THE KICK OFF.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 11371, 24 April 1915, Page 9

THE KICK OFF.

RUGBY GAMES TO DAY. VERY PROMISING START. YOUNG COLTS COMING ON. - LIMVOOD S, MKR'IVALE 8. 'VARSITY J7, OLD HOYS (>. OfIRISTCHLRCH 10. ALBION 0. j SYDENHAM 6, MAKLSTS 0. Tho Rugby season of 1915 was opened to-day in fine weather, but with a keen oa.-d. wind that wa,s a. distinct factor in moat of the games. Heavy enrol men t.s in the Expeditionary E'oreo had Ktill left, behind n. large percentago' of old players. Tho net result, howavw, wa,s a strong contingent of young player-;, many of whom were overweighted in their new positions. A distinct lack of interest was f-hown by the general public in tho opening matches, and although tho Queen of tho Carnival coronation was repeated at Lancaster Park, tho attendance dwindled after tho ceremony was over. Old Boj-s, last year's champions, put a rather inexperienced' team iu the field, and n» they encountered a. heavier and faster team in _ 'Vai-sity they went down somewhat easily, showing only patches of the traditionary back play. 'Varsity were not too cohesive in tho back, but good material was present. Old Boys, on tho othei hand', were weak behind the scrum. Mcrivalo and Limvood occupied the oval, and played a fast game with surprisingly few mistakes. The Limvood forwards took charge in tho first half, scoring eight points, and Merivale did tho same in the second half, the result being a draw. Sydenham and Marists played one of the poorest gamps imaginable. 'Hie wind almost compelled each side alternately to score, and a draw resulted. Christehurch, notwithstanding heavy enlistments, had a very good team in the field, and after they had shaken themselves together in the first ten minutes they made '*' no race" of their game against Albion. MERIVALE (8) v. L7NWOOD (8). Merivale and Limvood met on tho oval and played a drawn game. A strong wind played .a prominent part in the game. Tho following were the teams: — Limvood. —Ba cks —G. I>ixo n, W. "Williams, It. Pierey, J. Stirling. YV. Yates, A. Hobson, G. Egan; forwards —W. Shaw, T. Horner, J. Harvey, R. Yates, G. Petersen, J. M'Cormaek, Yv. Cummings and E. Cumniings. Merivale.-—Backs--T. Hardie, J. B. Bead, 11. V. Jerred, W. A. Ford, L. A. Cade, 11. Evans, C. R. Dickie-; forwards—A. Hugh, E. Hasoll, O. Wilcox, A. Mackintosh/'N. Carnegie, F. M'Vey, L. Hawthorn© and F. A. Price.

Linwood kicked oft against a strong easterly wind, which materially helped | Merivalo in their line kicking. A high ! punt to the centre had Linwood in a tight place, but a force down relieved. A long kick into touch by Piercy ended a dangerous-looking Merivale attack, and Linwood put in a period of strenuous effort in their opponents' twentyfive. Evans intercepted and long kicking carried play well outside the danger zone. Jiasoll wont very close with a long-range penalty. Nondescript play left Linwood with the advantage until a free-kick to Merivalo dropped out at half-way. Linwood forwards were taking full advantage of thenweight, until a high kick by Piercy, badly judged by a Merivale back, gave Cade a chance to save the situation. in a clevor piece of work. For a period bad handling, over-running the ball and poor judgment in passing covered each side as with a mantle. \V. Ciiiurnings made a splendid opening but he dropped the ball just as he reached the line. Cade dropped a long throwout and Yates snapped it up and fell across under tho posts; Piercy adding the goal points. Tho Linwood forwards continued in aggressive mood, until a high punt was badly judged by Piercy and Cade was nearly over. A mark in a good position gave Hasell a chance that just missed scoring. Linwood insisted on being in their opponents' twenty-five and their efforts were rewarded when K Cummings ran over almost without opposition. Piercy failed at goal. On changing ends Merivale served up a rush that comx>letely nonplussed their opponents, and supported by a clever piece of work along the line by Ford, they soon had Linwood busily defending. Dribbling by the Merivale forwards and puerile defence gave Carnegie a try under tho posts, and Hasell kicked a goal. The Merivale forwards came back again with a sustained effort and Foixl after fumVing a pass, retrieved himself by dodging across near the corner. Hasell failed at goal. Sharp, clean passing among tho'Vmwood backs and a cut-in by Piercy left them with a very material advantage that was not held; for tho Merivalo forwards cleared, and a dwh'v nm by Ford 'coked like a , certain score, but he was held up on j the line, and a force ended the attack, i \ free kick to Merivalo was badly fieldI ed bv Linwood.-but their forwards, I headed' bv Harvey, cleared in convincing style. Play was fixed m neutral territory for some time, until Linwood forwards, by a. series of desperate rushes, called forth all Merivale s powers of defence. Read bVoke clear, beating the defence, but with two oi his side in position to beat one opponent ho elected to short kick, and Linwood saved. Long kicking resulted in Merivale forcing, and' Linwood was in a similar position a minute or two later, enjoying a large slice of luck in not having a wore registered against them. "No side" was called with even scores, 8 points each, a goal from a. try and a-n unconverted try for each side." Mr J. F. Peake was referee. 'VARSITY v. OLD ROYS. Old Boys were the weaker team on paper, but the game was fairly even. I The teams were as follow: — 'Varsity. Full-back M'Callum ; three-quarters- M'Lewi, Simmers, Colthart; live-eighths Derrett, Bossellman; half-back--Kcotfc; forwards—Young (wing), Lambio, Read, ]>. Wilson, ?I. R. Richards, Beatty, Jones, Richmond. Old 80y,5.---Full-lmok T>. Nixon: thrt'(!-quartere~-J'. 11. Parker, It. FRoag. 0. ft. Young; five-eighths—.!>• Russell, C. M. Sheppard ; haJf—-J. Taylor : forwa.i-d.H~-T. Clayton (wing), .T. 1.1. Graham. R. Siino, M. J. Guthrie, 0. Ballin, K. Kirk, W. S. Seed, 0. Johnson. - ... 'Varsitv, with greater weight in the forwards and tho assistance of a. gentle slope towards the Old Boys' goal, started with more vigour, and their halfback getting the ball out once or twice. i passing rushes were attempted. The i handling was not at all bad, and BosI sellnunrand M.'Leod proved themselves | dangerous. Old Bovs wore a bit disj ori--y.tiii-.cd behind tho pack, but there were individual flashes of good pla.v ! once between Parker and J. Taylor m i defence and once between Boag and ' Yimng'in attack. After about ten 'minutes' play "Varsity marie a strong attack on the right wing, and after it had been held up for a time Bossslimun scrambled over and Derrett landed a goal. Old Boys had a. good opening from a nice piece of loose work by Wiine. Another strong attack was frustrated by the interception of a, slow T»a»s from Ballin. Play wont right to

t .h„ oth»r mid. uh«-r.. Colt!-art io.-.i-the- ball whvi !•.'> -a.;-. i'-; >; i- -'V----:. The s. coad ha!: ■■■[:.■'.: d ..m!i attach and counter-ail;'!'!-. '--"li-- '-'l'd tackling v. a , \wv.h. and M'i.' -ui made a. da-di. Tlire.. -.yn <.•■:>.■ M ";c line. uh.Te a- trv >va-- awaid.d. Old Boy;- bad an :•}>' >:' ]) ' : * *.' ! " : , r ' ; ' , ;:v ! !l! pa'oillg rU:-!'-v-S, ill V.':;.vi! •■'■■" J'-: 1 ' ''" went- wrong. "\a;-'\-' i-:r>!,. ,-ics. ,".'..■ Ucsseliur-n '"'as ivrb' •:\cr uinl-v ;aposN. Tin- ee,iii!;--r-.-.!.'.a(k --v>.; r, - pui.-cd. Youn..-:, <>f Ok! Ib>ys. ov-vmu ■ 11i11• ra. louit ini'.s. Tbi-- lot. Celtb,.'.:' ■ Young and '-i'.riHM-.-. right up, and !.!><; last pas.-, went to Jones, who van round tho posts and scored. The kick failed<)!d Ho\v .-allied, and in a nice p.as.-Jng rush, a litthe congested at. the fii::sli. Bong scored at the- corner, but- the kicl/at goal failed. Almo-'t inimcdiatoIv J. Tav'or broke through from a line-aut- at tho twenty-tiro, and passed well out, Clayto-u just gcting time to score'at- the corner flag. The kick faded. In another nice rush on the right wing Parker made a good dash. " The pressure was maintained for a while, but 'Varsity cleared atlength, and Derrctt landed a goal from a. penalty for handling on the ground. A "little "later 'Varsity found Old Boys backs all out of place, and the ball was-handled by Young and Simmers, a try resulting. Mr J. T. Weston was referee. SYDENHAM v. MARISTS. Sydenham met Marists at Sydenham Park, and play wa.s dull and uninteresting. A .strong cast wind made matters uneomfortabift for the spectators, and. played tricks with the flight of the ball. The ground was extremoly hard. Following were the teams:— Sydonhaiu—Backs —A. Hamilton, Yv". Clemens, A. flutehing.s, 11. Gibson, L. Hamilton, If. .Davis, V. Kennedy; far-wards---.I). (Jordon (M'ing)., If. Bathurst, C Greatbateh. W. Hamilton, T. Booth, P. Hill. E. Collins and A. Kilda-y. Marist-s.—Backs—E. Brosiiaban, L. P. Donohue, ii. Kliouri. L. Doitohuo, W. .ll:Cormack, J. Al.'Cormack, W. O'Malley ; forwards—-M'Bonald (wing), 11. Evan'ci, .11. Smvthe, A. Fanning, W. l>obbs. J. Smith, J. M'Quillan and W. Bat'ictt. Referee.—-Mr Claude Evans. Sydenham became aggressive from the commencement, having a slight advantage of the strong cross, wind, and in a few minutes a scramble on the alarists' lino saw the ball roll over and !). Cordon touched down. Collins Jailed at goal. Marit>ts succeeded iu getting the ball over the half-w.'ry line from play following the kick out, and from well outside tho Sydenham twen-ty-eight a penalty .saw O'Malley fail ,at goal. Both sides mado continual use of tho lino, with the result that p!a.y was dragging and slow and utterly devoid of incident. An occasional passing rush promised interest until the ball was cither dropped or kicked out, and the spell ended without further score.

With tho ivincl in their favour Mari.sts rushed the ball to tho Sydenham line, and i\ score was saved by the ball going over tho dead-ball line, diarists attackc-d again and Sydenham forced. In a scramble- in front of their posts Sydenham gob dl-side, but Sydenham charged tho kick. Putting sonio speed and energy into their work, _ Marists were placed in a scoring position by Donoluio centring, xhe forwards carried the ball down and over, and Smyth e scored wide out. O'Malloy mis&ed the kick. A series of scrambles 071 tho Sydenham corner flag ended in Evans dropping over, the kick again failing. A couple of strong counterattacks by Sydenham livened up the play, and Booth marked well within range, but the kick was a feeble effort. Continuing their aggressive policy, the Sydenham forwards kept play in the Marists' twenty-five, and from n- mark immediately in front Kennedy kicked a goal, equalising the scores. There was no further score, the game ending in a draw, Sydenham 6 points (a try and a goal from a mark); Marists 6 points (two tries). CHRISTCHUItOH v. ALBION.

Christchurch met Albion at. Lancaster Park to-day. The following were the teams:— Christchurch. —Full-back B. P. Murray; three-quarters—A. H. Guinoy, Y/. P. Guincy and F. V. Robinson; five-eighths—C. E. Guiney and L. Mehrtens; half-back—N. Burns; forwards—T. Wallace (wing), G. Greenfield, W. J. Walter, R, decides, A. Barr, E. Caldwell, A. Henderson, C. R. M'urrav.

Albion.— Full-hack three-quarters—X. Bayliss, Al. Sheridan and R. Coulter: five-eighths—-•J. Mehriens and J. Tunningtou; forwards—R. Henry (wing), H. Smith, fi. Matthews, R. Boniface, J. Leslie, VV. Brockhara, C. G. Gibson and T. Galiivan. Afr W. Duggnn was referee. The game started late and in the opening stapes was rather wild, though Chrisi church kept. Albion on the move. Sheridan (Albion) failed to make good from a mark. Loose play sent Christchurch w 'll up the field, and a passing rush, initiated by the Guinoy brothers, fell short- of a score, _ Albion forcing down. At quarter time tlio teams changed round. Chrisfchureh still continued on the 'offensive, and out of another rush, started by the Guinoys, W. P. Guiney scored in a nice position. A. Guiney converted. j The score .at half-time stood—Chris tclnireh 5, Albion nil.

Albion opened with the wind again in its favour. After loose play the whole of the Chnsiehwreh backs got into .action, and. A. Guinoy succeeded in scoring in the corner. Guiney took tho kick, but failed to convert. The score being B—o. Albion got play down, fiekl. but a series of rushes by Christchurch brought play again into Albion's quarter. Albion succeeded in relieving, and took play down field. Christchurch forced down. A .scnrni on the lino saw a nice rush by the Ohristchuroh forwards, who took the ball well up fielcl. With three-quarter time the teams changed over. Burns started a rush for tho Christchurch backs, the_ ball tven,t on to Mehrtens and C. GumeV. who cut in and pa.ssed to AV. P. Guiney. Guinoy scored. Wallace converted, bringing the score 13—O in favour of Christchurch. From another' passing bout W. P. Guiney got/ through' and scored". Oeddes failed with tlie kick, the score being IB—-0. Time was then, called. ]n the first quarter A. Mehairy (Albion) broke his collar-bone. R. Coulter moved from wing ihrce-qunrtevs to half, Ore.re.nd taking Coulter's place.