RUGBY.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17878, 21 June 1926, Page 12

RUGBY.

OLD BOYS v. ALBION. There was a surprisingly large attendance at Lancaster Park on Satur day afternoon, when Old Bo3*s met Albion on the oval. This was Albion’s first appearance on the oval this sea son, and everybody was prepared to see their young players suffer a little from stage fright. It was generally anticipated that Old Boys would win easily under the air cum stances. But Albion played a good game and the result was in doubt up to the final whistle. From the outset Albion went after the Old 803-S backs and particular attention was paid to Dailey. The All Black half was frequently smothered with the ball, not because he was not smart enough in getting it away, but on account of the fact that the Albion forwards came round the scrum very 'quickly, and not alwa>*s on side. The3 r were given a good deal of latitude in this respect. The backs, too, stood off-side when some of the scrums were formed, but they were not detect’d. This, of course, affected the open piay of the Old Boys backs, and with Albion keeping it fairly tight in the first spell, play in this half was not particularly interesting, apart from the fact that Albion held a three points lead when the teams went off at the interval. The game brightened up considerable* about midway through the second .-pell, and the closing stages were full of transformations and excitement. On the day’s play Old Boys were attacking for quite two-thirds of the game and would have been unlucky to lose. On the other hand, the youthful Albion men put up a great fight for it, and they were big favourites with the crowd. There were not many who would not have liked to see Albion sueceteful, as the club has been struggling along since the war and a victor>* for the senior team would have done an immense amount of good. However, Albion supporters should be well satisfied with the team’s performance on Saturday, and also with the season’s results. To defeat Merivale twice is no mean achievement, and it is very pleasing to note that the once premier team of the province is again well on the way towards the top of the tree.

The game could have been a lot brighter than it was. In the first place Mr Luttrell blew his whistle too much, and on many occasions he did not allow play to develop. Some of his decisions seemed to puzzle Old Boys, and they were not easy to follow. Then again Albion should have opened up the play more often. The try they secured near the finish proved this. It was easily the best passing rush of the day. With two such dashing wing three-quarters as Mortlock and Thompson it would pay the side to do more attacking by means of passing rushes At present the backs kick the ball far too much when in their opponents’ half. The material is there for the making of quite a good rearguard, and it is to be hoped that they will take a lesson from Saturday's game and start throwing the ball about before it is too late in a game. When a team is behind in points it nearly always pays to take a few risks.

The outstanding feature of the play c of the Albion team on Saturday was ' undoubtedly the brilliant defensive f work done by 11. Lilbume. His was jone of the finest performances seen on t the oval this season. The crowd enjoyed his play immensely, and he frequently earned applause throughout < the game. One would select this play- 1 er as the makings of a great full-back, 1 and it may be worth the selectors’ 1 while to give him a trial in this posi- 1 tion in the Town v. Country match 1 later on. :: « st The other Albion backs are all useful : players, and have a good knowledge of < what to do with the ball when they J get it. The wing three-quarters caught the eye repeatedly, and it is a pity they did not see more of the ball. The forwards were most capably led by J. Kennedy, who is an experienced front division man, having represented Manawatu a few years back. They are a nippy lot, perhaps a little deficient in weight, for which their keenness more than compensates. Even allowing for the fact that the Old Boys backs were a little disorganised, they did not play well. The handling was at times atrocious, and it looked as though some of them were watching their opponents instead of keping an eye on the ball. That usually safe handler, Reg Carleton, could not hold the ball at all. About the only time he caught it cleanly he scored a try. Dailey played a fine game behind the scrum, and though at times he was surrounded by opponents he managed to get the ball away. He had hard luck in missing a try in the iecond spell, as running round the side of a scrum he grounded the ball a foot or so inside the comer flag. It was not till after he had grounded it that the line umpire came along and put his flag up at a spot ,about four yards from the corner. Dailey was most surprised, as he seemed confident he had not gone into touch. So •iso were some of the forwards. Hay played a sound game, his chief failing being a tendency to go too far with the ball. Harris played well at full-back in the first spell, and at centre in the second. Mortlock was onlyfair, and so also was Hobday. Nixon went well at full-back in the second half. He kicked a couple of magnificent goals, which won the game for his side. Syd Carleton played only in the first half, his leg giving him further trouble. The forwards played well, and it must have been a little disheartening to them to see the backs fumbling the ball so much and losing a lot of ground. They were also at a loss to know why they were being penalised so much. CHRISTCHURCH (23) v. MERIVALE (14). The game between Christchurch and Merivale was exciting and full of interest, though, as an exhibition of football, it was not of the highest standard. Christchurch deserved to win, as, on the day, they were the better team, but they were not the better team to the extent that the final scores seem to indicate. In fact, the game was a rather curious one. At half-time the score was 5 all. In the second spell Merivale did quite as much attacking, if not more, than Christchurch, y*et C hristchurch put on eighteen points while Merivale added only nine to their total. It was a case of Christchurch makng much better use of the opportunities that earnest heir way. Merivale did not have their best team in the field. R. Hooper, their halfback, was unable to play, and this necessitated a rearrangement of the

backs- G. Rhodes played half-back, W. A. Ford was shifted from the threequarter line to first five-eighths, and L. Duggan was moved from the scrum to the three-quarter line. Duggan played on the wing, but he was not a success in that position, and he lost several chances of scoring. Duggan cannot be blamed for this as it. is asking too much of any man to take him out of the forwards, put him on the wing and expect him to make a success of the position right away*. Under the circumstances it would perhaps have been better if Duggan had played full-back (a position in which he has had some experience) and if R. Hart had played on the wing. Hart is powerfully built and a strong runner and he would probably have gone much better on the wing than Duggan did.

Although Christchurch won by a substantial margin of points, the display thev gave was not altogether impressive, especially in the first spell, when their backs did not combine at all well. There were too many'- dropped passes and too many bad passes. Practically every back offended in this respect to a greater or lesser degree. The improvement in the second spell was marked and the backs then brought off some nice combined movements.

One of the best "of the Christchurch backs was T. Mullan, the half-back. He played a great game behind the pack and he let his backs have plenty of the ball. His defensive work was sound throughout. Mullan also proved very useful as a place kick- He converted the four tries scored for Christchurch and also kicked a goal from a penalty*. Three of the shots were certainly easy ones, as they were scored between the posts, but the fourth and the last was scored far out. Mullan, however, was equal to the occasion and he added the major points with a fine kick. N. P. MGregor at first five-eighths played his usual good game. By clever play he made many openings for the other backs, but they* did not always take advantage of them. M Gregor was prominent both on attack and defence. The second five-eighths, G. F. Hart, was only fair. In the first spell, especially, his handling of the ball was uncertain, and he was also giving bad passes. Several movements broke down at him.

I. 11. Brown was unable to play* and the three-quarter line consisted of J. AFvfe, A. C. Robilliard and F. W. Cowlishaw. Robilliard at centre three-quar-ter hardly played as well as usual, especially in the first half, when he was throwing out wild passes, but he went much better in the second spell. Fyfe. on the wing, was the recipient of most of the bad passes from Robilliard. Fyfe, however, was a bit uncertain in his handling of the ball even when he received good passes, but like most of the other Christchurch backs, he played better in the second half than he did in the first. Just before the final whistle Fyfe scored a great try* after a fine dash for the line. Cowlishaw on the other wing was only fair. He still does not make enough use of his weight and speed, nor does he run with enough determination. On Saturday he sustained an injury* to his leg early* in the game and this no doubt affected his play*. A. Neill, the full-back, was safe and he did all that was asked him. G- Scrimshaw, the Christchurch wingforward, was in great form, and he played a magnificent game throughout. Some of his solo dribbling rushes were a treat to watch, and, from the best of them, he was very unlucky in not scoring, Doreen just Ideating him for the ball. Scrimshaw was prominent throughout for his work 011 attack. The Christchurch forwards went

quite well, and it seems that an improvement has been affected by* the promotion of one or two of the most promising players from the Senior B team. The Christchurch forwards are now nearly all young and keen, and these are big assets. B. Taylor and G. Lawson, the two promoted players, showed good form on Saturday*. H. Galbraith, N. Farrant and G. Leahy also played well.

The absence of Hooper from the Merivale team disorganised their backs more than might have been expected. Rhodes filled the position. It is quite possible that Hooper will not be able to play* again for Merivale this season. He works in the country, as far away at Culverden, and, although he has been able to get into town on Saturdays up until this last week, it is not likely that he will be able to do so in the future. Merivale will have, therefore, to look round for a new half-back. Rhodes does not seem to be adapted for the position, but T. Davies may prove a suitable man, as he has had experience of half-back play*. Davies was unable to play on Saturday*, as he was still suffering from the injuries that he received some weeks ago.

The outstanding back for Merivale was C. Oliver, who pLayed first fiveeighths. By* his brilliant running Oliver made many* openings for his side. Time and again he cut cleverly* through the centre and gained ground, but he did not always have someone to back him up. Oliver was specially prominent in the second spell for dashing play on attack, and his defensive work was also better than usual.

W. A. Ford at second five-eighths was the brains of the Merivale back division, and his play was a treat to watch, because of its very cleverness. Many of the younger backs are the equal of Ford in several way’s, but few oLthem have his cleverness or the football brains* that he possesses.

Of the three-quarter line Doreen was easily the best, lie played a dashing game throughout, and he had to be watched very* carefully, Robilliard lending a hand to'Cowlishaw in this task. Doreen handled and fielded the ball well, and his kicking was also good. R. Nome at centre three-quarter was a bit “ patchy,” and he did not always combine well with the other backs. He was uncertain at times in his handling and passing. Still, he is a very promising player, and with more experience he should develop into a three-quarter of some ability. R. Hart, the Merivale full-back, played a good game on the whole, but he impresses one as being better suited to the three-quarter line. Hart is very* powerfully built and he is a strong runner. He looks an ideal attacking type of back, and he seems to be wasted in the full-back position. The Merivale forwards in the first spell were without the services of J. Jeffries, who has not yet properly recovered from the injuries that he received a few Saturdays ago. However, T. Kirkland, w*ho was injured in the first spell, had to retire at half-time, and his place was taken by Jeffries. It is doubtfull whether Jeffries was wise in going on, as he was really not fit to play*. G. Maxwell showed out prominently in the loose, and he followed up well. Once, however, when he got the ball and had practically a clear passage for the line, he did not seem to know what to do, and by passing back when there

was no one to pass to, instead of going on, he threw away a good chance of scoring. O. Walker played a good game for Merivale in the forwards, as also did Ebert, who, as usual, was very useful to his side as a place-kick. R. Blaze}', the Merivale wing-forward, was prominent at times for good work. LINWOOD (6), VARSITY (6). The play in this match was of a very uninspiring nature, and at few stages did it approach senior standard. It is rather notable that even first grade teams have shown very poor football when they appear on the south ground. This was one of these occasions. The struggle was waged between the Linwood forwards and the Varsity backs, but it was lifeless football till late in the second spell, when each side appeared to infuse more energy into their work. Edmonds, at full-back, was one of the reliable Linwood men. 33 5v M Elvy had not many chances, but he made one for himself and scored a neat try. Brittenden’s display at centre was good, considering that he had had an enforced spell. There was a lack of cohesion in the

five-eighths line. Payne’s work was fair, but Diedrich ran into a lot o£ trouble.

Half-back Millar is not “showy,” but he gets in a lot of good work. m a a Limvood forwards slumped during the game. Towards the end, however, they found new life, and M’Cormack headed some splendid rushes. Ward and Turpin were always up with the play, and Burns proved a grafter in the tight struggles. Varsity backs suffered an attack of inertia which took a long time to shake off, and then they came with a rattle. Flashes of bright passing were seen, the participants being Brodie, Grant and Barak, with occasional support from Dickson and the wing three-quar-ters, Loveridge and Low. Brodie shone out for his initiative in attack and steadiness in defence. Barak is very aggressive when he has the ball tucked under his arm, but his handling is erratic, and Dickson was at fault too in this respect. Of the wingers, Loveridge appeared the better. Green's exposition of full-back play was praiseworthy. Thompson, Jackson and Petre were the best forwards, but Bryden and Smith were not far behind.