Taranaki v. Wellington.

NZ Truth, Issue 217, 21 August 1909, Page 2

Taranaki v. Wellington.

Visitors languished by lS» T t»; 6. • *„■

A Good (iame* -

It was* not under the best of con<jfr" tions as Regards weather! that the above combinations had their annual tussle iqc * Saturday at the 'Park, where about 6000 "' spectators witnessed' the proceedingi Tlio turf was on the heavy side; with' some bad patches here and there, ' bus • there was none of the slush' which local, kickists had experienced for the past six ' weeJcs. A stiff northerly, which spas* modically lulled to almost a c"alm, militated against accurate manipulation of the sphere by the respective rearguards. Playing with the wind behind them m the first spell, the men from the "Uow* Province" notched a couple of tries, Uameron and T. Sheehan being the try-get-ters. Green scored m characteristic' stylo . for the black-jerseyed brigade. ' '.-■;. After lemon time Wellington got the. benefit of the breeze and maintained the ' upper hand, the amber and black combination fading away m the finishing stapes of tho game. "Ranji" Wilson; and McKenzic crossed the chalkmark. (iardincr kicked a penalty goal, and Mitchinson another from a mark. Wellington, playing to instructions, so it is said, opened out In great style m Taranaki 's quarters m the first ten min- . utes of the struggle, a questionable policy m view of the tremendous strain subsequently placed upon them. The Black hookers getting possession, Green engineered some pasSiug rushes, and m the end penetrated the amber and black de* fence, and r 'Ranji" Wilson, bamboo&ling the, man marking him, on the line, broke away, right up to the chalkmark, where the übiquitous Green was handy and he snavelled a characteristic try. Stung by this reverse, TaranaKi carried the war into the Blacks 1 territory, and thereafter until breathing time arrived they bombarded the" local citadel " m vigorous fashion. Full of dash and lire, but not of cleverness, the Taranaki ; backs put m all they knew. As regularly as clockwork Thurston and Mynott set the machinery going at high pressure with a series of passing rushes, m which Cameron sparkled with tKe radiance oi a heavenly body ano made the supporters of tho home team wear a very sick ap* poarance. Still, just at the crucial moment on, neuring the line, some mistake, a lack of finish,, not forgetting the effective tack- " ling and stopping of the Blacks, robbed Taranaki of nearly half-a'dozen tries. The transferring was generally accurate, but the taking was not reliable, and tljp visiting rearguard gave-.ono the impression that it was placing too much reliance on anticipatory movements. While giving ovory credit to the Blacks for their vigilance and stubbornness as defenders, there is no denying the fact that Mynott and Co. would have shone with greater splendor m their aggressive charges had the sphere been handled with move soreness. 'More opportunism was needed m their I attacking system. Taranalci backs clustered too much m tlio passing bouts, the blocking by th e homers being rendered much easier m consequence. Cameron I'a ■*<!'! brilliantly hither and *tnlther. He ws r«wl nicatV and regularly, and getting on a full !u a <* of steam when the ball rawe to mm, made some lovely dashes for the line, j,j s tnvprvinpc r>n<\ siNe-stcppinfr ci route completely ba'»inrc the Blacks r^nri untiring'down the house. In five varrts the S+vnlfo r fl f'ter bent four nnnnrip-nis rul h(\(tlv. When Ta'a^aH .'Ye'o 1 «- ; *t a l t o c'' ■e~ meHiinn of +>'D !»f«('' - F *h* obtinrv." «•(»•:' t^nt, VS*pi linn- ton WOi'lri v r»vp t '-t : - > -i to wir>r o'T m <b" "«"■ n"(l Vn"'. TV 'n ' Tifir'Uoi^n hn^ v «vev l?»vto->ri -r m.->-----cf'dTinr'ft f!i>-"lnvefl n f«irft "T :1 ■•/.-■■ ■ i-,», ncf- whiVli nrnved n "otcnt 'si^to'" iii warrtine off many rfan>rpf-- froi» + ''c nmher and black-'prsovcf? firr'rnrtr.s. After jts stiff irrue.lUnc: m the spe.U tlie, Wellington ruslie.rs were not. "Y-----peered to survive, 'another 45 minutes. Popular expectation was unfulfilled, the Blacks shaping: strenuously to the bitter end. Taranaki *s vanguard put plenty of ginger into its loose work m the early

part of the second spell, but soon cracked up under the pressure. Taranaki made the game as tight as possible after crossing over, and by reason of the more expert raking ct Hie ambetk^and black hookers, were successiul m (keeping the ball away from Green and Co. " The latter made too much ot the cross-kick, Mitchinson's centreing m particular being questionable policy when the marking and kicking ol the other side was too reliable. Time and again the ball should have been passing through the hands of the backs. Taranaki backs exhibited sound delence, their blocking methods being superior to those of Wellington, whose tackling, however, was surer. The Amber and Hlaclc half and five-eighths confederacy was stronger than that of the rival division. The Black rearguard was not altogether a harmonious set when the visiting line was threatened. Wellington's packmen were much superior to the northern brigadesmen "on the line-out. In the solid there was little, if anything, to choose between the two divisions. In the raking department the Taranalci hooKers had the best of the deal. Wellington controlled the ball better m the loose rushes, the methods adopted by TaranaW being somewhat crude. There was more solidarity m the local scrummaging ranks when heads were down for the , push, and but. for an apparent shoving weakness m the back row the ball would have come the way of the Week rearguard oftener. Had Cameron's colleagues not overfed him so much, Taranaki would at least have had a couple more tries. Excepting Mynott and Cameron the Amber and • Black back division has small notion of beating a man m swilt, short, passing rushes. Two of Taranaki 's scrummagers were palpabic sinners m their line-out methods, and how the referee missed seeing their little games is a mystery. One local forward was subjected to a lot of illegal interference at their hands. The Wellington packmen grafted splendidly.' Their manoeuvring was not particularly skilful either m solid or open work. As rushers they lacked the pace and ginger to overwhelm the . opposing brigade. For screwing purposes the lock and right flank man did not wedge together well. .» Taranaki's forward brigade boasted of two or three good/ men. Generally speaking, it was a_, moderate combination. There was plenty of . earnestness, but no cleverness or combination. Gardiner secured a mark m close proximity to the goal-posts under somewhat unusual circumstances. A visiting forward booted the leather on to Gardiner's knee and he grabbed it before it fell to the ground. It meant three points to j the home side, Mitchinson piloting the i ■sphere over the cross-bar. J. Stohr, who has done some ' fine things m the way of place-kicking this season, failed m his goal missions oh this occasion. He had a couple of long range shots, but- missed the post m both instances, with little, however, to spare. Mitchinson had a chance of snavelling a try m the first spell, but when m the act of chasing the ball goalwar<ls, was grabbed from behind by a Taranaki man who was penalised for his offence. Gardiner kicked a fine penalty goal for the home team. McKenzie scored a nice try after threading his. way through four, opponents who essayed to bar his progress. Cameron beat Mitch inson m the 'xst spell, but the Wellington man had jis revenge m .the next halt, the Strat«rder being 'absolutely fooled by the sidestepping of hi* All Black opponent. Cameron has greater pace that Mitchy, but the latter is the cleverest dodger of the two, his side-stepping being done whilst going at full tilt. Cameron, on the other hand, falters when m the act of executing this feat. Had Wellington been attacking , m the second spell as hotly as the Taranaki men did m the first, the "Butter Province's" reps; would have Been beaten badly. J. Ryan, as Wellington's goal custodian, was fairly reliable. He was responsible for some solid saving work. Evensen was handy on occasions, though somewhat slow m the attacking. .. operations m the second bout. He was safe m the checking operations.' Mitchinson brought off some clever pieces of - play, but his judgment m kicking and passing has been much better. Ryan' ; made one or two brilliant dashes, but over-eager-ness, or nervousness, or perhaps a mixture of both were responsible for misitakes on his part. Walsh had plenty of the rough stuff hurlid at him. His defence was very sound, but his attack lacked brightness. McKenzic defended ably. On attack, however, he was too mechanical m his movements. Not infrequently -the Petone boy failed to play up to Mitchinson when worrying tactrcs were engineered by the Blacks. Green displayed alertness and resourcer fulness behind the scrum. The WalshGreen aonfederacy . panned out' fairly well. Green made three brilliant rushes .'through .the Taranaki ranks and parted company with the sphere at the right ■•moment. The little fellow executed sev,eral fine openings. Gardiner silenced his critics by his sterling display 'on the edge of the scrum. He was always thereabouts m the loose rushes and harassed Mynott and Co- to good advantage. As a half-pro-tector; Fred could improve 50 per cent, on his present showing. Of the forwards proper, "Ranji" Wilson. Tannahill and Bruce singled themselves out for special mention. A. Wilson clamped the scrum well and shaped ; better all round than the writer expected. McKellar was the weakest of the brigade, and he has lost much of his dash, which characterised his work .m the earlier part of the season. The hookers, Ready and Houlihan, were fairly successful m getting possession. They shaped well m all the solid play. Dixon made few mistakes as full for Taranaki. Cameron gave a superb display. His star radiated with exceptional brilliance m the first spell. His opportunism m attack was noticeable. On defence Cameron was not the personification of soundness. C. Sheehan and J. Stohr were fairly convincing, the latter doing his best ■ work with sure taking and forceful kicking m the second spell. Mynott was brilliant at times. He brought his forces into splendid positions when on attack, but lacked the art of stratagem when repelling the Blades' onslaughts. Beamish was scarcely clever, or slick enough to work m unison with Mynott and Cameron. Thurston fed his backs accurately, but did not cut through near enough. He performed some very nippy thin.?- . Tamu stood right out on his own an the Amber and Blade forward ranks. The Maori lad was always on the ball arid toiled hard from start to finish. Cranley and O'SuiliVan were perhaps the best of the others. T. Sheehan, a .wing forward, was prominent m the rushes but was not effective as a back-spoil-er. The fielding of the Taranaki backs was cleaner than Wellington's. Thejr kicking was also more forceful. In the passing houtr. the leather was handled more deftly and surely by the Amber and Black rearward, whose centreing was also better judged. Nobody dreamt of the Wellington van-, guard witting up such a resolute fight sisd lasting so well. Its strenuousness

and pertinacity made up for shortcomings m other directions. Any mistake that E. Ryan may have made m club matches is marked with a black cross, as a were, iv the memories ol" many patrons of the game. That account.'; for the uncomplimentary things said of the three-quarter when iie missed a pass from Miicninson, which if taken must hr.ye meant three points for the Blacks, and again when Dixon cutting across checked his progress when going at racehorse speed for the line. Kyan, too, was up against a snorter m Cameron, don't forget it. Mynott was very convincing when working the blind side for Cameron's opportunities. Wellington failed to tumble to the effectiveness of the manoeuvre for sonic time. There was too much kick, kick, kick, from the Wellington backs m the second spell. By collecting the ball and scampering along with it, with a comrade lying handy, the chances of breaking through the Taranaki cordon would have been brighter. The homers' notion of aggressiveness let reasonable chances on both three-quarter wings go begging.. Walsh was not always content with checking rushes, saving dribbles, and grassing men. On some occasions when he get the ball he gained stretches of ground with a mighty brush past the opposing halves. McKcnzic lacked suilicient confidence to sometimes dash ahead when openings presented" themselves m the passing movements. The game was a hard, ding-dong sort, there being plenty of vigor and individual effort, but not marited by exceptional collective, merit. It was cleanly contested by. the participants. What possessed the Black forwards to fall hack right on to their threc-quartei lino when Taranaki was dropping the leather their way ? In three instances the backs got flustered, and by reason of their presence and a mull coming about, the Taranaki men, with full sail set, dashed up and toed the ball goal-wards,-where J. Kyan, Walsh and Mitchinson m turn saved the situation. There was plenty of vigor and robustness m ithc work of both vanguards. The Black division' plugged away m tireless fashion all through; the piece. Taranaki possessed the weightier division. Green fooled Si. Mynott very cleverly m the second spell. Geartown's hero was always alert m getting the ball, and after drawing the opposition round him, effected a timely and sure pass. Wellington backs were occasionally beaten by the flight of the bull. Don Cameron's brilliant run m the first spell, m the execution of which he made four of his opponents look tike mugs, produced a classic try. It was a blithering piece of work and worth a score any day of the week. And didn't the crowd roar when Don planted the ball over the chalkmaik ! Few, doubtless, saw one of the Taranaki frontrankers plant his right foot across on the Wellington side of the scrum before the bail was shot m by Gardiner. It did happen though on nearly half-a-dozen occasions. And Ready didn't retaliate, which speaks well for his restraint. By feeding Cameron so persistently the Northerners had Wellington's defence on tenterhooks. But fortunately for the homers the feeding policy was carried to extremes. Mynott would, probably have crossed the Wellington chalkmark had he gone on with the ball at one stage of the game, but he uncautiously, though unselfishly transferred to a comrade, ' who missed the opportunity. About a quarter of an hour to "Nosidc" every -ounce of honest endeavor had been squeezed out of the . respective forwards. .A mutual understanding was arrived at to spell-oh for a few seconds so that all the combatants could be m positions before a particular throw-out was effected. There was not much of the gilt-edged excellence m the work of the Black rearguard save that of its stopping and tackling. Taranaki wasted its chances badly m the first spell «by too much long-range kicking. The forwards were not slick enough' to race down and block the taker before he could get his kick -m. .•<••.. ■■>. Taranaki's weakness was m not possessing a livelier and more-'hustlingrfor-ward brigade :