Rugby.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18452, 1 May 1928, Page 3

Rugby.

SENIOR B NOTES. The second round of the Senior B grade competition was played on Saturday in fine weather. The grounds were in good order and some fine games were witnessed.

At Svdenham Park, Sydenham played well against Old Boys and were only beaten by a margin of seven points. Old Collegians had a narrow win against Albion by five pointy to three. At the Show Grounds, North Canterbury drew with arsity, thirteen all, while St Andrew’s beat Kaiapoi by sixteen to six. Merivale A had a close game with their B team, the game resulting in a win for the A side by eleven points to five. VARSITY (13) v. NORTH CANTER BURY (13). In spite of the fact that they played two short. North Canterbury put up a great fight against Varsity, and in the second spell had their opponents defending for quite a time. In the opening stages of the game \ arsity went well together, and Wilkes scored a nice try. The Varsity forwards were playing far better than they did on the previous Saturday, but the tackling of the country team was not too sound, and often the Varsity pack would break through. For a time it looked as if Varsity would pile up a big score, but several opportunities were missed, and at half-time the score was ten to nil. In the second half Varsity seemed to tire and North Canterbury had the better of the play. Their first try came from a nice movement, Thornton taking an in-pass and going across for Lane to convert. A little later, from a scramble, Thornton scored his second try, which also was converted, making the score ten-all. The game at this stage was willing, the country forwards playing in great style. The next score came to North Canterbury when Burgess put in a fine run to scoj*e in the corner. Soon after Varsity attacked and had North Canterbury on defence, and Tait narrowly missed with a fine penalty kick. The scores were evened, however, just before the final whistle went, Tait scoring under the posts. An easy kick was missed. Wilkes played a good game on the wing for Varsity, but did not see enough of the ball. The backs were considerably reinforced by the inclusion at half of Bennett, who played for the seniors in the first game. He was well supported by A. Blazey at fiveeighths, who put in some good runs. In the forwards Wood was outstanding for his fine play in the loose, while Weston also worked hard. The North Canterbury side played well and no doubt would have won it they had been able to field their full side. The absence of G. Mehrtens in the backs was keenly felt, but his place is well filled by Thornton, who represented Brunner last year. He gave a good display on Saturday and should do well. Roberts was on top form, while Burgess on the wing was sound. In the forwards, Sutherland was easily the best, and he headed the pack from start to finish.

ST ANDREWS 0.8. (16) v. KAIA POI (6).

At the Show Grounds, St Andrew’s gave a more finished display than Kaiapoi and won by a fair margin. Although they worked hard Kaiapoi missed a number of chances by faulty play. Leadbetter drew first blood for St Andrew’s by scoring a try, which he converted, soon after the start of the game. The St Andrew's backs threw the ball about with confidence and had their opponents defending for the best part of the first half. Blackmore scored two tries for St Andrew’s, one of which was converted, and Huria kicked a penalty for Kaiapoi, making the score thirteen to three at half-time.

'ln the second session Kaiapoi went better, the forwards more than holding their own at times. For a while the game was even, up and down play being the order, with occasional bursts from both sides. Huria added to Kaiapoi’s score with a fine penalty goal. St Andrew's put in some nice movements and -from a passing rush Leadbetter outpaced the opposition to score in the corner. For the rest of the game neither side had any advantage, and when the final whistle went the score was unaltered.

For St..Andrew’s, Hilson gave a good display at full-back and saved his side on many occasions. Blackmore, in the three-quarter line, went nicely and combined well with Leadbetter, who put in some gbod runs. Nixon, a new man, gave a nippy display at half and was sound both on attack and defence. In' the forwards, Forsythe, Gardiner and Brown were noticeable throughout for their good work, while Corderv played cleverly at the side of the

Of the country team, Iluria, at full back, although a bit young, acquitted himself well, and his kicking was excellent. Lunn, who played for Boys’ High School last year, was the best of the backs, and did the lion’s share of the work. Green, at half-back, and Rinaldi also backed up well. Tn the forwards, Wootton and Papprill were the best. OLD COLLEGIANS (5) v. ALBION (3). A close and interesting game was played at St. Albans Park between Old Collegians and Albion. Albion were the first aggressors, but the Old Collegian forwards drove them back and had them on the defence for a time. Both sets of backs had some pretty passing rushes, but their efforts were nullified by solid tackling. Albion were first to score, a forward rush ending in Buckley diving over for an unconverted try. Old Collegians retaliated almost immediately. Bishop obtained the ball in midfield, and, outpacing the opposition, scored near the posts. Jackman converted. Half-time sounded soon afterwards, with the score unaltered. Play was of a very even nature in the second spell, first one side and then the other holding sway. Parkes, the Albion skipper, made a fine attempt to score from a passing rush, but he was pushed out just short of the line. There was no further score. For the winners. Dawson played a fair game at full-back, though he was inclined to wait for the bounce. Bishop was the best of the three-quarters. Big and fast, he infused plenty of dash into his play. Rundle was very solid at centre, and Hey wood, on the other wing, did all that was required of him in a workmanlike , manner. Cocks showed more initiative than his partner, Murray the latter being too uncertain in his handling, though his defence was good. Jackman went well at half. Tt- was hard to pick out any outstanding member of the pack. Led by Tothill, they toiled hard all through. Young, Maitland and Day were perhaps the pick. For the losers, W orsley. at full-back, played a great game, and saved his side on numerous occasions. ParkevS was the best of the three-quarter line. Austin appeared to lack experience. Preston was again the brains of the

side, while Mitchell gave a much improved display. Boon was very solid at half.

The forwards were disappointing, and did not display anything like their customary' dash. Raxworth.v, Jordan and Taylor were the pick.

MERIVALE-A (11) v. MERIVALE B (5). Merivale A play'ed their B team at St. Albans Park and won by 11 points to 5. Neither side went all out. but the game was not altogether devoid of interest. Llewelyln scored tries for the A's, one in each half, and this was later supplemented by a try by Brydon,

which was converted. The B's scored from a forward rush and the try was converted.

For the A’s, Stringer, at full-back, was very' safe, his kicking being powerful and his tackling sure. Llewellyn, on the wing, gained his two tries as the result of strong, elusive dashes. Ebert and Billens, the five-eighths, both went well, while Cameron whipped the ball away at every available opportunity. Brydon and Glenn worked hard throughout in the forwards

For the B’s, Hollander, at second five-eighths, was the outstanding back, while Collins, Wilkins and Gordon were the pick of the forwards.