Wellington v. Wairarapa.

NZ Truth, Issue 103, 8 June 1907, Page 3

Wellington v. Wairarapa.

In cold weather, teams irepi'esentIng the atove Unions pl<ayod thieir annual match at the Park o n Monday afternoon m the presence of a very fair number of speotators.The strong northerly wind m evidence exercised a strouc inAu«oce on th> Kam i ej.. ,whiGJt

for the most partiwas ragged arid-un-interesting. Neither' Union was represented by its full strength, the 1 men from across the Rimutaka beioig minus the services of their, best back, O'Leary, who was playing m [the • Inter-Islamd match, whilst the local comfoiinartion had its star backs, Roberts, Mitehd-nson, Wallace and Spencer, and forwards of the stamp of Jack Spencer, Lite, and Wilson taking part m the same struggle. . • All the Petane m«n seemed to be stiff and sore from the effects of Saturday's gruelling, and this doubtless explains tihie reason for their ' sluggishness and absence of vim and activity. The local forwards were not superior to the country scrummers in* any department except at getting possession., six, fact made plain wto&n Barber mostly took a scrum m the second spell m plaoe : of the throw-mi. The h-eeling-out was atrocious, and m no single instance was •'■ the ball footed out cleanly to green.The green forwards played with a certain amount of dash and determination, if not cleverness or combination, and m the loose rushes they tookaiheapof stopping. They tackled splendidly and rarely, missed grassing their man. At times -the black vanguard pulled itself together, a/ntd then became a dangerous division, but the effort was only spasmodic, and after driving home the attack to a paint .which opened up splendid chances for scoring, they faded rigtot away. < -Exoeptifiig Wciigley, who saved his side again- a-nd again ioi the '. second half,: when the -blacks, aided by the wind, were making a series of hot attacks on. the -green citadel, and Log--an, who did same solid stopping, the visiting rearguard was of poor quality. They were frequently out of position for attacking purposes, and when on defence kept playing, too close up to their forwards. ' The tactics of Cleary and Bogle not. only prevented the. black threeHuarter line from sparkling, brightly, but disarra-ngedxthe mechanism of ftha, whole division for attacking work. When Wellington was" relying for victory utpon its rearguard, the ball should have 'been slung out to the three-/q»jarters with celerity. Neither five-eighth showed resource,- versatility or judgment, the pas-sing was illjudged, badly-timed amd erratic, and their unreliable ha-ndlmg of the leather when the blacks were on the move foraigfreat onslaupjht was, painful m the extreme. The jbhree-iquartars were practically left to their own resources. ■ , . There were some splendid show 9 m the second -half for either Cleary or Bogle -to display their adroitness and n-ippiaiess by turning defence into 'attack, especially as the position of the Wairarapa /backs at the time left a clear opening for the move being put into execution. Both were inclined to exploit too much' their own luck, and it seldom came off. Cha-nceafter chance of paralysing the countrymen ' by single hand-to J ha ( rid passing was thrown away by the ineffective ' system pursued by. the pair. • Tooiiill, Barber and Ryan, by reason of -their flve-ißi-gihth's policy, wore seldom '-given chances to shine. All, however, shaped soii'tvd-ly and made no mistake that could be seriously cavilled at. . ' Slater, at full, 'got through .fcis graft m ©aoid style. He_. bad a safe ■panr~p'T-fcam(ls^as*a "strong" "Bootr" ania - his tackling of Crawley and Wrigley, when that b;©efy yoxtog giant was going- like a s;team engine for the 1 line, was a treat. '•."..■ Green' was" mot so quick' or alert as usual, though it must be-a-d»mitted he was receiving plenty of attention from the country forwards. His stoppi-nig was weak on- occasions.. Byrne was very conspicuous m ths open, but the Petone mamf iwas ofi the "pushdmg." The . Melrose pair, Galcbrist and Dv Blois, ; grafted splendidly throughout both in^ .the tight and loose, whilst Cross and Wa-tki-ns sQi-one but at times. Ready hooked effectually, and played a sterling game from start to no-slde. Henderson was the pick of the Wairara«pa forwands, and was always on the ifaalL His footwork and tacklisng were m pron-ounced evidence •" right throu<gh. C. Ross, Jury, and H. : McKenzie toiled consistently hard, and Grey occasionally singled himself out for 'honourable mention. D-ave Logan was reliable tebidd the green scrum. He did not come m much on the line of attack, as those m front of him were unsuccessful m getting possession;; His defence, was solid. Wri-giley, was the '"stair" -m the green rearguard. The yqun£ giant was übdJq'uitous, and was always to the fore ' alike m defence and attack. He fieldedi the ball splendidly. Hte ; catctoing wias always certain, and his line kicking m the teeth of a strong wind, accurate and powerful m its results. On one occasion when Byrne engineered the finest rush of the day, the ball going through nearly a dozen- hands, Wri-g---ley streaked across the field from Ms own wing, and -blocked TooMll m tbei niicfc of time fronv fsoi<nls over the c-halkmark at the corner. But for Wrigley, Wellington would probably have had thirty or forty points to its credit. He was a superb defender., • Of the five-eighths. Groube was weak, and on several occasions let his side badly down. His tackl-ing was erratic, and his; handling of the ball very uncertain.' Clawley . shaped a shade bettor than the ex-Mel-rose man. , The centre-threequarters (McLauglilan) and* right wins (Thompson) were not conspicuous for sensation^ al work. They were never dangerous when within striking distance of the blacks' chalkmark and their defence was nothing like a sure quantity. W.:-Hall,. at full,, was tolerably safe. . ' Byrne's dash from the line out, i with the ball m fois possession, which • brought about the black's first score, was a smart piece of work. The Pc- • tone man, however, was yards for- , ward when the ball was thrown , out,, but the referee failed- to. obs serve tjhe •incyliant. Byrne shjoulid • have been easily blocked by. either Groube or McLaughlan. Bogle's potted goal was a 1 neat, though not over-difficult, piece of . work Dan Toahill scored a clever try by. a brilliant little dash and • heady play. The Poneke man bam- j " boozling Wriglev, who had essayed r to intercept him. Green got the ' leather m the first place, beat Lol a&n, and made a nice opening for i Cleary before transferring to that i player. The Oriental mart drew- -the

opposing centre wing to him, and then passed to Toohill, who sped like a racehorsse fox the line. On Wrigley com ing to grass him, the Poneke man. stopped sport swerved a bit, and then ■dashed 'right ahead- The move euchred the countryman completely. ■Dan Toohill is on© of the most improved backs an the city this season.. He has all the dash and speed of Mc-na Thomson, takes the hall splendidly while going at top,, and tackles like a book. He does not funk the rough stuff now. 9 n pre " sent form there is no nippier or slickier ,wing threje-jcjU'arter m |the city. " •■■■-' y . ■' . The scores m the" game were :— First spell, Welldngton, trw scored by Byrne; Wairarapa, penalty goal kicked by Wrigley. Second spell, Wellington, potted goal by Bogle, penalty goal kicked by Gdlcbrist, and try notched by Toohill. Total, Wellington 13, Wairarapa 3. With the windi, m their favor the first half, the countrymen should have kept the ball well m the open. By adopting the "close 'door" policy they played right into the black's hands. Finding the lane also at every, possible opportunity when having the upper hand was not calculated to bring them success. The footwork of the green forward brigade at times' was above the average, and its ■dribbling took a lot of stopping. The Wairarapa- men put some "'devil" and dash into their work, in the open. More^reckless passing m an intesruhioii I ..... have seldonv seen at the Park. Neither Bogle nor,. 'Cloary seemed to Slave the .le^VtV^ionception nf working the scrum wiien on the attack, and ignored $J3 necessity of unselfishness when m opposing territory. With them it was not a case of doing something that the greens didn't think, they would "dp. * The Wairarapa frbntrankers, Bon 'Jury and Sid Masoni weriß Veritable greenhorns m this position. In club matches neither h.ave essayed the role of hookers. ' D . Thompson 'and Dave .Logan are ex-Wellington College players.