RUGBY FOOTBALL

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 16113, 30 April 1923, Page 9

RUGBY FOOTBALL

OPENING OF SEiSON, PAKJSHAS DEFEAT MAORIS

The Rugby football season wils opened on Saturday, when selected 1 tennis representing respectively pukehfls and Maoris took tin* field' at tin*' liesci've, l The pnkehus won by 14 points lt» 32, {alter ii fund struggle, in which belli | sides did well for their first Itppouraute. 1 The clement Of combination was to a • great extent lacking in both sides, but j from the exhibitions given by Individual players, it is likely "that this season's I representative teams will be quite up to j the standard of last year. A shortage I of players was evident when the match commenced, but Ihn ranks of either team were (filled as the game went on. Among tii© pakehas (red) were a number of faces now to Gisbonic, and it may be mentioned' thai tho newcomers all did themselves credit.. J. Scott, Rnker, Anderson, in the forward line, wen- illways on the ball, and Jenson, playing firs'i five-eighth, proved fairly I'asl. and I was generally where he was wanted. The Maoris foiighl hard; for victory, I'iki „Smith and- Wilson, a High School player, being prominent in most of the attacks, while M. Whaitiri also showed' goud [arm. it. is regrettable that the feeling in which the match was played, particularly in thei latter sluges, was not of the best, audi one or two incidents were noted 1 that, had', they como under blio notice of the referee, must have bad serious consequences for tho players concerned. It is safe to predict that a repetition of such. incidents later in the' season will not fce lightly passed over. for if they should; be, the Rugby Union game will certainly fall from the pedestal of publicMnvor. Much more might lie said; concerning tho 'incidents above referred to, but it would' be needless comment.

The reds madte the pace hot from tho start,, playing with the? wind, and! for some time kept the Maoris (white) defending on their 25 line. Bartlett, the white fullback, proved' himself steady in defence, and one or two good clearances were, recorded to his credit. The game had not progressed' far before .). Scott (red) secured in thei ruck and charged through thei white forwards, gaining ground to the goal where hewas held' up by the white lacks. He passed offside to Hoeney, who touched down, but the try was disallowed, and a penalty awarded to whites. Reds returned to the attack, and) the first try was scored soon after by Baker, who dribbled tho ball through the opposition and dived over the 'line. Baker converted his own try. Keels 5, whites 0. O. Scott made another try a quarter of an hour later, by much the same tactics, but the kick* at goal was unsuccessful. Red' 8, white 0. The whites rallied, and forced the? attackers back into their own ,25, where repeated attacks by the whites were stalled off. W. Langlands earning credit for his cool work oai the right wing. The frequent serums were mostly in favor of reds, but Woods, who was new to the half position, was not smart enough in getting the ball away, and 1 the red backs seldom goti moving upfield. The whites played with plenty of sting, and finally forced the rods on to (lie last lino of defence. «From a line-out, Taurangu secured and clashed through to score an unconverted try. Red! 8, whit** 3. Half-time .interrupted play before any further score was registered. The Maoris attacked fiercely on the resumption of play, and' by rushing tactics put the reds on the defence. Time after time the reds thrust the attackers back, but the Maoris would not be denied, audi at last Rua _ get through on the corner. The kick, from a difficult angle, was unsuccessful, and the score stood 8 to 6 in favor of reds. Tho leaders now commenced to take matters more seriously, and' Jenson, Mouat and.' Lahglands were prominent in f. series of rushes which carried the game down the side line inter the white territory. Line-outs and scrums were frequent, and it was after a srVuin that the next try was .awarded. Mouat kicked out of the ruck, an Hie scrum broke up. and following the. ball over the line, touched down. Two of the Maori play ers had touched the ball after it crossed the line, but the referee ruled: that they had not. forced', and' gave the try to reds. Baker's kick failed. Bed 11, whito 6. "The game progressed from one end of the field' to the other, several times before the next sore was registered, to the credit of Tiki Smith (white), who goli over after a hard scramble in front of the goal. Again tho kick failed, and the score was : Red' 11, white 9. J. Scott (red) scored tbte fyial three points for reds, following up well, and shortly bofore the end of the game, 11. Brown made a- good run for whites and scored an unconverted try. Red 14, white 12. Mr C. Devea-y r-efereed the match. CURTAIN-RAISER. f Prior to the senior match the High Scqool team met a selected third grade team, and emerged the victors by 13 points to 6. The school lads had the better of the game for the most part, their condition standing them in good stead. Wilson and , Caulton were noticeably good',' audi. Nasmith was at homo on the three-quarter line. F. Pile (2) and G. Rees (1) scored tries for the school, and Nasmith converted two tries. For the third-graders, Woods and- Fitzmaurico scored tries, neither being converted. The game was a very interesting one to watch, and' was played; in Very good; spirit. There was little difference in the average weights of the opposing teams. Mr. E. Woods was referee.

¥ V [Per Press Association.! TIMARU, last night. The football season opened at Timaru yesterday in bright weather, and on fast "grounds, before a largo attendance' of spectators. Old Boys beat Temuka by 26 to 5; Waihi (Geraldine) beat Celtic (Timaru), 18 to 3; and Zingari 22 beat Star 11.

; In the . Soccer senior competition, Rangers defeated Watersiders by 3 tlo 2, and Albion Rovera beat Hearts 4 to 1.