RUGBY NOTES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26770, 13 May 1948, Page 3

RUGBY NOTES

Excelsior Superior

With superior tactics and better combined play than the other three teams in the senior competition Excelsior has established a lead of two points over Athletic for the Citizens' Shield. Athletic has been unfortunate in that for the past two or three Saturdays it has not had the services of its leading players. This has caused several upsets in Athletic’s team, especially in the back line, which has not yet been seen at full strength. The position of the teams is:— Points

The Excelsior-Old Boys game was won fairly easily by the former team, mainly ,due to its better combination. The understanding between the members of the Excelsior back line was excellent. F. Diver (haU-back) gave excellent service from the scrum, sending out good crisp passes which R. Tempero unfailingly accepted. Tempero similarly combined well with his second five-eighth, B. Finlay, who frequently found gaps in the defence'. H. Pittaway at centre made some good suns and D. O’Connell and M. Gunn showed •good turns' of speed. Nuttall proved an exceptionally sound custodian. Although it is difficult to name outstanding individual players among the Excelsior forwards, J. Gallagher, I. McGregor and G. Ovens were usually the leaders of eight hard working packmen. Poor passing ana general lack of understanding among the Old Boys rearguard militated against any sound play coming from the movements. Daly’s play at the base of the scrum was marked by good defensive work, but his service to his backs could not compare with his opposite number. R. Rainey shows promise as a player with a natural swerve and side-step, but he will require to improve his handling and positional play. R. Young was the soundest member of the line. A. Lightwood and A. Currie, the wing-three-quarters, were starved of the half through most of the game but. when able, showed improvement on their last season's play. The "find” of the season for Old Boys appears to be R. Rose, the full-back. His tackling, kicking and handling saved his side on numerous occasions. The Old Boys forwards showed great promise in the first 20 minutes of the game, but from then on fell to pieces, and with two or three players not employing their full weight, were slowly overwhelmed by the opposing pack. J. Millan, N. Campbell and P. Black were three of the workers.

Superiority in the backs was responsible for Athletic’s win of 14 points to 5 against Maheno, at Maheno, on Saturday. A reshuffle of inside backs gave extra sting to the attack, and also produced the best Athletic back line seen so far this season. J. Halvorsen reverted to his representative position as full-back, and played sound football. W. Henderson was moved in from the wing to take up a position at second five-eighth to play his best game so far this season. The whole back line played soundly, Campbell, at the base of the scrum, getting away good crisp passes. S. Mosely and F. Nightingale played hard games in Athletic’s pack, both in the loose and in line out play. R. Good, hooking* for Athletic, gained the ball from the majority of the set scrums. K. Boyle, Maheno’s custodian, played a sound game. His line kicking was a feature of his play, and he proved a solid player on defence. A. Wilson, half-back, again played an excellent game, and was responsible for several good breaks from the scrum. Although C. Mathieson, on the wing, did not receive much of the ball, nevertheless he proved himself a tricky player. P. Wilkin, in Maheno’s pack, was to the fore in practically all movements, and, led by him. the Maheno forwards staged several good rushes. Draw and Referees The draw and referees for Saturday are as follows: Senior.—Excelsior v. Maheno, Oval, 2.45 p.m. (Mr W. Bee); Athletic v. Old Boys, No. 2 Ground, 2.45 p.m. (Mr T. Cahill). Juniors.—Old Boys v. Athletic, at Oval, ai 1.15 p.m. (Mr H. H. Tempero); Excelsior v. Waitaki, No. 3 Ground, at 1.15 p.m. (Mr E. Lapslie); Enfield, a bye. Third Grade.—Old Boys v. Maheno, No. 3 Ground, 2.45 p.m. (Mr A. Paterson); Excelsior v. Athletic, No. 2 Ground, 1.15 p.m. (Mr C. Diver).

Fourth Grade.—Athletic A v. Enfield, No. 4 Ground, 2.45 p.m. (Mr R. Tempero); Athletic B v. Waitaki, No. 4 Ground. 1.15 p.m. (Mr D. Grant),. Teams for Saturday

Old Boys.—Seniors: Rose, Lightwood. Rainey, Currie, Welsh, McKone, Daly, Gibson, Campbell, Twaddle, Collings Somers, Millin, Black, Maiharoa, Meikle Third Grade: Cowles, Brinsdon, Waldron, Bell, Rawson, Smith, Sandri, Hamilton. Scott, Meikle, Wilson, Familton, Gawn, Kelk, Greaney, Robson, Lee, Adamson, Mathieson. Juniors: Lindsay, Black, J. Scott, Blair, Collings, McKone, Robson, Watson, Blackie, McMullan, Wormald, Dobson, Thomson, Irvine (2), Oliver. Gawn, Wilscn, M. Scott, Clarkson, Maiharoa.

P. W. L. F. A. Pts. Excelsior .. 3 — 44 12 6 Athletic .. 3 2 1 23 24 4 Old Boys .. 3 1 2 19 25 2 Maheno .. 3 — 3 11 36 —