SPORT AND PASTIMES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25302, 12 August 1943, Page 6

SPORT AND PASTIMES

Poor Forward Play The Otago forwards made a dismal showing in the return Rugby match against Southland at Invercargill on Saturday. The pack was badly balanced, and its inability to gain a reasonable share of possession from the scrums cost Otago the game. In other respects, the play of the Dark Blues fell far below representative standard. Their failure to hold the opposing pack and to protect their half-back, P. A. Ongley. placed a heavy burden on the backs, who were called on to stem the Southland loose rushes for the greater part of the first spell. Although Otago held its own in the lineout play, its efforts were offset by loose packing, which enabled Southland to gain long stretches of ground with massed rushes. Slew heeling from the loose scrummages further hampered the Otago back line, and the failure of the forwards to spread out in support of the backs on attack and defence was in contrast to the play of Otago packs of the past. One or two players of the Nieper type would have made a big difference, but fast, mobile forwards were missing. Forward play in Dunedin this season has not been of a particularly high standard, but the form shown by the representative pack at Invercargill was almost too bad to be true. Women’s Hockey Tournament

Otago will be represented by two teams in the South Island women’s hockey tournament, which will be played at Christchurch from August 26 to August 29. The A team will be the strongest side available, and the B team will consist of young players who may be expected to benefit from the experience of tournament hockey. Canterbury will field three teams, and Ashburton, Nelson, Marlborough, and possibly South Canterbury will be represented. Yachting in the Middle East

As a token of its appreciation of the facilities which have been provided for yachtsmen serving with the N.Z.E.F. in the Middle East, the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron has decided to send its club pennant to the Cairo Yacht Club. Other clubs are to be asked to take similar action, and the Otago Yacht Club has already complied. This is the third season in which the Cairo Yacht Club has placed boats at the disposal of non-commissioned men of the Middle East Forces. The New Zealanders have the use of five boats on one afternoon each week during the season, which extends from December to August. The boats used are 14ft half decks with V bottoms, and only two sails are carried, mainsail and jib, the latter being used as a spinnaker and leader. The usual crew Is two, but to provide sport for more men a crew of three is carried in army races, in which the Neyv Zealanders have repeatedly shown their superiority over other units.

Trevathan’s Generalship D. Trevathan’s generalship was a big factor in the win which Southland registered against Otago in the return Rugby match at Invercargill on Saturday. By playing him in his usual role at first five-eighths, the Southland selectors greatly increased the effectiveness of their back line. He was a stumbling block throughout to D. Murdoch, the Qtago first five-eighths, and, exploiting his forwards to the full, he paved the way for most of Southland’s attacking movements. He also imparted to the Southland' passing rushes the initial thrust which was missing in the match at Dunedin in the previous week. With a penalty goal and a field • goal in the first 10 minutes of the play, he gave Southland an early advantage which Otago was unable to overcome. Trevathan is now 31 years of age, but, by his play, he showed that he is still good enough for any representative side. He now resides in Dunedin, and it is expected that he will assist the Dunedin Club's senior fifteen for the remainder of the season. American Marines at Rugby

Notwithstanding the fact that the Wellington representative Rugby fifteen was at Christchurch playing Canterbury, the novelty of seeing a team from the United States Marine Corps playing Rugby attracted a crowd of 5000 spectators to Athletic Park. The Marines gave a -surprisingly good display against a Navy team, which won by 9 points to 6. Fielding a strapping set of forwards, the Marines obtained possession of the ball from most of the scrums, and the American backs early delighted the crowd with some sparkling passing movements. They occasionally threw passes as far as 20 yards, and few of these were fumbled. A phase of the game in which the Marines also excelled was their deadly .tackling, and they demonstrated that they could punt to good effect. This was not the first team of Rugby players from the United States to appear in this country. Before the last war a team from the American Universities toured Australia and New Zealand. In Australia it was twice defeated by the New Zealand Maori team, and it lost matches in the Dominion against Wellington, Otago, Canterbury, and Wanganui. The Auckland match was drawn. The Manning Cup

The final of the Manning Cup Knockout Handicap Competition was played at Chisholm Park on Saturday, and the winner was R. McAllan, who defeated R. Morris 4 and 2. McAllan has for some time past played steady and improving golf, and by winning his second trophy this year justly earned a further reduction in his handicap.-Full-back’s Fine Display

R. Masters, the Otago full-back, gave a fine exhibition in the Rugby match against Southland at Invercargill on Saturday. He was often under pressure, but his fielding of the ball was always sure, and his welljudged kicking gained long stretches of ground for his side. His positional play was first-class, and his display generally was worthy of a player of his long representative experience. Masters previously represented Wellington, North Auckland, Thames Valley and Marlborough. He captained North Auckland against the Springboks in 1937. and played for the ■North Island in 1938. His penalty goal from the sideline 35 yards out was one of the features of last Saturday’s match. An Interesting Position

The women’s hockey competition, which is nearing the final stages, is in an interesting position. Training College has a lead of two points from King’s, with Momona another two points behind in third place. Momona, which was looked upon as a likely winner earlier in the season, was defeated in successive matches by Bounty, a promoted junior team, and Otago, which has shown much improved form in recent games. Momona and King’s will meet on Saturday, and should King’s be successful, the outcome of the championship may then depend upon the match between Training College and Momona.

A Southland Rugby Stalwart Among the spectators at the OtagoSouthland match at Invercargill last week was Mr Isaac Jenkins, of Queenstown, who took part in the first match between the two provinces in 1887. Mr Jenkins established a record in representative Rugbv which, it has been claimed, is unequalled anywhere in the world. He plaveri iu Southland continuously from 1837 until 1908, and was a front-row foiward in the South Island team in 1903 He was afterwards president of the Southland Rugbv Football Union, and one of its selectors. Among All Black players who were coached by him during their schooldays were F. Kilby, N. A. Mitchell, and the late A. W. Wesney. Mr Jenkins, who is now 76 years of age, played in the Combined Otago and Southland team which was defeated by 14 points to 8 by Bedel-Sivright’s British team in 1904. and three other Southland players in that game. Messrs J. W. Stead, D. Robinson, and H. Murphy, were present at last Saturday’s match. Keen Rugby Players

“We find the Americans very keen to learn Rugby, although many of our rules and methods of play baffle them completely,” writes a Dunedin soldier from the Pacific. One team, which played a Brigade Headquarters team, although beaten bv 24 points to 10, gave a fine display. The Americans played a more spectacular game than the New Zealanders, but lacked cohesion. The boot is on the other foot when we play the Americans at basketball,” he adds. ** They certainly know the game from A to Z. and are generally in a different class from our boys.”

Table Tennis A feature of the table tennis match between Otago and Southland at Dunedin recently was the number of junior players who were included in the teams. The Southland trio. Misses V. and N. Townsend and M Waddick, showed distinct promise, and Miss D. Leathley, of Otago, gave a fine exhibition to win 11 of hei 12 games. Southland Swimmer’s Success

Swimming for the Navy team in a services gala at Colombo (Ceylon), Lindsay Cowie, a well-known' Southland swimmer, tied for first place in the 150 Yards Backstroke event with Lieutenant R. Tulis, who has been the backstroke champion of India for four years. Cowie also swam prominently in the 100 Yards Freestyle and was narrowly beaten into second place He is a nephew of W. G. Lindsay, the former All Black and Southland forward, who is now living in- Dunedin.

Overdue Win Running a fine race throughout, R. Parker won the Civil Service Club’s Five I Mile Anderson Cup Road Race on Saturday. It was his first win in 13 years of competition, and, as he is always a trier, his success was very popular.