Rugby Teams Play Trial Match at Lancaster Park.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18508, 7 July 1928, Page 5

Rugby Teams Play Trial Match at Lancaster Park.

WfTH a view lo giving Ihc selectors a further opportunity of seeing Hie candidates for the Canterbury Rugby team in action, a trial match between Probables and Possibles was played at Lancaster Park this"afternoon. The weather was line and there was a large attendance of spectators.

The teams were:—. Possibles—C. P. Chesley. M. F. CaMer. K. Ogier. T. Steel. W. R. Teape. B. Mar shall, J. H. F. Sugden, H. L. Stephenson, J. Kirkland. R. Anderson. J. Man Chester. J. Manihera, J. Pickering, S. Baird. L. Maginness.

Probables—J. Edmonds, G. F. Hart, C. Oliver, X. Dorreen, D. G. Grant, D. Hay. R. Dunbier, A. I. Cottrell, F. Clark, A. V. Montgomery. T. Lawson. J. B. Jackson. Tom Robinson, Toby Robinson.

As a mark of respect to the memory of the late Mr C. R. Murray, who captained Canterburv when they beat the Springboks in 1921, players ”-ore black armlets.

The standard of football shown was, on the whole, fairly good, and for a trial game the match was quite interesting. The teams were fairly evenly matched, though, on the whole, the Probables had the better of the game. There was not much to pick and choose between the opposing packs, but the Probables backs were nippier and faster than the Possibles rearguard, and were also sounder on defence.

Possibles kicked off against the wind, and a kick by Page saw play settle at half-way. till a free kick put the Possibles on the attack. .Steel had a good shot from a penalty far out, but just missed, and Grant cleared. The Probables were securing from the scrum, but till Page made a great run to five yards oft the line the back movements always broke down. Possibles were pressed, but Sugden fed his backs, and a great run saw Ogier send Steel away at half-way. The big winger ran beau ft fully, and humped over at the corner, through Hay’s tackle, for a great try. Steel failed to convert. Possibles 3, Probables 0. A free kick put the Probables on the attack, and from a scrum

the ball went to C. Oliver, who beat Chesley with a pretty dummv, and scored a nice trv. which Edmonds faied to convert. The. Possibles pressed scored a nice trv. which Edmonds failed

after short kicks by Ogier and Steel. 1 >orreen provided the next thrill. Snapping up a bad pass, he beat man after man. swerving through the whole team to score a brilliant try, Edmonds converting. Probables 8, Possibles 3. Steel went off at this stage, Goodman going

The Possibles forwards rushed back to the attack, and Calder started a good rush, which offside play spoilt. A kick by Hart pressed the Possibles, and Goodman kicked back. Hay snapped it up and potted a great goal from an awkward angle. Probables 12, Possibles 3.

Toby Robinson broke through on resuming. but the bounce of the ball beat him when a try was likely. After a dangerous dash by Teape, Page ran round the blind from a scrum, but spoilt a bright burst by sending Dorreen a bad pass. A second later Page sent to I lav. to Grant, who put in a ground-gaining run to send Oliver well over. Edmcv.ds’s kick just failing. Probabies la. Possibles 3. Teape, with a short dash. and Pickering, with great breaks through, gave Possibles chances which loose passing mulled, and Montgomery and Cottrell cleared v ell. and Dorreen gained applause by getting his kick in after Calder collared him hard. Then from a half-way scrum Page gave to Hay, o Dorreen. who put in a good run to send to Lawson, and back to Hay, who got over wide out for a good trv Edmonds failing with the kick. Probables IS. Possibles 3. The Possibles backs started a rush, but Tom Robinson intercepted and broke through, to pass to his brother, who went away with two men in attendance, but Chesley bustled them, and a knock-on resulted. At this point Sugden was injured and Cox replaced him. From a close penalty Stephenson failed to goal for Possibles. Half-time sounded with the score: — Probables IS, Possibles 3. SECOND SPELL. Chesley went to the Possibles right wing, and Goodman went to full-back. After a good rush which. Cox started, Chesley put the Possibles on attack with a splendid kick. Lawson went to the i ack rank of the Probables scrum. Toby Robinson locking. Scrappy play followed, till Stephenson intercept-

ed one of Pace’s passes, and ran over unopposed, Chesley barely missing a hard kick. Probables 18. Possibles 0. Page worked the “dummy” prettily to Dorreen, but the winger put his foot out. Pickering headed a good clearing rush bv the Possibles forwards. Stephenson intercepted again, but he was off-side, and the penalty saved the Probables. ("ox cut through ai.d things looked dangerous for Probables, but their forwards took advantage of a mulled pass to battle back to neutral territory. Possibles could not home the slashing attacks which their forwards started, and the Probables worked back W <he attack with long kicks. Then a tush saw Dorreen away, but Kirkland threw the winger out, and a free kick relieved the Possibles. Montgomery broke through in a powerful rush, which solid tackling averted, and Cox gained applause with a bright clearnnee, onlv for Page to come through with the ball at. his toe. Ogier barelv taved time, kicking over dead- 4

ball line. Ogier broke away on his own and sent a good but unaccepted pass to a following forward, the movement breaking down. A rush saw the ball go along the Possibles backs to Chesley. The wing put in a great run, beating two men to send Kirkland easily over under the posts, Chesley con-

verting. Probables IS, Possibles 11. Tom Robinson retaliated by smashing his wav into the open ten yards from the coveted line, but Ogier jumped on his neck to some purpose. A forcedown relieved the Possibles.

Scrambling play saw' Page snatch from a ruck and dash for the line with Ollivier and Dorreen outside him. A try looked almost certain but the winger was thrown out. The Probables backs staged another rush. Hart having an unsuccessful pot at goal. Goodman. the Possibles full-back, changed the aspect of the game by clever defensive play. He kicked for the open with the Possibles team in full cry. Play was carried to the Probables twenty-five, and here the. Probables were penalised, Chesley kicking a good goal. Probables IS, Possibles 14. A rush by the Probables forwards saw' Toby Robinson bustle Goodman. The full-back threw the ball back wildly and Hart rushed up to fall on the ball. Goodman failed to convert. Probables 21, Possibles 14. From a scramble near the Possibles

twenty-five Grant secured. He started off with a swerving run and. the Possibles seeming loth to tackle him, went right through the team to score beneath the posts. The try was unconverted. The game ended immediately with the scores:— PROBABLES 24 POSSIBLES 11 Referee: Mr F. Sinclair. NOTES ON THE GAME. Jack Steel received a "'•eat round of applause when he scored the first try tor Possibles. It was a great effort and showed that .Steel is still a very fine scoring three-quarter. Oliver opened the score for Probables with a try which he scored in characteristic style. lie sold the “dtimmy” beautifully and cut through unopposed. Jack Steel was unfortunate in having to retire injured early in the game. Otherwise, judging by the form he showed for the short period he was on the field, he might have got into the Canterbury team. Dorreen was very dashing on attack and early in the game he scored one splendid try, putting in a good run which beat the opposition badly. Toby Robinson was very prominent in the loose for Probables, and J. Pickering was well to the fore for Possibles. The game in the first spell was not a brilliant exhibition of football, but there were several bright incidents which helped to make it interesting. In the second spell Cheslej-, who had played full back in the first half, was tried out on the wing for Possibles. lie made a great opening when Kirkland scored for Possibles in. the second half. D. G. Grant went satisfactorily at second five-eighths for Probables. He made several good runs. M. L. Page was nippy behind the Probables pack. He got the ball away quickly and cleanly from the scrum. At first there appeared to be a lacking of understanding between him and Hay, but they improved as the game progressed. J. Edmonds was fairly safe at full back for Prabables, but he was not brilliant. Failing Harris, who was unable to play to-day on account of injuries, Chesley looks the likeliest man tor the full back position for Canterbury. G. Cox. who replaced Sugden in the first spell, showed good form behind the Possibles pack. Dorreen showed much of his true form. His tackling was sound, and he was always dangerous on attack. Calder was not impressive on the wing for Possibles. Dorreen had him effectually bottled up. COOKE SCORES TRY FOR WAIRARAPA. ROACHE POTS GOAL IN STRAGGLING GAME. (Special to the “Star.”) MASTERTOX. July 7 ; Wairarapa and Hawke’s BaV met at Masterton this afternoon in fine ; weather and on a good vrounri Hawke s Bay kicked off against wind and sun. I'rom a pass by Hart, Gundy .

obtained and kicked. The Hawke’s Ray back missed, and Cooke shot through with a great run. Wairarapa swarmed round, and the prospects for a score were good, but the Bay smothered tip. Fairbrother and Willoughby

did good work in keeping up the attack, but a free kick relieved the Bay. Wairarapa kept up the attack, and another free kick relieved the Bay. Another free kick to the Bay was followed by a passing rush by the Wairarapa backs, which gained consider able ground. Parker intercepted, and passed to Cundy, who dashed through for a considerable distance, to pass to Cooke, who got over. Cundv failed. Wairarapa 3, Hawke’s Bay 0. W airarapa had had all the best of the play so far. Pla3 r centred for a time, but Ilawke’s Bay were playing better together. Off-side play saw the game again in the visitors’ territory. Play was uninteresting for a time. The next notable incident was a dash by the Bay backs, in which Huxtable was prominent. The football was straggly, and confined mostly to the forwards. The Wairarapa backs broke away, but Cundy hung on too long. Another Wairarapa. passing rush was brought to an end by sound collaring. A free kick at goal by Yates (Bay) and a pot by Bennett were the next incidents in an otherwise uninteresting game After a further straggling display Roache potted a goal from forty yards. Half-time score:— Wairarapa 7, Hawke’s Bay 0. In the second spell the first decent piece of play came when Bay backs broke through and Blake carried play to the Wairarapa twenty-five by a good run and cut in, passing infield for the ball to be taken near the Wairarapa line. Wairarapa eventually obtained relief by a free kick. Setford repelled an attack with a splendid rush, and placed Wairarapa on the defence again. Two force downs were accepted by W’airarapa. Then a dash through by Cooke saw Parker drop a pass. Play was more interesting, and Bay was playing better football, and were the more aggressive. Twice they were nearly over as the result of passing rushes. After desultory play Wairarapa attacked, and for some minutes the ball was slung about in lively manner, both sides participating. Irvine broke away with a great rush, and, the ball coining to Jury, he dived over. Cundy failed with the kick. Then the referee ordered Reed (W’airarapa) and J. Gemmell (Hawke’s Bay) off following on some hot work among the forwards. Wairarapa kept up the attack, and eventually Cundy made a splendid run to score. lie failed with the kick.

SCRIMSHAW PRAISED BY AFRICAN CRITIC. COMPARISONS MADE WITH 1924 TEAM. Mr F. M. Howard, a well-known Press correspondent of the “Cape Town Times,” who is travelling with the All Black team, writing in the “Cape Times” to hand concerning the All Blacks-Western Province match, states that in Scrimshaw the 1928 All Blacks appeared to him to possess a far better man than was C. G. Porter and more akin to J. IT. Parker of that same side. Mr Howard says: “Scrimshaw, like several of the forwards, is as fast as any back of this side. Parker was the fastest man of the 1924 team over a distance of ground. The New Zealanders, if they possess no Cooke or Jimmy Mill, seem to me to carry out the dominating idea in the New Zealand back movement of breaking through in the centre to the same degree as

did the 1924 team. Because they have, as far as I can gather at present, no such electrifying thruster as Cooke, the 1928 All Blacks will not prove such amazing try-getters as their predecessors- Nevertheless, in Nicholls, M’Gregor and Lucas they have exceptionally straight runners, men of splendid judgment, and quick thinkers who can be relied upon to give their partners the greatest available manoeuvring space. The wings are fast, if not abnormally so, and with these All Blacks the wing is seldom, if ever, left high and drv. “At full-back the 1928 All Blacks do not appear to have any one as remark- ; able as was George Nepia, a mighty tackier and an equally mighty kicker. Tf this present side are not likely to be as wonderfully served nor to fee 1 as perfectly secure as did the 1924 team this is not to decry Lilburne, but it is no enviable position for any man to find himself in, that of the successor to such a wonderful back as the great Nepia.” Mr Howard saw the 1924 All Blacks play at Home.