SPLENDID CLIMAX

Taranaki Daily News, 31 August 1935, Page 5

SPLENDID CLIMAX

COLLEGE RUGBY TOURNEY CHRISTCHURCH BEATS GRAMMAR. NEW PLYMOUTH BACKS IN FORM. DEFEAT OF OTAGO FIFTEEN. Two matches splendidly illustrative of the secondary school spirit in Rugby football concluded the schools tournament marking the Taranaki Rugby Union’s jubilee. Christchurch Boys’ High School, beaten by New Plymouth and Otago,, played much better football and held tenaciously to an early lead throughout the second spell to beat Auckland Grammar, victor in its two games against the other teams. New Plymouth, playing Rugby far superior to. its previous exhibitions, produced some sparkling back rushes to beat the lighter Otago team. The turf at Pukekura Park was soft but not treacherous and the day" was brilliantly fine. The full results of the games played on Saturday, Wednesday and yesterday arc: Grammar 13 beat New Plymouth 11. Otago 22 beat Christchurch 16. Grammar 3 beat Otago 0. < New Plymouth 9 beat Cnristchurch 6.' Christchurch 9 beat Grammar 7. New Plymouth 20 beat Otago 11. The tournament concluded yesterday and the Auckland Grammar school team left by last night’s Auckland express. Christchurch and Otago' will depart for the south by this morning's mail train. THRILLING FINALE OTAGO—NEW PLYMOUTH MATCH. GOOD WORK BY BOTH TEAMS. In a splendid finale to the; tournament New Plymouth after establishing a big lead held out against gallant attacks to defeat. Otago by Zt) points to 11. The match from all points of. view was .the best of the tournament. New Plymouth's only weakness on the day was the goal kicking, yfor of six tries only one was converted. ' Otago scored two tries,' one converted, and a penalty goal. Both packs fought with great heart and the backs were always ready and willing to throw the ball about. Probably, however, it was New Plymouth’s heaviness in the pack that gave it superiority in the hooking, a superiority that, m the first spell, allowed the New Plymouth backs to do almost as they liked.

New Plymouth was unrecognisable as the team that went down to Grammar in the. opening series. The backs handled more cleanly and.more snappily and the forwards tore into their work throughout the match with the greatest .vim. The forwards followed fast in the open and rucked and scrummaged fiercely. Otago’s light pack was as good as ever; Battling gamely against heavy odds the pack showed out as a well trained and splendid combination and their line-out work, as it was in previous matches, was the best of any team. New Plymouth possibly recognised the fact by taking scrums for line-outs on a number of occasions. The Otago backs, too, were splendid and; though, they.'“did not function with the speed and dash' shown against. Grammar they were nevertheless sound in defence and resolute in going down to harrying forward rushes. The one notable weakness, in comparison with New Plymouth, was the backing up. 'Batten and Waters were fine leaders for the New Plymouth pack and Thomson hooked as well as on Wednesday. Corkill, too, did useful work in the open. In the backs Donnelly; fed his men cleanly and made some fine recoveries from dangerous positions by snappy kicking to touch. Larkin scored the gem try bf .the match, threading his way through half a dozen players in a 30 yards dash to the line. He was more liberal in feeding his backs than formerly and gave Thomas .some splendid passes. Thomas was less in the limelight than against Christchurch, as was Mclntyre, but he made some good runs. Mclntyre ran his wings into position splendidly and the fact, that Ekdahl and Crone both scored is an indication that he was doing his work properly. Ekdahl scored three glorious tries, running with great determination. Crone on the other wing received fewer opportunities than Ekdahl' but he scored one splendid try and made a number of other useful runs. Broughton was safe at full-back and some of his tackles were tigerish. The tall rangy Otago boys were at their best in the line-out work and in the open they hunted splendidly. Smith, small thougii he is, led the pack in great style in the loose, and Geary, a dangerous runner, did good work at the start of the first spell. Chapman and Little were other good workers.

The backs did not combine to the extent that they did in the first two matches, and there was a lack of cohesion sin the five-eighths. A. E. Chapman was rather too often caught with the ball. Moore made one splendid dash, and Ruff generally did good work. Chandler, however, . was off form and Duff had little to do. McLeod saved many times and generally gave a good display. The teams were:—

New Plymouth: Broughton; Crone, McIntyre, Ekdahl; Thomas, Larkin; Donnelly; Corkill; Waters, Terry, Kershaw, Batten; Wallace, Thomson, Evans. Otago: McLeod; Chandler, Ruff, Duff; A. E. Chapman, Moore; Scott; Chapman, Anderson, Geary; Little, Wilkie; Smith, Mee, Eckhoff. The teams took each other’s measure for five minutes and then New Plymouth swung into two long back thrusts. Larkin made all the way. with one and Crone' legged his way nearly to the corner before Duff took him by the knees from behind. The ball came out again and Ekdahl sailed over in the opposite corner. Broughton’s kick was full-length but wide.

Otago burst straight through to Nov/ Plymouth’s line and launched attack after attack until Broughton lined a 50 yards kick. That did not relieve the pressure for long. First Geary and then Smith gathered in the ball and dashed for the line. Smith scored beneath the posts with New Plymouth men piled on top of him. J. T. Chapman’s kick hit the post and bounced back.

The New Plymouth backs were seen again and the forwards followed a roll-ing-ball right to the line before A. E. Chapman cleared. Mclntyre centred, Moore took the hall on the full and ran past half a dozen men at full speed. The ball travelled through the back and forwards up and down the field until Geary came out into the open past Broughton. Thomas laid him by the heels and Otago shifted the attack to the other side, where Ruff was nearly aWay. New Plymouth launched a counter-attack and Ekdahl produced the climax to a hectic five minutes by ducking, side-stepping, swerving and finally running headlong to the corner to score. Broughton missed with a difficult kick. Twice Larkin worked the blind side and almost reached the line, and then Ekdahl was throvzn out at the corner. Two or three moves broke down and then the ball came out in an orthodox

move. Mclntyre set sail for the corner, changed his mind and sent on to Crone, who grounded the ball as his heel struck the corner flag. The try followed from the line-out, however, Terry securing the touch down amongst a heap of forwards. Donnelly added the extra points with, a splendid kick. Play was uninteresting for a period until Smith burst through and dribbled from one 25 to the other. Mclntyre was penalised for lying on the ball but Chapman's kick was wide. Otago burst through again after a rolling ball and two of each team made successive dives for the elusive touch down, Terry succeeding- i New Plymouth 11 Otago 3 Ekdahl was prominent in two or three tigerish runs when the, second spell began but play was mainly confined to the forwards, both packs working splendidly. Ekdahl fielded an intended touchfinder and took play among his backs. The rush ended in a scrum. The backs came away again • for Mclntyre to receive the ball as he was tackled a yard from the line, and then the backs took play out to the other side again. The ball went out like lightning to Crone, who dived across in the corner. Donnelly could not convert. , Otago took the offensive and J. T. Chapman kicked a good goal from beyond the 25. Then Moore broke cleanly through and, stopped after a 40 yards run with a smashing tackle by Broughton, passed forward. Mclntyre dribbled back to half-way and Crone put the team on the attack. Otago's effort was temporarily ended and from a dull patch the New Plymouth backs went away for Mclntyre to have Ekdahl as the odd man to score. Donnelly's kick was just outside. New Plymouth remained on the attack. Terty and Waters being held up on the line. Larkin worked the blind side, and wea'ving his way in and out, scored a splendid solo try. Again the ball passed just outside the postsOtago made an effort and the forwards dribbled past Broughton. J. T. Chapman attempted to “pot,” and although he missed Ruff followed the bdll as it crossed the goal line obliquely towards the corner and was first there in time to score. J. T. Chapman goaled with a splendid kick. Otago set to work passing but the move was too much across the field. New Plymouth attacked and first Crone and then Ekdahl was thrown out by the qorner flags. Otago was by no means beaten,

however, arid both backs and forwards strained the New Plymouth defences. New Plymouth ■ 2® Otago 11 Mr. C. Evans refereed.

UNEXPECTED VICTORY

CHRISTCHURCH IN GOOD FORM. FINE COMBINATION SHOWN. Forwards who fought every inch of the way and backs who tackled ferociously co-operated in splendid Rugby when Christchurch Boys’ High School unexpectedly defeated Auckland Grammar School by nine points to seven in the first match of the ■ afternoon. Christchurch showed its best form of the tournament and shaped like the team that defeated Christ’s College, Timaru and Waitaki Boys’ High School in matches this season.

When Grammar scored its try only two points separated the teams, and for the ’l5 minutes before the end the Rugby was as.hard and as uncompromising as one could wish to see. When Grammar stormed on the line it seemed as though nothing could keep it out. But the disorganised defence rallied again and Christchurch ended the match by going close to scoring itself. At one stage of the match it appeared as though Christchurch would win by a fairly comfortable margin. But if the tournament has shown one thing it has shown that school teams can fight, and Grammar at no stage showed signs of weakening. Tire forward work of both sides was extraordinarily good and if one missed flashing back movements there was the compensation of the honest toiling that is one of Rugby’s greatest attractions.

The chief reason for Christchurch’s win was the splendid combination between the backs and forwards. Led by Wells, Warring and Dove, the pack toiled grandly, hooking the ball splendidly and not lifting for a moment pressure in the loose. The backs were given plenty of the ball and with Saundercock and Cade playing brilliant football the line showed fine form. Saundercock’s passing was clean and snappy and he initiated blind-side moves with great cleverness.

Cade, as on Wednesday, was splendid in defence and tricky in his running. He handled cleanly and his touch-finding

was always accurate. Menzies, though troubled by a severe knock, was game on defence and . only lack of pace prevented him from scoring on attack. Steele did sterling work and the wings, Osment and Maxwell, though lacking opportunities, made some good dashes. Inder - made some outstanding solo sorties in the second half for Grammar and-revealed himself a loose forward of promise. Passmore, the captain, toiled well, while Woodward and Franich were other good men. . Chandler. was as sound as usual at half but outside him the backs were not given great opportunities, chiefly because of the wonderful i tackling of the Christchurch backs. Mar- , tin, however, did some good work and i Garrett' and Marriott on the wings were dangerous. Middleton was safe and cool at full-back. The teams were:— Christchurch: Schmidt; Maxwell, Steele, Osment; Menzies, Cade; Saundercock; Hadfield; Wells, Teller Neilson, Dove; Warring, Lake, Boyd. Grammar: Middleton; Marriott, Jones, Garrett; Martin, Gilmore; Chandler; Inder; Fraser, Woodward, Douglas, Craig; Franich, Passmore, Marsh. Christchurch stopped .several early Grammar rushes with torrid tackling, and Cade made much ground with a determined blind-side move. Wells and Dove made a determined rush and from a scrum in the corner Saundercock was hurled out on the blind side as he was about to ground the bal Saundercock meant to have a fry, however, and repeated the movement successfully. Menzies’ side-line kick was straight but short. The Auckland passing was good but the Christchurch tackling was better and Menzies countered Grammar’s moves with a blind-side dash and stabpunt and Marriott had to run behind to i clear. The Christchurch forwards gave ■ the Grammar pack no quarter and were i back in the comer again. Grammar was I penalised when the back-line stood up : in front of the scrum, but Menzies’ ’ kick whs poor-. Milling tn the Auckland : twenty-five, Christchurch hooked and < the backs gave the ball to Steele, who i cut through and handed on to Hadfield. Hadfield crossed the line but was recalled for an infringement and Auck- ( land worked back to midfield. 1 Play was hard and the tackling splen- ; did, with each team giving as good as' it received. The game remained tight until Menzies shook his way through three tackles and set sail for the line. He delayed his pass to Cade a fraction too long’ and Middleton collared him.

Christchurch battled hard at the corner until Auckland shook off a little of its lethargy. Fraser ran 25 yards without being tackled, and then handed on the ball by the twenty-five flag to Marriott, who drew Schmidt and passed to Jones .in an open field. The pass was-, forward., Grammar held the advantage for a while but could not drive it home and Christchurch backs, while not good enough to overshadow Grammar, took the ball back into opposition territory again. Inder, Martin and Fraser in a toiling forward rush harried the Christchurch backs when passes were dropped, and reached the vicinity of the Christchurch goalposts before .one of them knocked on in attempting to pick up the ball. The scrum went down, Passmore hooked and Gilmore calmly dropkicked a goal. Christchurch attacked and Osment raced up on the outside to pick up a cross-kick and then lose the ball. Grammar was penalised near the sideline. 35 yards out and Menzies retaliated with a perfect goal just before half-time. Christchurch ® Grammar 4 Christchurch back movements were not reliable in the beginning of the second spell and from one Fraser and Passmore broke through, only to be beaten for the touch down. Cade and Neilson returned the compliment, bringing the ball back to Grammar’s twentyfive. Cade picked up a pass from a loose scrum in fine style, put his head down and charged. Through into the open again he kicked gently, bowled over Jones, and with Osment kicked through to win the race for the try. Menzies’ kick wa r well out. Play continued evenly for several minutes until Chandler cross-kicked the full width of the field for Marriott to follow up and just fail to gather in. The Grammar backs launched several onslaughts, and all Christchurch’s football was required to quell them before Menzies snapped up a dropped pass and cleared with a fine touch-finder. Passmore was short with a long penalty kick. Menzies was left writhing on the ground with an injured leg and left the field, Christchurch continuing with 14 men till Menzies returned, looking shaken, to play at centre. ' . . Play continued solidly but in exciting fashion until the Grammar forwards attained the ascendancy for Inder to follow up and score. Passmore’s kick passed outside the posts. Inder and Passmore k . the Auckland forwards up the sideline again, Pass-

more snapping up the ball to cross-kjck in front of Marriott. Maxwell interfered with his run, however, a - 1 Christchurch preserved a good defence against a wideawake Auckland attack. Christchurch forced twice and then raised itself to Auckland’s level igain io battle, down to Auckland’s twenty-five. Saundercock and Menzies produced their, blind-side move again and it was almost successful. The packs milled at the centre of Auckland’s twenty-five line, and Grammar offended. Menzies’ kick was wide but Grammar could not break the shackles evfen after a drop-out.' Scrum after scrum went down in the corper and then Christchi’rch was awarded another penalty. Menzies’ kick veered outside, but the clearing kick was caught and lindd again in the Grammar- twentyfive: A forward rush and a long touchfinder brought Grammar' to Christchurch’s half and Middleton kept his team on the attack with' neat line-find-ing. Woodward was hurt and Coughlan went into the back line, Martin taking Woodward’s place in the scrum.' Inder and Martin led a forward rush but it was too late and the bell sounded with the scores Christchurch » Grammar < Mr. N. Frost refereed;