BRIGHTER RUGBY

Taranaki Daily News, 5 September 1932, Page 4

BRIGHTER RUGBY

TARANAKI RAMBLES HOME HAWKE’S BAY BEATEN 23—18 HOME PACK PREDOMINATES MERRY CLIMAX TO GAME The tide of the Taranaki Rugby team’s successive defeats was turned into victory in bright sunshine at Pukekura Park on Saturday, when Hawke’s Bay were defeated by 23 points to 18. There was only a fair attendance. The match was interesting without Being brilliant. It started in a mediocre way, and. might have continued so but for the frequent scoring movements that crowded the latter part of the game, loth teams decidedly improved as the match progressed, and though mistakes were frequent the play was by no means dull.

First blood came to Hawke’s Bay, but Taranaki, favoured by a bright sun behind them, led by 8 points to 5 at halftime. The standard of play, however, had been poor from a representative standpoint. The second spell was much more interesting, and iq the swift and often unexpected oscillations of play the two teams between them added no fewer than 28 points, none of which were from penalty goals, A rather remarkable fact was that after Hawkes Bay had opened the match with a converted try' Taranaki seized 20 points in «. line. Alternate tries gave. Taranaki: a lead of 23 to 10 a quarter of an hour before time. Hawke’s Bay then came again in a meny climax, and with only five points margin the closing stages were fulLof interest. . ■ Once again Taranaki owe their victory primarily -to a . superiority in the forwards that-fed and protected the backs and gave them confidence. They needed it all. For quite a time after the commencement the Taranaki, forwards could not find their feet. They packed badly, handled badly, .and let.' Hawke’s Bay Btab through into their backs. This was reflected>in the play of,the backs, where the tackling was ‘ frequently execrable, the five-eighths were' all at ■ea, and .Collins , was interminably, slow in his movements, and second-rate in his kicking. Under the leadership of that great war-horse Walter the Taranaki pack gradually moulded itself into a team, and with Wills laying waste th? country right and left in the open, and Walter, Clarke, Fowler and Gargan in close attendance,' Hawke’s Bay were soon up against it ■VISITORS’ GREAT FORWARDS. c Kot that the Hawke’s Bay forwards were to be despised, for like Manawhenua their physique is magnificent, and Satherley was a mountain of strength in both tight and loose. In the early stages they mostly beat Taranaki for the ball, which seemed largely due to the scrums not being well balanced, and in the line-outs they mostly gained possession, but where they were shaded by Taranaki was in the loose. Not once did they break away in tho devastating dribbling and passing rushes of the Wal-ter-Wills-Fowler brigade, and they did not combine with their backs quite as successfully as. Taranaki. Fast following up by the Taranaki forwards more than once gained tries initiated by the backs. After hearing the bright reports of their Wellington performance, even though sobered by the display against Manawhenua on Thursday, North Taranaki spectators almost wept with disappointment on seeing Taranaki’s new inside backs in operation for the first time. Edwards started as game as a pebble, as always, but all over the place. Gudgeon seemed determined to see just how many times he could run into the ruck without passing, out to his backs, and Haughton was dropping his passes or else ill-timing or ill-directing them. With the progress of time, however, they improved considerably, and became reasonably sound on attack, though not good enough .to give the outside men anything more than an occasional .fighting chance. Petty combined better with his wings than he has ever done before at centre, but McCallum had practically no chances at all of a score, and Kinsella, very few, simply because, when Petty received the ball it was almost invariably too late. Kinsella was the outatanding back in the Taranaki team, both, on defence and on attack, and is one of the best wingers the province has had for some time. McCallum did as well as anyone could with his limited opportunities. Both wingers, cramped against the touch-line, opened the way to tries by heady in-field movements. Collins started very poorly, but improved, and later gave a great exhibition of line-kicking. Gudgeon’s opportunism in the open is a valuable asset to thc» team, and he may yet make a first fiveeighths. The weakest link in the chain fe Haughton, but at this stage, when there is at least some combination and understanding in the backs, it is very doubtful whether it would be wise to replace him with another experiment for the forthcoming northern tour. LAMBIE A CLEVER HALF-BACK. The pivot and brains of the Hawke’s Bay backs was Lambic, the visitors half-back and captain. His piercing of the Taranaki team that led to the opening try had a touch of genius about it, and had his five-eighths been stronger Hawke’s Bay would have been a much more dangerous combination. Bradley, harassed it is true by the Taranaki breakaways, was uncertain in both handling and passing, and like the Taranaki outside men, Grant and Howell were starving for opportunities. On the form of other teams that have played Taranaki this year New Zealand is hard , put to it to find any first-class five-eighths this season. Varton played a ereat game at full-back for the visitors, his line-kicking being simply stupendous. His defence in face of th» Taranaki rushes was not quite so successful.

In orthodox passing movements Hawke's Bay were seen to better advantage than Taranaki, and in the second »pell essayed one or two fast and thrilling rushes, their second to last try being the result of one of these. Their tendency to pass forward brought them tip to-the sound of the referees’ whistle aeveral times when they were looking dangerous. Some painfully feeble attempts were made by the Taranaki backs to tackle low, and against a fast and versatile metropolitan team this might yet prove disastrous. That the fault can be remedied has been frequently demonstrated when every man from the half-back outwards has taken his man gdmirably. Although one of the referee’s rulings was questioned by the spectators it did not matter, as no advantage to either ,ide resulted—Mr. F. J. Eggleton controlled the game firmly and efficiently. Stoppages for injury were rare, and gobody was seriously hurt.