RUGBY FOOTBALL

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LV, Issue 17029, 14 August 1929, Page 12

RUGBY FOOTBALL

THE CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP FINALISTS CONGRATULATED (Notes by "Onlooker.") Officials of the Celtic Football Club .'.id as* much credit to their own club as ■i Y.M.P. when they offered their eonrutula'tions mi the "hitters' victory in >e senior championship final. Ihe mdering ui < cltic's felicitations was veil done' by Messis. E. T. Brosnahan mil M. ■'>■ Kyne at Monday's meeting ot lie Poverty' Bay Rugby I'nion. and .-.lli]o the Rugby public of the district •hoes those iel'ic.iiations, it will not .erlook the fact thai the Celts put up ; great light to retain their leadership, ill ,miv bowed to gieatly superior o; >•('•. The second round mate 1 ! between i'.M.P. and Celtic produced no indica on-, ol' Ihe e.enlual suei ess o c the Maori team, for it was beaten hatid:mne!v : that l';i:l itself makes the final iitor'v of \ .M.P. all the more noteworthy. The members must ha\e been aking their training very seriously dur 'ng tiie fortni -lit or so prior to the play,(f with <Vlt:< . and moreover, their ■■ami- chitted a finish such as one oldom -ees in a club team. The roach ivho tool; Y.M.P. in hand in preparation or the deciding ante knew lib business -.veil, and certainly should be invited to lake a baud in the polishing up of the list lit < 'i am, in anticipation of future epreseniative engagements. A FIN I'. DISPLAY. It was decidedly heartening to see the lam is running straight and drawing heir oiiposlte numbes before passing; i klitig with a will when necessary—hough once or twice they did fail in ,!:is respect- and hatidhiig with uncanny kill. The hands of the Maori backs seemed uif'ted with magnetism that held ihe hall under the most difficult circumTances, and VV. McKay was not as oul•tanding as usual in this c lection. E en the forwards soeingd i" have developed a high degree of al ility in shortoassing, and once or twice they went

down the field in great .style, passing within arms' length, and completely baffling the Celts' efforts to stop thc.im It was a fine display altogether, quite. he best the Y.M.P. club has given m he senior ranks since Tmeia led them o victory some four years ago. The vork of T. Dennis, in the pack, was -quill to that whi-.li won him his place ■;' the Maori (All Black team, and there .-.-us not a single "passenger'' in the forward division. One of the best displays given by individuals was that.of P. McKav. at five■>ighths. this voun>; plaver proving that be has a penetrative run and a solid ■ackle. Next to Piki Smith, he was the most serviceable defender in the Maori '-aek division, though all did fairly well. 'Te .should develop quickly, for he is of plerdid physique and is very hard to upset. In the Celtic side, the honors rested ''©finitely with Bennett, who stood head and shoulders above the vest of his able, hut Hale played as good a game a* 1 e has ever clone, both in attack and defence, while Delaney and Airev were vorv serviceable. The forwards were not' up to the standard of the Maori oaek, and in that circumstance lav the ■orrct of the Celts' defeat.

THE EAST COAST MATCH DISTRICT SIDE FOE SATURDAY There is not much room for discussion onceining the selection of Poverty Bay's !,eam to meet the East, Coast representatives at the Oval on .Saturday. Practically every member of the team has more or less selected himself, the fact of Murland and Cameron being unavailable having removed any question as to how the positions in the rear division should to filled. It is a moot, point, of course, whether Polmtu is the most deiierfdable fullback in the district, or whether the selectors might not have fried someone else there, but the Maori player gave a good all-round exhibition in 'the club final on Saturday last, making only one glaring mistake. The forward division is identical with that which plaved Waikato, and there is not much change in the backs: on past performances it is reasonable to expect success for the heme side in the coming engagement with the East Coast. On the East Coast, the Rugby UnioT, officials claim to have discovered a good i'flnl of budding talent, which may lie iven a trial ocainst Poverty Bay. Tt is not, a good policy to try out young and inexperienced plnvors on another union's ground, as there is a certain phvschological effect due to appearing in front of a strange crowd that often reacts more unfavorably than nervousness about the opposing p'lavers. Poverty Bay has had < me fine talent at least partially ruined Iv premature appearances on tour, and onlv in cases where regular representatives are unavailable are young players 'cut to renresent the district in other cent'-es. If the East Coast has experienced and dependable plavers available, the selectors would be well advised to beep to them. , .

EANFURLY SHIELD BATTLE AUCKLAND'S UNLUCKY DAY Probably no union district in the country has had such bard luck in the Kanfurly Shield series as Auckland, and in Saturday's game with Wairarapa, the hoodoo seemed to Ive still in operation. The margin between the teams at the finish was only three points, Auckland having scored four tries as against their opponents' one. and the Wairarapa victory 'being almost entirely due to the fine record of '.-oal-kieking registered by Fuller. For this game, Wairarapa had eight All Blacks in the field, and two on the Hue. That the challengers should have d.tie so well suggests once again that All Block honors may depend more upon opportunities than uoon mere skill, and followers of Ru'i'by in this district will be reminded forcefully that, many All Blacks have plaved here without creating anv wonderful impressions of personal icHlitv. Of alb weavers of the s ; ber femleaf who have made appearances in Gisborne, the individuals who stood.out above the local representatives unmistakably could almost be counted on one band. ' Maurice Bvownlie, Jimmv Mill. Oeonre Neoia, A. E. Cooke, and J. Donald excepted, how many visitintr Al' Blacks have produced international form on the Poverty Bay Oval? Auckland's representatives ha-'e had an experience similar to that of Poverty Bay's in this resnect; they found that there is not such a wide margin between the average rood district player and the average New Zealand renresentaC'e when Rivbv it reduced to its essentials of skill, training, and combination.

CANTERBURY'S CHALLENGE IPnr F'ppss Association.) CHRISTCHURCH, this day. At a meeting of the Canterbury Rugby Union, Old Boys were declared winners of the senior competition. It was decided to challenge Wairarapa for the Ranfurly Shield on August 28.