REPRESENTATIVE RUGBY

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 79, Issue 189, 11 August 1936, Page 4

REPRESENTATIVE RUGBY

——__ RANGITIKEI OUTCLASS TAIHAPE . VERY HEAVY GROUND I ! (Own Correspondent) An extremely heavy ground and a | treacherous foothold spoil any pros- i j ’ pects of a fast, open garrie on Satur- < day, when Rangitikei defeated Tai- I j hape on the Hunterville Domain by I ( 9 points to nil. The first half was j fairly rugged, but the second spell ; surprisingly good lootball was wit- ; nessed. The ball soon became a lump of lead and showers in the first spell { looked as though the second spel! • would be a duel between the two j packs of forwards. However this was j not the case and, thanks to Poppe, • the Rangitikei hooker, the winners secured a feast of the ball from the • set scrums and the backs threw the ' ball about in great style and, strange , to say, hardly any of the players ; mulled their passes. The Bush i brothers, on the wing, made some real • brilliant moves and had the ground been firmer the Rangitikei backs I would have run all over the opposi- > tion. Both full-backs gave a good exhi- ' bition, although Taiuru was slow in | settling down to business. P. Wil- i liams was the most dangerous back | on the field. He is very tricky and i ( clever on his feet and had the crowd | i on their toes many times in his elec- I i trifying runs. His vis-a-vis, J. Mar- ‘ shall, was too slow. R. Chase at sec- , ond, and Steedman at first, were | i sound, while Follas, for the winners, : played a heady game. The Taihape backs were starved of j the ball all day and had to be con- i tent in tackling the opposition. Ran- | ■ gitikei had a strapping pack of for- | i wards and, led by Walker and Pye, ! took some stopping when on the run. ' Pye played a great loose game and I well deserved his try. For Taihape, W. Thompson and C. Dickson and W. Barrell at times were tireless workers. Taihape (maroon) won the toss and ) Rangitikei (green) kicked oft’ downj hill. Taihape had the best of the ) early exchanges and once nearly J ended in McGonagle scoring when J Cutts sent a bad pass to Follas, who j recovered too late and passed back ) to Taiuru, who also mulled the ball, ) and McGonagle, handy, looked like ] J going over, but Taiuru just managed | to kick into touch. After a period of j > desultory play, Chase broke through , J and, running to the full-back, passed j i to McGonagle, who dashed for the ) line, but was overhauled by A. Bush. J Play then moved downfield until i Powell broke away from rucking ) play and passed to Cnase, but was > tackled when endeavouring to cross. Rangitikei then staged a good forward rally and swept the field with j ball at toe. Bradley made a temporary stop, but he was soon brought down and the greens carried on, when ■ Pye picked up and scored in a handy < ' position. Rangitikei 3; Taihape 0. ) Taihape then launched an attack •< • and both Chase and Johansen made ‘ unsuccessful attempts to pierce the defence. A. Bush put the greens on the offensive and Follas obtained and ( completely baffled the defence when he ran straight through the whole ’ team and then passed to H. Bush, > whose reverse pass to Follas was in- t i tercepted by Graham, who put in a ) good clearing kick. The greens now J began to open up the game and play moved with great rapidity. Halftime came with no alteration in the j score. Rangitikei were now in good form, j and from a scrum in mid-field all the . green backs handled to A. Bush, who ] i put on a great burst of speed to gain ) some 30 yards before being up-ended j by Bradley. Taihape then made an attempt to retrieve lost ground and ) from an infringement near the green j posts Johansen missed an easy goal. Rangitikei soon recovered the lost ground and, passing amongst the < backs, Williams put in an elusive run, but when setting off for the line ] ‘ slipped. However, from a scrum soon J afterwards, Cutts sent xo Follas, who chopped the defence to ribbons to ' score in the corner. Bartlett found L the ball too heavy to add the extra points. Rangitikei 6; Taihape 0. The reds then made one of their spasmodic thrusts and carried play into green territory, where Bartlett j stopped a forward rush and passed to j A. Bush, who got in a good touch--1 finder. Rangitikei were soon on the - attack again and from a mellee in [ midfield, the ball shot out to Williams, , ) who dribbled through and, following- , ) up fast, beat Bradley for the ball and flashed over the line near the posts. Pye missed a “sitter.” Rangitikei 9; Taihape 0. The maroons rushed play into green territory and from a scrum infringement, Johansen’s kick hit the upright , and bounced infield and Walker saved from a dangerous situation. With the crowd cheering wildly, the green - backs began to give the ball plenty of “air,” and snappy, neat passing had Taihape guessing. W. Bush macle two spectacular runs down the line, but Barnett came round fast to save just in the nick of time. For the re- ; mainder of the game Taihape were hemmed in in their own twenty-five, and from several scrums both Cutts and Follas tried to jerk through unt successfully. Five minutes before the ' end Cutts retired with an injured ankle and was replaced by McDonald. The end came with Rangitikei victorious by 9 points to nil. Mr R. Rivers was the referee. t The teams were:— Taihape.—Bradley, Johanson, Mar- i shall, McGonagle, Steedman, R. Chase, j - t Graham, Henery, W. Thompson, Pow- • ell, C. Dickson, M. Clinton, A. Clin- I ton, Smith, N. Barrell. Rangitikei.—Taiuru, A. Bush, Wil- j liams, W. Bush, Bartlett, Follas, Cutts, Walker, Blair, Dallas, James, I Davies, Poppe, Bridge, Pye, During the interval two “midget” i teams from the Hunterville School ; | provided an amusing seven-a-side. I Mr Taylor was the referee. INTER-ISLAND MATCH SOUTH ISLAND TEAM > REPRESENTATIVES CHOSEN | Per Press Association J CHRISTCHURCH, Aug. 10. ■ The South Island selectors, Messrs. A. A. Adams, W. Pearson and J. T. Burrows, have named the following team to meet the North Island next Saturday:— Full-back: G. D. M. Gilbert (West p Coast). Three-quarters: W. Mann (West