Selection Of Town Rugby Teams Will Create Interest : Good Material Available

Southland Times, Issue 23828, 27 May 1939, Page 15

Selection Of Town Rugby Teams Will Create Interest : Good Material Available

The selection of the Town teams to take part in the Country Day fixtures will probably occupy the attention of the selectors (Messrs H. S. Strang, L. R.' Lopdell and H. J. Brown) during the week-end. Including today’s games they will have seen the players in seven rounds of competition play, and they should have a good idea,of what their requirements will be. More interest than usual will be attached to the announcement of the Town No. 1 team as its selection will probably represent in its biggest part the first Southland team to play Otago for the Ranfurly Shield on July 29. Indeed, judged on the form shown in the senior games this year, it would be possible to select a Town team fit to represent the province. Town No. 1 will play Eastern SubUnion on Country Day. Eastern isi the holder of the Southland Amateur Sports Trust Cup, and according to reports from Gore it will field a strong side this year. The pack will be big and solid and the backs are expected to provide strong opposition for the Town beaks. Candidates for the full-back position for Town are L. Beal, J. W. Fleming, J. Ballantyne, M. Ryan and possibly R. Barnett. Of these Beal stands out as the most likely to fill the position in the Southland team. His play against Invercargill in the important first-round final between Pirates and Invercargill would be the deciding factor in his favour. His fielding, tackling and kicking were excellent that day. If players occupying inside back positions in the club games are to be considered for the wing positions then the selectors should have little difti-

culty in finding two capable players. Of the regular wingers, J. McKay, E. Jackson, B. L. Tapley, E. Calvert and M. Anglem have been shaping very well, but whether they compare with men of the ability of A. G. Sutherland and R. G. Mahony is another matter. Sutherland and Mahony_ both are capable inside backs, but in view of the material offering for the five-eighths and centre positions it is possible the selectors will consider strengthening the flanks and playing Sutherland and Mahony in those positions. J. Miles, the Star five-eighths, is another inside back who might do well in a wing position. He played his best football as centre for the Eastern district a few years ago and as he has pace, and good hands he might be worth a trial on the wing. ,

A PROMISING WING Probably the most promising winger in the competition is E. Jackson, the youthful Old Boys’ player, who has shown that if properly fed he is just as capable of scoring tries as is any other winger. He is a little on the light side at present. Yet he has shown that he can take the knocks of the game. His ability to take passes at top speed is an advantage he holds over some of the .other wings in the senior grade. He may be tried out in the No. 2 team. A. W. Wesney will probably be selected for the centre three-quarters position. The inconsistent form of the Old Boys’ team has not allowed him to show the form that gained him a place in the All Blacks last year but there is no doubting his quality. Several players are offering for the five-eighths positions. They include M. P. Grace, H. Peddie, C. McKenzie, L. M. Uttley, A. G. Sutherland, J. Marr, R. Pickering, J. Miles and E. J. Calder. The selectors will have an opportunity to consider club combination when making up their team from the base of the scrum outwards. If C. K. Saxton is chosen for the. half-back position they could try out H. Peddie as first five-eighths and play Grace at second five-eighths. Peddie’s form has been very pleasing and although he has not the smartness of Grace off the mark he more than makes up for it by his general soundness. Grace is a firstclass five-eighths and whether in the first or second position he would give a good account of himself. If played at second five-eighths he would be given plenty of time to get himself into an attacking position, and show off his penetrative ability. The selectors may choose to disregard Peddie, however, and play Grace next to Saxton. In that event it would probably be necessary to bring Sutherland in from the wing. A line of either Saxton, Peddie, Grace and Wesney or Saxton, Grace, Sutherland and Wesney would serve Town well. As with inside backs the selectors will have plenty of good half-backs from which to select two good men for the Town teams. Saxton and Purdue appear to be assured of the selection, one behind the scrum of each team. There are plenty of good forwards, but it is probable that the selectors will confine themselves to the following players for their firsts team:—C. George, W. Sherriff, V. L. George, G. H. Graham, S. Purdue, F. McEwan, T. Metcalfe, J. Newall, G. Baker and J. Hamilton.

Hooking By Outside Forwards Is Ruling Of N.Z.R.U. A ruling that hooking of the ball by the inner foot of the outside man of the front row of a scrum is legal provided the ball does not come out of the scrum in front of the second row of forwards, has been given by the New Zealand Rugby Football Union in response to a request for an interpretation by the Canterbury Union. The information caused some consternation at the meeting of the management committee of the Canterbury Union this week. It was stated that up to the present referees in Canter-

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bury have penalized hooking by the outside men of the front row; from today hooking 'by the outside men with their inside feet will be permitted. . The Canterbury Union asked for rulings in three cases of hooking by the outside men. The questions and answers are as follows: —

Question (a)—Ball comes out at the side of the scrum in front of the second row. Answer—Ball to be put in again. Question (b)—Ball remains in the scrum. Answer—ln order. Question (c)—Ball comes out at the back of the scrum. Answer—ln order. “It means that hooking by the outside men with their inside feet is legal provided the ball comes out of the scrum behind the back row,” commented Mr V. L. Jensen. 'Mr Maxwell: It says nothing about a penalty for hooking the ball out at the side. A team, apparently, could go on doing that without being penalized. Mr A. I. Cottrell: We Can make the outside man the hooker instead of the inside man. We will be getting back to our old chopping method of hooking. Mr E. V. Phillips suggested that the coaching committee should make the new ruling known to coaches. Mr R. J. G. Collins: It is a definite direction and we have got to do as we are told. Referees have not allowed it up to the present.

Alteration Of Date Of Otago Game At Dunedin

The changing of the date of the return Otago-Southland match (at Dunedin) from September 30 to August 5 will be well received both in Invercargill and Dunedin. Otago attaches so much importance to its Southland game that it would be more or less unfair to ask it to accept the game on the last day of the Rugby season. By then most of the interest in football will have vanished and the attendance at Carisbrook would hardly be anything like the records which have made the match famous in the last few .years. Mr E. McKenzie, New Zealand selector, who has stated his intention of visiting Invercargill to see the OtagoSouthland Ranfurly Shield match on July 29, last visited Invercargill in 1928 as manager of the Wairarapa team. Before that he visited Invercargill in 1924 for the All Black trial match and in 1925, the occasion of the NorthSouth inter-island game. His pending visit recalls the 1928 game which was won by Southland right on the bell by 124 points to 23. E. H. Diack converted

the try which enabled Southland to pull the game out of the fire. K. R. McPhail, the former South Canterbury wing three-quarters, who joined the Pirates Club this season but did not play in Invercargill is playing with the Dunedin Club. C. K. Saxton, R. Pickering and T. Metcalfe, three prominent members of the Pirates team, did not take the field against Old Boys last Saturday because of injury or indisposition. Saxton ricked his back at practice, Pickering was suffering from a shoulder injury and Metcalfe had influenza. Metcalfe replaced H. Peddie when the latter was injured in the second half of the game. Penalty goals kicked by means of the drop-kick are not common. The one with which L. M. Uttley scored three points for Star against Marist last week was one of the neatest goals seen on Rugby Park. From the moment it left his boot the ball soared high and true and never looked anything but a goal. CHANCE MISSED BY OLD BOYS Old Boys had every opportunity to score a win against Pirates last Saturday. The team generally played good Rugby but made some bad mistakes which cost it too many points. In addition to losing ground on two attacking movements and presenting their opponents with chances which yielded 10 points the backs missed a rare opportunity to get another five points for the side. A. W. Wesney had an excellent chance to give Jackson a third try when he got clear with Jackson in support and only the Pirates full-back to beat. He ran slantwise in-

stead of going straight and killed the chance by crowding Jackson and incidentally making it easy for Barnett to stop Jackson. H. Fraser, who has been playing m the front row of the Pirates pack this season made an excellent job of halfback as substitute for Saxton against Old Boys. His passing from the scrum was good and he linked up perfectly with H. Peddie. Some of the blind-side work of this pair was first-class. L. M. Uttley and J. Miles put m much good work for Star against Marist. For the first time this season the Star inside backs showed some combination and although their work was not always productive of the best results their play was a big improvement on past games. O’Shea, Newall and H. Grace are a trio of hard-working forwards in the Marist pack. In the game against Star the Marist forwards put up a splendid showing and if the backs had done as well Marist might easily have beaten Star. The good recovery of Rugby Park after the heavy rain of last Saturday morning showed that the ground is in good condition just now. Although the games began in wet conditions by the end of the afternoon the surfaces at the park were reasonably dry. The ground should see through the present season without suffering much damage.

R. H. Ward In Good Form At Riverton After standing down for two playing Saturdays R. H. Ward made a new start for the season with Riverton Club last Saturday. His form, according to reports, was in keeping with the good form shown by him in the three matches he played for Pirates at the start of the season. Ward would have little difficulty in getting permission to play in the Invercargill competition now that he is a member of a Western District club but at present he has no intention of seeking that permisison. He will play for the Riverton Club until after Coun-

try Day at least. He is almost certain to be included in the Western SubUnion team which plays Town No. 2 on Country Day, and if he continues to play in the Western District he will probably be selected to play for Southland sub-unions against Otago at Invercargill on July 22. . On present form Ward must be credited with having an excellent chance of qualifying for inclusion in the New Zealand team to tour South Africa next year. His play is a big improvement on that of two years ago when he was selected for New Zealand against the Springboks at Wel-

lington and Auckland. He did not play in the second Test (at Christchurch) because of injury. For Hawke’s Bay last year he played in 10 of the matches played against provincial ' teams, but he was not selected for the North Island team. That omission was a surprise to many who saw him playing last season. He may have been unlucky to have missed the chance to qualify for the New Zealand team which toured Australia. Such a tour would undoubtedly have helped him in his claims for recognition this year, but if he retains his present form he should not find difficulty in convincing the South Island and New Zealand selectors that he is in the first flight of forwards in New Zealand.

C. McKenzie’s Kicking Has Given Him Good Lead In Points

By scoring 55 points in six senior games this season, C. McKenzie, of the Invercargill team, is well oh the way to joining the select band of players who score 100 points or more in a season. Most of McKenzie’s points have been scored with accurate goal-kicking. In all he has kicked 21 goals. Seven of these were kicked in the first game of the season, against Bluff, so McKenzie got a flying start on a good record. With still another nine weeks to go before a start is made on the inter-pro-vincial fixtures the prospects of Mc-

Kenzie topping the century appear to be bright. When E. H. Diack was playing in Invercargill he regularly scored 100 or more ponits during a season, and two seasons ago A. W. Wesney put up a record for Southland by scoring 180 points. Like McKenzie, both Diack and Wesney were first-class goalB. L. Tapley, of Invercargill, heads the scorers of tries with six tries; A. G. Sutherland, also of Invercargill, is next. The following table shows the leading scorers and how the points were

The following players each have scored nine points:—R. H. Ward (P.), R G. Mahony (In.), P. Johnston (In.), B. McKenzie (P.), G. R. Graham (S.), E. Jackson (O.B.), L. Beal (P.), J. McKay (P.), M. P. Grace (M.), and W. A. Morrison (P.).

scored:— T. C. P. Tot. C. McKenzie (In.) 2 14 7 55 A. W. Wesney (O.B.) 1 5 5 28 B. L. Tapley (In.) 6 — - 18 F. McEwan (P.) 1 1 4 17 D. Paterson (S.) 2 1 3 17 A. G. Sutherland (In.) 5 — •• 15 R. H. Mackrell (O.B.) 4 1 — 14 R. Barnett (P.) — 3 2 12 J. Ballantyne (B.) 1 2 1 10