RUGBY

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 16364, 11 June 1927, Page 5

RUGBY

S P.B. REPRESENTATIVES V. HAWKED BAY TO-DAY'S GAME AT NAPIER The meeting of the Poverty Bay Kugbv representatives with the Magpie side in Napier took place this afternoon. and was the centre of interest, for the football fans of both districts. The -Visiting Poverty Bay team recently ran the Wairarapa Shield team to a very * close finish, just after their win over • Hawke's Bay, and they were anxious lo defeat tho southern representatives and demonstrate their worthiness to challenge for the shield; while the Hawke's Bay men wer* equally anxious to wipe out, by a meritorious win, the memory of'their defeat at tho hands of the shield challengers last week. : Had Wairarapa left Uundy at home on Friday, June 3, to-day's game between Poverty Bay and Hawke's Bay might have been for the Kanfurly Shield itself, but in the circumstances it became a trial between two aspirants for tki trophy, and the subject of keen interest in circles beyond the two districts most closely concerned. The King's Birthday marked the first defeat the Magpies had suffered at home in live years, and therefore gained new importance as an historical date. The Kugby, world of New Zealand was not altogether surprised, for no district, having lost men such as Lance Johnston, A. E. Cooke, VV. Irvine, Nepia, Mill, and others pf its All Blacks, could boast the;same strength afterwards. There were- some who claimed that Hawke's B&yVhad not suffered severely by the defection of these men, but their claim could not be given creden.ee; at the same time, it was quite possible to imagine that the long series of shield battles fought on Napier and Hastings '* grounds had developed pew talent among * the less conspicuous of Hawke's Bay's players, and that the gaps had been filled "with players almost as good as those whose services had been lost. The first shield battle was awaited with interest, V therefore, and the result greeted without much astonishment. ~ , Tho narrow defeat of Poverty Bay by the shield winners must have caused more genuine surprise among outside followers of the game, and must have east a new lustre on the name of "Poverty Bay in football circles. It followed that to-day's game between the two sides most recently at grips with Wairarapa,* both'of them prospective challengers for the Kanfurly Shield, would excite" intense enthusiasm. PAST ENCOUNTERS. The visiting;; team had the incentive of knowing that a win over Hawke's Bay , would put Poverty Bay definitely on the ' map, and; also avenge past defeats at the hands of the Magpies. The last big beating given to the Gisborne representatives left a sting, for Hawke's Bay •was then only beginning to gloat over the big scores achieved against presuming challengers. A deficit of abont 40 points sent the Poverty Bay team home * much-chastened,, but with, the earnest hope that some day they would be revenged, it was a vain hope, it seemed, for, a long time, but this year has revived the possibility of victory. A pack of forwards such as few'of the minor unions have assembled in the history of the gaine in .New Zealand, and a back division which, at its best, is more than useful, should have a chance of beating any but a national side, it was felt, and this impression grew after last Monday's game with "Wairarapa. Old-timers in" jfengby- expressed the greatest delight in "*" the display of the home side, and remarked that the forwards had given a brilliant display. Comment such as this is not easy to win. for Rugby men of ii«e * older generations are ever prone to bewail the passing of the "good old days." The last meeting of the Hawke's Bay and Poverty Bay teams took place in 1924, the game being a friendly one played on the dhilders road reserve m Gisborne. . It provided yet another instance of how hard Poverty Bay is to defeat on its" own ground, for the visitors had to exert themselves to the utimost to emerge with a narrow victory. That match followed the shield game, in which Poverty Bay was outclassed in Napier, and helped to restore some of the confidence of Gisborne patrons in .their representative side. Since that date new faces have appeared in the Poverty Bay team, and to-day the side looked, a shield possibility at least. Small wonder that the result was awaited here with the utmost interest. t .