartly, picked up to score Thaires' hi r ri; . irl,|i( 'b's kirk was astray, and ' imal whistle sounded immediately with ley n score: —Auckland, 3D; Thames ValMr. C. F. Paull was referee.

SENIOR COMPETITION GAMES PLAYED ON SATURDAY TEAMS GREATLY DEPLETED Ihe subsidiary competition for senior f,;i, ns under th<J control of the Auck•inci Jiiigby Union was continued on • ''turdfiv afternoon. Owing to the ab•'iKe ot the.representative team in tlie ■ "nth and the playing of a second Jj-PresentJitivG fixture at Kdcn Park, all ii»r teams were much depleted. Tiiiiifnar was unable to place :i fifteen n the field against University,' which Wori by dclault. I Jesuits of the other K'liiies were as follows: Graftoii, 25; College Rifles, 12. ■ raining College, 12; Technical, o. J2; Manukau, !i. ■Marist, Jjj North Shore, 6.

GRAFTON BACKS SUPERIOR DEFEAT of college rifles coiinl'tl'"", '' x l"'rienced little difficulty in acprofln f , ' "liege Rifles in a match not irencraii "'rills, and 'he standard of play L'nll«™ w;,s " c ' v, ' r '''l' o4 *' the average. T.'ie form - team could not combine lo trifil ?"' V i or^!,n ' se d' attaek. The inside l><uks wincr„ """'h 0,1 their own where the iirn.rr *»!"«'»"es could have made better letrn l? s « absence of Passmoro, the Colfliti.i s hepker, was felt and, being at a in weight, the team's forwards ablp f ,,US l ' ofl the ball. Grafton was thus so ♦h"i Ka -" Kreati'r possession in the scrums, ariiA ,' ts rearguard was constantly in at''" 1 . while that of the opposition was fved of opportunities, hut , , ln ? " as 'he pick of the Grafton pack, almsv°'• fl:a ' lsc of his three tries. Mo was attack limelight, sound on defence and back 1r a '"' o,ue or ' twice be was seen in the ritho., providing 'an extra and useful link. n- av l V ' u ' showed up were ('leave and GalloKw . Childs was prominent in the loose, ami *!> , a ' fullback, fielded well, and Morley J-a.on displayed sliced and showed deter-

mination in their efforts. Perhaps tho best, back was Pcarman. ifo made no mistake with his handling, and in possession lie was a source of worry to defending players. Of a depleted College Jtifles park Wilson, a third grade five-eighths, who filled a breakaway position, earned praise as a trier. Batty, Duncan and Bunting were the only others to show their worth. Mct'orniiek, at centre, was nippy and displayed speed by twice running across the field and getting almost to the line before he was touched by the defence. Hothnin, Year and Kirk, although sound, were not outstanding. For Grafton tries were scored by Bunting f3), Johnson. Paton, Calloway and Morley, Pearman and Paton each converting one. Points for College Hides came from tries by Stewart, Bunting and (irilliths, with a penalty goal kicked by Year. Mr. Y. K. Mace was referee. TRIES FROM REBOUNDS

MARIST WINS AT DEVOiNPORT r l wo rctoouutls which wore followed by tries ga\e Marist a narrow victory by 11 points to <i over North Shore at Uevonport Domain. Marist would have been rather unfortunate not to have won, however, for, even although the tea hi was without several of its usual players, it held a slight territorial advantage and showed more initiative. '1 he game was saved from mediocrity by several sparkling interludes, particularly in the second half. In O'Brien, Toye and Hardy Marist had a fairly impressive tiireequarter line, but this trio had strong opposition in rinlayson, centre, ami Waters, right wing. Jessup, North Shore's first five-eighth, showed good form toward the close. Carroll and Fitzpatrick led the Marist forwards, while North Shore had a forward division that worked hard, but was a trifle slow in following up. It was solid football throughout, with numerous stoppages for injuries. Before the commencement the players paraded the field to the accompaniment of bagpipes. Waters kicked a penalty goal to open I lie scoring for North Shore. Finlayson figured in a North Shore, attack which brought play to Marist territory, and a few moments later Waters had another successful kick at goal. Play returned to the other end of the field and just before half-time Hardy turned a penally to account for Marist. A. Sainty and Finlayson, for North Shore, and O'Brien, for Marist, were prominent in counter-attacks early in the second half. When Jessup kicked in Marist's twenty-five (lie ball rebounded off Carroll, who secured possession and raced up the field, handing on to (Jleeson, who returned it for the speedy forward to dive over. Shortly afterwards Toyc stood in the way of a clearing kick by Waters and, snapping up the ball, ho scored between the posts. Hardy converted. In the closing stages Jessup actually crossed the Marist line, but was recalled for a knock-on. The game ended: Marist, 11: North Shore, <>. Mr. M. W. Thompson was referee.

SURPRISE FOR TECHNICAL TRAINING COLLEGE SUCCESSFUL In a game that produced few concerted movements, but much hard struggling, Training College beat Technical Old Hoys rather surprisingly at Three Kings by 3*j points to 5. Although the losers missed Ilyerly on the right wing they did not show the fast back play that has given them many successes in the past. Their try came from the only really good passing rush in the match, and the Training College defence was so much at sixes and sevens on that occasion that it seemed Technical might have tried more of such movements. The Technical backs had as much of the ball as their opponents, but could not get going in the face of determined spoiling, the Training College backs and forwards keeping up on the ball throughout the game. Training College won because of this, and because it made better use of its opportunities. The result would probably have been very different had Technical taken advantage of the Training College weaknesses at the back of the scrum, where the ball was too often held and then let out slowly. At fullback for Training College Hare played an almost faultless game. He failed to stop Lash when the left wing-threequarter scored Technical's try and ho let McKenzie through an opening in the second half, but at all other times his fielding was superb, his kicking excellent, and his play in the face of attacks very cool. He missed one easy penalty, but kicked a much harder one, potted a goal, and converted the Training College try. In the forwards Thomas and Hammond were two of a very hard-working pack; they followed up well and handled I safely when an opportunity was made for the j forwards to score.

For Technical Lash played as well as he was able, for he was not given nearly enough of the ball. Alexander and McKenzie were a source of constant danger to Training College and twice they were responsible for sorties which with better luck would have resulted in scores. Once again Apps played a most useful game; he was always on the ball and gave his backs support in many tight corners. For Training College Hammond scored a try, which Hare converted, and Hare kicked a penalty goal and a field goal. Technical's try was scored and converted by Lash. Mr. M. G. Parris was referee.

OTAHUHU WINS EASILY DEPLETED MANUKAU SIDE A greatly depleted Manukau team was defeated rattier easily by Otahuhu at Sturges Park by points to 3. While Otahuhu had to rill several gaps, duo to the absence of representative players, it was able to do so without railing upon more than two juniors. Maiiukau had no fewer than seven lower grade players on trial, and, although the play was occasionally interesting, it was far from being an exhibition of senior football, l'lay was entertaining enough at times—the farcical goal-kicking and tho unorthodox efforts by both sides providing amusement for the spectators, (if goal-kickers there was none. No fewer than nine efforts were fruitless, at least four being from short range right in front of the posts. The first spell yielded all the scores, and the ball was carried rapidly from end to end in quick exchanges. Within five minutes Otahuhu scored, Bennett, the junior half, sending through the line for Brown to touch down. Brown gathered a return in beautiful fashion and only great resource by Littlejohn averted a score. Again the fullback cleared cleverly and, after running to Otahuhu's tAenty-five he punted ahead for Godfrey to gather and score easily. Pearson then dummied a way through and gave -O'Neill an open path to score under the bar. Tho same player again scored when Bennett cut through the defence. Godfrey and Uankin raised the siege, but bad handling spoiled the efforts. Again Otahuhu scored, Wilson gathering in the loose an.l running right through from niidfield. Half-time arrived with the score: Otahuhu, l'j; .Manukau, 3. After a spell of midfield exchanges two penalties were badly missed by Manukau from close in. Another from 10 yards in front of the posts also was mulled ami then Otahuhu failed as badly with a similar chance. Play deteriorated and the game ended with 1 lie score unchanged: Otahuhu, I'J; Manukau, 3. Mr. J. H. Land was referee.

LOWER GRADE RESULTS Senior B Grade. —Marist, 8, Parncll, 8; Eden, 10, Suburbs, 8; University, 3'J, Takapuna, 12. Second Grade.—Waitcmata, (J, Pannriure, f>. Tliird Grade. —Grammar, 15, Manukau A, 3; Otahuhu, 38, Training College, 0. Third Grade Intermediate. —I'onsonby, 17, Otahuhu, 3; Grammar, 1 t, Parncll, 3; Suburbs, 11, Marist, !); Takapuna, 0, North Shore, O; College Rifles, 10, University, 0. Fourth Grade. — Marist, 10, Grammar, 0; Manukau. 8, Northrole, 0; Ponsonb.v, 8, Parnell. 3; Takapuna. a, North Shore, 0. Fifth Grade.—Takapuna. 5. Norlhcote, 0; North Shore, 15. St. George's, 3; Parnell, 15. Technical, 3; Kdcn, 1!), .Manukai!, 0. Sixth Grade.—Takapuna, '25, Norlhcote, 0; Suburbs. 8. Eden, 0. Junior Boys.—Senior grade: rarncll, 12, Newton. 3; Suburbs, 0, Kdcn, (>. Intermediate Grade.—.Marist, 3fi, Newton. 0; Manukau, 5, Kdcn, 3; North Shore, 0, Manukau, 3; Takapuna. 17, Suburbs, 0. Junior Grade.—Norlhcote, 21, Parnell, 0; Suburbs, 3, Alanukau, 0; North Shore, 3, Monte. Cecilia, 3; Takapuna, 0, Newton. 0. Secondary Schools.—Third grade: Takapuna B, 15. Sacred Heart, 3. Fourth Grade.—Takapuna, 21, Mount Albert, 3.

SEDDON SHIELD CONTEST marlborouch retains trophy f Itv TELKGKAI'H —PKKSS ASSOCIATION] HLKNIIEIM, Sunday Outclassing tho challengers in all departments except scrummaging, Marlborough retained the Seddon Shield by defeating Golden Bay-Motueka by 30 points to 8. The conditions were ideal for the open stylo of play which Marlborough adopted and tho football was mainly of a pleasing type, in spito of the one-sidedness of the game. Marlborough scored eight tries, Lane converting six. Drown (2), Mc.Mahon (2), Paine (2), O'Sullivan and Lane were the trygetters. For the challengers, Lunn and Jury scored, Uusch converting one.

Lane was in excellent all-round form, being the best back on the field. Drown and Paine were outstanding loose forwards. Lunn was the pick of the Day backs, while Jury was a good heavy forward.