RANGITIKEI RUGBY NOTES AND COMMENTS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 90, Issue 167, 20 July 1946, Page 7

RANGITIKEI RUGBY NOTES AND COMMENTS

(By “Observer”) In this column this week we must tender our congratulations to Athletic seniors on their meritorious performance last Saturday in adding Hunterville to their list of victims in the Rangitikei competition. Clubs for the past two years have been endeavouring to lower Hunterville’s colours, but until last week, all without success. Nevertheless the maroons deserve full credit for their proud record. To play in seven games without having their l:ne crossed, is indeed a praiseworthy accomplishment. In the eighth game, however. Athletic halted the sequence of victories and managed to notch a try.

With their defeat, Hunterville also toppled from the top of the ladder, and the competition, with five more matches to complete the final round, has now reached an interesting stage. The points are as follows: Rangatahi 14, Hunterville 12. Rata 10. Athletic 8. O.hingaiti 6. Marton 3, Bulls 1. The last two teams have both played one game fewer than the other clubs. ♦ » * *

Although the writer was not present at Hunterville last week, my informant, in a review of the game, attributes the success of Athletic to the brilliance of their forwards. By vigorous play in the loose, determined rucking and solid tackling, they not only held, but overshadowed their more experienced players, with Duncan Hart and F. Calkin playing manfully throughout and T. Dommett giving a clever exhibition in the lineout. The forwards were backed up by a magnificient exhibition at fullback by their caotain, Jim Hutton. He received good support from W. Taite and P. Paurini, five-eighths and half respectively.

By virtue of their win. Athletic became the holders of the Raymond Cup and the Rangatahi Challenge Cup. This is the first time that Athletic have ever held either cup. Hunterville almost had a mortgage on the Raymond Cup—they have held !t for two seasons.

Poor efforts by the rearguards coupled with a lack of fire in the forwards. precluded rousing play when the Ohingaiti and Marton senior teams met at Marton. Co-ordination among both sets of backs was missing and more attractive exhibitions of Rugby have been given by third grade teams. It was not until the final 10 minutes of play that the teams infused more vim into their play, which produced much needed excitement.

Some of the passing lacked direction. other times it was of a lobbing type and then mishandling and flatfootedness all tended to retard the pace. Usually the ineffectual passing bouts, veered across field, without gaining any territory. As an attacking machine, the backs were innocuous.

The best of the Ohingaiti backs was undoubtedly T. Berrett, at second fiveeighths, who was really the only player on the move when accepting the ball from his partner, O. Gudsell. However, he could find no gaps, and received close attention from his vis-a-vis, J. Barry. Once again Berrett revealed soundness on defence. His ability to race up to his opposing fiveeighths, and tackle him, almost at the same moment, as the Marton olayer received the ball, was snendid. It must be added though, that Berrett’s play was accentuated by the slowness of his opposite numbers m getting under way.

The three-quarter line had limited opportunities, but G. O’Leary revealed His capabilities as a wing, and should have been fed more. A Brooks, fullback, was slow at times and fumbled a lot, but was not called upon to any great extent. At first five-eighths, O. Gudsell. was a good connecting link between his half, B. Holloway and Berrett. Holloway's passes were usually well directed, but lacked the crispness of his opposite number. R. Kane. On the day the visiting backs were superior in the general run of play.

I. MacDonald, H. Rowe and W. Mill did a lot of spade work in the forwards, the last mentioned in particular, playing vigorously in the loose. He smartly broke from scrums to smother the opposing inside backs, and dropped passes were quickly seized up. His activities were curbed somewhat after the interval. The best line-

; out player on the day was the Ohin- | gaiti lock, R. Meyrick. Using his , height and jumping well, he frequently I knocked back the ball (not always I cleanly) to his half. R. Parkes was i another forward who caught the eye. The Ohingaiti players were garbed in red and black jerseys. Patrons to Marton Park before the war will recall that the last time this coloured jersey was seen was way back in 11935, when it was the registered jer- | sey of the Athletic Club. Later Athi letic went into recess and the club I was revived this year. Application ’ for registration of their familiar colI our was declined, as Ohingaiti had i adopted the pattern. This northern I team used to play in the magpie jer- > sey, but these colours are likely to be confused with the blue and white of Rangatahi. Athletic now play in a blue jersey surrounded with a gold hoop. Marton have an excess of forwards and a decided deficiency of capable backs. With I. Sicely and their captain, D. McLennan, not available, the club had to pull two of their hard working forwards out of the pack and play them in the three-quarter line. Noel Miles going to centre and Neil Northover to the wing billet. The former was strange to the position and this was reflected in his play.

Marton had a new man in Percy Johnston at fullback, who proved the best of many tried in that position. But this does not suggest that he is the best player in the Rangitikei district for that posie—-far from it. He took considerable time to settle down. His kicks, through their low trajectory’, were often charged down, which brought many anxious moments to his team-mates. His handling was not accurate and several times he was caught in possession. Luckily, good backing up saved him from more awkward situations. One of the features of his play was his touch-finders, and he gained much ground with his hefty kicking.

Johnston played for Old Boys thirds before the war and since then has travelled through many lands as a member of the Air Force, rising to the rank of Flight Lieutenant. In 1944 he represented the New Zealand Services team in England and last year played for Wasps, a London club. He has not specialised in any particular position and while overseas played anywhere from half to full-back. He has been out of the game for some time and this was reflected in his play on Saturday. With a few more games, Percy should be an acquisition to the Marton Club and if he decides to stay in Marton, will be invaluable to Rangitikei cricket, as he is an excellent bat. Marton might have profited more had Johnston been played in the five-eighths, as he probably would have imparted just that extra incisiveness which was absent in the rearguard. * ♦ ♦ * I. Stewart, wing three-quarter, was the best of the Marton backs. He had three or four lightning dashes down the flank, one producing a try. It was a pity he had such a weak set of players inside him. J. Barry’, second-five-eighths, while solid on defence, was too slow on al tack. He did not have the alacrity of Berrett. Better results may have resulted If he had evnloitod his stab-kicks more often, when it was seen that the Marton backs were a disjointed combination. L. Coleman had difficulty in accepting some of Kane’s passes. While the crispness was there, the direction was not always good. John Church was back in the Marton pack. He played last year and won his wav into the Rangitikei team. Now a student of Victoria University College, Church is not available to his club outside recess periods. Not as conspicuous as hitherto, Church is still a grand tackler.

The best Marton forward was K. Lampp. He was always buried in the thick of the fray and played determinedly in the loose. He received good support from Ray Morrison, his brother Frank, and D. Stewart. The last named displayed some clever work in lhe lineouts. E. Zander was back in the middle of the fiont row, after an enforced absence of several weeks through an ankle injury. He divided the honours evenly with his opposite number, D. Rowe, for possession of the ball in the scrums. He heeled very smartly on occasions considering the weight in the opposite pack, but the forwards were let down by the inability of the backs to seize the opportunities presented.