NEW PLYMOUTH BEATEN

Taranaki Daily News, 24 August 1931, Page 6

NEW PLYMOUTH BEATEN

AUCKLAND GRAMMAR’S WIN

JOYS’ HIGH SCHOOL BACKS FAIL.

GOOD FORWARDS NOT SUPPORTED

(By Wire —Special to News.) Auckland, Aug. 22.

The annual Rugby match between Auckland Grammar School and New Plymouth High School at Eden Park to-day resulted in an easy win for Auckland by 24 points to 3. The game was" played as a curtain-raiser to the iriter-provincial match between Auckland and Hawke’s Bay, and excellent conditions prevailed. The better finish and understanding of the Auckland team carried it to victory. The New Plymouth forwards played, splendidly; in the loose and held the. advantage in hooking. Their fast breaking and good tackling hampered the speedy Auckland rearguard, and had they received anything like proper support from the back line the score would not have been nearly so large against the team. The New Plymouth backs

were far too slow, the inside men taking their passes standing and kicking too often. That: naturally hampered the three-quarter line, which saw very little of the ball throughout the match. Mishandling and lack of finish' robbed the visitors of several good chances. Only on occasions did the play provide the thrills usually associated with secondary school matches, and most of these were given by the local fifteen. Sutherland was the outstanding back for New Plymouth, and he made several fair penetrating runs. A bad fault, however, was his tendency to take his- - parses standing. Renton, the full-back, ■was rather weak. Of a fine set of . forwards Birch played an outstanding game and was well supported bv MeCal Tum and Morrison. The teams were:— > New Plymouth: Full-back, Renton; three-quarters, Cook, McDonald, Rowlands; five-eighths, Murray, Sutherland; half-back, West; forwards, Cave (wing), Bryant, Harper, Birch, Morrison, Fredsberg, Hamilton, McCallum. Grammar; Full-back, Reid; threequairters, Currey, Hammon, Hill; liveeighths, Slyfield, Jessup; half-back, Graham; : forwards Skyrme (wing), .Booth, Winn, Brennan, Robinson, Buck- • ley, Brown, Farrelly. . NEW PLYMOUTH HOOKING. Playing with the wind; New Plymouth had the advantage in the early stages. Birch once leda dangerous rush to the Auckland line, where Reed saved splendidly and drove the visitors back with a fine kick. Packing well, the visiting forwards kept the ball away from the-Auckland backs, but the local vanguard was dangerous in the loose. New Plymouth was hooking the ball from the , set scrums. That advantage was Tost, however, on account of the passing of the backs being too slow and deliberate. Good kicking by Jessup drove -the visitors back to their twenty-five, where the Auckland backs set' off arid bright passing enabled Hammon to dash over wide out with his wing in support; Slyfield failed with the kick. New Plymouth were unlucky when the whole back line followed -through a Short punt which beat the Auckland full-back, Murray knocking on right in front of the goal with the defence completely beaten. A moment later Sutherland made a splendid cut through the defence. His pass went astray right on the line and a scoring opportunity was lost. Auckland was endeavouring to use its backs, but fast breaking and clever footwork .by the New Plymouth forwards held the home team in check. Mishandling. by Renton let Auckland through for the next ..try, Slyfield touching down after a New Plymouth player had failed in his dive for the ball. Booth failed with the kick. Just before' half-time the Auckland backs gained eonoiderabje ground in passing. A loose serum was formed neap.the visitors’ line , and j Currey took a pass from Graham to score neatly on the blind side at the corner. Slyfield kicked a dine goal .to make the score: Auck-land-11, New Plymouth 0. J FAST DEFENSIVE WORKEven exchanges marked the opening ofrthe second spell, New' Plymouth forwards again showing up well. Jessup, Auckland first five-eighth, was troubled by the. fast covering of the defence and kicked too often. McDonald once made a side-stepping ■ 'run which gained ground, the movement breaking down through lack of support. Play was of a scrambling nature witli Auckland holding the upper hand, there being few. spectacular movements. Then came easily the best play of the match. New Plymouth was attacking in the Auckland twenty-five when Currey fielded a short kick and ran strongly down the line. Several Grammar players joined in splendid passing, the ball eventually coming out to Hill on the other wing. He ran round behind the points fop a spectacular try. Robinsou easily converted. , New Plymouth made a desperate ef- ' fort to open its account, Sutherland cutting through the defence and being tackled just short of the line. Play swung to the blind side, where Rollands missed his objective by inches. The attack was only short-lived, however, as from loose play by the Auckland forwards Robinson touched down wide out. Slyfield made a good effort to convert but failed. A penalty to the visitors gave McCallum a chance outside the twenty-five line, but bio kiek was a poor one. New Plymouth was at last rewarded when Sutherland again went through the defence. Although tackled he started passing among the backs which enabled Birch to' touch down in a handy position. McCallum failed with the kick. The visitors played better in the few remaining moments, Morrison once being held up near.the goal in a desperate attempt to score. Play swung right back and Hill scored another spectacular try between the posts. The try was converted right on time, mating the final score Auckland 24, New Plymouth 3. Mr. F. E. Sutherland was referee.