RUGBY

Southland Times, Issue 25360, 12 August 1935, Page 8

RUGBY

OTAGO’S WIN MAROONS OUTPLAYED 20 POINTS TO 3 FINE VISITING TEAM By decisively defeating Southland’s Rugby representatives at Rugby Park on Saturday afternoon, the 1935 Otago team broke a long run of successes by Southland in the annual games played at Invercargill. Otago last won here in 1927. Since that year many strong teams from the sister province have come south in an endeavour to draw first blood in the home and home “double,” but none has comoared in quality with the present combination. Otago's team in Saturday’s game was an outstanding one. The forwards were capable of subduing and finally outplaying Southland's strong pack, and the backs, speedy and resourceful, displayed that initiative and understanding which means so much to successful combination. Their play was a revelation to many Southlanders and showed out in marked contrast to the drab work, tardy at times, of the slowmoving Maroons. Score Might Have Been Doubled. Tire score of 20 points to three, made up of six tries, one converted, to one unconverted try. was not altogether a true reflex of the trend of the play. Otago failed to capitalize many opportunities of scoring, and had their backs been as capable of finishing off movements in the first spell as they were in the final quarter of play, the score in their favour must have been nearly doubled. The Dark Blues were not favoured with ball possession, but they were equal to making good use of their limited chances and invariably piercing the defence, only to lose all through selfishness or mistakes in handling. On three or four occasions they had the line at their mercy with a solitary defender to beat and two and three men supporting the man with the ball. Bright Passing By Otago. Considering the general heaviness of the ground the play on the whole was fast and open. There were drab patches in the first spell when Southland practically monopolized possession from the lines and set scrums and made no use of the ball, but in the second half, when the Otago forwards began to make their strength and dash felt, the exchanges were bright, and some spectacular rallies were witnessed. In the final quarter the Otago backs sparkled in delightful passing rushes which more or less had the opposition demoralized, and enabled the winners to put on a brace of tries in the space of a few minutes. Southland's Heavier Pack. Southland fielded the heavier pack by a stone per man, and in the first spell gained the ball from three out of every four line-outs and set scrums The ball was wasted on the Maroon backs, however, as almost every attempt to open up the play was either quickly thwarted by the Otago fiveeighths or spoilt bv the indecision and slow handling of the Southlanders. Right through the game this method of attack. was doomed to failure almost from the outset. Thomas, behind the scrum, got little peace from the Otago breakaways, but when he did get the ball clear, there was too much delay in getting it away to the wings. As the play developed it was obvious that the pace of the Southland backs as a whole was not enough to cope with the opposition, and in view of this and the weakness of the inside men to penetrate or make play, it was surprising that some change of tactics was not adopted. It certainly was disappointing to see breakdown after breakdown by the Southland backs when the forwards had toiled so hard in getting the ball for them. Backs Fail. With one or two exceptions Southland's backs failed. There was no certainty about any of their- work and an absence of understanding, while some of the handling was deplorable. The tackling on the whole was good J. Purdue was not comfortable at fullback. He was frequently out of position and failed too often to find the line. He can do better, and probably will next time. This happened to be his first game in the full back’s position since early last season. The three-quarter line suffered by the slowness of the inside men, but even with that concession their work was not impressive. Baird did his best to mark the elusive Procter and got through this task reasonably well. Some of his tackling was of the high variety, albeit effective just the same. His attacking chances were practically nil. Oliver, on the other wing, was disappointing. His poor handling was unaccountable, while his marking of Gold was not good. Probably on account of a bad ankle he did not show the pace he undoubtedly possesses. Sharp Solid. Sharp, at centre, was Southland’s best back. He was more than a match for the All Black, H. Smith, and often thwarted many likely offensives attempted in the centre by the Otago backs. The colts. Peddie and Nesbit, were faced with strong opposition in Gillies and Martin, and if they failed to impress on attack they at least prevented the Otago pair from breaking through at the centre. Their slowness, compared with the smart moving of their opposites, quickly upset any ideas they might have had of opening up play in the centre. Peddie was given little latitude by the Otago forwards. He might have used the punt through to advantage when he discovered the opposition converging so quickly on the men outside him. Next to Sharp, Thomas was the best of the backs. He had to contend with a type of breaking, not previously exploited in Invercargill, and more than once was prevented from getting his passes away through the activities of Otago front row men coming right through the Southland scrum, almost simultaneously with the ball. The, fringe of the scrum was too well guarded to allow Thomas to exploit his favoured method of attack, that of returning the ball to the forwards. Procter’s All Black Form. Outstanding in a line of good class backs was J. Procter, who scored four of Otago’s six tries. His form in Saturday’s game was up to All Black standard, and Southlanders saw reason for the claims made on his behalf that he be included in the 1935 All Blacks’ team. There vzas no fault to be found | with his handling; he was ever ready to jump into an opening, and showed I that he could pass a tackler as well as the best of wing three-quarters. Procter was applauded by the crowd for his grand display. Gold, the other winger for Otago, also shaped like a good one. He ran round Oliver more than once and* put a refreshing snap into his general play. Smith proved a | good link in the last ten minutes of the game. Earlier he attempted too often to pass Sharp when he had performed good work in running his wings into position. There was a suggestion of selfishness in his play. The trio nearest the scrum for Otago,

Simon, Gillies and Martin, worked in harmony all through the game and the result was a constant harassing of the Maroon defence. Gillies always looked dangerous, and varied his play judiciously when the Southland backs stood up closer in the second half. His line kicking was also good. Simon worked hard and although fumbling occasionally, generally sent out good passes. Two Good Packs. The battle of the forwards resulted in Southland winning the honours of the first half, but tiring badly in the second and permitting the lighter Otago pack to run all over them. The reversal of form was surprising. Southland’s forwards were literally run off their legs in the finish and showed little fight at all in the closing stages. Their earlier work was magnificent, but the absence of their sweeping loose rushes was a feature missed. Too much unnecessary rucking was indulged in when a little footwork would have kept the ball in the open. The Otago forwards lasted well and hooked from the later scrums almost at will. Their performance in vanquishing the opposition was no mean one and stamped them as a great pack. They should take a lot of beating in future games. Prominent forwards were Laney (Otago), who always appeared to be out in the front of the loose rushes with ball at toe; Green and Niven (Otago), first class ruckers and line-out men; Quaid and Neiper (Otago), nuggety I types but tireless workers; Crawford, I L. George, Metcalfe and Ward (SonthI land). Neiper played a typical rover’s game and succeeded. Judged on results it could be said that Smiley’s work as rake was successful. He gained an advantage over his opponent in the set scrums. The scrum packed well and the ball came out very smartly. On one flank Crawford forced Simon to work the short side repeatedly only to find that Irwin or Thomas were not there to block the attack. Irwin’s inexperience w-as probably responsible for this. In other work Irwin showed up. Galt and C. George often lagged behind the play. Lessons of the Game. The game served to show the difference in the standards of play in the two centres. There was no question about Otago’s superiority, a fact, by the way. which might be employed to exaggerate Southland’s mediocrity. Southland is in the unfortunate position of possessing no backs equal to any of Otago’s, and in future games will probably have to relv mainly upon the forwards to pull them through. The defeat of the Southland pajk on Saturday was distasteful, however, and means that either a re-casting or some coaching will have to be carried out. Reflecting upon some of the crudities of the play it would appear that coaching, more than training, is needed most. The material is there to mould the pack into one which should be capable of holding Otago, not for a portion of the game, but throughout the play. A Big Attendance. The remarkable interest taken in the Otago-Southland fixtures was again demonstrated by the big attendance at the game. Visitors from all corners of the province were present as well as many hundreds of Otago supporters. Approximately the “gate” yielded a return of over £6OO. which means that there were from 7500 to 8000 present. The weather conditions were perfect. During the afternoon the parade of the Star veterans and present players marched around the ground, headed by the Pipe Band and banners, an interlude which was appreciated by the crowd. The Battalion band was also present and out of respect to an old Star member who composed the march, Mr A. F. Lithgow, played the familiar “Invercargill.” THE TEAMS. The teams lined out as follows:— OTAGO. (Dark Blue). Fullback.—W. MacFarland. Three-quarters.—A. C. Procter, H. Smith, Gold. Five-eighths.—H. Martin, C. C. Gillies. Halfback.—H. Simon. Forwards.—G. McDonald. W. Laney, Quaid, L. Niven, Parkhill, J. Green, O. Chapman, R. Nieper. SOUTHLAND. (Maroon). Fullback.—J. Purdue. Three-quarters.—D. Oliver, R. Sharp, G. Baird. Five-eighths.—H. Peddie. D. Nesbit. Halfback.—Gervyn Thomas. Forwards.—L. George, A. Smiley, C. George: N. R. Irwin, I. Galt, R. Ward, J. Crawford; T. Metcalfe. In the second spell C. Watson replaced Oliver who was injured. Play Described. The Maroons, led by “Tiny” Galt, were the first to take the field. There was even louder applause as the Dark Blues filed through the Pipers’ Guard of honour. For a minute cameras were busy, these including the talking picture apparatus on the northern side of the ground. Otago had won the toss and played with a light breeze in their favour. Play opened uncertainly. Simon fielded Sharp’s kick-off and punted to Baird who failed to find the line. The ball came back to Purdue who lined near half-way. Southland won the first lineout but the ball beat Thomas, and Martin put in a fine line kick well inside the Maroon twenty-five. Otago passing broke down but a speculator saved ground being lost. The first free kick of the match came from the first scrum. Southland offending. None of the Maroon backs seemed to want the ball when MacFarland sent up a high kick. Peddie picked up after the bounce and lined hurriedly. Otago were making most of the play and were opening up on every possible occasion. A good tackle by Nesbit wrote finis to one bout but the Dark Blues were soon in possession again, the ball travelling out to Procter who beat Baird, only to be grassed by Purdue. The Maroons had not settled down, whereas the Dark Blues were playing with dash and confidence. After a set scrum had broken up Simon secured and made a strong run on the short side. Gold was in attendance and a try seemed certain but the wing was unable to gather in a difficult pass. Lob passing by the Southland backs met the fate it deserved. A free kick enabled Southland to get back to half-way after some anxious moments. The match had been in progress only five minutes but it had been replete with incident, though play had not reached a high standard. Following a penalty to Otago Purdue failed to find the line, a noticeable fault of his in this spell, though he improved in the second. Gillies made a brilliant run which took him almost to the Maroon line but he failed to get rid of the ball. Otago had Southland rattled and play hung perilously close to the posts. Gillies came to Southland’s rescue by foolishly kicking into touch-in-goal. The Maroons had a turn at passing but it was crude, Oliver being pushed out level with the spot where the movement began. Southland were at this stage getting the lion’s share of the ball but were doing nothing with it. Chain passing sent the ball out to Baird who tried to throw in to Sharp but a break-down enabled MacFarland to find the line. Out came the ball to Oliver but Gold tackled him without difficulty. Gillies made another bright run but went a bit too far. /X Lost Jersey. After an unsuccessful pot by Gillies a high tackle by Baird robbed Procter of his jersey, the crowd deriving

amusement from the spectacle of the Otago wing standing stripped to the waist waiting for a new garment to arrive. “Tarzan waiting for his mate, called out a wag in the crowd. Unimpressive Maroon passing enabled Oliver to get the ball but the Blues had had plenty of time to pounce on him before he could get into his stride. The next occasion the Maroon wing received he changed his direction and came close to scoring. Southland were going better now, the Blues being penned near their line. Nesbit had a pot which looked to be going straight till nipped in the bud by a charging Dark Blue whose chest the ball hit. A spirited rally by the Maroons was applauded, but there was an anti-climax when passing badly broke down at Peddie. Faulty fielding by Purdue enabled Otago to win their way back to half-way but a bright dash by Metcalfe and two penalties .placed Southland in an attacking . position again. The Maroons were still securing plenty of ball but the work of the forwards was being nullified by the poor attacking play of the backs. When Gillies centred Thomas fielded brilliantly, although almost on his knees. From a ruck Simon sent his backs away. Gillies handed to Martin who cut out Smith and sent a long high pass to Procter who raced past Baird and crossed at the corner. MacFarland kicked a beautiful goal. Play had been in progress twenty minutes. Otago 5, Southland 0. Lost, Chances. The next five minutes of play did not rouse the enthusiasm of spectators. Good scoring chances were presented but were not capitalized. Neiper. who was playing a fine game for Otago, initiated a promising movement but there was a break-down further out. Irwin cleared with a hefty kick. Fast following up by Crawford put Southland on attack and the Maroon backs went away in passing. Sharp received again from Oliver but miskicked over the Otago line. Again Southland passing broke down and again Otago were able to change the venue of play through the failure of the Maroons. Baird did some good work in stopping an Otago ruck when he had three men to contend with. Play was held up owing to an injury to Ward. From a scrum Simon broke clear and got right to the Maroon line where, selfishness cost his side a try. Showing at last some of the dash expected from them, the Maroon forwards cleared to the 25. Parkhill opened up nicely for Otago, Simon taking a low pass sweetly but Gillies lost the ball. The Blue forwards swept play into Maroon territory and Simon opened up. He sent a long pass to the dashing Neiper who ran diagonally to put Gold into a scoring position. The country wing showed great dash, beating Oliver to cross wide out. He lost the ball but not before he had made contact with the ground. MacFarland did not goal. Otago 8; Southland 0. In the remaining minute of the spell there were no thrills. Second Spell. The Southland forwards took part in a good rush after an opening exchange of kicks. Crawford was momentarily dazed after cannoning into Gillies, inc Maroons worked play to the Otago -o where they were awarded a penalty, but Purdue kicked into touch-m-goa . Southland's offensive was short-lived, nor were they to assume the role 01 attackers very much more in the spell. Ball possession began to swing Otago s way and their backs showed that they could do more with it than the Maroons. Procter made a dashing run at the end of passing but the Southland tackling was sound. Hesitancy on the part of the Maroon defenders nearly brought disaster in the next rush. The ball went out to Gold, who, when tackled at the corner flung infield. Martin accepted the pass and two Maroons gaped at him but recovered then wits just in time. In the next Otago passing rush Martin put in a uselul ground kick but Purdue picked up cleanly and found touch. Gold was applauded for a great effort to scoie, Ward tackling him in the nick of time. The Otago backs were supporting each other magnificently now and were badly outplaying Southland. The Maroons had another let off when Blue passing broke down just on the line. A period of punting followed with Southland working play to half-way. Maroon passing went out to Oliver, but the ball hit his knee and was propelled forward. The Southland forwards carried on and pinned Otago to ■ their line. Thomas opened up from a ruck, but Peddie dropped his pass. Purdue won applause for an excellent line kick, but the Blue forwards swept upfield from the line-out and paved the way for a try. Peddie and Thomas were submerged in stopping the rush and this gave Otago the advantage when Simon whipped the ball to Gillies. Smith and Procter were the next to handle, Procter beating Baird, and although Sharp made a gallant effort to tap his heels the dazzling Otago winger got safely over. It w T as noticeable in this rush how sluggish were the Maroon forwards in getting to the spot where the movement began. MacFarland did not goal. , Otago 11; Southland 0. Half the spell had gone and the hopes of Maroon supporters were by no means rosy. They were to be further dashed within a couple of minutes. Gillies kicked to a gap and the Blues nearly got over, Baird saving. Simon sent his backs away again, on the short side this time. Gillies handed to Gold, who flung himself across in the arms of tacklers. It was not the Otago fullback’s day for goal kicking. Otago 14; Southland 0. Southland were fighting hard, but were not impressive. In comparison with the rapier thrust 1 , of their opponents they appeared to have antiquated blunt weapons in their hands. After Purdue had been caught in possession near his line, Gillies had a pot which just went wide and which indirectly nearly brought a try, for the bounce beat Purdue, and two Blues who had followed up almost got to the ball first. A great run by Gold was warmly applauded. He badly beat Oliver and was pulled down by Purdue only half a yard short of the line. A judicious kick from the scrum by Thomas improved Southland’s position. Then when Peddie slipped in a passing rush and had to turn in towards his forwards the Maroons gained ground, which was probably more than could have been expected from orthodox passing, judging from previous efforts. Another passing rush was indulged in by the Maroons, but Oliver was having a day off and failed to gather in the pass. Finding it almost impossible to cross Otago’s line, Southland tried to get points by a penalty, but Irwin found the distance too great. Maroon Try At Last. Southland for the next few minutes did most of the attacking, but were not dangerous. At last, however, they were rewarded. The ball came out to Oliver, who before being lowered threw in. Sharp was handy and took the ball on at his toe. He dribbled and then kicked over the line. Almost at his last gasp he flung himself on the ball first. He did not goal from a fairly easy position, probably because he was in a state of exhaustion. Otago 14; Southland 3. Six minutes of the match remained. The spectators little realized that the visitors were to score at the rate of a point a minute. There were even hopes of a Maroon recovery. But Otago rose to brilliant heights, gaining two spectacular tries which left Southland standing.

Procter made a great bid for the line but Nisbet upended him and the Georges and Metcalfe brought temporary relief to Southland. Then Procter received again in Otago passing and in an electrical run of 30 yards badly beat the Maroons and scored wide out. Macfarland’s kick was charged down. Otago 17; Southland 3. After an exchange of kicks Quaid broke away,' but could not get rid of the ball. Neiper opened up play again and Procter repeated his thrilling run after pretty passing by the Blues. MacFarland failed to goal and the game ended with Otago convincing victors, the score board reading: Otago 20 Southland 3 Mr J. R. Bell was referee. SCHOOL CURTAIN-RAISER. A bright curtain-raiser was provided by the boys of the South and Marist Schools who were warmly applauded as they left the field. South won 9 —o. MERCANTILE MATCH SOUTHLAND BEAT OTAGO. The honour of Southland, lowered at Rugby Park by Otago, was to some extent retrieved on the Tweed street ground where the representatives of the mercantile firms of Invercargill defeated those of Dunedin. There was a large gathering of spectators who were treated to many brilliant movements by the Southlanders whose rearguard consisted of such well-known players as Hawke, Polson, McKenzie, Allan Baird and Milne and who had in the pack dashing men such as Bailey and Lindsay. in the first spell Southland had a lien on the ball and considerable interest was derived from their principal players’ bids for the line. Their stocks rose high but slumped after the interval. The visitors in the second spell made repeated advances and were well repaid, but they had too heavy a deficit to permit of their balancing the budget, Southland winning 21—12. The referee, Mr G. Cleland, wore one stocking of Otago hue and one of Southland, as if to proclaim his impartiality. He indulged in a fair amount of “trotting” and failed to take some Southland bids, but his quick knocks to the visitors established his reputation as a chivalrous knight of the hammer. FRIENDLY GAME HIGH SCHOOL BEAT BORSTAL. An enjoyable friendly game between two third grade teams took place on the Borstal grounds on Saturday morning, when High School defeated the Institution by 6 points to 3. The match was both fast and interesting, the forwards being evenly matched, though High School had a little the better of the loose play. The Borstal backs combined well. High School made a good showing despite the absence of three members of their regular first fifteen. School’s points came from two unconverted tries by Fyffe, while Borstal scored a try, also unconverted. Mr H. C. Shand was referee. SCHOOL FOOTBALL SOUTHLAND REPRESENTATIVE TEAM. Following the school representative trials held on Saturday the selector (Mr G. Agnew) announces the following! players to comprise the Primary Schools’ Representative team to meet Otago at Dunedin on August 24: Millar (Otautau), R. Adam (St. George), Watson (South), Imbs (St. George), Breen (St. George), Fin (Win- ; ton), Williams (Otautau), Thompson; (St. George), Sutton (South), Burns; (Middle), Palmer (Waihopai), Muir I (Nightcaps). Adcock (Ohai), Wilson ■ (Middle), McNee (Middle), Stewart (St. George), Fearn (South), Miller (Waihopai). Players are asked to be in attendance at Rugby Park at 10.15 a.m. next Saturday for weighing in and team practice. BUSTLING TACTICS MANAWATU DEFEAT TARANAKI. — (Per United Press Association.) New Plymouth, August 10. Bustling tactics throughout the game won the representative Rugby match for Manawatu against Taranaki by 16 points to 13. Play was of a poor standard, except for a few bright patches. Taranaki’s experimental half-back and first five-eighth, the Sangster brothers, failed rather dismally with the result that the outstanding threequarters line was starved for opportunities. Still, Manawatu were an improved team and played with great vim. Each team scored three tries and converted two. Manawatu won by a penalty goal. For Manawatu Hight scored two tries and Blyth one. Beard converted two and kicked a penalty goal. For Taranaki Edwards, Sullivan and Galbraith scored tries, while Collins converted two. Taranaki played a long way below real strength. ASHBURTON’S WIN BULLER TOURING SIDE DEFEATED. (Per United Press Association.) Ashburton. August 10. At Rugby football Ashburton (15) defeated the Buller touring team (12), I the majority of the points coming from penalties. Ashburton opened well with two tries in the first few minutes. The score at half-time was 15 —6. Buller maintained their form but Ashburton went off in the later stages of the game. For the winners Pablecheque, Day and Rose scored, while Varcoe kicked two penalties. For Buller, J. Hill scored a try. Graham kicked two penalties and Holder kicked one. IN OTHER CENTRES CHRISTCHURCH. Sunnyside (13) beat Merivale (0) in the final of a seven-a-side Rugby tournament. WAIRARAPA. Saturday’s Rugby games resulted: Greytown (11) beat Carterton <6). Old Boys (17) beat Red Star (13). Gladstone (13) beat Martinborough (8).