BURNHAM ARMY TEAM WILL FIELD STRONG SIDE AGAINST SOUTHLAND IN JULY

Southland Times, Issue 24153, 15 June 1940, Page 16

BURNHAM ARMY TEAM WILL FIELD STRONG SIDE AGAINST SOUTHLAND IN JULY

The announcement that the Burnham Army team had been given permission to play a match at Invercargill against the Southland team early next month was well received in Invercargill. Much greater interest in the doings of the Army team in the Canterbury Rugby Union senior competition than in local Rugby has been evinced ever since the start of the season, and now that Southland players are taking a leading part in the composition of the Army team interest in the side and its players has quickened. It is not too much to say at this stage that the game, the proceeds of which will be given to the Southland Provincial Patriotic fund, will attract almost as big a crowd as an interprovincial fixture. . Southland Rugby supporters will be just as keen to see its soldier footballers as they were to see the Ranfurly Shield team in action last season.

The Army team was stopped in its winning run in the Christchurch competition on Saturday by the well-per-formed Linwood team which according to reports scored a well-merited win by nine points to five. Comment on the game and the players is appended. From a Southland viewpoint the match was not altogether resultless; Southland players scored the Army’s five points, Wesney scoring a try and McEwen converting it. Linwood’s defeat of the powerful Army team in a fine match at Lancaster Park was the feature of Saturday’s senior Rugby, comments The Press, Christchurch. Linwood, after two defeats early in the season, has moved up to third place on the competition ladder, equal with Air Force, which on Saturday suffered its second loss. The weather was again perfect and the grounds were in good order. An improved crowd thoroughly enjoyed the Linwood-Army game, which was fast and exciting. The result was not expected, because both on paper and on form in recent games the Army ap-

peared to have a champion team. Most of its players have gained representative or higher honours. Linwood played with great dash, and the whole team gave a fine display of low tackling. Speed and op’portunism in attack and a tigerish defence gave Linwood its well-deserved win. The Army backs, with plenty of ball, could make no headway against the deadly tackling of the Linwood backs and the brilliant cover-defence of the forwards. The Linwood forwards, too, followed the ball relentlessly and gave no quarter to a defender caught in possession. It was a rousing game. A good Army pack was well led by Metcalfe, the former All Black. Gale was tireless in the tight and Muirson showed speed in cover-defence. The Army backs lacked thrust, although Codling,and Alexander usually gave the line a fair start. There was an uncertainty in the five-eighths which was not greatly improved by Wesney, the Southland All Black, moving in from centre. Surgenor, who early replaced Crisp at full-back, improved matters a little when he came into several rushes near the end of the game. The Army team was:—W. Crisp, B. V. A. Jones, A. W. Wesney, J. P. Evans, D. L. Strachan, J. C. Alexander, R. D. Codling, F. H. McEwan, R. J. Ling, E. M. Hayes, T. C. Metcalfe, B. E. Gale, I. R. Muirson, G. T. Kain, M. A. Cameron.

Drower shot through a gap to send Boyce away in a fine run for Linwood’s first try. Drower scored the second, Hewitt making a neat opening alongside the scrum. Monk, following up after a penalty kick at goal, scored the third. Right on time Wesney, backing up well, scored in the corner, McEwan converting.

SLUGGISH By comparison with previous displays, the Army Rugby 15 from Burnham seemed hard put to infuse any zest into their game against Linwood on Saturday—but not from want of trying, comments a Christchurch writer. The lethargy was evidently due to the after-effects of influenza, for the forwards could not muster up enough pace to harass the Linwood backs, and snap was absent from nearly every passing rush. Yet Metcalfe, Muirson and McEwan made fine leaders in the tight, and Codling was flawless behind the scrum. Strachan handled erratically, and even Wesney was slow off the mark when compared with Allen and McHugh. LOW EVERY TIME Rugby Union enthusiasts who have been going to Lancaster Park for the past 20 years or more were heard to declare after Saturday’s match that they had never seen anything in their lives to excel Linwood’s tackling, says The Christchurch Star-Sun. The tribute was thoroughly warranted. With low, sure and clean defence, Linwood had Army bottled at every stage until the final minute, when the All Black Wesney dived across to score a lone try. It did hearts good to see such tackling by youthful players. Not only were smart and alert backs grabbing their man every time, but such forwards as Hensley, Fleming and Drower frequently came in with a wallop at the end of a follow-up to topple over the opponent in possession. Linwood deserved to win by more than 9-5. COUNTRY DAY FORM After seeing the Country Day fixtures last Saturday few Rugby men would be displeased with the form shown by the players of the city and country. Indeed the high standard of football* was a pleasant surprise to those who may have thought that Southland Rugby would have been badly hit by the enlistment of so many of its leading play-

By

ONLOOKER

ers. The form was in keeping with the good standard of Rugby which has been produced in almost all senior games in Invercargill this season and it more than ever reflected the good influence on Southland Rugby brought about by the deeds of the Ranfurly Shield team in the last two seasons.

Southland has always been renowned for its forward play. On Saturday there was no diminution of the vigour of the forward exchanges or the general excellence of the rucking which is characteristic of Southland forward play. The country players in particular showed a good sense of forward work and as they conform more to the type of the Southland forward than the men available in the city clubs it would cause no surprise to see the selectors of the Southland team seek their big men from the sub-Unions.

GOOD FORWARDS

Outstanding in a wealth of good forwards were the following players:—S. E. Purdue (Invercargill), C. J. Soper (Northern), R. H. Ward (Western), D. B. Herron (Eastern), J. Folster (Eastern), J. Matheson (Eastern), D. Anderson (Central), I. McDougall (Central), F. Kitto (Central), H. Raymond (Bluff), W. Richardson (Invercargill), T. Robins (Eastern), G. Herron (Eastern), D. McGregor (Northern), R. Hazlett (Northern), A. Smeaton (Western) and T. Fordyce (Western). From that number the selectors should have no difficulty in selecting a pack to meet the Army team next month as good as the Southland pack of last year. Of those mentioned the men who took the eye most were T. Robins, the Eastern rake who not only had a field day at raking the ball from the scrums but also showed exceptional ability in the open where his undoubted pace and good hands stood him in good stead; R. H. Ward, who as leader of the Western pack set a good example to his team and showed that he was as fit as ever; C. J. Soper, who won praise for good leadership; D. B. Herron, whose experience in big Rugby last year helped to improve his play and D. Anderson and I. McDougall, who played consistently well. The Town backs lived up to the reputation of former Town back divisions and provided that sparkle to the play which made the Eastern-Town fixture something worth looking at. A G. Sutherland and M. P. Grace were the stars, but other members of the backs played well up to their best form.

The unfortunate illness of Alex Sutherland comes at a time when it was least wanted by the Southland selectors. Sutherland showed by his form on Saturday that he was equal to the best

backs produced in Southland. One oldtimer remarked after the game that Sutherland showed in patches a brilliance not achieved by some of the greatest players to'have represented Southland. They include Billy Stead, Neville Mitchell and J. R. Bell. That is high praise, but there appears to be no doubt that in the last few seasons Sutherland has reached the top-class; he fully earned the distinction of Number One New Zealand three-quarters last year. He will be missed in the Southland team this season.

Players who measure up to what may be required of them later in the season were T. T. Mackie (half-back) and A. D. Fyffe (five-eighths). Mackie worked under a handicap at the base of the scrum but he got the ball away fairly well and in the second half of the game against Eastern when the Eastern forwards were all over the Town pack he played the old-time “door-mat” game without flinching. Mackie will show to better advantage against a solid pack. He has plenty of tricks.

Fyffe was solid wtihout being brilliant, but generally he timed his passing well, and he gave Sutherland plenty of opportunities to get moving. His defensive play could not be faulted. Grace, Mahony and Calvert all showed up in different phases of the play. Grace was strongest on attack, and some of his cuts were reminiscent of his best work iast year. M. Ryan, at full-back, showed cleverness in the open, but he did not inspire confidence in the close work. Generally he was fairly safe, however. Three or four good full-backs were seen in the country teams. In order of merit they were H. Tutty, of Eastern, J. F. Egan (Western), W. Small (Northern) and H. Hammond (Central). Other country backs who shaped very well and showed much promise were the Western five-eighths, L. Ward

and K. Klermick, L. Currie, Eastern wing three-quarters, R. Pettitt (Central), J. Adam (Eastern), G. McKnight (Northern centre), W. Stewart (Northern) and M. McKerchar (Western). The Southland and sub-Unions’ team selectors should have no difficulty in fielding good teams for future games. The Town-Country game will be looked forward to with much interest. From that game the team to play for Southland will be selected.

A POOR PROGRAMME The programme issued by the Southland Rugby Union for the Country Day fixture was almost valueless as far as giving accurate information about players in the teams and their numbers were concerned. Not one of the six teams took the field according to the names given in the programme and in several cases numbers allotted to certain players were not those listed on the programme. In the Central team two forwards wore jerseys with the number 10 and two wore jerseys with the number 20. No explanation of the difficulty of checking up on players so numbered is necessary. Neither the printer nor the publisher of the programme is to blame. Too often in the past have programmes with incorrect information been “sold” to the Rugby public of Southland and it is time something was done to protect patrons and give them value for their sixpence. A visitor once criticized the OtagoSouthland game programme as worth no more than one penny. Saturday’s programme was dear at a fourth of that price. For the benefit of a Mataura inquirer the forwards of the Eastern team against Town were as printed in Monday’s issue of The Southland Times, namely L. Clarke, T. Robins, R. McCann, J. Matheson, D. B. Herron, G. Herron, J. Folster, T. Gaudion.