A Diary of Sport ARMY GAME NEXT WEEK

Southland Times, Issue 24165, 29 June 1940, Page 14

A Diary of Sport ARMY GAME NEXT WEEK

SOUTHLAND RUGBY TEAM

MUCH NEW BLOOD FOR INCLUSION

By

ONLOOKER

The Southland selectors will be called upon to pick almost a new team to play the Burnham Army team in the match for patriotic funds at Invercargill next week. Few of last year’s Ranfurly Shield team are available. Those available are R. G. Mahony, M. P. Grace, J. W. Purdue, C. J. Soper, S. E. Purdue, D. B. Herron and R. H. Ward. In that number there is the nucleus of a good side, but the filling. of the remaining positions may present a bit of a problem to the selectors. The forwards should not cause them much trouble. The four mentioned above are certain of places in the team and as'there are many good forwards available in the country districts a first-class pack almost as good as the best Ranfurly. Shield team pack can be selected. Forwards who on Country Day form stand good chances of inclusion in the pack are T. Robins (Eastern), G. Herron (Eastern), J. Folster (Eastern), D. Anderson (Central) and H. Raymond (Bluff). There are plenty of good backs offering. T. T. Mackie, the Old Boys halfback, looks like getting the half-back

position this year, notwithstanding the fact that J. W. Purdue is available. For the second five-eighths position A. D. Fyffe was easily the best seen out 6n Country Day and his form in other games has been consistently good.

The centre three-quarters position will take more than passing consideration seeing that A. G. Sutherland will not be available. R. G. Mahony has played in the position so often that there will be no risk attached to his selection as centre. He represented Otago in the position and in recent club games he has played there. YOUNG THREE-QUARTERS For the positions of wing threequarters there are several good players available. E. Calvert is the most experienced of them but his lack of pace and scoring ability goes against him when men of the calibre of E. Jackson, R. P. Gibb, P. Currie (Eastern), P. F. Johnston and A. H. Mackrell are considered. The present choice, on form and known ability is for Jackson and Johnston, two of the younger men who possess both pace and dash. Full-backs are at a premium, and of the three or four most likely candidates—L. Beal, H. Tutty (Eastern), M. Ryan and W. Small (Northern)—the vote goes to L. Beal whose form in the last few weeks is a grade or two above that of the others.

A preliminary selection produces the following good all-round team, one capable of making a good game of it with the Army team:— Full-back: L. Beal (Pirates). Three-quarters: E. Jackson (Old Boys), R. G. Mahony (Invercargill), P. F. Johnston (Invercargill). Five-eighths: M. P. Grace (Marist), A. D. Fyffe (Pirates). Half-back: T. T. Mackie (Old Boys).

Front row: C. J. Soper (Northern), T. Robins (Eastern), D. Anderson (Central).

Middle row: R. H. Ward (Western), S. E. Purdue (Invercargill), D. B. Herron (Eastern), J. Folster (Eastern). Back row: H. Raymond (Bluff). The logical captain of that team is R. H. Ward (Western). GOOD THREE-QUARTERS PLAY One of the most pleasing features of last Saturaay’s games in the Galbraith Shield competition was the dash and general ability of the wing three-quar-ters seen in action. Those who stood out for particularly bright or good play were P. F. Johnston (Invercargill), E. Jackson and R. H. Mackrell (Old Boys), and R. P. Gibb (Winton). All of them scored tries which “had to be scored”

and demonstrated that this department of the game is not likely to suffer in standard in Southland.

R. H. Mackrell continues to prove his ability as a winger a bit above the average. He is a consistent try-getter and it is not too much to say that his average of successes on the basis of opportunities presented must be better than any other winger in Invercargill. Mackrell fails to impress some Rugby followers because of his apparently lackadaisical movement when going into a scoring movement. That should ->pf count where results are obtained ■ - wever. It is the scoring of tries which

counts in the game of Rugby, not how they are got. Jackson followed up a good game against Marist the previous week by j another good performance against Star. This young player showed in his one ! appearance for Southland last year that Ihe is well up to interprovincial standard. He has earned a place in the Southland team for next Saturday. The work of P. F. Johnston, the Invercargill winger, had been noticed before last Saturday when he scored one of the best tries of the day against Pirates. It was against Pirates last year that" he scored a similar try and won the match for Invercargill. Johnston is the resolute type who is ready to make an entry into big football. He is one of the strongest wingers in the Invercargill senior competition and he has shown more than once that he can score tries with a minimum of room in which to work. His defence is equally as good as his attack. R. P. Gibb, the Winton winger, came into prominence in one of the representative games last year when he scored three tries and played himself into the Southland touring team. Unfortunately for himself and for the Southland team that particular game caused him injury

from which he never properly recovered and the result was a negative one on tour; he did not play in one game. Before coming to Southland Gibb played for the Otago sub-Unions’ team; he also played for the Southland subUnions’ team in 1938 at Dunedin and gained praise for his play. His try against Bluff on Saturday was reminiscent of his best work two seasons ago. He has good hands and plenty of pace. WINTON’S WIN Winton scored a well-merited win against Bluff. The persistency of the attacking in the second half of ’ the game was too much for the rugged Bluff team and the Winton backs came into their own and gave a bright display of back play. The generalship of W. Marshall at first five-eighths played a big part in Winton’s win. He nursed his forwards carefully and let the ball out to the backs at the right time. Both Wood’s and Pettitt’s tries followed smart work by Marshall. Star put up a good showing against Old Boys and had J. Mfettingly remained with the team it is quite possible that it and not Old Boys would have won. The Star backs again played well, and at times they outplayed the Old Boys backs. I. Cockroft, Wilson and Russell are three players who have improved greatly in recent games. H. Fraser, Wright and Rogers gave creditable performances against Invercargill. Fraser’s display at half-back was one of the best seen on Rugby Park for a long time. It was all the more creditable when it is learned that Fraser has been playing in the forwards for a couple of seasons. The Rugby film “Control" which has been shown to city and country players this week has caused much interest. The fundamentals of the game are well demonstrated by prominent players. Mr R. G. Webb, the Southland coach, has helped in the showing of the film by giving instructive comment.