THE WEEK’S RUGBY
Notes and Comments. THE PREMIERSHIP.
" South Canterbury v. Maori team on I Saturday. * ■ * • to ill! South Tsl ■ *'•» selectnv pick a poor team, or did the Now Zealand Union pick a poor lot of selectors? ** . * ! ft is stated that Nepia is not a j candidate for the Maori team for ■ France. i. * * McGregor was not available for the Australian trip, but in any case it is no certainty that lie would liavo been , preferred to Sheen. I 9 9 9 j North Island’s win last Saturday i was the. most decisive, in the matter i 1 of points, ever registered in an interIslaud game. 1 * «• -*- The New Zealand Union has decided to guarantee the West Coast Union- up to £SO in the event of ; loss on their trip Lo Canterbury and South Canterbury. « * * Tt would be interesting to know on what form the South Canterbury Selection Committeo preferred Bergin and Ledingham to Ritchie and W. Uuirke. * # » Club representation in the fifteen .selected to meet the Maoris works our I thus : Old Boys 7, Waihi 3, Celtic 2, j Zingari 2, Teniuka 1, Star 0. _ The | figures suggest that- the side will not be-strong on defence. |*' 9 * I If Phillips can regain in the Maori I team trials- the form he displayed for 1 Marlborough against South Canterbury a couple of seasons back, be should be a strong contender for a trip to France. * 9 * Mr A. .T. Geddcs, one of the South Island .selectors, said after the interIslsnd game, that iie was not satisfied that South had their best team in ; the field. There were thousands of ] people who will agree with him. *'* * . I Throe of the northern forwards—C. j Brownlie Knight, and KirkpatrickI who have been given the opportunity' of going to Sydney', were not eonI sidored good enough for the North 1 Island team. I * * * | Sheen, the Auckland five-eighth 1 who has been selected to go to } Sydney, learnt his football at Christ’s | College. There ho gained the reputation of being a, jinker after the style of the ‘ immortal Jimmy Hunter, w'itji tins difference—that the sinuousrunning Taranaki man always swerved in, one, direction, sheen could turn .it on either way. * * * One commentator on the North v. South game says that -NicholLs had seldom played a worse game; Blake kicked and passed badly and failed I to-combine; .Malcolm fell down badly 1 10 01^1 team consisted of M;JI, Cooke, Svens on and the forwards. If the North backs were such a. poor lot as suggested, what must be thought of their vanquished opponen ts ? * * 9 North Island’s -win last week was tho most decisive, so far as points were concerned, in the inter-island rr.wics. South appeared to be beaten from the day the learn was picked, north _ was presented with the bad m the scrummages by the choice of Mills, a man well under 5.8 —probably' nearer 5.6—t0 go down in Iront with 0.1 J). Stewart, who had never hooked, in a match iii his life. J..icn P. Ward, a slow beginner, was >rj ucd against the himblp-footed lovter as wing. Dal lev, whose forto is dclonsive play behind tho pack on a wet ground, was installed ns first fiveeighth, an inexperienced vonngstcr being 111- in as half, and an intereoptipg five-eighth in Oliver was olnyed as centre. What the northemeva thought of the South’s front vow selection is evidenced by the fact that m the second half they took serums instead of line-outs when it was their call. Outside scnmi work the 11011111 neck—with Alloy, Stewart, and Harden prominent —seems to have 'mite field its own. hut n.s a combination the losing hooka were outclassed .■toveiisnn being the only one who outshone l:is vis-a-vis. * • « Cultic collected two more championship points against Tomuka, mainly' as a result of superior scoring ability, in other respects there Was not much bet wuen tho teams. With a high wind prevailing, tho captains wisely decided to play lour .spoils, a course which ahould commend itself to all teams wh;u: sun or wind is strong. The galo WKWiidernbly affected the play', as I numerous kicks were carried over tho (leiuj-ball line. Mason was the most prominent of tho Green backs, but Roper was very nippy at half, and Futintiime empha.si.sed his value as a scoring wing. Dwau put plenty of dash into his forward play, and Bergin and Flett both grafted” hard. M. Anglnncl made his first appearance for «omo time, at five-eighth, and when he gets into condition should strengthen the , side. A. Fdgelcr, who played in the Rakaia district early in tho season, has toned up Tomuka \s doieuce, and with Holern and _L. Connolly was responsible Tor most of the work in this department.-Mnnuiug I was hack in the serum and played a solid game, being well supported by Orton and Harris.
] i Of the 23 players selected for the, J Sydney trip sixteen arc North i Islanders.' t * * * ! Illness in his family may prevent Stevenson from journeying to Australia with the New Zealanders. | * * » I Spectators enoroached very badly on the playing area at Winchester fast Saturday. * * * A good dressing shed was erected nob long ago at 'Winchester Park. Players would now appreciate the provision of a light or two in the shed after the games. # * #■ “He lin'd no hair on the top of his head, in the piano where the hair ought to grow.” The music hall ditty 1 could be applied to both winglonvards—Porter and Ward—in the North-South match. # *■ * The New Zealand team for Sydney i appears to be a better one than the last. There are no McClearys or Badcle.vs in it, and it will have the great advantage of combination. With j such a fine forward combination— . iVobably equal to the best vanguards I of the past—available, the backs I should be given ample opportunities, and if the team as a whole makes j football the main consideration of the i trip the party should return with an i unbeaten • record. j # * » j Outside a select coterie of dved-in- t the-wool Star enthusiasts. nobody 1 appeared to consider the team possible winners against Old Boys, even with Stewart away. Hence the victory of
the outsider of the field 'came ns .sometiling of a shock to the football public. AH manner of explanations have boon j advanced to account for tlio downfall j of the favourites, and some of them j are ungenerous to the winners. It is j true that some Old Boys players had I not fully recovered from the effects ! of their gru/ling in the Zingari I game, and it is unnecessary to mention that with no Stewart to make openings the team started from ten or a dozen points behind scratch, but before the season ends the average onlooker will have it brought home to him that Old Bov.s are weaker and Star stronger than mos* people have imagined. Although too light and inexperienced (in senior play) to win many games this season, the Star men are keen and plucky, and in their first round game they had the Blues distinctly rattled for more than half the match. Old Boys’ pack is not so good ns last year’s seven, and the defence of some of the backs is a doubtful quantity. In the first half of Saturday’s contest, it should bo said, Star had all the advantages—wind, sun, and grade—and six points was not a winning margin in the circumstances. In tlio second half the elements were less kind to Old Boys, but giving that in it has to be conceded that the better team on the day won. The losers were unlucky no doubt in not being credited with more
points—Strang should have been awarded a try—but on the play they were not entitled even to a draw. The Star forwards and inside backs, sometimes sailing perilously clo.se to the offside rule, worried their opponents like a pack of beagles, and seldom gave the Blue rearguard much working space. Pirie at full saved several awkward situations, and all thq other backs did their bit, Cullen in particular being very busy. Although not an impressive-looking lot,' the Star pack acquitted themselves admirably, Richards being not far-short of the best forward in the game. McYoy is one of the soundest tacklers in the competition. Boys was not available for Old Boys, and Fraser acted as custodian until Tate’s ankle forced him to drop back. A. Lawson was probably die best three-quarter, but the other members of the family had a day off. The solidest, of tho backs was Strang, who had to do more than one man’s share of the hard work. Gerard, and Coxhead wero about the best of the Bluo advance division, Ledingbam showing improvement on his previous games. * * * Zingari’s defeat at "Winchester was not generally anticipated in Timaru, but it was not such a. surprise as Old Boys’ downfall. Waihi. on their own Park, nro always a tough proposition, and Zingari’s team was not at full strength. Campbell, a forward of a couple of years ago. who had not previously turned out this season, was pressed into service at centre, and Gibb had to be taken out of tho pack to fill another gap. Tho game, which was witnessed by a large and excited crowd, was a very even go. The tackling was solid and consistent, and several players wero temporarily knocked out, but after a preliminary spar tlio play was free from vice. Towards the end the visitors who
notched the only try of tlio day, were hard pressed in keeping tho Greens out. O. Quirke. the home goalkeeper, did not handle so well as usual, hut his line-kicking was a treat. Neutze got through a hard day’s work at centre, and Priest put m some strong runs. Opie, on the other wing, showed some promise, and he five-eighths (Shorratt and Angland) tackled well. AVood was as plucky and energetic as usual behind the pack. Sheldon was tried at wing forward (J. Mcßride going into the scrum), and lie proved very useful in tho position. In addition, ho gained lots of territory with his long punts. W. Quirke and J. Mcßride were the nick of tho vanguard, which included ITogg, formerly of the Star Club. I), Fairbj'other was in great form, his handling, kicking arid tackling being one of the features of tlio match. Dore and Braeefield wore the best of the other backs. E. Ward shone in the forward division, and was well supported by Fail-brother. Ritchie, and Tcrakf. * * *
How did our men play in the Island game? The following excerpts nro ended from as many different sources as are available at time of writing: Christchurch “Star” :■—“Ron Stewart played a, magnificent game and was the best forward on the ground . . . Though opposed to Porter, Pat Ward played n. verv fine game at wing forward.” The" “Dominion”:—“The South again proved that they can produce some strapping forwards. R. I
Stewart (South Canterbury), and Alley (Southland) are fit to rank with New Zealand’s best.” “N.Z. Times” :—“Stewart was easily the best forward of the southerners. Ho and Ha-zlett were the only ones to show any great speed.” ‘‘Wanganui Chronicle” ; “Conspicuous among the Southern forwards was Clark, a snowy headed youth from Golden Bay. But the best of thorn were 11. Stewart and Alley. Ward and Porter were the opposing wing forwards, and thero were some hectic tussles between them. In all except brains and strategy Ward was the equal of his antagonist.” Tlio “Sun”:— "The best of them, the best oh the ground was the BJst. 71h. Geoff. Alley. And’ nobly seconding him, was the magnificent Ronald Stewart, another speedv giant, and W. Hazlett, a 20-vear-old yo»tb who tips the scales at 14st. 81b. They "ere a great trio, who stopped Hish after rush, besides starting Others. b
43 u tn co i o c: a 43 I c 5 o HH £ i PU 0 i Old Boys . • . . 4 i 1 106 42 9 ■ Zino;(iri . . . . . 4 i 1 oo ;i8 9 ■ Wiiilii . . . 0 :i 42 48 0 : Celtic; . . . 0 a 52 09 0 j Tc'imikii . . . 0 0 4: 27 52 4 [ SU\r .... . . 1 0 5 45 78 2 * »
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Bibliographic details
Timaru Herald, Volume CXXIII, 16 June 1926, Page 13
Word Count
2,029THE WEEK’S RUGBY Timaru Herald, Volume CXXIII, 16 June 1926, Page 13
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