EYES ON THE RUGBY FIELD

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 74, Issue 147, 24 June 1931, Page 4

EYES ON THE RUGBY FIELD

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"CROSS-BA R")

The Great Referee has called “Time!” for Frank Crotty, and another of the stalwart baud who have blazoned the name of Rugby high on the ladder of sport in this Dominion has crossed the last Goal Line. He leaves behind him a memory that will be cherished for long years. Frank was the typical sportsman, alike in. victory as in defeat. His was the happy nature that saw the brightness of life and the best qualities of his fellowmen. He played for the game and for the team. On the field and off Frank Crotty was what every man in sport should wish to be. The most forceful impression left after last Saturday ’s Rugby in Wanganui was that Kaierau and Pirates would fight out the senior championship. That conclusion was arived at after making due allowance for the fact that both these teams were not tested by opposition of any great calibre. Neither Old Boys nor Marist rose to any prominence and both matches were one-sided. Tn Kaierau case possession of the ball was the big factor. In scrum work the maroons put up a better performance than in any other match this season. Whether that was on account of better play on their part or whether it was because of the weak opposition is a matter for conjecture. The writer is inclined to the belief that Kaierau have improved. In their first match of the season, that against Pirates, Kaierau were easily the most impressive team in the competition. It was with a hote of surprise that the public witnessed the maroons’ downfall a week later when they were only able to draw with Technical Old Boys. In that match there was no room for doubt as to why the firstmatch form was not mustered in the Kaierau ranks. Technical Old Boys had the pack to counter it. A heavy Kaierau van was unable to dominate possession and the criticism that they had slipped in form was justified. Tn their third match of the season Kaierau met Old Boys and further surprise was created when the maroons suffered defeat. In this match there was a different trend of play and the point to be stressed is that Kaierau dominated the hooking. Against Technical Old Boys they failed in that respect owing to the ability of the lighter men to get down lower and come through underneath, as it were, with the ball at toe. When they met Marist in the first round Kaierau were defeated ln this instance it was a case of the side with the better pack of forwards winning the day. Notes on this match reveal that the maroons would not go down to the green forward rushes and therein lay the cause of defeat. The play certainly left the impression that the Kaierau pack went out with the idea that any sort of form was all that was required to win and left the field in a sorry frame of mind for not having livened earlier. This resurrection of earlier form may seem wearisome to many, but there is something to be learnt from it. The points to be noted are these: Kaierau won their first match because of a superior van; they drew the second because that van was beaten for the ball by effective play with the feet in coming through the scrum; they lost the third match for the reason that Old Boys effectively countered good hooking by low tackling at a point in the line where that was most vital —the first five-eighths; they lost the next maten because the Marist forwards played very nearly the same game as Technical Old Boys did and dominated the ball in those dangerous loose rushes to which Kaierau would not go down. Entering the second round Kaierau met a much weaker Technical Old Boys side and it is a matter of history now that it was purely game defence which prevented a bigger maroon victory than that revealed in scores of seven to six. Looking back over these matches what logical conclusion can be arrived at. First that the stumbling block to most teams has been the Kaierau van. Where that was effectively countered the opposing team had just a little more than a fifty-fifty chance of winning. Where it was not accounted for the one and only chance open to the opposition was to tackle low, preferably at the first five-eighths, and try to profit by getting possession when the maroon chain broke. This brings the conviction that when Kaierau fell to Old Boys in the first round the important factor was Harry Blyth’s bottling up of Jack Morgan at first five-eighths. The next was game tackling and game frustration of forward rushes to counter the maroon van. On Saturday all three phases of defence were conspicuous by their absence in Old Boys’ play. They lacked the gameness of Technical Old Boys in the second round, they fialed to keep North in hand at first-five-eighths. Add to that weaknesses in handling and kicking and, perhaps most important of all, a stronger maroon back line and you have the real cause of Old Boys’ downfall. When they could not hook the ball their only chance was to go low. Leading up from that one comes to the conclusion that Kaierau in playing Jack Morgan at first five-eighths had him out of position. His stodginess there enabled Old Boys to rob the other side of the benefit of good hooking. By bringing North in to that position and putting Jack out one place there has been brought about a much happier combination. Morgan has the time to move and North the quickness off the mark to reap good results from effective hooking. With Mutiiner, a junior player, ii the centre position, the Kaierau backline appears stronger than it haft been for Borne years. Moore played well on the wing and had a great deal more to do than E. Morgan on the opposite side of the field. Duncan improves his play each Saturday, but in remembering his form in the match under review one must not forget that he was shielded by the better pack of forwards. Simpson’s correct position is full back. He has been schooled in that role now for a long period and it is unfair to him and to the code to shift him up. In the pack Kaierau played in most convincing fashion. Charles and Tasker hooked very cleanly when it was demanded of them. Old Boys got the ball from the first two or three scrums, but this served to demonstrate how tho game would go if possession came their way repeatedly. Kaierau commenced to hook after the first three Old Boys’ rearguard actions, and from then on there was only one team in it for, with

one or two notable exceptions the Old Boys’ back line would not tackle. Franklin (full back), Blyth (half), and Gibson (centre) were the three who bore the brunt of the defence. Bul-lock-Douglas still impresses as a good attacking wing. His play always seems 'to beat his man, but he was not sound on defence on the day’s play. Neither was Spriggens. He shows plenty of pace, but lacks the sense of anticipation necessary in a wing. Wills did not effect the amount of spoiling work in the maroon backs he is usually capable of. North saw to thu and Jack Morgan was playing fully up to form. Ho is still inclined to selfishness as an attacking back and needs to watch that phase of play to improve. His sense of anticipation was a great factor as usual and landed a try. Curtayno was not happy as first live-eighths. He played better as rover. It is difficult to see who Old Boys could put in his place. Harry Blyth would have made a difference there against Kaierau, there is nothing surer, but to replace him at the base of the scrum presents a big problem. Harry is playing good football this year and is a useful man in that he can play in three positions with credit, half, first fiveeighths and full-back.

Lockett put plenty of vim into his play on Saturday. It is a pity that he does not handle more accurately. He never shirks the hard work and is an inspiration to his team to finish in the good old Kaierau way. Glenn was a useful man for Kaierau in the pack. That is his correct position. His capabilities in handling the ball are not sufficient to maintain his claims to a place in the backs.

Gibson, Old Boys’ centre, together with Shaw, combined in some very neat passing rushes in the first spell, raising the hopes of the crowd that the game would be productive of Rugby of the open type. Later on, however, when there was no ball for them to handle in clean passing rushes, Gibson’s lot was one of hard defence. It was noticeable that he fed his wings quite easily and cleanly in those attacking movements referred to, giving the lie to criticism that he was unable to get rid of the ball at the psychological moment. Shawplayed well at the start, maintaining his reputation as an attacking back, but he still lacks rigidity on defence, and his handling in the later portion of the game was not up to his best.

To sum up —Old Boys, beaten for the ball in the scrums and facing a decidedly improved Kaierau back line, could not hope to win without low tackling. When that was not forthcoming every spectator could have anticipated the final result almost in actual points. Kaierau’s form of Saturday raises them still higher in public regard as the probable champions.

None but the most optimistic could have foreseen, half-way through the second spell of the match at Katana, that Technical Old Boys would emerge with a margin of three points in their favour against Katana, for at that stage the home team had six points to their credit and the visitors had not opened their scoring account. Yet the “magpies” produced some excellent movements which eventually permitted Dennis, their speedy centre three-quarter, to notch nine points in short time, victory being snatched in the last few minutes of the game.

Play throughout was of such a nature that the interest of spectators was maintained from the kick-off until the final whistle went, and though it was perhaps a bit harder than Technical Old Boys have been accustomed to, the referee always had players under his control. That hard is too often taken for rough play is a fact that is realised by many who have seen the different types of play adopted by the various senior teams in the competition.

Technical Old Boys deserved their win, even though all the points scored by the winners came from Dennis, and that his boot was responsible for six of the nine points obtained by Technical Old Boys furnishes further evidence of the value of a goal kicker. His pace enabled him to place Technical Old Boys in a scoring position on more than one occasion, and only deter mined tackling krpt them out. The try Dennis scored was fully earned, and it was fortunate indeed that he managed to touch down as near the posts as he did, for his converting kick might not have been so successful from an angle. Accuracy in kicking, in spite of his excellent field goal, is not so strong a point as one would like to see in this promising player. At full-back O’Keeffe had a lot of work to do in the first spell and emerged with credit. Of the two wings, Briscoe and Renz, the former was observed to be sound on de-

fence and strong on attack, with Renz also showing up well. The absence of Delves meant a good deal to Technical Old Boys, but in the five-eighth line Roberts and Reid were responsible for good work, while at half-back Peek, behind a pack that did not have enough weight to get a fair share of the ball,

nevertheless put up a satisfactory performance. L. Stewart might have been able to do more in the pack than at wing-forwanl, while among the forwards Whyte, Bassett, Atchison and Tasker got through a lot of work. Injuries to Dennis during the latter stages of the game may entail a spell for a couple of Saturdays. The Katana forwards are a virile lot and can generally hold their own for the greater portion of the game, but they have a habit of losing their dash towards the finish, and it is during this short period that their opponents arc able to secure the advantage. This was the experience on Saturday. There are a couple who stand out in the pack, Bennett and Tete have plenty of experience to stand to them, but Tete was noticed on Saturday putting unnecessary vigour into his efforts and was soon cautioned by the referee. Taiaroa again shone at full-back, while the vote ran, S. Paki, was always in the pic ture on the wing. Mercmcrc again showed a lot of pace, and at, half Tamou was promising. T’airama pleased in the wing-forward position. Marist were such a shadow of what they were expected to be that Pirates’ form on Saturday rose, to something worth while. The tackling of the greens was lamentably weak. Evon those players who are usually up to form in this respect seemed to lack the. energy to got their m<*n low. The

| overwhelming defeat was the only reI suit that could bo expected. Plank 1 was never tackled until Harrison was i moved up, and even Narbcy miss<\. his ' man repeatedly. ' Tn the set scrums the black hookers I were definitely superio. in the first j spell. The greens got, away with a ■ certain amount of screwing in the i second session and, in consequence, | were able to show up in dribbling rushes. These called upon the blacks for defensi e measures ami they were | able to stand up to it properly. Lowe, i on the last line of defence, did not I have; a great deal to do, but ho was game enough in going up to stem the tide on those occasions when Bill Kruse was leading his van into the Pirates’ twenty-five. It will be something of a problem for the Pirate selectors to find a place for Gibbons in the black backs when Ihe returns to fitness. The w’holo line played well on Saturday. It would have been lamentable on their part had they not shown good form, seeing that the oppposition was very languid. Potbury continues to play well or the wing, and is taking a leaf from Jimmie Williams’ book and exploiting the cross-kick. Smart seems to havo found his right place at centre, •’./here his speod, handling and kicking count for much. A sense of anticipation should be cultivated. Williams dayed an outstanding game on the wing and Wakeling performed well as second five-eighths. Ho is a player who will rise to greater prominence in that position. Plank’s quickness off the mark had Marist nonplussed in the first spell. Behind the black pack J. Duncan had most of his play made for him. At times he was inclined to pass wildly. The duty of a half-back is to connect with his five-eighths, and a smarter opposition would have exploited the openings made when Wakeling, and not Plank, was called upon to retrieve the black pivot’s passes once or twice in the match under review. In the forwards the blacks went better in this match than in any during tho season. They got down to it low and put their -weight into the scrum tn concerted fashion. Where will Gibbons find a place? The talk in tin; black ranks hovers round an experiment to play four three-quarters. The team might well adopt that policy. That Rugby tactician Mark Nicholls beat Hutt with a four-three-quarter lino on Saturday. There was one aim in the Ketone pack and that w r as to get the ball to their backs. Tho rover was pulled away from the scrum and the backs strengthened accordingly. It was that type of play which won the day for Petone. Mark has no time for the wing-forward. A pertinent query while on this subject: Where does Gay Lockett play those days*—Up, as a good wing forward should, or is he a back ? When Marist rearranged their backs in Saturday’s match they were more impressive at coping with the black rearguard. Harrison would doubtless have done well at full-back, but his tackling capabilities were sorely needed further in. Matson, who played on tho wing, and finally went to full-back, ap; eared out of position in both places. He was a game enough tackler, but his inside backs were letting him down. There was not the co-operation between Narbey and Phillips that there should have been. Pidwell was not quick enough behind the scrum. In the pack Kruse and Smith worked hard. I am inclined to think James would have made a difference despite all the rubs he has been getting about not putting his weight into the tight. Phillips played a good game in tho pack. To sum up: The game was productive of bright play by one team. There was weakness in handling at times, particularly by Marist and fairly often by Pirates. Tho blacks will need all their mettle yet to hold that top rung of the ladder. To-day’s inter-school match on Spriggens Park is likely to draw a record crowd. There Is nothing so refreshing in these modern days of Rugby as to see two school teams trained to the type of play which the spectator loves best. The teams in to-day’s contest will line out as follows: i .! Technical College. | BluQ|& White I J. Wishart H. Pargeter O. Rogers J. Simpson H. Gregory R. Metekingi K. M ain waring i C. Hutchinson Hildebrandt J. Trevor B. McGlynn Vosalcigi G. Paul A. Main waring B. Jackson % - Cui email (mi) Harrison jWillock (ma) Heenan Kirkcaldie (ma) Dawson (ma) Williams (ma) Martin Wil luck (ma) Coleman (ma) Govcr Smith Polson Moore Christie. i qooipg OTBlfionOQ I I I ' Joe \l Auliffe, the ex-Kaicrau fiveeighths, is playing good Rugby as first live-eighths for Christchurch. In Saturday’s match he potted a goal which was described by a critiyj who saw it as being a beauty. It, is worthy of note '.hat no less than four field goals were registered in Christchurch play on that day. McAuliffe s reported to hive , played exceptionally well at first five eighth and his style suited the type of game. Here is a paragraph worthy of the 1 attention of Wanganui Rugby followers; “Campbell, the full-back, bad Fulton’s reputation to live up to and hr made a good fist of it.” The ex-Wan-ganui and Old Boys ’ custodian has been playing well tn Christchurch and represents another case of a Wanganui player rising to brilliance in a new environment. Ileazlewood, the Wellington and Otago full back, lias been transferred io Auckland.