RUGBY FOOTBALL

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22904, 11 June 1936, Page 4

RUGBY FOOTBALL

By Full-back.

;*JSJT OF AUSTRALIAN TEAM The Australian team will leave Sydney on August 15. and the first match —against Auckland—will be played on August 22. Matches will be played in Otago aud Southland as follows: Against North Otago, at Oaraaru —Wednesday, September 9. Against New Zealand, at Carisbrook — Saturday, September 12. Against Southland—Wednesday, September 16. There will be no match against Otago.

.MATCHES AT CARISBROOK The following are the interproviucial matches to be played by Otago at Carisbrook this season: v. Southland, August !, v. Auckland, August 5. v. Ashburton, August 8. v. Manawatu, August 12. v. South Canterbury, August'2o. v, Canterbury, August 29. v. North Auckland, September 5. v. Wellington, September 19. t. Hawke’s Bay, September 23. v. -West Coast, September 26. The return match with Southland will be played at Invercargill ou August 22.

NORTH v. SOUTH ISLAND August 15. —At Christchurch.

SUB-UNIONS' MATCH July 18.—Otago Sub-unions’ team v ■ North Otago, at Oamaru.

ANSWERS. TO CORRESPONDENTS “..Forward,” Palmerston. —If A was standing .within-10 yards of an opponent, under the circumstances you mention, he was offside, and as he did not make any attempt to get on side he should have been penalised. This is irrespective of whether the opponent fumbled the ball or not. That had nothing to do with the matter. “Wager”-—lf A was tackled by B he certainly could _ not force his way to the goal line arid score, and he should have been penalised for hanging on to the ball. The rule on the point is perfectly clear:—“A tackle occurs when the holder of the ball in the field of play is'held by one or more players of the opposing team so that while he is held there is a moment > when he cannot pass or play the ball.” It is also ruled that when a player is tackled and not brought to the ground he must immediately release the ball so that it falls to the ground between himself and his opponent’s goal line.

UNIVERSITY A v. UNION The anticipation of a closely-contested game between University A and Union was not fulfilled. The Union forwards played their part well, but the backs were disappointing, and often lost the ground gained for them by their vanguard. The tackling of the Maroon backs could at times certainly have been improved. M'Skimniing, second fivc-eigbths, was not well enough to play for Uniou. and his absence weakened the defence of his side. Homer, half-back, threw too many wild passes fr&m the base of the scrum, and some of the .passes. of the five-eighths were' also badly directed. Neither L. Werner nor T. Burgess, the Union wing threequarters, saw much of the ball. Silver, full-back, played a fair game, and he surprised everyone by catching Maskell from behind after the'speedy University wing had raced past him. • Faris ;proved a hard-working forward for , Union, and so. did Bain. Vorrath played his best game this season. His throw-out from loose scrums tq his backs does not seem .to help his side, and it would appear that it would be better and safer for Vorrathito- drop thq ball at bis feet in these circumstances, and dribble through.' At. any pate it can be said without fear Of contradiction that the Matoon pack, call be better V-relied on to hold ground gained'than the backs.-The tactics adopted by. Union>in the second Ti%lf .of playing eight backs and seven forwards did not appear-to have the desired effect. It really seemed that the pack had been weakened, and that;'the backs had not been strengthened. , Watson played a well-judged gariie behind the Blues’ scrum', arid passed out smartly to Gillies, first five-eighths. Gillies was caught more often thaw usual with the ball, hut, nevertheless, he at times passed out with judgment to Townsend, who put;some'thrust ihto his work, but was inclined to get away from his centre. M'Carthy.' Maskell, who was played on. the wing, ran with plenty of dash, and so did Watt, and both of them made ■ some spectacular runs. Watt lost a try in the second spell by. trying to go . too : far round behind the goal posts. He started off about the half-' way to finish off a fine passing movement. L. Werner and Silver could not get across in time to stop the Blue wing-three-quar-ter, and he went over the line,, but- was then held up by a Union man who had followed up. M'Carthy, centre,,was not " so prominent as on the previous Saturday. Jolly made a cool full-back, and sized Up the position with judgment on one or ■ two. occasions when he ran deep along the open side. One of 1 his runs in the second half took play, right to the Maroons’ lino. . Wilson, Valentine, and Green,were always in the thick of the forward play. The Blue pack did not appear on. more than one occasion to have its usual cohesion in the tight play.

SOUTHERN v. ALHAMBRA One of-the largest crowds that have attended the Caledonian Ground this season witnessed Alhambra go down to Southern by 21 points to nil, but it did not see football of.a particularly, high standard. From the outset the Red and Blacks adopted spoiling tactics, which, as it happened, got them nowhere, and, although thev combined fairly well after half time, the' Southern backs did not up to then handle with certainty. In the second Spell .both sides livened up considerably, and it was noticeable that the Alhambra rearguard was attempting to piny a more open game, two bouts of passing getting them further into Southern territory than they had been since the commencement of the match. The Southern pack was also going much better, and the backs, linking up nicely, were handling more surely, and combining in some good bouts of passing. Binnie, Souter, and Tregea were three hard-working members of the Alhambra pack: and Campbell proved a fine hooker ■in the 'set scrums, in which Alhambra easily gained most of the ball. Rodgers and Orange .were, perhaps, the pick of the backs. Unfortunately, there was.little understanding between the first fiveeighths, Robinson, and Orange, with the result that cohesion between the backs and forwards was spoiled. The Alhambra backs’ formation, moreover, was too shal--loMakingoMaking his first appearance this season, Horc played a solid game among the Southern forwards, and was well supported by Qnaid. Niven, and M Donald. Simon was not at his best in the earlier stages of the game, his handling being uncertain. Churchill, although he showed traces of inexperience, worked well with Trevathan in the five-eighths lino, and Smith, at centre, was the mainstay of the backs. Black has developed into a fine winger, and his three tries on Saturday were real footballers’ efforts. Tap lev. on the other wing, is improving every Saturday’; but he should make more use of lus weight and speed. He might take Black r s an example of a determined try-getter.

ZINGARI-RICHMOND v. UNIVERSITY B

■ Zinzari-Riehmond and University B met at the University Ova . with the day and ground ideal for football, the torwards of both , sides played eagerly, and

at times rather willingly, but,_ on the other hand, ilie backs on both sides lost many chances by poor handling, dropped passes, aud weak handling from the scrums to the inside backs.

Zingari-Kiehmoud won by IS points to 1G points, the winning try by Zingari being rather a lucky effort. The conversion of this try gave the hill team a twopoint lead/ The place kicking of Lumsden really brought victory to his 1 side. Symes, the, University full-back, did good work' for his side, but, could with advantage get quicker to the ball. Berg ha u was the best back on the Blues' side, and Steele and Feltbam van with plenty of dash with the few opportunities which came their way. Ryder, centre, made tire same good solo thrusts. Manning. Boddington, Anderson, and Turner were about the best of the Blue pack. The play of the Zingari backs lacked combination, and they did not make much use of the ball in passing when they received it' from the scrums. Ltimsden, Mason, and M’Grath were the most prominent of the Colours’ backs. Cowrie, Morrison, Murdoch, and Dougins wore always noticeable in the Zingari vanguard. Lucas, the Zingari full-back, was hurt in the second spell, and had to be taken to the Hospital.

TAIERI v. DUNEDIN It is a pity that a crowd of something like Carisbrook dimensions could not have seen the match between Taieri and Dunedin. for it provided one of the brightest displays-, seen ;in club football for some time. Taieri twice secured a substantial load, but , each time Dunedin responded gamely, and.the end'was a harrow victory for Taieri by 22 points. to ; 21. Perhaps , the standard of football technique which the players showed was not especially high, but what the game lacked in concerted play was amply compensated for by the great speed which both teams maintained,-, their } quickly changing fortunes. the determined individual, efforts that were made, the wealth of incident in the game, and Dunedin’s stirring efforts to score mt the finish. Taieri was, represented .by a side which was one- oE/tlie best ' that it, has fielded this season! but it is fair to point out that Dunedin.was without Berry, Tithcr and Crawley in the forwards and Scbmelz in the backs. The vacancies were filled by juniors, who made an unexpectedly good showing. The luck was against Dunedin, which lost the sci’vices of two further players during fhe game. In addition,two pots by Dunedin men hit the crossbar and another kick at goal was a poster. On the other hand, Taieri showed sounder team work than, the losers, and always appeared to have a little extra dash in hand. A Taieri was Well served hy M'lflksli at full-hack, He was a little unccMin at the start - ./hilt Subsequently he end not make a mistake. Frew, behind the scrum, pave excellent '.passes, and D. Cursey. first five-eighth, played a fine game of the ” nippy ”, type, his two potted goals being brilliant efforts. The other backs put plenty of • dash into their play, and the forwards vail worked excellently, though no one stood out much above the others. Dunedin’s young full-back, Egan, demonstrated that he is a class player in the making. ■ His fielding was faultless, and he made only one mistake when he allowed M'Cartncy to pass him. T. Treacy, at first five-eighth after Manion left the field, did an immense amount of work, and was always in the picture, while Wilkins, a Third Grade half-back, played excellently, though his passes were not always well directed. Wallace made some great runs when he came on as centre in the second half. In the forwaids Carter was outstanding, and. while playing his part in the tight, also did a tremendous amount of saving work. No one else in the pack gave a better display than E. Brosnan, who only gained his place through the failure of'another player to appear, owing to a misunderstanding. A tendency on the part of both teams to get offside and the strict rulings of the referee resulted in an unusually large number of penalty kicks being awarded. Towards .the end of the first spell a number .went to Taieri, and a reliable Icicker would have been able to pile up enough points to .set Dunedin an impossible task.

PIRATES v. KAIKORAI Both Pirates and Kaikorai were eager for action at Bishopacourt on Saturday, and with the teams evenly matched, the large crowd of spectators enjoyed an exciting, keenly-contested game, which resulted in a’ win for Pirates by 13 points to six points. Although both sets of backs tried to open up the game whereever possible, deadly tackling prevented passing movements from getting very far. The Pirates backs, ably fed by Saxton at the base of the scrum, showed better thrust than their opponents, hut it waa apparent that the side missed the services of Martin, who broke a small bone in his ankle against University A. Martin, incidentally, was an interested spectator .it the match on Saturday, hut it is doubtful if lie will be able to turn out again this season. Garden, who filled the five-eighths position, was rather slow and lacked initiative. Mahony, centre, was a .fairly sound link, but did not show up to any great extent. The Pirates wings, Bissett and Talbot, were sound in all departments, and although they were not given many chances, they showed plenty of dash when the ball came their way. Taylor played a sound game at full-back, hut his liuokickiug was not as good as it was against University A. Saxton was the outstanding ..player of the side, his work on attack being as varied and dashing as his defence was sound. The hill backs combined well, hut, with the exception of Manning, at centre, they were not really very prominent on attack. The Kaikorai forwards played well in the first spell, and gained the ball in the majority of the scrums, but the quicklybreaking Pirates prevented the opposing banka from gaining much advantage from their forwards’ superior hooking. As the game progressed, the Pirates forwards gained the upper hand in the loose and put in some great work. Harkess caught the eye with his fast following up and backing up of the backs, this feature of his play being largely responsible for two of Pirates tries. Grant showed up in the loose despite the fact that he was suffering from a weak Murphy, Bartlett, and Allan wore the best of the hill pack. Reid was responsible for some good work in the loose, but he could have done bettor work in the tight play.

THROWING AWAY AN ADVANTAGE

There arc, of course, many optimists in the world, and some of them are found on the football field. What is the use of a player having a shot at goal from a penalty kick when the prospects of success arc not favourable? The idea that the ball may, with a bit of luck, go over the bar is not sufficient justification for a penalty kick at goal. _ Every Saturday a man may be seen having a penalty kick at goal when the chances are against success. What usually happens then is that the ball is fielded by a member of the defending side and returned into touch well down the field. Thus a well-earned ground advantage is lost. Wby the captain of a team does not under these circumstances 1 ell the man taking the penalty kiek to puut to touch and hold the position "allied is beyond an ordinary common sense idea of tactics. There is an analogy between tiiese tactics and the fable of the dog losing the substance for the shadow.

NOTES My Ravensbournc correspondent writes as follows: —Ravcnsbourne met 'Laieri at Bathgate Park, and suffered defeat by I<] points to 0. Taieri were (he heavier of the two teams, and Ravensbourne could not stand up to the onslaughts of the forwards. it was an off day for Ravensbourne, the whole three teams losing their games. The Second Grade lost by 10

points to 0, the Fourths by 37 points, and the Fifths by 03 points to 3. In the Seconds Troclion played his best game and was in the thick of it from start to finish. Cheshire, Lamond. Lind, and Chalmers also played serviceable games for Ravensbourne.” „ _ All Black G. Adkins and G. Gaffancy arc playing again this season. Gaffaney ran he included amongst the unlucky ones when the 1935 All Black team was selected. . , , . . Nolan is credited with being the best full-back playing in Canterbury this season. , . . Poison, the brilliant young Christchurch centre-threequarter and Canterbury representative, who was injured in a friendly match against Pirates at Dunedin at Easter, will be able to play in the second round of the Canterbury series. Poison’s career in senior football has been almost meteoric. He played for the Country against the Town in 193 J, and the next year, after turning out for the Christchurch Club’s senior team, went straight into the Canterbury fifteen. N. Boutcrey, the Merivalc half, who played for Dunedin Pirates and represented Otago against Ashburton in 1929, is reported to be still playing with all the pluck and strategy that won him Ins Canterbury cap in 1932 and 1933. Rae is reported to have been easily the best of the University backs against St. Patrick’s Old Boys at Wellington on Saturday. University lost by 3 points to 8 points. Thomas, a Southland representative full-back, is now playing for Pctonc, and was tried in the three-quarter line last Saturday. . , , A large crowd can be expected at Carisbrook on Saturday when the unbeaten Southern Club will meet University A. , . Christchurch Old Boys Buffered their first defeat of the season on Saturday, and Sunnysido have not been beaten since going down to Christchurch in the first "amc. Albion, which lost to Christchurch and Suunyside, and Christchurch (losses to Old Boys and Linwood) are nest in the running. Sunnysido have the bye next week.

“TAKE NO CHANCES” Apropos of Watt’s lost try against Union on Saturday the following from the Christchurch Star-Sun makes timely reading:— , The main object of a Rugby player when ho receives the ball, is to make for bis opponents’ line and to secure a touch down an quickly as possible. If he can run round and score nearer the posts without jeopardising his chances of a try. well and good, but otherwise he should ground the ball as quickly as_ possible. Placing for Sunnyside against University. R, 'nunnery, left wing-threequarter, bad a clear run in. He crossed the line, but. in endeavouring to evade two tackier?, lost the ball and University forced.