Wanganui Spotlight on World of Sport

Wanganui Chronicle, 5 September 1946, Page 7

Wanganui Spotlight on World of Sport

WANGANUI BOXING TEAM. A team of five amateur boxers from Wanganui and the outlying districts will go to Auckland to compete in the New Zealand amateur championships which will be held in that city on September 23, 24, and 25. The respective winners of the weights at the Wanganui championships will constitute the team, the following boxers being included: Flyweight, C. Head; bantamweight, G. Vodanovich; lightweight, D. Mitchell; welterweight, B. Coughlin; middleweight, C. Gregory (Taihape). Mr. W. Brown will be the trainer of these boys, and the team will be under the management of Mr. H. Chainey. The Wanganui delegate to the annual meeting of the New Zealand Amateur Boxing Council will be Mr. S. Baddeley, secretary of the local Boxing Association. Arrangements have been made for the above team to be accommodated at the Clarendon Hotel whilst in Auckland.

GOOD WING THREE-QU ARTER. One of the best performances seen on Spriggens Park this year in wing three-quarter play, was that of R. Lupton, Waverlcy, playing for the Wanganui team a;: .list Wainui-a-Rua

last Saturday. He always managed to beat his man, but, apart from that, he had the experience to know what to do when blocked. A strong runner, he would make a very useful man on the end of a good chain of inside backs.

:IUGBY IN SOUTH AFRICA. South African Rugby is still very much in the transition stage between war and peace-time conditions, and it w, ill only be about this time next yeai that we will be able to talk about, our chances against the All Blacks in 1948, writes D. O. Williams, Springbok ana Provi nco three-quarter. From my experiences on the 1937 tour of New Zealand, I am definitely of the opinion that the Springbok teams which play the All Blacks must consist of solid scrummagers and lively and sensible three-quarters. We found that the New Zealand men wore terrific opportunists, quick to turn any mistake to profit. There is no room for backs who, once they have made ground and have passed the ball, feel that their job is done. There is no room for “shiners’’ in the pack—men who shirk the tight scrums and the line-outs. Forwards, one and all, must slam into the loose scrums, there must be no looking on, no hopeful waiting to pick up that chance that may never come. More tries are scored from the loose sc urns than from the tight. The forwards must go down like a pack in the loose. They must step over the ball. CONVINCING WANG AN ( I SOI CER TEAM. By convincingly defeating South Auckland on Saturday the Wanganui boys showed everyone that after being in recess for almost five years the standard of soccer in Wanganui is still as good as ever! The most resourceful forward of the day was, wit hunt a doubt, J. Kidd, the Wanganui and New Zealand representative inside left. Every move he made was scientific and attractive to watch and he was always a danger tG the South Auckland goal. S. N'unrno, at right ball, and V Hicks, al left-back, were also outstanding and these two should be well up to New Zealand representative standard in the very near future. Kendrick and Vernon '.vet o two new additions to the representative team on Saturday and the selectors will have to go a long way before thc\ find players Io equal these two.

BILL O’REILLY OUT? Because he is writing ior the Press, that likable cricket personality, Bill O’Reilly, famous spin bowler, will not be able to play in the test's against the Englishmen in Australia. He stated last week that he would practice and play for his club, St. George, and be available for the New South Wales and Australian elevens if required. He did not intend to ask the authorities for permission to write on the games in which he played. Asked whether he thought Dooiand (South Australia) or Cristofani (Services and New South Wales) would be his likely successor as leg-spinner in the Australian attack, O’Reilly replied: “I suppose it will be one of the two.” To further questions he said he expected “Lindwall (New South Wales) to walk into the Test side as fast bowler, left-hand spinner Toshack (New South Wales) to be chosen, and George Tribe, Victorian left-arm googly, to have a very good show.” O’Reilly’s decision is good news for England and bad news for Australia. At 40, he is outstandingly our ace bowler, states the “Sydney Morning Herald.” With him out of the Tests, English batsmen will face the music with far greater confidence. The Australian Board of Control is perturbed at English offers to star Australian cricketers, and will discuss them at. its meeting in Sydney next month. O’Reilly is an executive in a brick and tile business in Sydney. VISITING TEAMS. Wanganui supporters of the soccer code may have the opportunity of seeing the Wellington Marist team in action in the near future. As it is known, Marist won the New Zealand Chatham Cup for 1946 and are considered probably the best combination in the country. Airangements arc under way to play them against the Wanganui representative team. The Waterside Club (Wellington) have also asked this association to arrange games for their senior, junior, and primary teams, and there is every possibility of all these games being played on the same day and giving Wanganui a real gala day of soccer.

IT WAS TOUGH. Australians should be the last people to dash too readily into print about rough play. A cable message was received by the “Chronicle” from across the Tasman last Monday. It icad: After being bashed about the face and body by a hostile crowd at Port Melbourne, the umpire in an Australian Rules football match escaped by being bodily lilted on to a horse by a mounted policeman. This incident was only one of the highlights in a match between Coburg and Port. Melbourne. In little over an hour, a wiriness patrol of police, with drawn batons twice charged the crowd. A gang of youths stoned and tried to overturn a police car carrying boundary umpires, and stones in.jureil three policemen. BROWN SHIELD J LX AL. 'Hie final of the Brown .Shield liuuld prove Io lie an outstanding game but as yet it is not known when and where Wanganui will meet the Poverty Bay team.

NEXT WRESTLING BOUT. A professional wrestling bout between George Pencheff and Fred Atkins will be staged in Wanganui on September 10. The fight will be preceded by a professional contest between D. Anderson, of Wanganui, and J. Prestncy, of Wellington. Three amateur bouts will also be fought as preliminaries.

WAINUI-A-RUA. It is the firm intention of the Wai-nui-a-Rua Rugby Union to come back into the fold next season. It is necessary to field three teams to achieve union status, and this was not possible this season, but next year, with a Upokongaro Club flourishing, it is likely that Wainui will register again as it did in the old days. Maoris coming to town to settle has created difficulties for uu.p-river, and many of the lads are working on the railways to the north, and only get home at weekends, if then.

G. COUCHMAN. It is pleasing to see G. Couchman. formerly Technical Old Boys, still to the fore with the Waverley Club. He showed great promise last year, and won his way into representative company as a three-quarter. Couchman is a type of player the selectors should bear in mind. Young and keep, with a reasonable turn of speed, and an above-average kicker, he has the makings of quite a good three-quarter. BOXERS TO SOUTH AFRICA. Judging from the standard of boxing at the Wanganui amateur championships held last week, there is at. least one active pugilist in this city who should have a claim for inclusion in the Now Zealand amateur boxing team which will tour South Africa. The boxer in mind is B. Coughlin, who without a shadow of doubt js the most successful of all our local boys. Bernie won the welterweight title in Wanganui in convincing style from P. Adams, and if he can maintain his unbeaten record at the New Zealand championships this month he should assuredly gain selection for the South African trip. ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENT. “Back of Beyond."- It is inadvisable Io publish your letter because it is not thought that many of the Australian players l. acm selves shared tne opinion expr. .-cd by a Sydney writer as to the roughness of the Rugby in Wanganui last week. As a matter of fact, at the dinner after the match, Australian leaders payed tribute to the “sporting nature of the match.” Many of these things are magnified by Press 1 publicity, which, while of interest, sometimes fan little happenings into something almost of international impo. lance. "Auckland.” When the teams for the 1924-25 All Black side were announced, there was agitation in Auckland similar to that developing this year in Wellington regarding M. N. i-'uewui. That agitation was over a half-back, l .o, Wright, of Auckland. Mill and Dalles were chosen as halves for the 11'24-25 team, and so highly did Auckland lLink of its Wright that a deputation wailed on the tnen Prime Mini-lei (Kr. Hon. \V. !•’. Masses > to as!; him Lo right what Auckland' said v as a gi awous wrong in overlooking Wiiy.hl. Natu ally. Mr. Ma-:sey stuck lo his politics and Ihe selectors stuck to their learn, and Mill became a famous half-back. Auckland people still t’unk Wright was a better player. —“Crossbar.”