RUGBY FOOTBALL

Thames Star, Volume LII, Issue 13968, 19 August 1919, Page 1

RUGBY FOOTBALL

, :<y>— —— Excursion to Auckland , Saturday mornmgi broke with showery weather, but tbis did! 'nipt deter a large crowd, of people boarding the P.S. Wakatere, the occasion being tihe Thames Riuigby Union's tanual excursionl <tio! . AmMand. Punctually at. 9 a.m. the "Waka" left the Goods Wharf en route for the premier city of the, Dominion, which was reached after a smooth voyage, about 1.30 p.m. : AsP the ■vessel berthed the itirippers,. Were greeted! with an exceptionally heavy ■ shower of rain, but which, fortany ately, was tnot of long deration.,; and the crowd of friends who had dome :" down, to welcome the Thamesites s were able to claim them in, dry oomfoirt. tThames representative ..foo'fc- : bailers, both senior and junior, were met by prominent officials of "the Auckland Rugby Union, and these gen'tlemeaii had :missed no detail 1 in' , extending the first hand of welcome and necessary afnrangeinients 'for the comfort of their visatore. Apart from the shower mentioned, no ■ further discomfort from weather conditions was experienced by the tnip- ' pcr gi dxir.ing their stay in Aiuckland. THAMES V. AUCKLAND. At Eden Park in the afternoon the return ma'tcih between the senior representatives of the Thames and Auckland Rugby Unions eventuated. This match had been looked forward to with a keen interest by many Ancklanders who could not ' believe that? the country Union could' produce a tea,mi capable of extending thefir «wmi ' particularly brilliant coterie of representative footballers, and by the many Thames support- ! ers who now reside <in Auckland. To this was added the fact that Thames a few week® preceding had "downed" the iOity's pick at Thames, thWimmediate ootoseqiuence being that there was a large conooiurse of spectators who expected to witness, and! did witness, a 1 ■briftiamltf iamd 1 jspajrkling, exposattton of tihe Rugby code. THE TEIMS. Auckland 1: Burns, Woolley, Grierson, Wilson, Laxon., Badeley, Ross, Berrick, McOullough, Fletcher, RilKngton, Turner, Harty, Thomas, Sutherland. i Thames: Heath, Poland, Prusaing, O'Donnell, Royal, L. Smith, Mooney,- Loanas, Wilton,, Alexander, Morgan, H. Hayward, R. Smith, B. Johnston, F. (Smith. I THE GAME. Auckland won the toes, and from Sutherland^ kick Pmssimg secured ' and returned 1 to. Woolley, who found touch near centre. Here Thames forwards! got possesision, and 'they started 1 an aggressive movement, which •Thomas nullified by a sturdy run. until brought down by Heath. t 'The City forwards >now took. a. hand, and were stopped' by a mark iby Alexander, and a good line kick by Heath. Thames were set going by SPrussiLng, and Royal had bad lucki in not scoring. For an *n- ' fringement Heath had a fruitless 1 shot, aJtier which Badfeley cleared •with a good line kick. Shortly after Aiudkland essayed to 'open iuip the game, Ross sending out a pass which Pruss-ing. intercepted, and Thames carried' play close to Auckland's line, where Poland made a determined effort to cross. From the ruck, B. Johnston picked up and. notched first blood for Thames. Heath goaled. ..Thames •••••• •■■■•■■ 5 Auckland 0 This score put Auckland on. their mettle, amd they set ai(p a. strong attack, Heath, and "Hecky" Smith " having to work hard to keep them 1 out. A penalty against Thames, .and a scrum near the line, were 1 the next features until "Hecky" 1 Smith secured and found touch 1 * at the 25's. The Auckland half Ross again opened up the play, and once * again Prussdng intercepted, but the Auckland backs were now risingl lo the occasion, and Badeley sent a 1 difficult pass to Wilson, who crossed. Burns failed to find the uprights. ' .■■-.., . * ' ... ■ .. . „ Thames ........... 5> t \-. ■ Aucttdaind ..........:;....... 3< . i. - , . ' Shortly after Woolley gave a >; pretty exhibition' of si die-stepping "and pace, and Crossed in a good j ; Burns goaled. I Auckland & i Thames • • $ _.(■ The two packsi were working well, . ■ and seemed to be well matched, the • superiority, if any, remaining with * Thames. . Of the reargonards, however, the superiority. lay with Auckland mainly in combination, their 'v pace and brilliant passing ruishes n making it difficult to keep them 5 out. "Hecky" Smith, Royal and a peinalty kept the City mem out, and the quarter ended. i SECOND QUARTER. 1:.• ■ ■ ■ ■ -: ' ■ ■ '■ ■ ■ ' • On resuming the Thames forwards U , made things lively for Auckland, and "Hecky" Smith marking, gave

Heath a shot. The kicks bailed. Thomas headed the Auckland! forwards An a> break-away, but "S'nowey" Smith scoured and semti oa to Poland, who found touch at Auckland's quarter-wiay. Alexander, Smith, and Hay ward were here ipromiinent, 'and a penalty against Aucklaind saw Heath place a ; nice goal. . /■■ ■■.■!: ■-•'• A:uc3£|and % 8 Thames ;•• —....... 8> Sutherland, for Auckland, next broke away with a clever dribbling rush, and Thamesl had a, close call. The Thames forwards, working well, dlrove the .invaders back, and a penalty 'andl good -worki by Heath a'rud "Hecky" Sniith found play 'at Thames' 1 quarter-way. ■Mooneye and Alexander rendered further help and flay worked <backr to centre. A lomig kick put Auckland in a good eibrikling' position agad'a, andl their backsi getting possession -and handling in good stylel, saw Griersoni 'the last to receive , the ball thrown across the corner flag. by Heath. Soon after a mistake by Prussiing let Thomas in oa the corner. Burns •failed to goal. ' Aucklaind 1 - ix. Thames — 8 From a scrum near centre R. Smith amd! Hay ward led the visitingl pack to the Auckland line, where the former lost a good' chance _by over-runningl" the ball. Ross, the Auckland half, by diving through ihe scrum; relieved the pressure unltiilf Heath, 'from near half-way, made a .good attempt +o even the score from ■ & mark. The Thames forwards now pressed again, but Badeley set their effrotsi at naught. This quarter ended with the City men 3 points in the lead. THIRD QUARTER. '. On resuaning Prussdng put Thames on the attack, and working well, 'the* pack made 'big efforts to score. Here Lason, for Auckland, wast resjp'ocnsible for some good work, and kept the visitors out. ■ Further relief was gained from a penalty, but the Thames, forwards came again, and Mooney securing, set his. 1 backs going, a wild pass to Poland spoila good' r chan.ce. A fault by Laxon and! Aucklaind farced, to fl&ve. From 'the kick-out the scene of action changed, Thomas headingl the City pack, to inaidie Thanne®' quarter-way, where they wiere stopped by a knock-on: 'Good defensive work by "Hecky" and ".S>nowy" Smith gave relief for a while, until Harty secured, and sent on> to Thomas, to Bermick, who cross-kicked to Ross, who had a clear run in. Burns failed to goal. Auckland 14? Thames & Thames, nothing daunted, came away with a nuish, and Auckland forced. A mark' gave Heath another opportunity, but the kick, though a good one, did not add to the score. Laxon, still defending, made a good iru'n,, burtl the Tlhamesi men cam© •back. A scrum on" the Auckland line, and some good chances ' were lost. A penalty gave relief, a.nd Woolley was responsible (for sending the visitors^ back to centre. Thorna s broke away, but a knock-on ended the movement. From near half-way Heath endeavoured to goal a penalty; from a markl shortly afterwards, and just a little nearer, he succeeded. AJuokland , • 14 Thames 11 Good' work by "Snowy" iSmrith, Alexander and H. Smith gave Aucklaind plenty of defensive work until the quarter ended. LAST QUARTEE. i Auckland opened' up strongly ■from .the toommencemenit of this spell', and play wa s noon on the Thames line. A- penalty relieved the pressure for a time until from a • battle amongst tire forwards, Fletcher came through wdth the ball at his toe, 'but. was Ueaten ty Thames forcing. Mooney now broke away, and was mot brought down : till he reached centre, where Hayward, Alexander and R, Smith took charge and led the way to Auckland's '". line, Wilson just saving in time a try by Hayward. An exchange of kicks followed and Laxon, Billimgton and Wilson all made separate dashes! for the Thames line. Prussing got caught in possession., and gave a penalty with which Badeley made no error.. Au<Maxid •• 17 Thamies* ......:...... 11 Heady work by McCullough gave Auckland another chance, and! a ■pretty passing pun resulted, Laxon, Woolley, Grierson' and ' Sutherland taking part, the last-named knock-ing-on.. From the scrum the Thames forwards carried play back to centre. An attack by Auckland giave Heath a great piuazle, having to play a lone hand against three, Auckland! baiokis attacking almost simultaneously, and he caane ou'b on top, downing 1: them one" after the other. ■ Desipitie good individual efforts on the part of the Thames men, the vigorous a^bSwjbs toy the Auckland roangoiaW wa^/ orownedi

with further success when . Sutherland received a cross-kick, which he gent on to Grierson, to Woolley, who crossed in the corner. Grierson failed to goal. Aud^laoid *v Thamesf 11 Interest in 'the remainder of the spell was kept at high tension on account of the rapid chan,ge s which took place, but no further score was notched. Mr A. Ensor, of Auckland, officiated as i-teifeireiei and had the assistatnciei of Messrs Gordon; (Thames) amd MoElwaim (Amokliainid) a& linesmeinA~a ai ouiritiaiin-raii'sefri to the foregonn.^ Auckland amd. Thiafmes Junioi^ Repts. tried oomciluisiotnis. The lhameis ladft were I'aicfkiLnigj liim doimbiinatdon' and suffered defeat by 14 .poimtis to mil. For Auckilarnd tlries were scored by White, Knight, and Porter (2), Smith oon.verbing 1 oniet. Imi the evenlmg the Thiainesi Senfor Repsi. wore entbrteiined at diinner by the Auckland Rugiby Union. The 1 bulk of tihe exouirsioniiisittsi an4r4ved Back im Thlames on Suaidlfry ■night well pleiajsed with, their experienicie.