ONLY MODERATE RUGBY

Taranaki Daily News, 4 June 1935, Page 7

ONLY MODERATE RUGBY

AUCKLAND TRIAL MATCH NOT RELIABLE GAUGE OF FORM. BUSH AND CORNER SHINE MOST. FEW OTHERS IMPROVE CHANCES. By Telegraph—Press Association. . Auckland, Last Night. Only a moderate standard of Rugby .was revealed in the Auckland provincial All Black trial match played to-day. It was ■ the only game of the trial series set down for decision at Auckland and a crowd of about 15,000 saw the combined Auckland-North Auckland team, which included eleven city representatives, defeat the Waikato-Thames Valley-King Country fifteen by 18 points to 16. The game could hardly be classed as a reliable gauge of current form. Several members of the southern team showed Up favourably as individuals, but the northern players seemed to suffer from half-heartedness. They played neither as a team nor as individualists, and iri some respects were rather lucky to win. Very few of the city candidates for All Black honours improved their chances on to-day’s showing. Bush and Corner were notable exceptions. Bush played a typically sound game, and his touch kicking, although hardly as strong as usual, was always accurate. He stopped rushes in a resolute fashion and on occasions ran powerfully himself to break his way through a crowd of opponents. His field goal in the second spell was a particularly fine effort, Corner was at his best and played an admirable all round game. His passes from the scrum were perfect, and time and again he saved his forwards With judicious kicks to the line. TWO DISAPPOINTMENTS. Disappointments were provided by Hedge arid Solomon. There was no penetration about their work on attack, chiefly because Hedge appeared to have the one thought of getting rid of the ball as quickly as possible. Solomon, too, lacked initiative, and the result was that the southern players were almost invariably on top of the northern threequarter line. Caughey, who started off as an individualist, later tried to open up play for his wings, but they were crowded and their handling was faulty. Another disappointment in the play of the northern team was the work of the forwards. There was more than a suspicion that not all the available weight in the pack was going into the tight, and Cooper, a North Auckland forward, seemed to upset the balance of the front row. McLean played brilliantly in the loose and in the line-outs, while Ross and Pepper were consistently prominent. Ross was probably the best forward on the ground. F. Solomon revealed something of his old form, but his was almost exclusively a roving game. The southern forwards, capably led by Leeson, Wynyard and Catley, played more compactly than their opponents, and by their combined work saw to it that Hadley did not have a monopoly of the ball from the scrums. Russell played an enterprising game and showed distinct promise at half, and Barton and Carlson at five-eighths were better than the opposing pair. Carlson on the day was the best inside back on the ground. Allen showed flashes of real brilliance on the left wing, while McLeod at full-back was not far behind Bush’s standard. Tries for the northern team were scored, by Caughey (2), Hadley and Hedge. Bush converted one and kicked a field goal. The scorers for the southern team were Leeson, Carlson, Allen and Wynyard. Carlson converted two tries.