RUGBY FOOTBALL

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21992, 29 June 1933, Page 4

RUGBY FOOTBALL

By Full-back,

OTAGO FIXTURES July 29.—Otago Sub-unions v., Southland Sub-unions, at Dunedin. August s.—v. Southland, at Invercargill. August s.—v. Marlborough, at Dunedin. August 12.—v. Southland, at Dunedin. August 26.—v. Canterbury, at Clinstchurch. , ■ i_ ■ ' August 30.—v. Wairarapa, at Wairarapa. September 2.—v. Hawke's Bay, at

Napier. .. __ September 6.—v. Wanganm, at Wanga-

nm. _, ... September 9—v. Wellington, at Wellington. _. ~ September 13.—v. Taranaki, at Dunedm. September 16.—v. North Otap.o, at Dunedin. . September 23.—South v. North Island.

ANSWER TO CORRESPONDENT Dear Full-back.—Would you give me the correct ruling ou the following incident which happened very often in a match I witnessed on Saturdays Set scrum and one of the back row men went in loosely in the scrum. Tf the ball hung in the scrum he put his weight in. but if the ball was hooked back by his front-row men he went back from the scrum and passed the ball out to the fii-?t-five-eighth. Can he detach himsell from the scrum and pick up the ball without it being hooked past his teet! "■ And when is the ball out ot the scrum? — "Onlooker," Tapamn. The rule says that the ball is out of the scrum when it is clear oi the feet of the men in the back row, and when that happens there is nothing to prevent the player from detaching himself from the scrum and picking the ball up. If he picks it up before it is clear of the feet of the i men in the back row he should be penalised for taking the ball out of the scrum. UNIVERSITY A v. PIRATES _ University A beat Pirates at CarisIrook by 14 points to nil, but the leading team in the competition did not secure their victory in very convincing fashion. Evidently the fact that the A team had to. play three matches in eight days affected their form on Saturday. The Blue forwards did not play with their accustomed dash, and neither Fookes (fiveeighths) nor Uttley* '(centre) could straighten up the attack of the rearguard to any extent. There was a lot of solo play by the Blue' backs, and two tries were obtained by the tactics of" Fookes, who went clean through the defence on both occasions, and gave Dunne and then Uttley clear fields. .There was an absence of finish, in the play from the University scrum, and much needed thrust might have been obtained bad Uttley been changed to first five-eighth and Gillies taken his place' at centre. Jones, the Blue wing-threequarter, was favoured by the fun of the play, and he made some dashing runs. It appeared to me that the Pirates' backs were' allowed to come across too' quick on to the opposing fiveeighth line when the Blue forwards hooked the ball in the scrums. Lopdell, M/Farlane, and Service were "a trio of solid workers in the Blue pack. The Pirates forwards - well held their own with the Blue pack, and they gave their backs a good share of the ball. The Pirates' backs, were'not, however, as fast as the Blue backs, and their passing mostly went straight across the ground or else broke down. Ewar.t, first five-eighth, varied his play in an attempt to break through the opposition, but his outside backs could not carry on the attack. .Saxton's passing to Ewart from the scrums was not always well timed or well directed. H. Manning played another sound game in the forwards, and Glendining and Stuart also kept well .into the tight work. . \ __ TAIERI v. DUNEDIN . It was a somewhat one-sided game Jit Tahuna Park between Taieri, and Dunedin. Taieri -were not represented at their full strength, and Fjndlay was suffering from an injured wrist, but they easily vanquished their opponents, and came off the field with 34 points to their : credit. The visitors made some mistakes and wasted energy now and again. The same tactics next Saturday will tell seriously against them.' One or two'• of the. backs need to cultivate coolness. Some good chances were lost by reckless passing or by failing to pass when the opportunity presented' itself. Both the Taieri backs and forwards showed much more initiative apd aggressiveness than their opponents. The Dunedin backs did not combine with any certainty, and their handling was poor. Dawkins was again the outstanding back, and when he had to leave with an injury his loss felt. He was strong in defence, and was always there when tßouble was looming. • In the Taieri backs, M'Skimming showed up as a' likely centre, with plenty of speed and dash. Taken all round. Taieri were both too heavy and too fast for Dunedin.

KAIKORAI v; ZINGARI-RICHMOND The Kaikorai forwards were too good for the Zingari-Rkkmond pack, aild the hill team won comfortably by 20 points to 9 points. The hill pack have now developed into a solid combination, and they will take some beating in the games yet to be played in the second round. Murphy and Gibson were always prominent in the play of the Kaikorai vanguard, and Allen showed up in the loose. Francis, behind the scrum, was, under the circumstances, given plenty of the ball, and he sent out smartly to Laing, who also passed out with judgment. Laing, indeed, linked up particularly well in the passing movements. Kean, wing three-quarter, secured three tries by fine running. Cameron (centre). Johnston (wing three-quarter), and Miller (fiveeighth) were safe, and kept well up to the play- , Griffiths, full-back, was a very weak link in the Zingari-Richmond rearguard. Caradus, centre, played his usual solid game on defence, but his play to his wings is lacking in finish. As a result Procter, the All Black wing three-quarter, gets few chances. He is given little room to work on, and by the time he receives the ball the opposing players have come across and the way is blocked. Moveover,, a back playing behind a set of forwards who are being-beaten for the ball has few opportunities of going forward to make his own play. Inglis. second five-eighth, was always in the play, and M'Donald. behind the serum, gave ' a plucky exhibition. ' Morris, a new-comer from Wellington, is an acquisition to the Zingari pack. He is somewhat on the light side, but what he lacks in weight he makes up for in dash. He handles well, and introduces initiative. Douglas also played a very good game for Zingari. ALHAMBRA v., UNIVERSITY B The Light Blues gained a comfortable win against the Alhambra team on Saturday list. The game was principally a forward one, with occasional glimpses of good passing among the backs. From the kick-off Alhambra set up a hot attack and almost scored. Good combined forward play on the part of the students took the play to the other end of the field, where the Red and Blacks had to defend vigorously to prevent a score. Eventually Pickard and Chin took the ball to the Alhambra twenty-five line, and Mowat. who, during this game, occupied the position of centre three-quarter, got possession and, after a good run, scored. Pickard kicked a goal. flie game shifted to the University's end ol the field when the Alhambra forwards made desperate efforts to score. An infringement gave a penalty kick to the Alhambra side, and Davis kicked a goal. Ju the second spell the students played much better in both the forward and back departments, while the Red and Blacks seemed to lose their vigour, the backs on both sides lost many chances to open up the game by slow passing and faulty handling. The backs generally exhibited no thrust, with the result that the passing got them nowhere except across the ground. It was noticed that on many occasions the Red and Black backs used the line instead of using the open field when they had the chance. The tries scored by the Light Blues were made from good passing boute among the backs. Jolly s try

was a good one, and Roy. must be credited with making a good opening for Jolly to carry on. For the University side, Emanuel did good work, as did Ryder, Roy and Jolly. The forwards were well led by Chin, Boyes, Piekard. and Cuningham. Nicholson, at full-back, did not play up to his usual standard.

The Alhambra backs were well fed by Davis at half. Cahill played well and kicked strongly, and got his side out ot difficulties on many occasions. Frood, Butler, and Quill were the outstanding forwards for their side. Williamson, at full-back, played a sound game. . SOUTHERN v. UNION Southern did not have much difficulty in beating Union at Logan Park.' The handling of the Southern backs wasyhowever, weak at times, and opportunities were lost by this fault, and. by over-run passes after Simon had sent the ball away from the scrum. Wilson, five-eighth, was inclined to run across the field too much, and as a result his outside men were- crowded to the line. Bolton played a good game at centre, and he scored a try in the second spell after a spectacular run. Aisbet, on the wing, ran with his usual dash, but when he received a pass he usually had little room to work in, and was blocked. He scored one good try. Simon's play was affected by the harrying tactics of the Maroon forwards. More and Niven were about the best of the Southern pack. , , c „ Silver played. a sound game at lullback for Union, and was the best player in their rearguard. M'Cullough, centre was generally safe, and the Maroons first five-eighth did a lot of rush-stopping in good style. , . ~ *'•' i.J The Union forwards were inclined to break up too quickly at the scrums, with the idea of playing off any mistakes made by the Southern backs. The Union pack would do far better, if they tried to plav their own game instead ot endeavouring to play off the opposing side. If forwards do not do what they aie there for—that is, to try for possession of the ball in the tight play—they can never hope to bring victory to their side. In the loose the Maroon forwards did quite well. Flawn, Grant, and .Gawi.de were generally in the front of these rushes. ■ (' NOTES Kilby was unable to make the trip to Taranaki to play for Wellington, and this accounts for Tindill securing the position of half-back. ' It is interesting to note that the championship points of the leading teams in Dunedin and Auckland at the end ot the first round are very similar. In Dunedin, University A have scored 16 points, bontliern 15, and Taieri, Kaikorai, and Pirates 12 points each. In Auckland, Ponsonby have 15 points, University 14, Grammar, Marist, and Grafton 12. ; _ Eavensbourne defeated Union by -ii points to nil. Ces'sford played a good game for Eavensbourne, and the Davidson brothers and Mason also shaped well. Rutherford played his usual good game behind the scrum, getting the ball smartly away to his backs. The Third Grade have not much of a team, and they played a verv disappointing game against Alhambra, being defeated by 38 points to 3. —Ravensbourne correspondent. The first round of matches in the senior competition was concluded on Saturday. I understand that five more matches are to be played. The Canterbury Rugby Union on Saturday provided great attractions for the public on the occasion of Charity. Day, and as a result nearly £3OO will be handed over to the authorities to help to relieve distress among the poor of Christchurch. Nearly 6000 people attended at the increased prices. The big match of the day resulted in a clear victory by Sydenham over Old Boys, the margin' being 18 points to 3. Christchurch outplayed Albion on the west ground at Lancaster Park, and scored a decisive win by 24 points to 12 that gave them their revenge for their loss to Albion in the first round. University beat Athletic on the south ground at the park by 40 points to 13 points. Sydenham and Christchurch. are leading in tiie senior competition with 8 points each, and then come Old . Boys with' seven points. '■'.,'.-:' Diack, Wellington's centre-three-quarter, obtained 12 of' the 21 points scored against Athletic at Newton Park on Saturday; He scored two tries, converted both, and also converted a try by Kilby. SCRUM FORMATION TOURISTS IMPRESSED. Introduction into grade football of the 3-3-2 scrum formation may result from the Australian Universities' Rugby team's tour of New Zealand, states a report from Sydney. Members of the Sydney University pack were greatly impressed with the formation as applied by club teams in the Dominion (says " Dropkick " in the Wellington Post). Its advantages were especially evident when the ground conditions were wet. It was All Blacks' manager of 1932. Billy Wallace, who convinced the tourists. With the pack of his Poneke Club he worked things out for the Universities' manager, John Gunther, Bob Booth, and other forwards, in the gymnasium. It is in the gymnasium, incidentally, that the Poneke Club, and many others, do most of their training. ..■ = . The 3-3-2 formation is really the old New Zealand 2-3-2 pack, with the addition of a player to the front row. It is the intention of the University to introduce the formation, although the forwards will have to be educated tip to it first. Possibly a start will be made in a lower grade team. ■■ A suggestion made in New Zealand that the Australian Universities should form an Australian Universities' Rugby Council may also be adopted. It is regarded favourably in some quarters, but the full co-operation of other States and time are needed before the scheme could be successfully launched.-

Despite the statement that the Sydney University team is impressed with the 3-3-2 scrum, " Full-back" is convinced that the best balance, under the ne\v_ system, is obtained with the 3-2-3 formation. '