RUGBY FOOTBALL

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23829, 8 June 1939, Page 4

RUGBY FOOTBALL

By Full-back OTAGO’S FIXTURES July 29,—v. Southland, at Invercargill (Ranfurly Shield challenge). August 2,—v. Bush Union, at Dunedin August s.—v. Southland, at Dunedin. August 16.—v Manawatu, at Dunedin August 19—v. Wellington, at Wellington. August 23.—v. North Auckland, at Whangarei. August 26.—v. Auckland, at Auckland. August 30 —v. Wanganui, at Wanganui. September 2.—v. Taranaki, at Taranaki. September 6.—v. Canterbury, at Christchurch. September 9.—v South Canterbury, at Timaru. OTHER FIXTURES August 29 and 31—Kohn Shield Competition (New Zealand tramways tournament), at Dunedin. September 23. —North Island v. South Island, at Wellington. ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS “Curious.” —The referee (the Rev. H. W. Haigh) reported J. Mockford (the Alhambra forward) for allegedly striking R, Neiper (the Southern forward). Mockford has to stand down for two playing Saturdays. KAIKORAI V. PIRATES Although Kaikorai was responsible for. the first defeat experienced this season .by. Pirates, and won on merit. ■ there " ! was little to ■ rouse enthusiasm in'a match that had been ■awaited 4 with considerable interest Pirates- ihiust have fallen rather heavily ,in the estimation of their supporters The forwards: gave■ another fine exhibibitibn of solid scrummaging, but outside that department the side did not by any means play up to form. No

doubt » big part of the reason for this was the very sound defence of the Kaikorat inside back, combination and its ability to seize upon mistakes to launch attacks. In fact, Kaikorai s whole game was based on the policy of making play from its opponents mistakes. Chapman, D. Murray, and Manning, the two five-eighths and centre respetcively, allowed the Pirates inside backs no scope whatever, and to them, if one department of the side should be particularised, must go the major share of the credit for the Hill side’s win. , D. Murray played one of his most valuable games, and with Chapman in his best kicking form ahd doing much useful retrieving work, and Manning tackling like a demon, the Greater part of the work of the Pirates forwards went for nothing. The Black pack kept its side in. an attacking position, but there "wasi a complete and surprising lack of finish among the backs, and then, when it was expected that the ball would be thrown about freely in the second half ,in an attempt to snatch a win, the tactics were changed. Bathgate began to kick steadily, and to turn into his forwards consistently, with the result that the outside men were given no chance to rehabilitate themselves. Ongley played a clever game, and his passing was excellent .until an injury to an arm in the second hall upset his accuracy to some extent, nut he found himself forced into attempts to make play for his forwards. -It was the only alternative when the ball was not reaching the outside men, but by this time the Kaikorai forward? scented a win and rucked with much more vigour. And all the time the Kaikorai inside backs refused to be overwhelmed. _ T Parjchill, Mahoney, Neilson and Graham , were once again always at the head of the Pirates pack in the hard Work, while Valentine, the exUniversity forward, handled well and showed a lot' of pace in the loose. The Kaikorai forwards were outscrummaged, but they were energetic in the loose and repeatedly broke through indecisive passing among the Pirates backs. Leathern was an outstanding worker, and Ibbotson and I. Murray did their share, although the latter showed far too much tendency

toward offside ptey. . . Ongiey was definitely the best ot the Pirates backs, and he lo? k s becoming Simon’s successor behind the i Otago' scrum. Pernam had a disappointing"' day. An _ injured. leg mieht have been worrvlng him at anv rate, he simply could do thine ripht. Even bis goal kicking fell -well b* l ow standard. ' ± i , Scott gave the Kaiko-aj h-’-c r * nd pnprjpp. pnd the whole rf th« < hi" , k division played sourdlv Cox. at full-back, was not alwavs in a hurry to set to the btill, but he vvas no batted at anv sta*e. showed hmv r»tf to be a safe and defensive player Despite this win. however, it is safe to predict that will hayto Improve its eorummomny -y it ~-TcU»s * n avenge its flrst-rotrd ceteat by Southern. ALHAMBRA v. Southern’s defeat by Alhambra was due to the magnificent work of the .Red and Black forwards and the brilliant play of Mitchell in the first spell and the stern defence of the backs in the closing stages of the game. The Southern pack, despite its formidable reputation, was held by its lighter opponents. who played a bustling type of game and were outstanding ip the loose. Led by Naylor, Lament and Mockford they gave the Black and White forwards little respite in the first half, and paved the way for the 13—nil lead which gave the team the ultimate victory Mitchell was the most dangerous back on the field, and frequently left the defence standing with dazzling runs many of which turned defence into attack. He was very difficult to Stop once he got going. On one wing Taylor lent him excellent support, running strongly whenever he received the ball, and his try. after he had been given an opening by Mitchell, was a brilliant one. The work of the inside backs suffered by comparison with that of Mitchell and the ex-New South Wales player Taylor, but they formed an effective liiik .with the three-quarter line. Fox was safe at lull-back and kicked well. He was not often bustled, but when he was he generally managed to find the line. Southern were completely overshadowed in the first half, but made desperate' efforts to overhaul Alhambra’s lead after half time. The forwards then played better, and Niven *nd Neiper shone, the latter especially

in the loose. The back line was weakened by the injury to Churchill early in the game, and was not impressive, failing to stop the Alhambra forwards time and again. Robert did useful work behind the scrum, but the handling of the rest of the line was poor. Black, who replaced Churchill, had a heavily-ban-daged leg. but, nevertheless, he made some good runs, one of which resulted in a try. Trevathan did not shine in the first spell, but was more prominent in the later stages, kicking two penalties and converting Southern’s only try. He missed one free kick that was very much easier than some he put over. Whether he felt he could not rely on the passing of the other backs, or whether he was merely trying to repeat former successes, the fact remains that he endeavoured at least twice to pot goals from difficult positions when, if he had passed, a trv might have resulted. One of his attempts was from very close in and wide of the posts, while two others were from near touch and bevond the twenty-five He tried to go through on his own a sweat deal, but was closely watched. In the second spell, however, his line kicking was valuable, DUNEDIN v. UNIVERSITY A There were several changes in the University A team which met Dunedin at the University Oval, consequent on seven members of the side taking part in the Interisland Universities’ game at Christchurch. Although defeated by 15 points to 5 points the Light Blues put up a bright showing, and were not afraid to throw the ball about. Neither was the Dunedin team, for that matter, and an interesting game was witnessed. Spillane. the Dunedin centre threequarter. achieved the distinction of scoring 10 points of the 15 points registered by his side—two tries and a field goal, y , . Gleeson played an outstanding game in the pack for University A. and must be deemed unlucky that he was not selected to play in the Intsrisland Universifies match. Chandler was another University forward who caught the eye. Treacy was again the best forward for Dunedin,,.and Aitken v/as another solid worker in the tight play. ' ■. Whether Dunedin can afford to play a .man out of the pack purely as a wing-forward is a matter of opinion. Seven forwards cannot be expected to hold eight. Marshall was played as a wing-forward on Saturday. Wallis, the A half-back, got the ball away smartly to his backs, of whom Broughton and Kawe were responsible for some good thrusting runs. Falvey. full-back, did some things well and others not so well. Scanlan. wing three-quarter, played his first game for Dunedin since his return from Wellington. He has plenty of speed, and proved himself a fine attacking player. Black, full-back, was the most serviceable back for Dunedin. The ex-South Canterbury player has a good idea of positional play, and his tackling, saving and line kicking were alike excellent. .... , Wright, the Dunedin half-back, will play again on Saturday, but is then leaving Dunedin. SSINGARI-RICHMOND v. TAIERI Taieri fielded a weak team against Zlngari at Mosgiel, Gavin Murray, McCartney, Frew. Walker, Mackie and Thoms being absentees following on injuries. The country team, moreover,■ did not impress so far as dash was concerned. The forwards lacked life, and their play generally got them nowhere. They kicked too hard and gave away possession, and certainly did not do credit to their enthusiastic coach Mr C. G. Gibbons. Law was their outstanding forward, and Bisset proved also a good worker, while Broadley was prominent in the loose. Wilkins played a fair game at fullback. He flighted the ball well and was safe on defence. Lindsay, a young player, shaped promisingly at first fiveeighth, and McCunn, who played behind the scrum In place of Frew, gave a fair display. Frew, 'it may be added, came on after half time, when McCunn was hurt. Grant, on the wing, would prove more dangerous if he tried to move quicker “off the mark.’ Johnstone’s play at second five-eighth was uncertain at times. He was inclined to kick through to Campbell, the Zmgari full-back, when it would have paid him better to pass.

Campbell, the Zlngarl full-back, played another very serviceable game for his side. He wa s . sound on defence and his line-kicking was accurate. Chirnside a' youthful player, was excellent on the wing, and he should, with more experience prove a great asset to the hill team Mehaiski at centre, was the best back on the ground. He made some nice openings, and always tried to run his wings into position. Tramor. at halfback was sound on defence but he should endeavour to hand out the bail from the scrums with greater accuracy Pollock was again the best forward on the Zingari side, and the two Wilsons. D. and G.. were also well in the picture. - The better packing of the Zingari forwards m the tight and broken scrums enabled their backs to secure more possession of the oau than their opponents .The Zingari forwards gave about their best showing this year of combined play It may be added that Zingari were also weakened by the absence of two of their regular senior backs and one of their forwards. UNION v. UNIVERSITY B By trouncing University B by 25 points to 8 at Tahuna Park last Saturday. Union played its way into fourth position on the championship ladder, a considerably improved position compared with recent years. On Saturday Union had matters practically all their own way. as University B was greatly weakened by transfers to the A’s Union were kept busy in the first 10 minutes or so. when the students ran up eight points, but thereafter their forwards dominated play and gave their backs plenty of opportunities. D. Slyfield, who has staged something of a “ come-back ” this season, played an outstanding game, and was rewarded with two well-deserved tries He seems very fit, and was tireless on Saturday. He was well supported by Vorrath and Gensik, ' The Union backs threw away many opportunities of scoring in the second half and, with better combination and surer handling, would no doubt have increased the score considerably. McSkimming showed up in one or two bright movements, and Werner displayed plenty of dash on the wing. Of the students. Paewai, at half, was noticeable. He is a nephew of the 1924 All Black, and he showed considerable promise.

AN OBJECT LESSON With polished play in all phases of Hugby. the All Black five-eighth, T. Berghan, impressed all good judges in the Universities’ Rugby match on Saturday (says the Christchurch StarSun). He was cool and collected at all times, never trying to do too much on attack, and finding the line_ surely when pressure was heavy during the second spell. South might have done a lot better had Hunter, the centre, refrained from trying to do too much. This was particularly the case in the second spell. Cartwright and Steele were not given the ball quick enough, and North, keyed up. staged some slashing counter-rushes. INVERCARGILL COMPETITION The defeat of the championship leader, Pirates, by Star (14 points to 9 points) was the outstanding feature of the eighth series of games in the Galbraith Shield competition at Rugby Park on Saturday afternoon. Both back and forward Star made the play for the greater part of the game and, by taking advantage of opportunities, scored a well-earned win. It was Pirates’ first loss. Invercargill and Pirates are now leading in the comoetition with 14 points each. INTERISLAND UNIVERSITY GAMES The interisland University match was started in 1935 by the New Zealand University Council to replace the system of Australian tours, which had fallen through South Island have now won all four of the games to date. There is a trophy at stake —the Japanese Rose Bowl, presented to the New Zealand University team when it toured Japan in 1935, and allocated by the New Zealand Council for this annual interisland match.

WORTH £4O If a member of the Australian Wallabies Rugby team to tour England could dress in all the equipment provided for him he would be worth approximately £4O. Members of the team, at the expense of the Australian authorities, are being provided with a kit worth that amount. Each will receive a blazer, pullover, scarf, two ties and a rug, football shorts and socks and—this is the splendiferous parttwo pairs of made-to-measure football boots. On top of that players will receive a canvas kitbag each. Ibe team will leave Sydney on July 21, arriving at London on the last day ot August, and the first match will be played 16 days after arrival. OVER-SANGUINE It is nearly always the practice to be over-sanguine of Wellington’s prospects in representative matches (says the Wellington Post’s Sports). Almost every season full confidence has been expressed in the capacity of Wellington footballers to hold their end up with the best of them. But it is a confidence which has often been misplaced. In really important games in receru years Wellington has not made the grade. NOTES J. G. Rankin, All Black In 1936 against the Wallabies and in the second test against the Springboks in 1937. has not been showing by any means his best form in Christchurch club Rugby this season (says a northern exchange). He has returned to the scrum after playing last season in the three-quar-ters, and the change is perhaps accountable for the fact that he has not been packing down in the approved fashion. Nor has he been hunting in the loose with anything like the skill of his best days. On his present form. Dwyer (Oriental) must receive consideration for representative honours (states a Wellington writer). He is one of the most skilful exponents of the dive pass and has a nice appreciation of positional play. Dwyer represented North Otago last season.

It must be many a long day since the University A and B teams were at the bottom of the list in the senior flag competition, Tom Webster, full-back for Pirates, is only 18 year of age. He stands over 6ft high and his weight is recorded in the Official Guide as 12st 31b. This is Webster’s second year in club football He played Fourth Grade for Pirates last season. He plays a good game of tennis, being Singles champion of the Concord Club,