FOUR STRONG TEAMS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 74, Issue 121, 25 May 1931, Page 5

FOUR STRONG TEAMS

RUGBY PROSPECTS BRIGHTER WANGANUI MATCHES OF SATURDAY REVIEWED OLD BOYS NARROWLY ACCOUNT FOR KAIERAU (By "CROSSBAR") That Itugby in Wanganui is to be charged with a very much keener competitive spirit which cannot help but produce a raised standard of play this season was confirmed by Saturday’s matches. There are four teams all within a point or two of each other. Old Boys rose to the occasion and defeated Kaierau by 11 points to nine in a match which will long be remembered. Technical Old Beys ami Pirates continued a winning course and the fortunes of the four clubs mentioned will be followed with a high degree of excitement as Saturday succeeds Saturday from now on. Old Boys are to be matched with Technical Old Boys next Saturday in what promises to be an even more interesting encounter than that which is reported below.

TO CHEERS OF CROWD OLD BOYS PLAY KAIERAU. A MATCH “OUT OF THE BOX.’’ There was every characteristic about the match between Old Boys and Kaierau to please the public. It is true that the end, an eleven to nine victory for Old Boys, was strikingly popular, but apart from that altogether the match itself was charged with an appealing interest from kick-off to final whistle. The issue was in doubt throughout. Each side scored three tires, ail well merited. Old Boys were able to convert one of theiis, and that gave them their margin of victory. From the very closeness of the scoring it may be easily imagined how brimful of incident the encounter really was. In fact it will go down into Wanganui Rugby history as one of the closest, cleanest and most sternly contested games ever played on Spriggens Park. How did Old Boys win? The question has been asked again and again since the match. Everybody anticipated a Kaierau victory. But the fact of the matter is Old Boys were as good a team as their opponents. Kaierau may have had the weight and the ability to do better in the pack, but Old Boys had a van that gave away very little and they had the more resourceful backs, particularly on defence. They tackled low and played a game of “no man standing” in the second spell that brought a refreshing zest to the Wanganui Rugby code. Kaierau’s play revealed a side strong in the pack and much more inspiring in the backs than any team the maroons have put in the field for years. The match was productive of a very pleasing answer to the criticism raised in these columns a week or so back. There were wingers on the field out to “give it a go”—Bullock-Douglas for Old Boys and, to a lesser extent, E. Morgan of Kaierau. The game should practically seal the inclusion of Bullock-Douglas for the representative left wing position and J. Morgan as first five-eighths. This lad has a Rugby brain, a rarity in these days when the code is practically in the melting pot. Tasker led Kaierau's van into Old Boys’ twenty-five, and although the defenders were given the benefit of a free kick they were Unable to score. W. Duncan. g;ot the ball away cleanly, the Kaierau inside backs, J. Mdrgan, Carter and North, working E. Morgan’s ■wing. The winger “gave it a go” and scored a fine try. J. Morgan’s kick was ineffective—Kaierau 3, Old Bovs 0.

I Lockett broke away and, challenged, he dropped the ball to toe. Quick as a flash, Duncan sent the maroon backs at it, North being collared on the line. Old Boys were lucky to come clear without losing points. Hooking cleanly Kaierau, as was anticipated, were using their rearguard and keeping the Old Boys’ defence properly tuned up. J. Morgan tried to goal from near the side line, the ball hitting a post and the bar and then bouncing infield—luckily for Old Boys! Charles and Tasker headed a Kaierau attacking movement which went almost to Old Boys’ line. Lockett got possession when the ball came clear, and passed to J. Morgan who caught the defenders napping by throwing the ball wide to North. The centre sent E. Morgan over unopposed. Carter’s kick failed—Kaierau 6, bld Boys 0. Old Boys at last raised their supporters’ hopes in a passing msh that covered three parts the length of the field. Adams, Bly th, Matson, Gibson and O’Brien participated, the winger being forced out deep m Kaierau’s twenty-five. The maroons never came •dear from their defending position and a clearing kick bounced in mid field with the maroon backs out of position. It gave Bullock-Douglas the chance he needed. A very quick pick-up and a determined run got him a try. Powell’s kick failed.—Old Boys 3, Kaierau 6. It was another case ot a winger “giving it a go.” Old Boys rose to the occasion again when Kaeriua allowed them to take advantage of lob passing. Gibson intercepted and a passing rush, worthy of the blues of old, got Matson a try. Gibson let Bullock-Douglas show his pace again, and passing the full-back, the winger still had the cvery-ready J. Morgan to contend with. Matson coming up inside was able to nullify the maroon tackler’s effort to save. He carried on as Morgan got the winger low. Bullock-Douglas' kick swerved in and crossed the bar—Ohl Boys 8, Kaierau G. Pandemonium reigned. Kaierau were determined to show their mottle again and a run by J. Mor gan had them almost over. Old Boys were lucky to get away with a force. Half-time came without further alteration in the score. Packs More Even. Old Boys held the maroons in the , opening of the second spell and penned them to defence. J. Morgan, and no , alone, seemed to be holding the Kaie rau goal intact. The two packs appear-1 ed to be on more equal terms at this | ’ stage than they had been at the start. . Kaierau came clear of their twenty-five/ as the result of a passing rush which was initiated by W. Duncan. Carter’ ;

made an opening and sent J. Morgan away. Neither the centre nor wing was up and the attack failed. Charles made a dash but an infringement prevented a score. From the subsequent scrum Duncan seemed able to scrape under neath the defending forwards to scor'a well merited try. J. Morgan’s kick failed.—Kaierau 9 Old Boys 8.

I With Old Boys but a point to the ; bad the game was charged with more than average interest. Kaierau seem I cd possessed of better strength forward at this period, but the defending red ! backs were game on defence and kept l Tasker and company at bay. At the end reds were rewarded when BullockDouglas gained ground with a run before passing to Brooker who scored. The kick was a failure.—Old Boys 11, Kaierau 9. When Kaierau went back to position. J. Morgan filled the base of the scrum role, Duncan having moved out* ! of place. The game was by no means over and it was easy to see by the way they moved to the throw-ins and scrums that Kaierau were determined to make a tremendous final effort in the concluding ten minutes of time. Three times in succession they were within scoring distance, only to bo forced back by penalties. Dunean went back to- the pivot position, when it was realised that Kaierau were not any better served when J. Morgan was there. Later, J. Morgan, presumably to avoid the attentions of Bly th, moved out to second five-eighths and North came in behind Duncan. The game moved up and down the field, neither side being able to finish properly. Kaierau struggled hard with the advantage of better hooking and kept their backs going even in the face of determined tackling. Again, Bullock-Douglas was let away and he had only Windleburn to pass. The maroon last line proved equal to the occasion, and an attack which raised the crowd almost to his teria came to grief at the corner flag, and although Old Boys were awarded a free kick for the ball being thrown into touch, the angle was too acute for them to profit. The final whistle blew with Kaierau in Old Boys’ twenty-live. A memorable match ended with a twopoint. mar-gin for Old Boys, just the difference between a try and a converted tryOld BoysH Kaierau 9 M r N. Reid was the referee. The teams were:— Old Boys (rod): Jones, Bullock-Doug las, Gibson, O’Brien, Matson, Blyth, Adams, Curtayne, Bird’, McLean, Powell, Brooker, Moffatt, Neilson, Matson. Kaierau (maroon): Windleburn, EMorgan, North, Moore, Carter, J. Mor gan, W. Duncan, Lockett, Finnan, Wilson, Pleasants, Thorburn, Firman. Charles, Tasker. HARD WORKED GREEN PACK

EFFORTS THAT FAILED There was little to enthuse over in the match between Technical Old Boys and Marist. Technical Old Boys, visitors by 17 points to nil, fully deserved their honour, though it must be admitted that they were but a shade of the side which held Kaierau to a draw a fortnight earlier. The best that can be said for i/.e greens is that they have the material wherewith to crcato a fair pack of forwards, but in the backs their play on Saturday had a cant towards individualism rather than team work. Almost right through the match they seemed to be playing a game of lightly taken chances. Every credit must be accorded them for making valiant efforts to reduce the opposition’s margin of superiority and the scores at the end of the game do not accurately gauge the honours due from a territorial aspect. The winners were compelled to defend just as often as Marist, but the greens failed to score more on account of chances thrown away than because of the ability of the other side as defenders. In a wiVd, the slips Marist made enabled Technical Old Boys to more easily keep them at bay. The first inspiring incident in the encounter was a pasing rush by the black and white backs. Peck sent the line away nicely, Roberts, Rt>d and Dennis carrying on. Weir was not up to take the pass from Dennis and the attack broke. Pidwell initiated two moves which showed the greens in a favourable light as attackers. In the first the backs handled to allow Narbey to register a kick which put the black and whites on defence. The second let Nelson through, and the defenders were lucky to find the ball rolling sufficiently to enable them to force. The green forwards pressed hard and Technical Old Boys were experiencing difficulty in moving clear from a defensive position. Narbey had two unsuccessful shots at goal. Ward challenged the green defence and was able to smother backs attempting to clear. Marist were nerved to a tense moment or so, with the opposition close to the line. Chadwick marked to relieve things. There followed a period of defensive play by the greens, Technical Old Boys making ragged attempts to get through. The defenders infringed in front of the goal and Durie piloted the ball over.—Technical Old Boys 3, Marist 0.

Marist Attacking White let Weir away. He sewerved and made a nice opening which was spolied by a pass to Reid that was too high. Marist changed the scene of action when Kruse challenged the last line of Technical Old Boys’ defence. A faul,ty clearing kick gave Nelson possesion. He endeavoured to use his speed to get round, and hung on a second too long, the attack being blocked dangerouslyj close to the line. Narbey made another effort to goal shortly afterwards, but was unsuccessful. From a sound position i : the green twenty-five, Peck sent hiS line away, Dennis making an opening to send Cameron over for a try. Durie’s kick failed.—Technical Old Boys 6, Marist. 0. This was the score at half-time. As the result of a forward movement, Technical Old Boys got close to the green line, Thopmson scoring as the result of a scramble. Durie’s kick was not successful.—Technical Old Boys 9. Marist U. Undaunted by the margin against them, Marist s> ung the play back into black and white territory, using their van to advantage. An infringement gave Chadwick a chance in front of the goal, but he appeared to take it too easily, the ball going well under the bar. A run by Dennis put the black and whites on the offensive again. After a run of give and take play, Dennis was able to make an opening which gave Weir a clear dun in. He had to run twenty-live yards. Weir goaled— Technical Old Boys 14, Marist Shortly afterwards Ward came clear of the ruck to score. Over eager Marist forwards gave Weir a non-chargc kick, which, however, failed to register the extra points.—Technical Old Bovs 17, Marist 0. The game ended shortly after without the scores being altered.—Technical Old Boys 17, Marist 0. Mr R. C. Hamilton was referee. The teams were:— Technical Old Boys (black and white): Ellis, Cameron, Dennis, Weir Reid, Roberts, Peek, Durie, Aichesoi/ Tasker, White, Stewart, Fowler, Ward Thompson. Marist (green). Chadwick, Casey, Narbey, Fennell, Cullinane, Maitland, Tauri, Frater, Smith, Phillips, Kruse, Crotty, Reynolds. PIRATES SUPERIOR defeat of eatana. For the greater part of tne first half and during a good portion of the second spell play was very even in the game between Pirates and Batana on the Haeecourse No. 4 ground, but during the time that the blacks were in the ascendant they piled on the points to such effect that they ran out winners . mar gi“ of 24 points to J. That was really not a fair indication of the merits of the two teams, though Pirates would probably have had a margin of close on double figures under any but the , most adverse circumstances. More than half the winners’ points were scored in the latter half of the second spell, after an injury to Worata, one of the Batana wingers, had taken the sting out of the Maoris’ attack. Half-time found the score 8 points to nil in favour of Pirates, Batana having held the blacks to this margin in spite of having the wind and sun against them. In the second spell Pirates were troubled a little by the sun at first but the wind dropped and they were at no disadvantage towards the finish. The teams were as follows: Pirates.—Lowe; Smart, Pbtbury, J. Williams, Gibbons; Plank, J. Duncan; Brown; Ennis, Friend, Francis, Cotterill, Agnew, Stanley, Tonks, Batana.—K. Bawhiti; We’rata A. Wail; Mcremere, K. Potaka, P. Potaka; Baukawa; Murphy; Uruangina, Paki' Bennett, W. Tete, Sullivan, Pairama, W hale. Pirates repulsed the initial Batana attack by marking, and for some time give-and-take play took place in Batana territory. After some ten minutes J. Duncan picked up iiom a loose scrum just outside the Batana twenty-five, swerved his way past several would-be tacklers, and dodged over the line to score a splendid try. Gibbons converted with a good kick and Pirates had a handy lead.—Pirates 5; Katana 0. The blacks were now into their stride i and trnnd mr-kvanicmtz. 1

itiated, only to prove fruitless through lack of backing up. Not to be denied, the Pirate forwards swarmed down o:. their opponents’ line, a dangerous situation right under the posts being relieved when Katana forced. Then Rawhiti was called upon to clear from another Pirate attack. Play settled for a while on the Ratana twenty-five, and

from a scrum in the vicinity came Pirates’ next score. The Katana wingforward came round too quickly and was penalised for offside, the result b( ing that Gibbons piloted the ball safely between the uprights with a splendid kick.—Pirates 8; Katana 0. In no way dismayed by the points piling up against them Katina set up a hot attack, forcing play past half way, but Pirates managed to clear when a scrum was awarded' for an infringe ment. Then the blacks’ back line swung into action, the ball being handled by all in turn but safe and certain tackling kept them at bay an J Katana worked play back towards halfway. Duncan figured in a sparkling run down the sideline but struck the corner flag. There was no further incident of note prior to half-time. In the Second Spell. With the sun against Pirates in the second spell the blacks were a trifle non-plussed, Katana keeping up the pressure for a period during which a try appeared imminent. Plank marked in front of the. post and the resultant kick relieved the situation somewhat, and finally Pirates managed to repel the invaders. Potbury figured in a bright run which carried play into the Katana, twenty-five, but shortly after wards a serum infringement enabled Katana to set up an attack. The visi tors had a chance to open their score when Pirates were penalised for off side, but I’. Bennett’s good kick lacked direction. Katana maintained the pressure and from a scrum on the line the ball came out to Wereta, who was over in a flash. K. Potaka failed to convert.—Pirates 8; Katana 3. Stung by the reverse Pirates kept up

’ a steady pressure and Ratana were driven back to their line, being compelled to force. Play hung in the Ra- • tana twenty-five and from a line-out > Smart made a good attempt to drop- ’ kick a goal, narrowly missing. ’ Ratana had a turn on the attack and a hefty kick resulted in Lowe, the 1 Pirate full-back, being called on to 3 find the line, and when the bail jir- 1 1 failed to reach its objective danger ' loomed ahead. Several of the Ratana 1 backs handled in turn and Werata. in ’ attempting to hurdle. Potbury, fell heavily and had to be removed per ■* stretcher. On the resumption he was ’ replaced by Taniou. The Ratana attack had now lost its sting and Pirates were enabled to carry ! the offensive into their opponents’ territory. From a line-out inside the Ratana twenty-five Duncan obtained pos- ’ session and scored in the corner. The ‘ kick was not successful. —Pirates 11: Katana 3. Pirates kept up a hot attack and several times Ratana were compelled to force. Finally all the Pirate back line swung into action and with half-a-dozen backing him up Duncan raced over in a good position. The kick succeeded.—Pirates 16; Katana 3. Pirates were not yet done with and from a forward struggle Plank secured and passed to Stanley, who made a • lot of ground and handed on to Wil Hams, the last-named scoring. Gibbon* added the major points.— Pirates 21; Katana 3. The final score ot tin match came when Potbury secured ami beat the disorganised Ratana defence to get over behind the posts. The kick was a failure. The final whistle sounded a little later with the score reading:— Pirates 24 Ratana 3 Mr C. Deere was tin' referee. FOR NEXT SATURDAY MATCHES AND GROUNDS The fixtures committee of the Metropolitan Union have arranged the foilowing allocation of grounds for next Saturday’s chibs matches: Senior Katana v. Kaierau (see note below). Technical Old Boys v. Old Roys, on Spriggens Park, nt 3 p.m. Pirates v. Marist, on Spriggens Park, nt 1.30 p.m. Junior A. Technical v. Aramoho, on Technical Colege Ground, at 3 p.m. Marist v. Pirates, Racecourse No. 1. at 3 p.m. College v. Kaierau. Kaierau win by default. Junior B County v. Old Boys, at Fordell, at 2.30 p.m. Techical Old Boys v. Wangaehu, at Wangaehu, at 2.30 p.n\. Ratana have the bye. Thirds Technical Old Boys B v. Kaierau, on J Racecourse No. 3, at 1,30 p.m.

Ratana \. Pirates (sec jote below). Technical OJd Boys A v. Marist, on Racecourse No. 2, at 1.30 p.m. Ohl Boys have the bye. Fourths Afarist v. Pirates, on Racecourse No. I, at 1.30 p.m. College 2 v. Technical A, no game. College 4 v. Technical B, no game. College 3, Kaierau, no game. Technical Old Boys will play KaiMau in a practice game only on the {acecourse. Fifth Kaierau v. College 6, no game. College 5 v. Technical A, no game. Technical B v. Pirates, on Technical 'oilego ground, at 1.30 p.m. Matches Against Ratana. It will be noted that in respect to wo matches in which Ratana have >een drawn (Kaierau v. Ratana seniors and Pirates v. Ratana juniors) the onimitteo has not allotted grounds, "he venue of these matchess will be lecided at to-morrow night ’s meeting f the management committee and will e announced in Wednesday morning’s ‘ Chronicle.”

HOW THE SENIORS STAND Technical 0.8 5 Old Boys ..... 4 Pirates .... .. 4 Kaicrau 3 Ratana .. 2 Marist 0