SATURDAY’S RUGBY

New Zealand Times, Volume LII, Issue 12200, 27 July 1925, Page 3

SATURDAY’S RUGBY

PONEKE WELL BEATEN OLD BOVS* GREAT VICTORY UNEXPECTED AND DECISIVE DEFEAT. Saturday saw Poneke’s colours lowered for the first time this season. They had had a few narrow escapes during the first round of the club championship, but the omens pointed to their coming through with their record untarnished. However, they were soundly defeated on Saturday by Old Boys ‘ who, on the day, were the much better team. Old Boys played with great dash and admirable determination on both attack and defence. They set the pace a cracker, and kept it up almost to the last. When their opponents pressed they tackled hard and low, and when sweeping towards the Foneke goal-line threw the ball about with enterprise. With the score at 28 points to 8 in favour of Old Boys Poneke made a valiant attempt to make up the leeway in the last quarter of the game, hat their efforts were in vain, and Whin they. left the field beaten they, like good sportsmen, acknowledged defeat. - GREAT ENTHUSIASM After the final whistle ■ there were great scenes of enthusiasm. The huge crowd which had icome to see; Petone play Varsity had deserted that game earlier in the afternoon, and when the Old Boys team were returning to the dressing sheds they were lustily cheered. Malcolm, who had scored 13 points, was carried off shoulder high. ' The teams, lined out as follows:

Old Boys (white). —Full-back, Malcolm- three-quarters, R. Lamason, Grenfell, Bedell: five-eighths, Underhill, Mansfield; half, Bramwell: forwards, J. Lamason (wing), Dormer, Barclay, Hum, Loe v . Claridge, Francis, Carmodv.

Poneke (red and black) r Full-back, Gilbert; three-quarters, Algar, Turner, Hickey; five-eighths, Gibson, Tilyard; half. Hall : forwards, Ai Wilson (wing), Shearer, 'B. Wilson, Pope, Shearer, Smith, Adams, Walph. The ground was in surprisingly good order when the teams took the field, and a bright Bun shone in the facee of the Poneke team. From the kick-off the game was full of 'incident. Poneke were eager to throw the ball about, and Gibson and Hickey were prominent in penetrating passing rushes. On one occasion i Hickey ran from half-way, and was just over within five yards from the corner. The tackling of the Old Boys team, however, was good, and their forwards revelled in the loose rushes in which they were more speedy than their heavier opponents. CORRECT TACTICS The whites adopted the proper tactics .of kicking high, and leaving the other side to field the hall in the face of the sun, and the charging forwards. Bramwell. at ’ ■■ 'f. was giving his backs plenty of bn mil they were making the best of t.,.r opportunities. Bedel!, on the wing, twice gained ground by strong runs, but he found his vis-a-vis, Algar; a good tackier. In the tight Shearer and B. Wilson were heating the opposing hookers, but as there wae very little tight play this was not a great advantage./During the first ocarter of an hour there was very little between the teams. Hall, darting round once on the open side, and on another occasion on the blind side, made things look dangerous for the whites, hut the efforts of the other backs to carry on the good work was smothered by good tackling. Malcolm, the Old Bovs full-back, was handling the hall coolly and surely, and sending play back with long, well-directed, kicks, ' i FULL BACK SCORES It was he who scored Old Boys first try. He: fielded a long kick and after running some yards with the ball kicked >up and followed tip fast. Hall prated an attempt to take the leather, and Malcolm picked up aud crossed the lute underneath the posts. He had no cliificulty in converting his own try. Old Boy*. Si Foneke 0. Hurnl Francis, Dormer, and Claridge were now going great guns in the Old Boys pack. They were holding their own with Shearer. Wilson and company, and it was a battle royal. F. .Tilyard made a nice out in, but was downed. From the ensuing ruck Bramwell sent his hacks away. Mansfield cut in, and passed to Underhill. The latter sent Grenfell away at 1 top speed with It. Lamason in attendance. The pair were faoed by. Turner and Hickey, who anticipated a pass, and were paying more attention; to the wing. Grenfell, however, played a lone Sand*. Clapping on the pace he swerved past them like a flash, and went on to score under the posts. It was a brilliant, piece of play, and Malcolm finished it off by goaling. Old Boys 10, Poneke 0. Poneke now made strenuous efforts to even matters up. Their forwards swept down the field, hut again they were driven back. Then Hickey made a fine run down the line, beating four men. He waVpushed out at the corner., A series of scrummages followed. Poneke heeled and F. Tilyard cut in, but was collared on the line. J. Shearer, however, picked up and scored. S. Shearer faitefi with the kick. Old Boye JO, Poneke 3. Thus ended the first half.

‘ HICKEY GOES OFF At the beginning of the second spell HicSev had to retire. ‘‘There goes Poneke’s trump card,” said a spectator when the winger was leaving the field. He was replaced by Tunnington. The spell saw Old Bovs doniiriate the play for the first twenty minutes, and then slacken off a little. Poneke then commenced to pile up the points until the last few minutes when .the whites again commenced to press. Underhill broke away in a ; passing rush from the strum. He made a long, straight run, and left Grenfell and Bedell to finish off the movement which ended in 'Bedell scoring. Malcolm again converted. Old Boys 15, Poneke 8. Underhill was also responsible for the next try. He fielded a cross kick near half-way. and after eluding Turner and Tunnington outpaced Gilbert and scored in the corner. Malcolm just missed the kick. After a period of colourless play, J. Lamason picked up in. a loose scramble, and passed to Mansfield. The white backs got going again, and the rush ended in Bedell beihg forced out. The Old Boys forwards gave their backs, the ball on the line-out. and Mansfield cut in to score a good try. Malcolm converted. Old Bovs 23, Poneke 3. It was now Poneke’s turn, and they scored 11 points in about 20 minutes. Their forwards were playing a hard game, and using a little unnecessary vigour at times, and were superior to the tired Old Boys pack. Tilyard was showing good form in the passing rushes. With Gibson he gained a lot of ground, hut Turner and Tunnington were not handling the hall with certainty. PONEKE’S GREAT EFFORT However, a forward rush by the red and blacks swept all before it. and J. Shearer got over. S. Shearer failed to convert. Old Bovs 28. Poneke 6. , A few minutes after came a

ing rush in which Tilyard beat his man, and put those outside of him in a good position. Tunnington was the last to handle, and scored after a good run down the side line. Gilbert’s kick fell short. Old Boys 28, Poneke 9. Old' Boys were compelled to force down a little later, hut again the red and blacks came awav, and Hall received a pass from B. Wilson and crossed near the posts. Turner converted. Old Boys 28 Poneke ... 14 Old Boys took a new lease of life during the next few minutes, but when the final whistle blew the scores were unchanged. PETONE’S BIG TOTAL ’VARSITY SOUNDLY BEATEN ’Varsity had an off-day on Saturday, and were soundly beaten by a better team. Their forwards made a good first spell showing, though the points were much against them, but the backs failed, and failed more pronouncedly in the second half. The green tackling was weak, and scarcely a man played with vim. They were a stale team, and were beaten by a margin that stale teams usually lose by. Petone were the victors by,29 points to nil, and they thoroughly deserved their win. They swung into the attack in the initial stages, and displayed a combination as effective in its result as it was pleasant to witness. They piled up 16 points in the first half, and continued their victorious way in the second half, running up an additional 13 points; while their opponents, who played pluckily, but unluckily, throughout, failed to score. THE TEAMS The teams were as follow: ’Varsity (green).—Full-back, hiaras; three-quarters, Malfroy, Kells, Foden; five-eighths, Walpole, Love; half,. Hart; forwards, O’Regan, Childs, Mar-tin-Smith, Bums, Joll, McWilliam, Wiren, Mackenzie-(wing). In the first spell Love retired, Mackenzie replacing him at five-eighths, Joll going to wing-forward, and Baldwin taking the field. Petone (blue). —Full-back, Henwood; three-quarters, Hawkins* Fitzgerald, Jowett; five-eighths, M. Nicholls, Corner ; half, Rodger; forwards, Rariti, Haddock, King, Thomas, Love, Cameron, Warden, Parker (wing). Referee, Mr J., Moffitt. With the sun behind them Petone swung right into the attack to catch the ’Varsity men napping, and inside three minutes were as many points up. Nicholls received from a smart lineout clearance, and made a tun full of his told-time trickiness. He bluffed and bluffed again, finally ■. sending out to Fitzgerald and Jowett for the neatest of tries. The kick missed;

’Varsity Sprang at it at once, and for ten .minutes Petone devoted their attention to smothering the green backs. They kept the line clear, though bnce brisk handling by the college men saw Walpole burst for an opening under the posts and just fail. Petone’s spoiling tactics succeeded, and they made ground at last, for Hawkins to receive well out, evade Foden’s. lamentably weak tackle,' and cross at the comer. Nicholls could not goal.' Again the greens awakened, and again Petone, were hard pressed. When thing's were at their hardest Petone kept infringing, but , the freekicks were of little use to ’Varsity. They attacked and attacked again, but the fast-moving Petone backs were covering the openings. Still Hart went on clearing, and only taokling ended the ’Varsity rushes. One neat piece of play saw Hart, Mackenzie, and Walpole link up, and Kells knocked on, an exceptional thing, under the posts. ANOTHER BLUE THRUST So things went on until Petone made another brief visit to : the green quarter, and once more there were points attached to it. This time King intercepted a ’Varsity man’s pass, dribbled from midfield, beat Marks to the ball, which bounced luckily into his arms, and ran over by the posts. This time Nicholls made no mistake.

Petone, 11 points up, were in a dangerous mood, and their fast backs and good forward work gave them an advantage. Again Nicholls began a run, and was checked, but Fitzgerald combined with Jowett, and the wing went over fpr Nicholls to convert. The spell came with the score: Petone , 16 ’Varsity 0 PETONE KEEP AT IT Even in the second spell ’Varsity could not get going. The valuable time while the bright sub was sinking Was Wasted in a* midfield scramble, with Petone passing rushes flashing out down one line. The slippery Nicholls and Corner were always there, and ’Varsity made the mistake of opening up close in. So a bright movement begun by Nicholls, Corner, and Fitzgerald close in ended with Parker crossing, and again Nicholls converted. r Rodgers was clearing, with regularity now, but his backs were too reliant upon their ability to bluff their opponents. Otherwise some of the openings would have led to points. The game was fast., and often too fast for accuracy, but ’Varsity were beaten at their own game of pace, and their backs were nowhere in attack. Twice they failed, once when Kells faltered and looked round for support, and again when Foden did not hold the easiest of passes. Petone more than held their own, and when Nicholls received a kick close in, after .Thomas had scored in a scramble, he added two points easily. The greens gained another chance when Hart nimbly beat the whole of the Petone attackers, and sent out to his forwards, Martin-Smith failing in a rush for the line, but Petone were soon at it again, and after a Petone back-line move had broken down against tackling. Nicholls and Jowett carried on for Thomas to dive through the ruck and score cleverly. Again Nicholls converted. The blues were still pressing when (luckily for them) time was signalled and Love had just missed adding a field goal to their tally. Petone 29 ' ’Varsity 0