BACK TO FULL STRENGTH

NZ Truth, Issue 1229, 20 June 1929, Page 16

BACK TO FULL STRENGTH

Varsity Outplay Athletic AtThe Park IN LINE FOrVCHAMPIONSHIP V; (Prom "N.Z. Truth's" Special Wellington Representative). ,-■ . By defeating Athletic on Saturday, Varsity have now taken the jead m the Wellington senior championship with 13 points to their credit. Old Boys put it across Poneke and this hrings them up level with Athletic m the position of second place with one point' behind Varsity.;

• ' ' ' ' v. ■ ■ ' ■ ' ' '• \-' VARSITY proved on Saturday that they were just a wee bit too classy for Athletic. Athletic were not permitted to play- their customary attacking game. For Ttrtost of the time they /*\yere busy stalling off the 'onslaughts of the students.' Athletic failed to cross Varsity's line, the seven points -gained coming from a "potted" goal/andVa penalty goal. .-•'...- 777' Varsity, on the other hand, notched their fifteen", pqints with three, converted tries. Ramson kicked all three goals and Mackay scored two of the three tries. Bevorid'.' a brilliant bout of. passing which resulted m Mackay going across there was. littie to become enthusiastic over m the first spell. Both sets of backs , appef*. R.ed u ri a ble 'Ao , h and le . th c- ba.l L wli I eh . 'by- reason/of \(.a newnesß.; proved \lo be CXtre'm'cly. elusive.. . 7.' V :', ..•■ ' . This, was an occasion when the players should have ; made*. abird of putting tho boot into' the ball instead of trying to pick' it I, up wli'e'ri it was : continually beating then*?-: ' With a new ball, too, extra care has to be exercised In the manner of giving a pass. The player sending . the pass should see that he hands the,'-/ leather out with a two-handed action and the direction should be for his mate's chest. Athletic forwards were making the fatal of trying •to pick up the ball m the loose.

Varsity backs and forwards were trained right to the tick, and iri this respect they surprised their opponents who are regarded as being the fittest team m the competition. ;.~ One , feature of Varsity's display was ' the perfect understanding betweeY) forwards and backs. Quite.' a number of the passing rushes were' initiated by the , forwards, Edgar, m ~p"articu)ar,

sending the backs away from the loose and from line-outs. • - * The best try of the day came from a movement started by Edgar. Edgar is fast playing himself into top-hole form.. He shines m the tight. work and more so* ?ln til? loo^se. -.., 'A* '..Varsity fielded the strongest- fifteen, , available this season. Mackay, Edgar, Blacker, Mackenzie and Leys have all; *

had the advantage of experience from tussles with the Aussie Varsity team so that they were m the best possible condition when going into the fray against Athletic. liamson has now developed into something like the player he promised to be some two seasons back. He is the best centre Ti, Wellington and further when on 'his day, he has few his equal as a goal-kicker. . „■ T,eys, as half, was seen to far better advantage than his. vis-a-vis. Hartwel . Leys was right on his game, being quick m attack and often beating Porter with Hartwell" wasted too much attention on the man with or without the ball and generally his exhibition was on the weak side. --„ , -The Leys - Mackenzie - Irwin - Mackay combination manifested itself to advantage, particularly m the second spell. Mackenzie made many openings for the outside backs and Irwin generally gave a neat pass to Ramson. Mackay was In his best form, es- .-■ peclally .when permitted . to muster v that burst of speed that carries him past the opposing wing. His main bad habit' Is running into the thick of the opposition if a clear field does not; present Itself along the wing. Mackay might, with advantage to his

side, give a. little attention to practising cross-kicking: . '' * ' There are. two" full-backs m Wellington who have. now developed a habit of ''potting" goals every Saturday. The two are Heazlewood* ( Athletic) and Cuming (Marist). He'azlewood, m this respect, is a good judge. . Athletic Inside backs were at a disadvantage through the absence of Pelham. He was replaced by Howard who did not make the best fist of his ■ opportunity. Rutland and Cookson did their part fairly • well as five-eighths. They had anything but an easy time with Mac^ kenzie and Irwin jumping m ori them. Huxtable was. the sounder of the wingers. He should have been moved nearer the. scrum earlier m the game. Ohitwin. who also comes from Hawkes Bay., "gave promise m the first spell. Porter played just, as well as his opponents permitted him to.. From kick-off to final bell, the All Black captain was a well-marked man. As soon as the ball came Porter's way he was quickly Embraced by two or three Varsity ihen. Athletic hookers managed to get their share of the ball from the scrums and honors were even .m the line-outs. ' A. feature of Varsity's for ward "play was the excellent dribbling carried out by Piedrich, Cofmack and Blacker. Keeping the ball under command with the feet is not the art it used to be m Wellington football. . .-;.";• . , ■ Fraser, Berry, West and Adam were .'.-' conspicuous throughout • amongst v Athletic forwards. ;. v There Is talk of "Snowy" Svensop turning out for Athletic whilst Cliff Porter is aWay In Australia. It is to; be hoped there Is truth n the rumor. for the return of Snowy would create no end of interest and would prove, a distinct advantage to Wellington football generally. i Old Boys continue to impress, and there was merit m their 13 points, to 6 victory over Poneke on .Newtown Park. The back play by both sides was not entertaining, but Old Boys were m a marked degree superior m the forwards. Poneke were to some extent handicapped by Jessup, Rene, Edgar and Barrett being absent, but even so, such prominent players as Sly and Shearer appeared to lack the devil; usually associated with their efforts. J. Lamason set the pace for Old Boys' forwards, and ' this player throughout gave . a display that stamps him as one of our best forwards. Julian was the best back on the , ground, but his efforts went for naught — he was playing for an unV' balanced side. 7 Turner, who replaced Barrett as full-

back, did quite well though he is a few removes from Barrett. Hughes, who played wing three-quarter for Old Boys, uses good judgment and runs straight. Quirk and Wilson were easily the best '. of Poneke forwards. Fisher ifi not up to : senior standard as a half, although his - defence m the second spell was good. 1 Emerson and McPherson were two for--1 wards who never let up. They are big chaps who put every ounce of weight into scrum pushing. Berhamnore ran out winners over Oriental by 9 to 6. On the day, Berhampore deserved the win and really were • unfortunate m not registering a "higher score* ■ McDonald, the Berhampore' forward, "is displaying improvement m., every match. He played an exceedingly bright game on Saturday.. 7 Deere and Mollier were two others who shone out frequently. Berhampore backs, In spite of several setbacks are gradually working Into a decent combination. Hooper shaped well behind the scrum. This lad' is how a big asset to P.'erha'rhpore. Thompson, playing second,, fiveeighths, made a creditable showing." Tlie . best of Oriental backs was Chambers. Fox, Tasker and Graham were the pick of. Oriental forwards. The magpie's have

some solid men m the pack and when going on tlie .field they convey the impression that there is going to be a hot time for their opponents. 'Wellington who. the. previous Saturday, had given Athletic a more or less close .call went down -with a thud against Marist at Prince of Wales Park, the score being J 7 to ". An added attraction for this match was the appearance of .T. M. Tuck.

who has been chosen to accompany the All Blacks as the extra half. On Saturday he did duty for Wellington and it was easy to understand why he has won favor with the selectors. A trip to Australia will : improve • Tuck. On Saturday, he was seen more as a defensive half, for the reason that he was behind a losing pack. VI. Barry and Stiver made things merry .amongst the forwards. Stiver will be hard to keep .out of the wing-forward l rep. position now that Porter is away. I McDonald,' the little Maori- centre, was the best back on the ground, even allowing, for a few mistakes made.. Cuming ! onpe again set un a c'aim for consideration as.;.a rep. .full-back. ' .Even the forwards lacked their cusI f-^ary.. e-'ngp-..-. T.ance Johnson was not given many chances, for naturally he was c:ii>..ur me opposition eye all the time. .-' Petone did hot. have matters all their own way against .Eastbourne, even though they finished the first spell with a nine to nil a'dvaritage. The final score was Petone 22, Eastbourne 17.