WANGANUI RUGBY

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 75, Issue 180, 2 August 1932, Page 4

WANGANUI RUGBY

FATE OF SENIOR CUP MANY COLOURS SHOWING WHO WILL BE CHAMPIONS? (By ‘' Cross-Bar. ”) There is much speculation in Wanganui as to what team will win the Senior Rugby Cup. The third and final round is just under way and. there are four teams battling, each with a certain amount of hope —Kaierau, Old Boys, Pirates and Technical Old Boys. It is interesting to regard, their respective chances. Naturally, the team at present in the lead, Kaierau, has bright prospects, but it has three hard matches ahead. Old Boys, lying second on the ladder, are also in a favourable position, and the return of Bullock-Douglas from his tour with the All Blacks in Australia, will give the team a certain amount of confidence. Pirates, while they have come back to form and are serious contenders for the championship have a more difficult task in front of them to make the necessary rise, in that the season’s honour cannot be achieved by their own play. Some other team, or teams, must do a bit of spoiling first. Technical Old Boys are in much tho same position. Good form on their own part will be one factor, but good form in camps of another colour (or perhaps bad form) will be necessary to push theiu up. This is the position as each club sees it: Kaierau: At present have 16 points and are at the head of the ladder. They have to play Pirates, Old Boys and Technical Old Boys and a win in each match will put them where they long to be, at the head of the ladder with 22 points, A loss against Pirates next Saturday will not affect their position at the moment. It will lift Pirates to 15 points, level with Old Boys, while Kaierau will remain stationary at 16. By overcoming Old Boys and Technical Old Boys after that Kaierau will still win tho championship. Defeat against Old Boys, however, in addition to that against Pirates, will probably prove Kaierau’s undoing unless Technical Old Boys and Marist come to light as spoilers. So the position, as far as Kaierau is concerned, is, they must be beaten once and Old Boys must win all matches before the maroons lose the cup. Old Boys: At present this team has 15 points and lies second on the ladder. It has a bye next Saturday so cannot hope to improve its position. Matches lying ahead for it are: v. Kaierau, v. Marist, v. Technical Old Boys. A loss in one of them will be fatal unless Kaierau go down to both Pirates and Technical Old Boys. In brief, Old Boys will win th© championship if they vin every match from this out, because by so doing they will lower Kaierau by two.

Pirates: Have 13 points and have to meet Kaierau, Technical Old Boys and Marist. If they win all three matches they will reach 19 and will leave Kaierau at 20, provided the maroons win two out of three. So it can bo seen that Pirates will not be able to win laurels without another club’s assistance. If Kaierau is defeated twice and Old Boys once, Pirates will play off with Old Boys provided the blacks win all their matches.

Technical Old Boys: This team lies fourth on the ladder with 12 points and has four matches to play—v. Kaierau, v. Marist, v. Old Boys, v. Pirates. That will give them a chance to compile 20 points, which will be sufficient to reach a play off with Kaierau. If Kaierau can only draw with the three sides opposing them and Technical Old Boys can defeat three teams and take a draw with the maroons, then there will bo a play-off between Kaierau and Technical Old Boys. Marist: This team has only eight points and is too far down the ladder to be able to gain top position. If Kaierau and Old Boys stopped where they are and allowed Marist to put on the six points the three matches ahead give them, the greens could not win. Theirs will bo the part of spoilers, pure and simple. An Interesting Situation. It is all very involved and the only way of deciding the issue is to let Father Time play his part. Next Saturday may bring a clearer outlook so far as the finish is concerned. Yet it may not. There are two Saturdays following taken up with representative matches, so it will be towards the end of the month before anything in the nature of a definitely clarified atmosphere will develop. Maroon colouring certainly shows through the clouds at present, but there is a touch of red, a touch of black and a touch of blue and white. It all depends on the angle one is looking from. BUSH UNION ON TOUR NELSON PROVE SUPERIOR. [ Per Presa Association.] NELSON, Aug. 1. Nelson proved superior to the Bush Union tourists to-day both back and forward, tho home team winning by 30 points to 7, the game was played on a fast ground. The first spell reached a torrid pace. However, play was very even, the local team having three points’ advantage Scoring went on at a great rate in the second spell, the home backs, especially Alexander, Stewart and Fowler, play ing brilliantly against the tiring opposition. Mabey and Mahoney were tho visitors’ best forwards, while McCarthy, Mills and Lott played well in the backs. For Nelson Alexander and Stewart were brilliant backs, Newman also playing well, while McLean, Sutton and Ferguson were the best, forwards. The home team’s form was good enough to suggest that they will have a chance of lifting the Seddon Shield from Buller at the end of the month.

' WANGANUI UNEMPLOYED i MATCH AT UPOKONGARO WIN FOR LOCAL PLAYERS A match was played at Upokongaro on Saturday between tho Wanganui Unemployed fifteen and tho Upokongaro team, the latter winning after one of the best Rugby contests provided at the Makirikiri centre for many years. Tho teams were as follow: — Upokongaro: Potae, Murray, Joseph, Howard, Williams, •Bartruin, Nicholson, Nagel, Morse, Grant, Priest, Kurth, Anderson, Farley, Patea. Unemployed: Leo, Lett, Mosen, M. Hill, Dickson, Matthews, R. Bilderbeck, J. Bill, Bing, Davidson, Mortensen, Phillips, James. Wiwi, Hunt. ’Murray kicked off for Upokongaro. and Matthews returned with a long line kick. Play hovered near tho centre for fifteen minutes, when Anderson and Nagel broke away and took the play to the Wanganui twenty-five. From a scrum Bilderbeck secured possession, passing to Matthews, to Dick, who found the line. Play went rapidly up and down for a while until Wanganui were penalised, and Kurth kicked a good goal. Play remained in midfield until Bing broke through in a dangerous move, Upokongaro saving the situation by forcing. From the drop out the Upokongaro forwards took play down the field and from a scramble, Priest dived over to score. Tho kick at goal failed.—Upokongaro 6, Wanganui 0. The second spell started in slight rain, both packs handling a greasy ball in good style and playing a good, fast game, Bing and Hill breaking away several times. Eventually Wanganui hooked the ball, which was sent to Matthews, who, after a good run, scored under the posts, James converting.— Upokongaro 6, Wanganui 5. Play became very fast, and after some smart passing on the part of Howard, Murray, Grant, Morere and Farley, the last-named scored. The kick failed. Wanganui were now playing a strong, determined game, and good tackling alone saved the home team. From a scrum Potae secured possession, and after beating several opponents, passed to Murray, who scored. The match ended with Wanganui attacking strongly, and the score: Upokongaro 12, Wanganui 5. The game was ably controlled by Mr P. Potaka. At half-time the “midget” seven-a-side match was played, resulting Pakeha 3, Maoris 0.

ON SPRIGGENS PARK TEAMS FOR TO-MORROW A return match will be played between tho Wanganui l Unemployed team and the Upokongaro fifteen on Snriggens Park to-morrow, tho kick-off being set down for 2.30 p.m. Proceeds in aid of tho Mayor’s Relief Fund. Following are the teams:— Upokongaro: P. Patea, D. Potae, F. Joseph, T. Joseph, J. Albert, P. Morere, B. Williams, J. Williams, 1). Murray (capt.), P. Bartrum, J. Nicholson, W. Howard, C. Priest, G. Lawrence, R. Lawrence. Emergencies: A. Walker, H. Whibley, Lett. Wanganui team: L. Bilderbeck, B. Lett, W. Matthews, J. Tunic, Potaka, McGonagle, R. Bilderbeck. Bing, Kurth, James, Hill, Mosen, Hill, Mortensen, Davidson, Aston, Phillips, Wiwi, Hunt. UP-RIVER AFFAIRS MAKIRIKIRI SHIELD SATURDAY’S RESULTS The first round of the Wainui-a-rua Rugby Union’s Makirikiri Shield competition was concluded on Saturday, reports the special upriver correspondent of tho “Chronicle.” Ohotu defeated Pamoana at Koriniti by 3 points to nil. At Pipiriki the home team won by 25 points to nil. Both these games will be reported in detail later. Fixtures for Saturday are as follow: Pamoana v. Pipiriki at Koriniti. Morikau v. Ohotu at Jerusalem. The positions of the teams are now: Pipiriki 6, Ohotu 4, Pamoana 2, Morikau 0. With the season well advanced a review of the sport upriver may be of interest. As far as the actual games an? concerned the outstanding feature has been the bewildering changes of form by the teams and by the individual players. It has been impossible to forecast any results by relying on performances. It is difficult to account for this inconsistency. The average form displayed throughout tho union this year has not exceeded that of last, although on occasions there have been some very bright games. It is unfortunate that all the clubs should bo experiencing difficulty in finding sufficient players to fill their teams. Pipiriki seem to be the only club with a good list of players and even they seem to have difficulty at times infill ing up their team. Morikau seem to be the club that has suffered most in this respect, for they have experienced this difficulty from practically the commencement of the season. Ohotu started the season with a satisfactory membership, but lately they have been losing players at an alarming rale. Pamoana have also recently lost players through injuries but it is hoped that these are only temporary defections. However, despite the gloomy side of these misfortunes, there is the consolation that young players are given a chance. In a union that ha:* no junior grades, opportunities for encouraging young players are limited, so there is at least this to he thankful fo r. As far as the administrative side of the game is concerned it is regrettable to find that matters are not wholly satisfactory. Perhaps in view of the difficulties in holding meetings and carrying out the administration in a union such as the Wainui-a-rua it is expecting too much for everything to be satisfactory. There have been, however, some lapses that should have been avoidable. What seems to be needed is a revival of enthusiasm. Perhaps this will come about, together with the arrival of I more prosperous days, when more time! ran bo devoted to the sport. In TOjard fo ihr refereeing this sea-

son it is interesting to note that only two of the referees have carried the whistle in previous years, tho other live having made their debut this sea son. It is perhaps treading on deli cate ground to offer any criticism onthis phase of the game. However, it cannot be denied that there is room for improvement in one'direction at least, and that is in regard to tho interpretation of the rules It. way be looking for too much to expect a number of roforces, more or less new to the position, to interpret all the rules in exactly the same manner, bui it would be a big help to the players if rulings were uniform. It would be a good move on the union’s part to endeavour to arrange for the referees to have a meeting and discuss the rules among- themselves. If such a meeting, or rather several such meetings, were hol<l it would bo quite a simple matter for tho referees to place their interpretations on a uniform basis. Refereeing is nt all times a thankless task, the officials invariably receiving more kicks than ha’pence. Tho union should do all it can to help the referees to earn less of the former and more of the latter. FOR NEXT SATURDAY REFEREES APPOINTED The following referees have been ap pointed for next Saturday’s matches in Wanganui:— Senior. Pirates v. Kaierau, on Spriggens Park at 3 p.m.; Mr. J. Richardson. Tech. Old Boys v. Marists, on Spriggens Park, at 1.30 p.m.; Mr. G. Thrush. Junior A. Kaierau v. Technical College, on Technical College ground at 1.30 pm.; Mr. W. R. Day. Old Boys v. Wangachu, at Wangaehu at 2.15 p.m.; Mr. R. Phillipson. Aramoho v. Pirates, on Racecourse No. 2 at 1.30 p.m.; Mr. W. Mutton. Junior B. Tech. Old Boys v. Marists, on Race course No. 4 at 3 p.m.; Mr. J. T. Kearney Thirds. Tech. Old Boys v. Kaierau, on Racecourse, No. 4, at 1.30 p.m.; Mr. W. H. Rowe. Technical College v. Pirates, on Racecourse No. 3, at 1.30 p.m.; Mr.- N. Reid. Fourths. Pirates v. Tech. Old Boys, on Race course No. 2, at 3 p.m. Mr. A. Charles. College 11. v. College HL, on College ground No. 3 at 2.15 p.m.; Mr. R. Edwards. Kaierau v. Technical College, on Technical ground, at 3 p.m.; Mr. H. C. Dow. Fifths. Kaierau v. Technical Callege A, on Racecourse No. 1, at 1.30 p.m.; Mr. G. Lints. Technical B. v. College 4, on College ground, No. 3, at 2.15 p.m • Mr. E. Healey. Linesmen. Spriggens Park.—At 1.30 p.m., Mr. Waite and J. Deere; at 3 p.m., Mr AV. J. Stone and AV. Mutton.