RUGBY FOOTBALL

Southland Times, Issue 22008, 6 May 1933, Page 9

RUGBY FOOTBALL

TO-DAY’S MATCHES. INTERESTING FIRST GRADE DRAW. STAR v INVERCARGILL. The main attraction at Rugby Park this afternoon will be the meeting of Star and Invercargill. Last week Star went under to Pirates, and Blues appeared to be fortunate to make a last minute draw of their game with Old Boys. Both teams will have benefited by their initial outing, however, and at the present stage it would be difficult to forecast the winner. The match is more or less a vital one to these teams as a loss by either side is going to put them beyond striking distance (for the first round) of the leaders in the Galbraith Shield competition. This factor, then, is going to weigh largely with the teams when they meet this afternoon, and as a result an extra keenness is certain to be in evidence. On paper the teams appear to be evenly matched and a good, fast and interesting game should result.

Star’s team has undergone one or two changes since last week, and their supporters are confident that they will put up a much better performance than they did last Saturday.. Sylvester, the Bluff junior who bccupicd the centre threequarter position last week, will be Star’s full-back to-day. It is stated that the position is not a new one to Sylvester, consequently he is expected to do well in the position. H. Giller comes into the three-quarter line, and a newcomer in Gardiner, from the Dalefield Club, Wairarapa, will partner Riddell in the five-eighth line. Lock, first five-eighth last week, joins Mattingly and Donnelly in the front row, and a new addition to the scrum is P. Sinclair, who is now available to play for Star. Mahoney, Hennesey and Stubbs are the absentees from Star’s original team. Mahoney was injured last week and has now decided to retire from the game. Whether this amended team will come up to expectations remains to be seen, but it, is known that the. side has been in strict training and hopes to create a favourable impression. Star will revert to their successful 2-3-2 scrum, Lock acting as the “loose-head” in the front row. It will be interesting to note how this scrum goes against Invercargill’s 3-2-3 formation. The Invercargill team will field much the same side at last week. Mclntyre and Bews (a promoted junior) join the forwards and Arthur Grant is an addition to the three-quarter line, replacing Thompson. The Blues,too, are experimenting and much will depend upon the shaping of some of the players in to-day’s game whether they will retain their places or not. The Blue forwards will have more weight than they did last week. The forwards look like battling this game out. They are very evenly matched and all will depend upon ball possession to decide the issue. There should be plenty of open play, even though the playing surface be heavy. The early game will herald Waikiwi’s first appearance for the season. The Red and Blacks will find Old Boys a much improved side compared with what they fielded last year and will require to be right on their game to head the Whites off. Old Boys are placing the same team as they fielded last week. Waikiwi are more or less an unknown quantity, yet among their number are many names which sug-, gest that if they can produce any sort of combination they might be hard to beat. This game will be just as attractive and interesting as the later fixture. STAR FOURTHS DEFAULT. The Star fourth grade team are defaulting to High School B to-day on account of being unable to raise a team.