INTER-ISLAND MATCH.

NZ Truth, Issue 218, 28 August 1909, Page 3

INTER-ISLAND MATCH.

Northerners Poor Display.

Beaten by 19 to 11.

'As the 'thougKtTiil . local enthusiast wended his way from the Park he put the pertinent question •to himself — Will the Auckland forwards overwhelm us as the South did the Morth to-day '/ The game was a good one, fairly open, fast and bristling with incident, yet it was wanting m many respects of what a game between the alleged pick of New" Zealand should be. No new ground was broken, and m maoy cases, particularly ■ m the rearguard, players showed a lamentable ignorance of high-grade foot- " .ball. Outstanding features were the splendid place-kicking and overwhelming superiority of the South forward brigade. .They invariably got possession, shifted/ things m. tJie tisght, aad were all over the Blacks m. th-e loose— something like a repetition, of the Cross-Fanning-Cooke rout of a tew years "back, minus the cleverness and resource Meuli and O'Brien, the respective fullbacks, were satisfactory enough, but have a lot to learn m making use of their kicking abilities. The latter was the solider of the two. Cameron was full of play, and it was fortunate for the Whites that few opportunities came his way. His heaily, -dashy runs on the slightest provocation made him a firm favorite with the. crowd. Wilson, at the last moment, had to play centre, McGregor taking the vacancy at right wing three-quarter, and Mitchinson moving up to No. 2 fivejeight. These changes did not make for better .combination, and the all-round display was poor. ' Wilson's left foot kicking was effective, but' lie "was not too happy, and his mulling of passes at critical moments was heart-breaking. McGregor is a nippy colt, but had few chances. , Mitchinson, with the exception of Cameron, was m a class by himself, but m. the first half was badly served by O'Leary. The two 'five eights changed phanged places m the second half, but with the forwards so badly beaten it was a questionable policy, as the little "AH Black" had no room to work m, and a rearguard dash or two was the North's only hope. O^Lieary's place-kicking was right out of the box,- bat he has no conception of the inside live-eight duties. Green had hard luck to be behind ■' a beaten pack, and was lost— completely.The South rearguard, given plenty of .encouragement, and with the Canterbury combination, put up a good performance. Fuller's display from the very jump was a real eye-opener, and he was th& best man on the ground. In the first half especially he worked like a Trojancollaring, stemming rushes, and kicking m great style— in fact, it was Fuller,: everywhere. • His streaks up the field to, open tt;e way for Fryer were great and' the subsequent dashes by the latter b)oognt forth roars of applause. Fryer found the ground much to his liking, and there can be no doubt he is just the boy to put the finishing touches to a passing bout. He was full of lire, and speed, throughout. ; The Burns-Grey-Weston combination, put up a good game, but m the early stages ■ there was a good deal of side stepping done m the rough stuff. Weston's placekiekihg- was great. Colvin showed that with more experience m good company he will tarn out a real good man, but one wonders why he made no use of iris left, m the' first half when playing at. right wing. How the mighty winger has fallen. When one considers that for years we' have always had at least one top-notch-er, the display given by Wiikcs and Bbdgers was very disappointing. The Aucklarider's display was execrable.: As said before, the. Southern forwards were immeasurably superior and controlled the game. Patterson played superbly, and was -wdfl backed up by Patoa aad Cerbetifc. Bligai, feoxa the Wsst Coast, taaOo a very good impression, -was m cverytjjiitg, ' and, with Ridland, hooked m good style. Son&Esaa proved himseWa real good c ttn, his tseMisg bsdag magciScsnt). "BoHjr" G-iay retired at halZ-tame and .Mick Ryan came m at right wing, Colvin talcing up centre position. Mick seems to have developed quite an amount of dash. Some reputations were blasted ?in this match.' Auckland and Wellington men Were the chief victims. In line-kicking only were the Southerners inferior to their rivals. Some of the Northern packmen did a very fair share qf loafing m the first spell, and Francis was particularly no^ ticeable m this respect. The Southern forward brigade's scrum was finely clamped, and the wheeling and breakaway rushes were well executed. The Black rearguard showed no resourcefulness or skill.- m counteracting the manoeuvres of the Southerners.