RUGBY IN THE CITY

NZ Truth, Issue 1030, 22 August 1925, Page 12

RUGBY IN THE CITY

HUTT'S TURN WITH SELWYN.

Poneke, The King of the Castle

REWARD FOR GRAFT AND CONSISTENCY Old Boys administer stoush to Varsity— The " Village " upends Oriental, and lands close to the leaders — Yes, Selwyn has no Championship points, but they're triers — Hutt run into double figures — Marists and Wellington, a draw — Poneke, "The Happy Warriors" of 1925. Marlborough clean Taranaki up— Wairafapa and Southland "AH Square" The time has come, Poneke said, . . , To talk of many things; ; ; ' Of honor, glory, championships, . And rugby football kings.

The .season's story, m many exciting chapters, is now told, and. the name ' - Poneke is writ large on the big championship book. The season ■.••■■■ • has nearly ended— : has, m fact, ended m so far as Poneke are concerned, as their position is unassailable — and the red and blacks .. have come, through well. The team has battled hard for the coveted place m .local -Rugby- history. . Few enthusiasts, except the "village" supporters (and their faith is allabsorbing), thought that Petone was going to come through to challenge th,e leaders, and yet here they are, second on the ladder. ../Old" Boys were able to put 'Varsity out of the way last Saturday, „ while Selwyn made a determined unsuccessful attempt to get past Hutt. . Wellington and Marists fought out - a draw. Auckland handed out a severe rebuff to, Canterbury, while Marlborough outclassed, the Taranaki men.

; OLD BOYS ON THE JOB. After Bedell's play on Saturday, a Wellington rep., team- could. hardly do without him, "and there is no unwisdcm m his choice among those from whom fifteen are to be selected against ' Hawkes Bay. „ ' Bedell was the outstanding player on -the- Old Boys' side which cleaned up" 'Varsity by 12 to .6 on Saturday. A biting cold southerly, belting hail on to a sodden field, didn't tend to rejoicing,* but the wild enthusiasm of American jAilors among the crowd, and their antics at half-time, kept'bar- - rackers from sitting like Eskimos.. , silerit and glunf. • " Old Boys held the upper hand right, through, the light cruisers of their rear, .division cutting spec- .. ' tacular movements through, the sea of slush. All hands took merrily' to the loose rushtactics, and 'Varsity were often hard put to it. "With such stalwarts as Love, O'Regan and Martin- Smith off duty, it dsrnot surprising that 'Varsity did- not show to. advantage. . . . . Malfrqy .has played better games. An 'avalanche of work descended on botli. full-backs, and let it be said that Malcolm, of Old' Boys, -and Marks, his vis-a-vis, bore the work on unshrinking : shoulders; • Malcolm, .played a fine, resourceful game, and apparently the. more he was ..pressed the better, he liked it. The penalty- kick he shot over the bar m i rorit'of the. staridVwas an effort which "ho place kick could have failed to be proud of. Little Bramwell had an appalling time at half-back. Plastered ' from head- to foot m mud and slush, he never failed his side or funked going down"; to it. P< - Mansfield was well served with the ball, ; arid played a very fair ' game. Solid ' tackling is one of his best features. ' .-'.Sceats, on the wing for 'Varsity, distinguished himself by scoring one of 'Varsity's two tries and making the opening for the other. Honors "to Bedell, however. Of Old Boys' three tries, he scored two aiid made^he way for the other. All three efforts were spectacular ones that put the crowd on. v its toes. vPONEKE ARRIVE HOME. "SUFFICIENT FOR THE DAY—" The "curtain rings down on some fine . football. Poneke's win last Saturday gives • thenr the championship^ One loss out of .fifteen games speaks a lot for the red and black tigers (or are they zebras?). . It-,, took a miserable, slushy, . wet, muddy day for Poneke to come out of >their mix-up with Berhampore "home - and dry." "Where's Tilyard?" queried an enthusiast (it was only the real hun - dred" per cent, enthusiasts who went ui»"^'o -Newtown Pork), and the crowd roared -whenVa : serious-faced humorist said, .."D'ye .see that lump of mud near the*, half-way line? Well, that's iTiiyard/' . Of course it wasn't a- bad game, and the best team wonj but m a pool of "water and , mud anything- can happen. The six- points to nil m favor of Poneke was probably a moderately fair of the team's sfrengt'h. Tit %as at times more a soccer dis- ," play than a Rugby match, although there were occasional ,bright flashes m spite of the greasy, elusive ball. Berhampore' .stood- up" very well to the; opening onslaughts of the Poneke warriors, and were able to -get a- bit of x their own back •later, when more than once an -."evening^'up""-; was threatened. Bpth -; teams '. fielded ■ juniors, and a notable absentee from the Berhampore Fcrum was Deere.- The Shearer brothers were > missing from Poneke's ranks, : and ,Hall was replaced at half by-H. Tilyard. -. '■ It is only fair to say that Berhampore's forwards (and Brown and Gunnion especially) played a splendid game. In the tight stuff they were the masters. v . ' The star performer of the day was unquestionably Hickey. This nimble- , footed strategist was able to make the most of every opportunity. He , proved a perplexing px-oposition to l those who had designs on catching ~ him. , . . . ' On the other hand, Walters was a tower of strength and reliability m the Berhampore rearguard. - Without him Poneke might have run into big , figures. - ■:• ■ '..•.. v But after all said and done, it : was, . at most; only a good scientific mud scramble, with plenty of talent had the day been fine. It was • a day far the man who t could- bullock his way over. Any way, Poneke's reasoning is that "sufficient for the .day is the evil ' thereof," and. they're the cham- < pions. HARD GO FOR A DRAW. ...... .... . . . , % , , ... ... Drenched to the skin, chilled to the marrow and shivering like a Chinaman with the ague, Wellington and Marists slipped, skidded' and collided at'Kilbirnie Park, y .;. Play developed into a game of fifteen forwards . aside, . even the £ull"baeks dribbled and speculated. "A-'draw; 3 all, was kindly dished out toy Fate and was an impartial indication of the trend of the game. t Wellington faced the fury of the elements m the first spell and Marists immediately knocked at the door, but. the . determined, resistance of the yellow !<and blacks, led by the ever-fresh and vigorous Matheson kept them out. Marists had golden opportunities tf scoring, but the greasy ball •vaded all their efforts to plant it -over-ins lino. ■ • ■'. ;

,- • I 'Ward, the half-back, was too eager. From a scrum five yards from, the line and right m front' of . the • sticks, he secured tiie ball and had a presentation fry offered him but he ■ foolishly elected to try a drop-kick and. mulled it.- . • ■ ■-/ Foley, on the wing, had little to do and was so cold -when the ' ball did come his way that he could not handle it . -• - ; Mcßae's gigantic bulk was prominent m the line-outs, but m the loose .Chris, does not seem to.be able to get near. enough to the ball to. make his presence felt. ' " " '.' Several, attempts by- both teams to pilot, the ball' over the posts were disastrous.-- Matheson took •' •• a ■- - kick

right m front of the goal when a successful kick meant victory for Wellington, but the heavy ball went wide. - From a free-kick m the. centre of the swamp, when the green and whites, with the exception of a couple of men on the mark, were all m the vicinity of the side-line anticipating a high punt, Wellington short-kicked and raced m pursuit. Dribbling the ball along unopposed (even "Spud" Murphy was on the line), R. Johnson scored a try which left the shivering spectators speechless with its unexpectedness and the ease with which it was occomplished. Wellington had frustrated all thenopponents endeavors m the first half to cross their line and had themselves scored one try. Their chances m the second spell looked rosy, but Marists put up as strong and effective a defence m the teeth of the gale as Wellington had m the first.

The backs of both teams attempted on occasions to handle the ball, but the majority of the attempts came to grief at the first pass.

Corliss, the "Wellington winger, coped well with the slippery oval, and was always dangerous when it bame his way. He was twice within an ace of crossing- the line but the precarious footing was his downfall.

If a season's foqtball without registering a win, does not dishearten Selwyn, what m the name of Saint Jimmy will? Their clash with Hutt was productive of the "usual" (Hutt won 25 points to nil), and although the - Selwynites have stout hearts, there, was a palpable "we-are-on-a-forlorn-hope" look about them as they filed' on the neld for the stoush. It was a day on which foqtball should never be judged — or at least, never criticised, but Hutt certainly got the best of the deal on merit, and merit alone. True, they banged up a score — ana then some, but it was not easily done.

Selwyn put up a strong opposition. Hutt's forwards must have mention for their fine concerted work, as well as their bright individualism. Meantime, cheer up, Selwyn! "The race is not ALWAYS to the swift nor the battle to the strong."