RUGBY REFLECTIONS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 84, Issue 178, 31 July 1940, Page 9

RUGBY REFLECTIONS

RECENT MATCHES IN REVIEW IMPROVED FORM OF PIRATES MUST BE TAKEN FULL ACCOUNT OF

(By “Crossbar”)

Kaierau still enjoys a point advantage in the senior cup in the Wanganui competition. That point may make all the difference between a win and a loss for the maroons.

It is evident, however, that verj full note must be taken of the improvement made in the Pirates team Introduction of third grade player, improved the side considerably. W Phillips, first five-eighths and J Clark, forward, were two easily a£ good as any senior players in the team.

After the match there was quite a controversy among Pirate supporters as to why Phillips, at least, had not been moved up Pirates needed backs. They had the necessary sting in the forwards, but did not possess that cohesion and thrust so necessary to support a good pack.

Those who favoured bringing the young player up looked entirely for improvement to the team. Quite a good angle to take in a way. Others saw a young player coming to the sterner tasks of senior football too soon. They had the longer and wider vision. Many a stout youngster’s heart has been broken in the harder play of the higher grades, by climbing too soon to representative standard. Yet this is a day for the younger players. It will be more so next year, of course, because, at tne moment military echelons are more or less stationary. When movement does take place the boys of the grades will soon find themselves up as high as they can get.

Another tendency often taken when promotion of players is under consideration, is to view too keenly the fortunes of the team those players have to leave. That is the entirely selfish view, the “must win” attitude which very often destroys hope among players not quite so good as those likely to be shifted. In the interests of football an unbeaten team in the grades, while naturally desirous of maintaining that record, should study the encouragement of talent coming on, and if shifting one of the key men of the team means promotion of a youngster not quite so good to that position, so much the better for Rugby as a whole. Whatever may be argued about this matter of promotion to the senior ranks, nobody is going to contradict the definite improvement Pirates made in their team on Saturday. II is a matter of good management that they had the talent to promote a lesson to every club in the union. What happened to Technical Old Boys? Quite a number of ardent supporters tried to find excuses for them. If excuses there were they were simply these—failure to tackle, failure to pack effectively against the other side, failure to use speed when it was needed. * * * * In actual fact most of those failure, were due to the more effective work on the other side. Pirates had the team's measure. Quick breaking over the Pirate backs, particularly by A. Kjoss, which had been so spectacular and effective against other teams, was made to look poor because of the better play in the Pirates five-eighths line. Put a good five-eighths at first against those tactics and six times out of 10. at least, he will foil the opposition. That is what Phillips did on Saturday. He was ably supported by RFrancis at second five-eighths and by W. McPike, though McPike’s old fault of being too selfish was again in evidence. The best move of the match was when O. Larsen, wing threequarter, made a run down the left touchline in the closing stages to play his inside backs away again to score. That move could justifiably have been pulled up by the line umpire, who did not see a foot go into touch. Even so, it was an effective attack and the fool going out in no way put the defence out of action. The defence was caught and that little bit of enterprise was encouraging after some of the exhibitions of lack of enterprise which had gone before, not so much on Pirates’ part as on Technical Old Boys. * * * • S. McKenzie, the Technical Old Boys’ wing three-quarter, seemed to hesitate to use the pace he has. Several times the ball was kicked for an enterprising wing three-quarter to exploit position, but he did not show enterprise. M. Shewan has steadily overcome a similar fault which was evident in his play last year. Speed in a wing three-quarter should “always” be used whenever the wing has room to move. Every yard gained means something to the team. Play was rarely made for Shewan’s wing. He was able to get ope or two good runs in, but invariably had to resort to a kick over G. Pedley’s head to make much ground. Pirates made the most of crowding the inside Technical Old Boys’ backs and that made handling and passing less effective. There was little alternative to adopt except to kick. It is a pity that more attention is not paid by the coaches to development of the “retain possession” type of play indulged in so effectively by Australian, South African and British teams. It can be overdone, of course, but it pays to keep the ball passing from hand to hand rather than let the other side have it to kick into touch.

Kaierau and Old Boys have attempted the type of play in a sort of half-hearted way, using forwards like D. Whilians (Kaierap) and L. Cross (Old Boys) to support the backs. Ball out to the wing three-quarters, then smartly infield again to attacking forwards who have the pace to get up, or to inside backs who have been able to get through the inner defences and come up in support of three-quarters blocked by the last lines of defence.

r As a pack the Technical Old Boys’ team was lacking in weight and '£. Cairncross, the Hooker, got little support to feed his .backs. Kicking the oall through and then chasing it was not the type of game Technical Ola Boys could affora to play against so improved a black team. When the side wanted the oall, it found anothei third grade Pirate player, A. Northover, brother of the representative L. Northover, now of the Army, formerly of Wanganui Old Boys, a bit of a problem, tie managed to hook rather well and just when it was useful to do so. A. G. Davidson’s good try, one of the best scored this season, was from a good clean hook by the black hooker. D. Valentine, Technical Old Boys' centre, was inclined to overdo the stab kicking and when he did stab kick his wings did not go up quickly enough in support. It was a bit of bad luck, perhaps, that resulted in Valentine kicking up and under beside his own goal posts, enabling Francis to land a field goal. It is evident from this match that Technical Old Boys will need to watch the play of the backs. The forwards can do better than they did on Saturday. A. Taylor played a sound game and is a greatly improved player compared with his early season form. B. Goldsbury and A. Kjoss were also on their game, but the opposing pack was better on the day. » » « * In the Pirate pack was O. Maitland, who has not played this season. He used his pace effectively and the standard of the pack was not lowered by his presence, though the pace of the game began to tell on him. He probably relished the readjustment which put him back to full-back. A Duncan, the full-back, who had to leave the Held becfAise of injury, was playing quite' a safe game for the blacks, his line finding being sound. * * # * The black three-quarter line, G. Pedley, W. McPike and C. Larsen, did not have a great deal of attacking work to do. Most of that was done by W. Phillips and R. Francis, the fiveeighths, and they were so effectively supported by the forwards that it did not much matter. Larsen, as stated earlier, participated in and made goou from, the best back movement of the day. Defensively, the line was never called on to any great extent. It was so well protected up in front. There is no doubt that Pirates have a good pack of forwards and it will be heard from in this round. Wanganui'" and old Boys will know all about it next Saturday. If the blacks repeat their form as shown against Technical Old Boys, then Old Boys will be added to the list of the conquered. S. Phillips, the Pirates half-back, is small, but game and quite a sound club half. He always appreciates the value of that little slip round the scrum to score near the line, but finds his weight a shade too light when it comes to finishing off. The forwards, knowing that, should be handy to help him, as Davidson did on Saturday. K. Grant, the Technical Old Boys’ full-back, played a sound game and did some good tackling and line finding. It was not his fault that the game was lost. The main fault lay with the inability of the forwards to bring off those loose rushes and the failure of the insdie backs to cope with the improved thrust inside manifested in the Pirates’ team. The Marist-Kaierau match was a peculiar one in its way. It was largely confined to the forwards, but Mar/.t had a decidedly more effective thrust about the backs and the inside players went down effectively to check those hectic foot rushes the maroons were trying to exploit. * There is no doubt that Kaierau missed D. Whilians, who had to leave the Held injured. Line-outs became less effective for the team then. And in the second spell, when the wind was in favour of Marist, Kaierau rarely got out of its own side of halfway. „ , . , The Marist pack, weighty, perhaps not so fast as needed, can hold its own rather well in the tight. It has improved its open play by the inclusion of C. Hancock, tne King Country side row forward, who was a splendid support in the line-outs for E. Barry. It was left to A. J. Darby, wing three-quarter, who came on aS a reserve, to show the fans how a threequarter try should be scored. “Mick ’ could not resist his little bit of tomfoolery in a so-called dummy pass or two, but he got the goal when the team wanted him to. tie plays best of all in that position. When M. Corrigan was hurt, M. Williamson had to play half-back for Marist, and he did not do badly. After the backs had settled down and one or two readjustments had been made, the team went rather well. In the forwards B. Dow, E. Barry and E. Wackrow were playing up to form, with R. Martin applying the weight in the set scrums. * * * * Kaierau did not have the necessary cohesion about the forwards U win a great deal of possession. The side seemed beaten in both line-out ano* scrum. Its try was rather a lucky one, H. Cuming, who was playing fullback for Marist, not having quite the pace to get fully over a moving bail before falling on it in an attempt to force. J. Whale, who scored for Kaierau following that lapse, played as sound a game as any forward on the ground, supplying the necessary pace in the open, which Kaierau badly needed to counter the possession won so regularly by the greens.

V. Cronin and L. Guise were bom strong defensive players for Marist. and they held the opposing team. F. Thompson, playing first five-eighths

for Kaierau behind K. James, the improving half-back, was closeiy watched. B. Kahotea got no chances to show any of his early season brilliance. He appears to look always at the man coming at him and so misses many a good pass and fails to give a good pass, too.* * * M. Allan, the Kaierau full-back, got his side out ot a good many difficulties, largely because the greens, in following up, did not make good an 1 smother the return kick. H. Cuming, the Marist custodian, allowing for his lack of pace on account of being out of the game for so long, did not play poorly. He knew what to do, and tnat is half the battle in Rugby. It was a pity, in a way, that he just missed forcing the ball that time, because, apart from that one'occasion, Kaierau never looked like scoring.

And now to the next set of matches. Pirates have every hope of beating Wanganui and Old Boys next Saturday and Marist will extend Technical Old Boys. Most of the Kaierau team, which has the bye, will be playing at Marton against Rangitikei.