Varsity Forwards Bustle Old Boys In Open Game.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 19133, 28 July 1930, Page 14

Varsity Forwards Bustle Old Boys In Open Game.

LATTER STILL HAVE HALF POINT LEAD OVER CHRISTCHURCH, WHO BEAT ABBION.

VARSITY, by their determined play on Saturday, had a good opportunity of lowering the colours of Old Boys, but the luck of the game was with the latter, who emerged victors by 14 points to 3, a score which scarcely does Varsity credit in view of their display. With the scores even at half-time, there was every possibility of Varsity coming out on top, but Old Boys were more vigorous in the second spell and were rewarded with eleven more points.

Old Boys* win still leaves them half a point ahead of Christchurch in the competition table. The latter had to extend themselves to gain the verdict over Albion, who went down by four points to nil. Points for the competi tion now stand as follows: Old Boys 9£, Christchurch 9, Merivale B£, Albion 7, Varsity 6, Limvood 4, Sydenham 3, Technical l.

Varsity, who a fortnight previously had brought off a surprise defeat of Christchurch, were fairly confident of making a good showing when they went on to the field. Their confidence was justified, for they had the better of the first half, though Old Boys won more of the scrums and line-outs. The defence of Both teams was fair, but in the second spell it hardened up, and the last quarter of an hour saw a battle royal, mainly in Old Boys’ territory.

Many good opportunities were missed on both sides through faulty passing and fielding. It was not often that a passing bout went right out to the wings without some hitch. Old Boys were the more fortunate in this respect,

their backs being better combined and generally superior on attack. Varsity made up for this disadvantage by great work among the forwards, King leading the pack in many dangerous dribbling rushes which went half the length of the field before being stopped. The students’ pack showed an all-round superiority in both the tight and the loose. Old Boys failed to show up in the loose until the last quarter of an hour.

Through Innes being on the injured list for the last fortnight, the chance for temporary promotion to senior ranks has come to C. D. M’Phail, who has played very promisingly in the last two or three games. He has a fine style, something like that of Carleton, and airs a neat swerve with his dashing run. His try when he eluded two or three would-be tacklers on Saturday was a brilliant effort. Carleton, Dailey and Hay were steady and reliable players among the backs.

There were a few surprises in form among the Varsity rearguard. Loveridge struck one of his infrequent ondays, and his display on the wing was excellent. He was doubly hard to stop compared with his usual form. Calder also played above himself in some neat cut-ins and general play. Williams did not have many opportunities, but was in better form than M’Donald, the winger. Bean was better than usual, and Bennett was a sound defender behind the scrum. Henderson, the fullback, played more confidently in the face of opposing rushes and cleared smartly.

Pease was going well in the Varsity pack when he received an injury which caused his retirement. King, as usual, was a dashing wing-forward, and up to his usual fine form, continually worrying the Old Boys’ inside backs and starting the Varsity rearguard on attack. Burrell and Wells were others who played well in a good pack of bustlers.

Wade played a good, sound game in the Old Boys’ pack, and was frequently on the ball in the loose. Porterfield was there, too, but was often playing offside. Chamberlain, at the back of the scrum, was not sighted as much as usual.

CHRISTCHURCH BEAT ALBION. Slight disorganisation has to be expected when club teams have been taxed of their best players for national engagements and other causes, and this was the case in the Christ-church-Albion encounter at Rugby Park. Christchurch were without Hart and Stewart, who were at Auckland, while Meikle was another absentee. Albion were also below their usual strength, but when allowance is made for these circumstances there is still just ground for saying that the display of the teams was far from being acceptable to the majority of spectators who were there. Patchy forward work and back play that more than once brought groans from the onlookers made the game rather a burden to watch. It was won for Christchurch by Fulton who kicked a great goal from the field about half way through the first spell. There was no other scoring. Fulton gave a good display at full-back and his powerful and accurate line-kicking saved the day for Christchurch on a number of occasions in the second spell.

Albion played with the fewer faults in the second spell, and Christchurch for the most part were defending. There were one or two good rushes by the Christchurch forwards in which Manchester showed up above the others, but the tackling of the Albion backs, which was one of the few good features of the game, prevented them

from getting across. Roberts at fullback on the day played soundly. No one got past him, and his kicking was good. M’Auliffe, who replaced Meikle at centre for Christchurch, was perhaps the most prominent individual player on the field. He showed plenty of speed in dashes for the line, and, had he been supported, there might have been a much higher score to the credit

of Christchurch. Robilliard played a fair game, but saw very little of the ball during the second spell. Marshall was weak at second five-eighths, his passing being extremely erratic. They were generally low, and M’Auliffe did remarkably well in taking as many as he did. Thompson, for Albion, went away in one or two fine runs down the wing, but he too lacked support. The attacking movements of both sets of backs were not inspiring and usually ended abruptly through handling errors. Sydenham v. Technical. It was impossible to raise a thrill over the Sydenham-Technical match, played on the south ground at Lancaster Park, when the former won by 13 points to 3. Tries for the winners were scored by W. Brown and C. Greatbatch, K. Brown kicked a penalty goal, and G. Brown registered a splendid field goal. Collier got Technical s only points, scoring a good try. As a game the match was disappointing. Sydenham had the upper hand and should have added more points to their score, but the poor passing when near the goal-line robbed them of the “extras.” The Sydenham forwards, were superior in the loose work, and showed a better knowledge of combination when on defence. The most outstanding player on the ground was T. Hay, who took S. Bam* ford’s place at full-back for Technical. He played a splendid game, always being ready for the ball, and tackling solidly. Frequently he would kick high and follow up, getting to the opposition as the ball came down. He is a most promising youngster. B. Schou and M. Collier can always bo relied on to work hard for Technical. For Sydenham, S. G. Faulkiner was not sound, and threw away two tries early in the game, through holding on. G. Brown was good at full-back, and J. Young and B. Lapslie kept tho backs moving, the former also being sound on defence. Greatbatch brothers and K. Brown were always to the fore in the forwards. « MERIVALE DEFEAT LINWOOD. Merivale won from Lin wood by 21 to 9. The score was indicative of the strength of the teams, for while Linwood held their opponents in the forwards, the attacking propensities of the Merivale backs were immensely superior. * Merivale did not appear to be taking the game very seriously in the first half, but in the second they bestirred themselves, and several pretty tries were the result. Linwood have an excellent pack, though they are not on the heavy side. They have plenty of forwards who are fit and on the ball all the time. The trouble with them was that, when they hooked the ball, the backs did not appear to have the slightest idea of what to do with it. The passes in the inside backs were bad, and the Merivale side were just as well off when they lost the ball from the scrum as when they won it. It seemed a great pity that the efforts of the Linwood forwards, who did really great work at times, should count for nothing, owing to the lack of finishing ability of the backs. Price, Quaid, Entwhistle and White did excellent work for Linwood in the forwards The only Linwood back worthy of honourable mention is Edmonds, the full-back. Saturday after Saturday he turns c«ut and plays an absolutely reliable game in that position. His tackCONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE.