SPORTS OF ALL KINDS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24631, 12 June 1941, Page 4

SPORTS OF ALL KINDS

RUGBY BLUNDERS r\NE- of the cardinal rules emphasised by a great New Zealand five-eighth when coaching was this: Unless a first five-eighth intends to cut in, he should run only three paces with the ball, just sufficient to draw 1 his opponent, before passing. The purpose is obvious. The ball goes out more quickly, the second five-eighth and the centre three-quar-ter have more room, and the wing three-quarters are not crowded on the touch lines. This is a policy which some inside backs playing in first grade football in Dunedin this season could study with advantage to their sides. Far too many passing movements are crippled at the start by inside backs dodging about and not sending the ball on until they are tackled and the men outside him have their opponents lurking right on top of them. The first five-eighth in this event not merely ruins the prospects of his other backs. 5 but he himself is put on the ground and so temporarily out of play. A man on the ground is of no use to anyone, and time after time spectators at Carisbrook this season have seen effective counter attacks staged through an attacking back line simply because the inside men have been put out of play and so were not able to back up and rectify mistakes in handling. Blunders of this type are particularly expensive against a team such as University A, which has so much pace in the three-quarter line that only one opponent needs to be out of play for it to have a scoring chance even from its own line. Another respect in which much valuable ground has been lost in Dunedin Rugby this season concerns fullback play. Repeatedly one has seen full-backs field the ball close to the touch line and merely run a few paces along the touch line before kicking, usually with a “ Here’s hoping ” labe. on the effort. The simple little matter of swerving a yard or two infield to create a wider angle with the touch line naturally would increase accuracy and effective distance. There are one or two full-backs who do show practical appreciation of this elemental fact—T. R. Webster, of Pirates, and T. Kawe, University A, are two who come quickly to mind—but too many of them give their forwards much unnecessary work by failing to find touch or by putting the ball out a yard or two away from the spot at which they kick. A big kick does not necessarily mean a big gain.

Colossal Scoring Y.W.C.A. Kia Toa won its basketball game last Saturday by the colossal score of 48 goals to nil. Fortunately, its opponent was another Y.W.C.A. team; but that does not alter the fact that at least six girls participating in the game were deprived of any plaiy at all (the three Y.W.C.A. forwards and the three Kia Toa defenders). The Kia Toa-.centres were speedier than their opponents, which, combined, with better ball control, gave them greater possession of the ball. There was good cohesion between the centres and forwards, who on the day’s play proved three of the most accurate forwards in the competition. It is to be hoped that their future games will not'be so one-sided.

A Fine Example Of great value to the Southern First Grade fifteen this season is the versatility of its captain; R. Nieper, who is again in the back of the scrum. Nieper has shown himself over several seasons to be one of the most adaptable forwards !to have represented Otago for, a long time, and if he hau been heavier than 12st odd it is likely that he would have won higher honours than bis excellent interprovincial record since 1935. He has represented Otago in 30 matches in that time and has always been worth his place for sheer aggressiveness and his ability to open up play for his backs and to support them in difficulties. Nieper has never regarded Rugby football as a parlour game, and his energy and fitness have carried him through many hard battles against forwards much bigger than he. His services to his club are of particular value this season in the absence of D. Trevathan who could hold a side together so well, and the chopping and changing about from week to week that all teams are experiencing to some degree in these vimes. It will be remefnbered that Nieper'was called upon to play m the backs with the 1939 Otago team on tour and that he gave a most worthy exhibition behind the scrum agamsUCanterbury. It is a pity that some of the backs in his club team at present nave hot more of his thrust and determination.

A Familiar Figure When R. Partridge, .who was taking the line for Southern against University B, went on to replace A. E. Churchill in the early stages of the game, his position as line umpire was taken by a familiar figure on the football field. J. Hore All football enthu-

siasts will remember the great displays which won Hore his regular place m the All Black teams from 1928 to 1935, and he was one of the hardest-work-ing and most popular players ever to wear the Dark Blue jersey. Hore retains a lively interest in his old club, and after several seasons of coaching in the lower grades, he now has the First Grade team in his charge. He has the qualifications to be a worthy successor to the notable coaches which the club has been so fortunate in having for a. number of years. A Valuable Display Easily the most outstanding player in •the match between Southern and University B on Saturday was L. Woodhouse', the Southern half-back. He varied his play cleverly, and m addition to his swift and well-directed passing he made many solo bursts, one of which resulted in a try. Woodhouse is a most promising addition to Dunedin Rugby this season. Since the other backs showed little enterprise, it was mainly to him and to the forwards that the credit for Southerns comfortable win was due. S. Robert, at first five-eighth, made one or two breaks, but he has not the alertness to be an impressive inside back. Outside him, W. Mercer was uncertain, and passing frequently broke down at him. C. Inglis, at full-back, was slow in his movements, and too often was caught out of position. Southern was unlucky to losg A. E. Churchill in the first 10 minutes, but. even allowing for this, the backs will have to play better football on Saturday if the University A-Southern match is going to be as close and spectacular as past games have been. It is never safe to assume that Southern will be beaten, though. The “spirit of the Flat ’ has risen to the occasion too often.

IT CAN BE OVERDONE It was the good scrummaging of the Maroon forwards, and that only, which enabled their side to draw with Taien —a penalty goal each—on Saturday. The stalwart country pack could not at any stage dominate the Union forwards, who stood up to the shock tactics they had to face with the greatest gameness. When it came to hooking

the ball from the scrums, the Union vanguard nad a clear-cut advantage, and credit must be given Harwood, R. Faris and R. Hoffman, the three front row men, for their work in this connection. B. Samson, the half-back, rev-

elled in the style of play which marked Hhe game and he sent the ball out smartly to his backs, who were, however, well covered by the opposing rearguard. Their passing went mostly straight across the field, or else the ball was dropped in the middle of the movement. Oh very few occasions was a Union back allowed to beat the man opposite him, and one or two of them were inclined to get rid of the ball before they came up to an opponent.

Turn of Events Judging from Kiwi’s previous games, the opinion had been formed that this team would wrest the honours from University when the two basketball teams met last Saturday. Such was not the case, for University ran out winners by 17 goals to 12. The game was very fast, and in the first half the University shooting was excellent. Marie Grant, who acted as emergency in Marian Miller’s place, created a good impression and" combined very well with J. Clayton and W. Parkinson. The Kiwi defenders proved sterling opponents, and Winnie Dunn, in particular, played a spectacular game, especially in the first half. The University centre dominated the play, with Mary Martin directing it most efficiently. It was unfortunate that M. Finlayson was forced to retire so early in the game, but Kiwi, too. had to field an emergency in A. Brown’s position. Probably the second half of this game was even faster than the first, and the finish was an exciting one.

Welcome Improvement It must have been a pleasure to supporters of University A in particular, and to everyone else who appreciates bright football, to see the side settling into some real work against Kaikorai and at last playing some of the football which the public is entitled to expect of it. For the first time this season the forwards packed in earnest and worked as a scrum, and the result was that the Kaikorai forwards, enthusiastic and determined as they are, were gradually worn down and the University backs were given the freedom to make use of their pace. The presence of M. N. Paewai behind the scrum capitalised the success of the forwards, and altogether the display was a vastly improved one. Traditional University 'football is doubly welcome in these times, and it will be hoped that the A’s have been brought to realise that the other teams in the competition are far from being so weakened that they can be taken cheaply Swimming President Retiring The president of the council of the New Zealand Amateur Swimming Association, Mr F. G. Dunn, of Christchurch. has, announced that he does not intend to seek re-ele’ctioh at the end of the current year. Mr Dunn has been an officer of the council .for 21 years, having served 16 years as honorary treasurer before his election as president five years ago. He is a member of the National Council of Physical Welfare and Recreation.

A Useful Half-back The most noticeable work of the Zingari-Richmond half-back, H, Trainer, against Dunedin on Saturday was his accurate, long passing from the scrum to send his back line away to a good start. This smallish player has the knack of sending the ball well out from the scrum and at a handy height, so that his first five-eighths can have, room to manoeuvre without being impeded by quick-breaking forwards. It is this early advantage that gives the back line a chance to penetrate, and from this point of view Trainor is an. asset to his side,. There were times when he attempted to work the blind side when prospects were better on the open side, but he was a trier all the way near the line.

Prominent for Zingari-Richmond

In addition to the half-back, H. Trainor, four men were prominent in the Zingari-Richmond side that beat Dunedin on Saturday. They were A. Mason (full-back), W. Mason (fiveeighths), and R. Laing and A. Tyrie (forwards). A. Mason was valuable for his rangy kicks to touch, and he was very solid in his clearances. W. Mason opened up play for the men outside him cleanly and cleverly, although early in the game he was inclined to kick too much. Laing and Tyrie were determined workers in the scrums. It is rather surprising that Tyrie, who scales 16st 61b, is able to keep up with the game as well as he does. He is seldom far away from the play.

No Table Tennis Titles ■fhis season, and possibly for the duration of the war, no Dominion table tennis championships will be decided. A decision to this effect was" made at the annual meeting of delegates to the New Zealand Table Tennis Association held in Wellington 10 days ago. In addition to the Dominion tournament, the North and South Island championships will not be held. Whitcombes for Table Tennis.*

New South Wales women golfers have raised £7224 for the Ladies’ Golf Union Patriotic and War Fund. The balance sheet issued for the 18 months ended April 29 . also revealed that 36,687 articles had been handed to the Lord Mayor’s Fund through the union.

MOSGIEL FORGES AHEAD Recording its fifth successive win on Saturday in this season’s competition for the Fletcher Cup, Mosgiel has moved up to top position on the Association football table, with a slight lead of one point. Its nearest opponents are Old Boys and Northern, each of which has equal cup points, with the former also having two games in hand. On goal average, Mosgiel also shows the best record, with 29 for and 6 against, compared with Old Boys’ 22 and 14 and Northern’s 22 and 14. Three matches remain to complete the first round, and Mosgiel has to meet Old Boys, Maori Hill, and Mornington. Old Boys also play Caversham and Mornington, while Northern’s remaining game is against Seacliff. Mosgiel’s unbeaten record should provide an incentive to others to be the first to lower its colours, and the coming games should be particularly keen. Difficult to Cope With The Alhambra team this season is proving one of the most difficult in the Otago Rugby Union’s competition for other team's to handle. It is largely an inexperienced side, and team changes have meant disruptions which have been a big handicap to the building of a combination. The result has been a guerrilla type of game which is. most upsetting to opposing teams. Pirates found this to be the case last Saturday. The Blacks won easily enough, mainly because they have some loose forwards —J. Lanauze, in particular—who revel in this variety of game; but the match was not an inspiring exhibition of Rugby. Pirates, forwards have always been strong in the loose, but the pack cannot often have included two forwards doing as much useless running about as A. Hennessey and K. Morgan have done in recent games. Both can play good football when they put their minds to it; but good forwards do not spend quite so much time running about in rings and waiting for the play to catch up with them.

Hard Workers Three Dunedin forwards worked particularly hard in the tight against Zingari-Richmond on Saturday. They were the young player C. Todd, W. Turner (who left the field with an in-, jury), and K. Thomson. Another player who made the most of his few opportunities was G. Reynolds, on the wing.

First Appearance Playing his first game in Dunedin club-football on Saturday was S. Easton, the former North Otago full-back, who was rated by many critics as second to J. M. Taylor in the last New Zealand trials. Easton turned out as full-back in the first half for Dunedin against Zingari-Richmond, and played a solid game, both on defence and op

the occasions when his side was pressing. His handling was good, and his line kicking generally had length and direction. When he changed to centre in the second half, however, his display was not of the same standard, He did not keep position well and so threw the combination out of gear to some extent. Played as a Pack When they get down to honest-to-goodness packing there is no doubt but that the University A forwards comprise as formidable a scrum as there is in Dunedin Rugby this season. In most of their games so far, however, there has been a slackness about them that does not suggest solid training, and in consequence it was not until they played Kaikorai last week that they were able to establish a definite superiority. They have usually managed to get plenty of ball, but have been so much beaten in the tight and the loose that the opposing forwards have been able to smash into their backs almost at will. Last Saturday they did play as a pack, and their hacks benefited thereby. I. Prior and P. B Fox were two who showed particular dash in the loose, with W. Thompson also employing a lotpf pace at times. W. Murphy and M. J. Phelan are two of the most promising scrumraagers in the competition. The scrum is an even one, and, when fit and working as a unit, it is most effective. Advantage Wasted The big Taieri forwards~W Bisset is 15.0 according to the Official Guide, R. Barnes 14.6. K. Waldron 14.6, K. Giles 13.1—are investing their play with plenty of vigour this season. But more than this is required if a side is to win with any consistency. An old and valuable axiom as applied to the game of football is that it Is played on the feet.

There was far too much scrambling forward play in , the Taien-Union match on Saturday, which ended in the ball being lost in melees and the referee’s whistle stopping the game. It was difficult to follow the Taieri team s tactics, especially in the second half when, after the forwards had hooked the ball to R. Frew and he had passed to J. McLeod, first five-eighths, McLeod promptly booted it into touch. The Taieri backs are fast and have strength in their running, and T. Sproule, at centre, showed distinct promise. But any set of backs has to get the ball to play with, if it is to show its worth, and opportunities of getting the Taieri rearguard into action were lost through these tactics. Fast Three-quarters The two University B three-quar-ters, J. Langham and R. McNeur, both showed against Southern on Saturday that they have a fine turn of speed; but they were not given many chances to use it on attack. The five-eighths, C Allen and R. Langley, did some good things, but their passing was often eratic, and they showed an inclination to run across field, and so crowded their three-quarters. Both of the students’ tries were spectacular ones, and that scored by Langham on the call of time was a great effort. He ran from inside his own half to touch down between the posts. Too Eager Over-eagerness among the ZingariRichmond forwards in the game against Dunedin on Saturday often sent them back after they had won a promising position on their opponents’ goal line. Infringements deprived them of half-a-dozen scoring chances in loose scrums on the line, with the backs on their toes for the short dash to score. There was no necessity for the infringements, because the Zingari-Richmond forwards repeatedly beat the Dunedin pack to the ball, _ and over-eagerness merely wasted their opportunities.

ALL IN FORM Anyone who has studied recent form at Balmacewen will not have been surprised that the final of the Otago Golf Club’s four-ball knock-out competition should have been contested by L. A. Kaye and J. A. McCausland (the winners) and W. G. Wight and G. W. Bow-, ron. In fact, the players who went to the final stages were all men who should have been there if form is to be accepted as a true guide. Kaye showed himself good enough to get into the final eight of the Otago Amateur Championship at Easter, and both he and his partner. McCausland. a rising young player with a beautiful swine, were successful in handicap events at that tournament, Wight’s form which gained 3 him the Club Championship and has been outstanding ever since, was maintained in his partnership with Bowron. who recently earned a reduction in handicap by leaving the field behind with-a net 65. These two. in getting to the final, defeated A. G, Sime. recent winner of the Otago Championship, and J. P. Cartwright, who is always near the top in handicap events. The story of the final can be briefly told. Kaye and McCausland established a lead of four over the first six holes, and. though their opponents staged a good fight from that stage, they could not make up all the lost ground and finished two down at the seventeenth.

Basketball Infringements It is very difficult to make basketball players understand that in a tie-ball it is good tactics to catch the bail and not just bat out of an opponent’s way qnd then try to gain possession. If this is done, in fact, there is always the danger of a penalty for regaining possession of the ball after having just played it. In this connection the following inquiry with its answer has been received from the Interpretations Committee of the New Basketball Association;—“ May bat the ball (in a throw-up following a tie-ball) and then run and take possession to play, or must it be played by another player? ” “If the flight of the ball has been deliberately directed by the player,' she would be considered to have had it in a governable manner, whether in a throw-up or in general play, and she would not be entitled to play the ball again until it had been touched by another player.” Players at all times should refrain from indulging in tactics that might cause them to suffer unnecessary penalties. Spectacular Winger Last season one of the speediest wing three-quarters in Dunedin Rugby was N. Lino, who scored a number of runaway tries for University B. This year he is playing in the A’s and improving with every game. He has the pace, weight, and build to make him dangerous anywhere near the line, and his handling -and ability to , beat a tackier were particularly impressive against Kaikorai last Saturday. University has maintained its reputation for flying three-quarters in recent years, and in Lino and J. W. Green this season the side has two young players who should do credit to the province before very* long. ‘ A Good Performance It was a good performance by University A to beat Kaikorai by as big a margin as 21 points to 6 last Saturday. The hill forwards worked like Trojans until they were run off their feet toward the end of the game, and until the pace of the Light Blue backs became overwhelming in the second half the Black and Blue backs held them splendidly. In fact, they* were! the aggressors for most of the first half and only a little more pace was needed to make their thrusts formidable. They are a young lot. The whole side is _a voung one, for that matter, and in this game it played really promising football.

PLAYING WELL AGAIN With their forwards at last playing with some cohesion and M. N. Paewai back behind the scrum, the University A back line against Kaikorai last Saturday looked 50 per cent, more effective than it had in its previous game nr two. R. L. Jones was not playing, but J. W. Green is a versatile threequarter, and hp shaped well at centre three-quarter. Paewai’s quick service

from the scrum gave his five-eighths a flying start, although D. Murdoch was seldom able to take his pass in ms stride. There is no question of the speed with which Paewai shoots the ball out, but his direction is not always of the same consistency. This University and Otago half-back is one of the trickiest players in the competition, though, and he scored two very good tries in this game. He is seldom off, his feet, and is very quick to get back into the play. University Basketball

For the first time for many seasons it appears that the University basketball senior nine will be one of .the prominent contestants for champion- ( ship honours. In recent years this' team has failed to produce any outstanding defending player, but now this fault has been rectified. Jessie McLean, the Otago representative player, is eligible to play for University, and from now on she will fill the main defence position. The team will thus comprise three players of outstanding ability-—Joyce Clayton, one of Otago’s fastest forwards, who for many years has been a member of the Otago team; Mary Martin (centre), a former Auckland representative player and; a member of the New Zealand team which toured Australia, and J. McLean. Supporting these players are Marian Miller and Wendy Parkinson (forwards), who have been members of the team for the last two seasons, and although not possessing J. Clayton’s turn of speed have produced good basketball, Margaret Finlayson and Lola Hopward and Cicely Higginson, Connie Shearer, and Jean' Isdale (defence). Margaret Finlayson has been a member of the team for, three years, during which time she has shown great development m her play and can now be classified Otago’s leading centres. Lola Hopward is a fresher from Auckland, where she gaihed junior representative honours last season. Cicely Higginson haS given fine service in the defence thirdfor two seasons. Both Connie Shearer and Jean Isdale are promoted players from the second grade and CII teams respectively.' A new player is Marie, Grant, who hails from Auckland 'land; who should prove a decided acquisition to the forward third. i