WELLINGTON PLAY.

NZ Truth, Issue 910, 5 May 1923, Page 8

WELLINGTON PLAY.

(By "Tackier.") ** Why -oit earth the Rugby; Union, put the Berhampore v- Oriental game on. the Athletic Park on. Saturday to fill spectators with, gloom act its drabness is more than "Tackier" . can say. He left it at half-time, anyway, and hied himself, to a brighter exhibition at Duppa Street, where a host of spectators got more enjoyment for nothing than the Park barrackers got for their shillings. This was the Marist v. Old Boys match. The game at the Park was tedious in the extreme. In certain measure this was to be expected,: as both teams play a forward game, but what was not to be expected so much, and what ruined the whole , concern, was the fumbling of- the Oriental backs and the wretched tackling fore and aftt. A typical instance of the futility of the wild grabs in the f air was when Lang, the smart Berhampore fiveeighths, secured the leather in his . own twenty- five arid" dudked and dodgted through pretty well the whole of '• the opposing team. In open country he- passed to Howard,' the skipper, who { at the right moment let' the ball out [to one of -half a dozen waiting to run / across. \ Mick Howard's game was his best performance' this season. Sam Standen was out again and was always in. the thick of it. It's a happy knack he has in the line-out, although he is no lamp post, of 'glancing the ball /off his hands to the half. He initiated the movement leading to the nest try in thi3 manner. ' . < The best back on the ground wsys the Berhampore full-back, Walters. He's -as safe as a church, this chap, and for line-finding is hereby awarded a certificate of merit. In future games Dufty should take the field provided with a wide-mouth-ed basket with which to receive the balL It's a stone moral that his hands are of no use for this purpose. Jim Moffltt continues to barge, through the opposition in the good old : style, and the way he holds the scrum/ 'together make* the Ories' pack something worth while. He has the weight and power to screw the scrum as well and. frequently thus to deprive the other si.de of the ball. That a ball once hooked never returns is not a fact, nor even that once hooked it will i emergo with the five-eighths in place 1 to receiVe J*. Old Boys put up a remarkably staunch game against the Marist team and look as if they may do something worth while later on with '"a few more games to tone them up. Old Boy% need a little of this to put them into the condition to stand up to and take ; the hard stuff coming in a keenly con- ' tested cup fixture. Mansfield, first five-eighths, would stand-out in any team. Here is a lad with speed and agility and an innate knowledge of the game, of what to do and when to do it. He did some pretty cutthig-in and kept Markham awake to the necessity of keeping his weather eye open. A couple of five-eighths like this playing opposite one another keep the pot boiling pretty consistently. i Malcolm, at full-back, played a clever game for the Old Boys, and* was always there when he was required. Marris, who came up~ from the ' Juniors where he obtained rep. honors, was a handy man on the wing. Murrell, of swimming fame, put his brcrad back down in the Old Boys* pack, . but he was inclined to the trudge stroke fn the open. On the Marist side Mahoney was again a distinctive player. The speed merchant is Callaghan. On full steam there are few players who could hold a candle to him, On Saturday he got clear away and- got over the line, "but before he could force the ball received a bump in the rear and merely bounced it on the ground. A, few of the move excitable barrackers 'present considered the referee a spalpeen for not allowing a try, but it was a correct ruling all the same. How Callaghan ■ would be on q, purely defensive game remains to < be seen. Mullins, the Canterbury back, turned, out with Marist for. his first game "this season, and was put on the wing. He had few opportunities tft show his '■metal. . Murphy's trusty boot was d^anger-: ously accurate in front of the goal. He two penalties and converted the 'one try scored. A man who can thus •contribute S points off his boot of .the / 11 scored by his side is not to be f sneezed at. i The biggest surprise of the games so i far played was the downfall of 'Var- ! sity at the hands of the Wellington ►Club. The latter clubmen had every [occasion ( to makdv merry over the re'sult. They certainly played and won rwith; tremendous gusto, but it may be rtruly oald that 'Varsity brought defeat on themselves to the dismal tune of 16 |to 3by their wretched display.. The forwards played as bereft of co-apera-Ition as profiteers and the display of the .'two' five- eighths. Marks and MacKay, fwaat as poor as a church mouse. Jacktaonand Malfroy on the wings were 'wasted most of the time. ' : Riggs was suffering from a heavy ■cold- and this may -be the reason for his colorless game. The 'Varsity coach will> doubtless i have recovered by the time these notes. ;see daylight from the severe attack of tapopleey the game brought on,, and the 'players, If he has not already seen thexn, are Hereby warned to go armed to the gymnasium. In the Wellington team the halfback, Hughes, and a couple, of exSouthlandera, Johnson and McGregor, *t nve-eifhths, played the best back games. / Joyce. Hepburn and Whybom were the pick of the basket forward. A -feature of the winning team's play was the tackling. Every man went low in the good, old style and this was an }mportant 'agency in creating the debacle. In the line-out,. Herd was always a useful man. ~^~,, Wellington Club haveS*ecured a new forward in Batchelor, wnbxolayed for Motueka last. year against thk Wellington B reps. He may be in the wingforwaril position. \ ' Another recruit the club has its. eye on Is Jcrvis, a forward who conaes from Southland. \ It was a great old game at Petonfe between the local fifteen and Selwyn\ with plenty of scoring on each side. Petone were not impressive and the forwards played more or less raggedly. The amount of talking among the Petone team was out of all reason and ■would have done credit to a meeting o£ cow cockles faced with- a butter-fat tax. If there's any talking to be done it might be left to Ginger Nlcholls in hi* position of captain. Every man in the team is captain "of hia soul, or should be. but that doesn't entitle them nil to be team skippers. Eddie Ryan winced a more than ordinary affection for th« hair and clunj: to it with Ki-oat tenacity through, thick iuul thin. Tho thin was vis?ht tnouKh, bui he failed to notice on many otcaKlonu that a tow of his mates wore waiting to help him through the thick. Flack and &q Clifton, a couple of more or less old stagers, turned out for Sehvyn and conducted themselves well. Hutt managed to hold Athletic fairly well in the first halt while condition lasted, but sorely Jaded in the rtocond they had rings run round them. Hard training has b<ien by no meana u fetttur* of (to Butt's methods of

preparation, and. accordingly they were sprinters and no more. The Belmont hill is to be climbed more frequently in the evenings In the sweet by and by. The Hutfpack is a light one, with Hetdman, who does not exceed 13 stone, the heaviest man, but they stood up well in the first half to the gruelling of the heavier Athletic men. Whether McDougall, the half-back, had no confidence in his supporting backs or whether he's a stickler for safe play is the question. Time and again be booted* the leather upfield the moment he received it instead o£ letting it out along the backs. Hutt may do better with the stiffening of a couple of League men waiting for reinstatement and^ a lot more climbs of the Belmoat hill. To-day's attractions are the Poneke'Varsity match at the Park and the Marist- Oriental game at Petone. Kickoffs at three by the dock, and curtainraisers for those who get there early.