PROVINCES AT PLAY.

NZ Truth, Issue 873, 19 August 1922, Page 7

PROVINCES AT PLAY.

Otago Defeats Hawkes Bay,

To. witness the second of Otago's in-ter-provincial matches this year some 11,000 people wended their way to historic Carisbrook on Saturday last, when the local "reps." encountered the elect of Hawkes Bay. Fresh from their triumph, over Wellington, members of the . "Bay" combination— although it was .a weakened team— were confident of success. But, to any student of the game who has seen football m • other parts of the Dominion, there could .only be one conclusion — rthat the absentees on Saturday must have weakened Hawkes. Bay out of all recognition,- or else how on earth could they have be&teiv Wellington? ■-•'For-the. visitors' score's" on Saturday' were directly . ow-f ing to errors of judgment on the part

of one of the Otago backs, and strangely enough that back was the redoubtable ;':Billy" Fea. Never once did the visitors' backs look like scoring; their passing -was SINGULARLY INEFFECtIVE. The H.B. forwards toiled hard, but met a superior pack. Indeed, the Otago vanguard has seldom been seen to better advantage, some of (he dribbling 1 runs being worthy of the beat traditions of the game. One could not help •thinking, what the Otago backs might have done to the visitors if the team •had been furnished with a decent scrum-half. In this position McNaughton; was clearly out of his class, and sadly upset his mates at times. Owles, alsoj on one wing, is hardly up to representative standard, but th<? other ; backs- are good. While not a brilliant exposition of Rugby, the game was exceedingly iiiteresting throughout and there was :more.' than one "thrill during- the afternoon. Curiously enough' the weather was perfect. The teams were as follow:— I . . • .' , HAWKE'S BAY (Black and White). Full-back— Yates, 11.2. .. - Three-quarters — Barclay 12.6, O'Donoghue 10.7, Greenside 13.0. FJve-eighths— Blake 11.3, Kirwan !2.7. . '..•■.• Half-back— Kivell 12.5. . ; x ''°??Z.^d& — '-. gcptt. <yiring r forwar(a> 11.7, .Kirkpatrick , (captain) 12.7,.; Irvine. 13.Q, Brownlie 16.7, McGregor 13.2, McNab 13.3, Miller 'l2.4, Gemmell 12.4.. OTAGO (Blue). • Full-back)— Sinclair 12.2. Three-quarters— Stewart 12.0, Murray 11.5, Owles 11.6. Five -eighths— Dr. Perry 11.4, Fea (captain) 11.0. . . Half-back — McNaughton 11.3. Forwards — Wilson (wing-forward) 12.4, Duncan 13.0, Munro 11.12 Sonntag, 13.10, Boreham 12.-1, Knox 13.7, MdMeeking 12.8, Diciison 13.0. Otago, who lost, the toss, PRESSED FROM THE START.' - ; ' McNaughton, Fea, Perry and Stewart indulging- m a passing- run which gained a lot of ground. McNaughton tnen marked m good position from a lino ov.t but made a poor attempt at goat. Tlien a bad misfe by McNaughton let Hawke's Bay away, bu^ L^ea' saved' the situation, and the Outgo forwards, headed, by Sonntag, Duncan and Munro transferred -the ; sphere- of operations to the Hawke's Bny 25. Here. "Denny" Boreham injured his shoulder, and had to retire, his place being taken, by Coombes. On the.- occasions when H'twke'a Bay did get the' ball from the scrum, Kivell sent it out smartly enough, but the handling- by the qther backs, with the' excoptioa of Kirwan', was not clenn while the Otagotnck-li-'g w.-'.'s keen. The Otago forwards wore playing much better than they dl.l against Canterbury a few day.j previously, wliile the backs were combiding well. At this stage, Murray, who had been playing well from the start, was responsible for a BRILLIANT SOLO EFFORT. He jinked- his way through half the Hawke's Bay team, tricked and fol~. lowed up fast. He caught- Yates in* possession, and the pair rolled over the; line, tog-ether. From the resultant scrum the Hawke's Bay forwards, with Gemmell and Miller prominent, .broki?' away to half-way, where they were penalised, and Sinclair rr.ade a great attempt at goal. Then came a great try. About half-way the ball came outof. .the-Vserum to.J2er-ryi.who gave toFea, and the latter m turn transferred to Murray; who beat his man and handed on to Stewart. The speedy winger matfe a great run down the line and when tnckled, m- passe::! to Murray, who 'dashed across near the posts for Sinclair, to convert. It was a thrill. Otago 5 Hawke's Bay 0 A nice run by Kivell saw play settle for the second time so far m the Otago territory, but Sinclair averted danger by a clever mark., Just beforethe. interval Kivell, Kirwan, Blake and Grenside were responsible for the transference of play to the Otago 25. Then there was a ' high cross-kick which Owles should have taken, but left it,, too late, to Sinclair. The misunderstanding nearly let the fast -following Hawke's Bay forwards m, but Perry saved brilliantly just, m the nick of time. . THE SECOND SPELL. Almost immediately on the resumption the Otago backs got going, but the Hawke's Bay forwards, now • playing with much more vim, swep"t back to the line whe.re nothing but stubborn defence kept Kiven and Kirwan out. A little later, miskicks. by Fea and Sinclair nearly let Hawke's Bay m; but they failed to seize a great opportunity; their turn came soon. From a iscrum near the line Fea failed to take a pass; the ball went over the line, and Gemmell fell on it. Yates kicked a good goal. Otago 5 ■■■• Hawke's Bay .-.. 6 . Almost at once, came sensation. From a scrum on the Otago 25 line the ball came out to Fea who was collared. He sent a long pass back to Sinclair, but the ball did not quite reach the fullback who fumbled It, and over the line swarmed the visiting forwards. Miller registered. Hawke's Bay's second try. Yates failed at goal. . Hawke's Bay .......... 8 Otago ....'..... 5 After some rapid exchanges, Brownlie -was penalised well outside the Hawke's. Bay 25. Sinclair took the ball well back, and placed a magnificent* goal from close to the half-way line— a splendid effort. Hawke's Bay . — „ ; . . -. 8 Otago 8 n Otago now made desperate efforts to obtain the lead, and a nice piece of combination between Fea and Owles saw the latter nearly over at the corner. But they were not to be denied, and the delighted spectators, were to be provided with another thrill. About half-way Munro picked up m the loose and passed to Coombes. The latter ran a little way and passed to Stewart. Although crowded .on the line the winger dodged his way past Barclay, i and one or two others, beat Yates, and scored a brilliant try at the corner. Sinclair's kick was a great one, but just missed. Otago .............. 11 Hawke's Bay g Great d-ribbling by the Otago forwards, headed by Munro, Duncan, Knox arid Sonntag was a feature ofthe following play. Owles had to go, off hurt, with only a few minutes to go, ; and was replaced by Mackereth; Two or three times before the whistle Otago were within an ace of. scoring, and just on time a shot by Sinclair/ just grazed a post. A memorable game thus .ended .■ ' . ."..'.'. . ■ ... • OTAGO ...........;. U : ; HAWKE'S BAY . .'...; 8 ;"' ' Mr. E. Eckhoid controlled the -game m a capable and ..entirely impartial manner. . ; : ..■ : • . < • . - i