RUGBY FOOTBALL

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21648, 19 May 1932, Page 4

RUGBY FOOTBALL

By Full-Back.

The following matches will be played by Otago this year:— July 30—v. Canterbury, at Dunedin. August 10.—v. Auckland, at Dunedin. August 20.—v. Southland, at Invercargill. , _ September 3. —v. Southland, at Dunedin. September 10. —v. Wellington, at Dun•din. September 17—v. North Otago. South Island v. North island game, •t Christchurch, June 4. Payne Shield Match at Dunedin— September 17. SOUTHERN v. ALHAMBRA Luck was either with Southern or dead against Alhambra on Saturday, for on the run of play the Black and Whites can consider themselves decidedly lucky in getting home by six points to three. The game was one of lost opportunities for Alhambra, and in the first half any one of four penalties against their opponents might have just as easily resulted in a score, as did the two free kicks that gave Southern the victory, while in the second half a little more thrust on the part of the Red and Black backs would have seen at least another half-dozen points added to their score. The first part of the game resolved itself into a tussle between the two packs, with Southern holding a slight advantage in the early stages. Towards the end of the spell, however, the Alhambra forwards got down to serious business and Were on the attack all the time, only the sound. defence of Southern. keeping them out. After the change over the Alhambra pack, combining well, gave their opponents no quarter, and worried them down to their twenty-five line, where the backs commenced to open up play and throw the ball about. The Red and Black backs were getting most of the ball from the scrums, but there was a lack of finish in the resulting movements, which just as often as not lost instead of gained ground. The movement which gave the losers their try, however, was a pretty piece of combined work, and Flint, who finished it off, thoroughly deserved Ins try, and incidentally redeemed several mistakes that he made earlier in the plav. . , Callander was the king-pin of the Alhambra rearguard, and during the final 20 minutes or so he guided them to good purpose, and it was only determined defence on the part of Southern that kept their line intact. Griffin, on the right wing, played a good game, but Wilson, on the other side, did not show up so well, being rather inclined instead of going on until pushed or thrown out to throw the ball wildly infield. Buswell. at full-back, was always safe, his line-kicking being particularly good. Souter played his usual honest, hard game' in the forwards, and Miller ' and Garbutt also showed up well. The Southern forwards all worked hard. Here, Niven, and Strachan always being in the van of any movement. The inside backs were the weak link in the rearguard, and both of them displayed a tendency to go for the open irrespective

of whether they gained any ground or not. Simon played his characteristic solid game behind the scrum. He stood up to a tremendous amount of work, and he was always where he was most wanted. Smith, at centre, played a great game, and, indeed, was the outstanding back on the ground. Morrison, on the left wing, put in some good runs and was sound on defence. Bolton, although he managed to keep out_ of trouble, was caught in possession fairly often. UNIVERSITY A v. DUNEDIN The spectators at the match between the above teams, which was played at the University Oval. Logan Park, were treated to a good open display of football. Greater experience and the heavy forwards of" the Blues’ team brought them victory by 19 points to nil, though at half time they were only leading by 5 points to nil. Dunedin have a light team it must have been about a stone lighter all round than the A side. As the game went on Dunedin began to weaken, and the Blues were dominating the position when the final whistle went. M'Kenzie was played at centre for the Blues for a time, but he was not a success in the position. It was quite a different M’Kenzie, however, when he went out to the wing and Dunne came in as centre. Stephenson-Wright, wing threequarter, proved a hard man to stop when he got going, and one try he scored was the result of sheer determination. Pryde shaped well behind the scrum, but on more than one occasion Gillies (fiveeighth) tried to go too far, and was caught with the ball. The other backs played soundly, but their handling at times was not clean. Hartnell played well in patches, and Service proved a solid worker in the tight Treacy, Oliver, and Dawkins were the best of the. Dunedin backs. _ Dawkins was inclined to get out of position, and on two occasions M'Kenzie took advantage of this weakness by the opposing winger and scored. -Burgess and Herbert were the best of the forwards. The Dunedin team’s tackling' was really good in the first spell, but their defence weakened in the second half. KAIKORAI v. PIRATES Kaikorai met Pirates at Tahuna Park, and, taking the game right through, the hill team proved definitely superior, and won by 17 points to 5 points. The Pirates forwards started with great dash, but they soon steadied down, and then Kaikorai took the upper hand, and practically maintained it throughout. The game was mostly confined to the forwards, but in the second half the Kaikorai backs came away with some promising movements. Duff was playing a hard, solid game in the Pirates forwards until _he got hurt, and Glendining was prominent in the loose rushes. Pirates rearranged their back team, Todd being played at half-back and Hill coming out of the forwards to five-eighth. The experiment did not prove a success. The attack of the Pirates backs was held up . because their forwards were _ being beaten, but nevertheless the showing > of the Pirates rearguard was not impressive. Symonds, however, played a useful game at full-back.

Francis played his best game this season for Kaikorai, and varied his play well. Moreover, his defence showed a distinct improvement. Laing, first five-eighth, was noticeable for several breaks through weak defence, and Cameron, second five-eighth, quit* surprised his own side by the manner in which he kept into the play. He showed unexpected speed, and took advantage of the opportunities which came his way. Ross made a good centre, and his handling was sound. Sullivan, full-back, impressed in his line kicking in tlie second half, and his defence was excellent. Salt played a fair game only. He is showing a tendency to hesitate when he has the ball in an attacking movement, and he lost one try on Saturday by not dashing for the line. The Kaikorai rearguard is now commencing to show better combination, and when the backs show a little more accuracy in passing and safeness in handling they should do well. . ; . Sonntag again led the hill pack in great style. Allen also played a fine game unti he received a shoulder injury in the second half. Allen will be out of the game for a week or two. UNION v. UNIVERSITY B Union met University B at the North Ground on Saturday, and there was a good crowd present to watch an open, interesting game. The Light Blues held the advantage in the first spell, and when the sides changed over the score was 5 points to 3 in their favour. Shortly after the commencement of the second spell the Union team improved, and they ran out winners by 19 points to 10 points, and thus secured their first victory oi the season. , Henderson and Uttley, the University five-eighths, showed good combination, and they started their three-quarters on some good movements, the handling being quite good. Dovi, centre* was good in parts, and Hawkesworth, on the wing, was always ready and willing to come into the pay. Dovi is a good player to have on onq’s side, but he does not appear able to finish off his work. Bannatyne and Hardie-Neil showed up in the forwards. , , ... Collier was the best forward on the Union side, and he was ably supported by the rest of the pack. Stokes, who started on the wing, was changed to half-back, Hay going into the three-quarter line. Stokes gave a good showing in the position. Burgess, first five-eighth, was, however, the mainstay of the backs. M'Lennan played a useful game at wing-tlireequarter, and scored two tries. Silver, full-back, gave another sound exhibition. His line-kicking was accurate and his tackling sound. The Union team is mostly composed of young* players, and they should mould into a good side before the season is over. ZINGARI-RICHMOND v. TAIERI Taieri were defeated by_ Zingari-Rich-mond at Montecillo by 2o points to 6 points, but there was not that margin of difference between the two sides, taking the trend of the play into consideration. The Taieri forwards, with Findlay and Phillips usually in the front of the rushes, plaved a great game, but they did not receive much assistance from their backs. Bathgate excepted. The position really was that the Taieri forwards had to

meet the defence of the Zingari forwards and then play a prominent part in holding back the attacks of the Zingari backs. Twice the Taieri forwards were hammering away at the hill team’s line when chances were given to Procter to secure possession, and he made two brilliant runs to go across each time. Procter also scored another try after a good run. Taieri changed their backs about during the game, but this did not improve matters. Given a few backs and Taieri would prove a hard proposition for any team to tackle. As they play at present, overeagerness results in abortive attacks, and the opposition is enabled to take advantage of the mistakes made. The Zingari-Richmond full-back, Foote, played another sound game. Procter (wing-three-quarter) was outstanding, and Caradus (centre) and Stevenson (on the wing) also shaped well. Rapson, halfback, was always close to the ball, and he did a great amount of work. Cranefield and Lucas, the five-eighths, were not too certain at times, their handling and t passing were faulty. ■ Morrison and Donnelly were always in the tight work, and Douglas shone in the loose. NOTES The New Zealand team which will leave for Sydney on June 17 will play the threefront scrum formation and no wingforward. It is to be hoped, therefore, that the selectors—Messrs A. M'Donald and E. M'Kenzie —will not make the mistake the New Zealand selectors made when they picked the team for South Africa. Working forwards are the very first essential, not forwards who, on the slightest provocation, move out of a scrum and try to shine in the open. On his play this season the claims ot Procter, of the Zingari-Richraond Club, for inclusion in the New Zealand team which is to go to Australia will have to be considered. Procter is showing form above that of many All Black three-quar-ters we have seen in the past. It would seem that Hore, Simon, Procter, and Hartnell all have chances of going with the team. I am also a great admirer of Fookce’s play, but I am not sure that he will be available. Writing to a Dunedin friend, a wellknown Johannesburg follower of the game has this to say:r-“Aa you saw, our Rugby team came back with a very fine record, but they played exactly as I prophesied. In my opinion Bennie Osler_ is the biggest menace wo have ever had in our Rugby, and the trouble is that down in the Western Province he is set up as a national hero, with the result that every youngster, the moment he touches the ball, imagines that the only thing he has to do is to kick. I am surprised that Osier did not land more drop goals in England. I an L cl ‘ pated that he would drop so many that there would be a resultant reduction in the value of a drop goal_ from four to three points! . . . Owing to the closing down of De Beers we have had a great migration of players from Kimberley, resulting in two of the far east teams, Springs and New State areas, having to be admitted into the senior competition. This has resulted in 13 teams now competing in the Pirates Grand Challenge Cup games—nine Watersrand and four Pretoria.” , , ~ •An entry in h directory has puzzled the friends of a well-known member of the Manchester City Football Club, one of whom questioned the player (says a Manchester paper). The player explained that a canvasser had called upon him and he had given him all the details. And what did you say you were? he was asked. The player, in his broadest Scottish accent, replied: “I told him I was a_f u t e * bailer.” "Ah! that Plains it. You re described as a 4 fruit-boiler, replied the met Training College at Ravensbourne, and were defeated by 15 points to 3, after a hard and fast game. Both teams indulged in passing, but the college team showed up better in this play. Rutherford (Ravensbourne) was very useful behind the scrums. Randle also did some useful work, as did Murdoch, Davidson, Richdale, and the full-back, who unfortunately had to retire owing to an injury. The College team have some good backs and forwards. The backs were very good in the passing, and their work won their side the day. ' . 0 , The game between Old Boys and Sydenham on Rugby Park, Christchurch, was delayed for an unusual cause. Ihe reteree (Mr C. M'Lachlan) got into some tight play. When the ruck dispersed he was lying on the ground apparently unconscious. With commendable presence of mind a player lifted the referee’s-hand, and blew his whistle. Mr M'Lachlan soon recovered, but, dazed from a knock on the head, relinquished his position for the remainder of the spell. „ , Palmer, an ex-New South Wales Rugby representative, is now playing in Hawke s g av New South Wales has _ adopted , a 34 —1 scrummage formation for its Rugby representative teams. In an article in the Johannesburg Star J. C. Van der Westhuizen, vice-captain of the Springboks, wrote that “ the best fullback in trie British Isle s is undoubtedly Bassett, the Welsh captain, who is_ noted more for his cool and brilliant positional play than for raking touch finding. The 1031-32 side has probably been the most criticised team of the series, says Mr Westhuizen. We try to refute statements, try to disarm the criticism of journalists overseas, but candour compels me to say that those critics, judging on merit over there, were to a great extent justified m their criticism of our play. I am not going to dilate upon our back play; but in discussing back play in the British Isles, one can only do so by taking our play as normal, and so a consideration of the difference between the two types of back play is of paramount importance. I humbly believe that to a great extent the disappointment of South Africans in our displays was caused by the general feeling of optimism and over-confidence of our supporters as regards our merits, which had been stimulated by the victories of the All Blacks over the British side in 1930. The side had also been lauded to the skies as supermen and people had been deluded into the belief that we were in-, vincible. This made our task an arduous one, and intensified the disappointment when we did not show our South African form. , „ ~, , Guthrie, the Ravensbourne full-back, who wag injured on Saturday, has been playing for 18 years, and this was the first time he had had to leave the field. Guthrie’s arm was broken in two places. The injury was caused in a very simple manner. Guthrie tried to collar an opponent below the knees, and in some way the opponent’s legg locked themselves over the Ravensbourne man’s arm. Cnvnnngh, the Southern team s fiveeighth, is still unable to play through the injury to his ankle he received in the match against Taieri. _ An impressive ceremony in memory ot members who died during the war was a feature of the Merivale Football Club jubilee dinner on Friday evening. After Mr F. T. Evans-, one of the past presidents, had spoken of the old members and those who had been killed between 1914 and 1918. those present stood at attention. The lights were lowered and a floodlight threw into sharp relief the roll of honour framed in blue and white streamers and bearing the names of the club’s most highly-honoured dead. As members stood in the darkness, the "Last Post,” played by Mr C. R. Smith, rang through the hall. Star are leading in the Invercargill senior competition with three matches played and three won, 0 points. Then come Pirates with 4 points. Blues 2 points, and Old Boys and Waikiwi with no points. Ritchie, the cx-Pirates youth, who is now playing for Oriental (Wellington) at full-back, is reported by the Dominion to have improved vastly on his first couple of games of the season. Sydenham and Merivale are equal in the Christchurch competition with 41 points. Each team has won four games and drawn one. The two teams met at Lancaster Park on Saturday before a crowd of over 0000 people, and, after an exciting game a draw was recorded. Last year’s champions, Merivale, were behind until a few minutes from time, but their heavier forwards asserted a superiority in the closing stages to save the game. Albion come next on the list with four points, and then follow University (two points) Old Boys (two points), Christchurch (two points), Linwdod (oml point), and Athletic (no points). University sprang the biggest surprise of the season so far by defeating Christchurch by 16 points to 11 points. The value of the game of Rugby football as a test of character was emphasised by the president of the Merivale Football Club, Mr A. E. White, at the jubilee dinner of the club on Friday night. “If he plays the game on the field, a man will play it off the field as well,” he said. After you have played football with a man for a season or two, you can tell whether you may trust him or not.” “OLD SOLDIERS NEVER DIE.”

At the weekly meeting of the Taihape Rugby Union recently a presentation from that ‘body in the form of a handsome «bield wae made to Mr E. A. (“Moke”j

Beiliss in recognition of services rendered to Taihape football. “ Moke ” was at lus peak in 1921, when he played in all three testa against the Springboks. He later captained an All Black team in Australia. He announced his “retirement” in 1928, 1929, 1930, and 1931—and he captained the Hautapu team as usual when competitions opened in Taihape this season. Beiliss is at present in the Taihape Hospital with injuries to the left leg received in a match. Beiliss is well remembered in Dunedin in connection with the try scored against the Springboks in the first test played at Cansbrook. Whether or not it was a fair try is a matter of argument to this day. MONEY IN FOOTBALL. Australian rules football opened the season in Melbourne on April 30, and the remarkable hold the game has in the Victorian capital was well illustrated. The six senior club games attracted 120,000 people, w>,o paid £2856. These figures are remarkable when it is borne in mind that clubs also boast huge memberships. Footecray and Carlton, for example, each have over 0000 members at 7s Od each, who are admitted by ticket. On the opening day in 1931 there were 101,500 spectators, and the receipts were £2601, so that, in football at least, there ia not much sign of a depression in Melbourne. BEST DROPPED GOAL Writing in a Loudon paper, the wellknown English critic, Trevor Wignall, says that until the South African Rugby team s match with England he was content to believe that the best drop-kick goal he had ever observed was that secured by W. J. Wallace for the New Zealand team against Swansea in the 1905 season at Home. But now he brackets with Wallace’s kick the potted goal which G. Brand, the South African full-back, got in the last few minutes of the.match with England. “ That kick was a phenomenal bit of work,” says Wignall. “ Brand was not very far from the halfway line when he steadied himself, but the height of the ball .and the distance it travelled indicated that it must have made a journey equal to about three-parts the length of the field.” THE NEXT ALL BLACKS ENGLISH HEADQUARTERS. When the New Zealand Rugby football team visits England in the 1930-37 season its training headquarters will be at Newton Abbott, as has been the case with previous New Zealand teams visiting England. An announcement to this effect was made recently by Mr J. L. B. Elms, chairman of the Urban Council of Newton Abbot, who stated that he had been in communcation with the High Commissioner for New Zealand and with Rugby Union officials in New Zealand. In making a statement at the Urban Council, Mr Elms said that, as the council probably knew, the All Blacks had been invited for the season 1930-37, and lie was glad to be able to say that they could look forward to the team making Newton Abbot its headquarters, a s they did in 1905 and again in 1924, of which visits they all had many happy memories. Among extracts from letters which he had received was the following from the New Zealand Rugby Football Union: “ We have received an invitation from the International Board to send our team to Great Britain in 1930-37. The members of our 1905 and 1924 teams have very pleasant recollections of the hospitality extended to them during their stay at Newton Abbot, and they all feel that we could not do better than accept your kind invitation for the next team which goes to the Home Country."