WANGANUI RUGBY IN REVIEW

Wanganui Chronicle, 27 May 1948, Page 7

WANGANUI RUGBY IN REVIEW

A Spate Of Rep Team Picking Is Now In Progress

(By “Crossbar”) New rules next Saturday. Who will be the first senior to kick a field goal counting three instead of four? Schoolboy Rugby starts on Spriggens Park on Saturday morning, the purpose being to cater for boys not attached to any club or team. * After last Saturday’s two matches there has been a good deal of speculation and prediction about the teams to be chosen next week-end to play Taranaki. * Once again it is as well to remember that two teams must be chosen, one to travel .as a B team, the other to play the major match at Wanganui. Concentration on getting the strongest major team possible is no doubt the Selection Committee’s intention. , , , Looked at in a broad sense, the question of the moment is: Who will be centre, that position, which requires a fast attacker, sympathetic to wings, and solid on defence —the all-round Rugby back?* L. Miller (W.0.8.) had the berth last year and filled it well. He has not been playing well in Taranaki, reports say. He may be fielded by Old Boys on Saturday, in which case his form will be a matter for the selectors. If Miller is not available, who then? The centres offering of the standard required, or near to It, are: A. Alexander (Waverley). L. Head (Pirates) and R. Bruce (M). Neither the Taihape nor the Rangitikei centres quite came up to the form of the three mentioned. Of those three the best as a centre is Head. The other two go better as wings. Looking at that talent makes the loss of L. Miller all the more forcible, when one considers the centre position only.

D. McCarthy (Taihape) may solve the problem. Here again his presence in the team will be governed by one or two factors not necessarily bearing on the centre position itself, but on other positions. It can generally be accepted that McCarthy should be in the team—and the question arises, where? Fullback is a role he filled well in the Maori team, He has played at first, second five-eighths and centre. If the full-back position can be safely held, would McCarthy make a good centre? The question answers itself. He would. Lack oUpace might be a handicap in his case. He has put on weight of late years, but if lack of pace is to be a handicap there It would be equally »o at full-back.

And what of the full-back position. G. Sherlock (Bulls), formerly Manawatu, has played well there for his union. I. Willacy is available and both W. Mosley (M) and Cassidy (Taihape) made fair showings last Saturday. To choose Sherlock would not be a stab in the dark.

The remaining backs more or less pick themselves. After its showing on Saturday the Barnett-Hunter-Gudsell combination inside should prove of value, notwithstanding the fact that the Rangitikei team did not prove the match for the pack Barnett had in front of him that Taihape did in regard to that which M. Dixon (P) had to play behind.

But with Barnett, Hunter and Gudsell occupying the five-eights line, what of lan Whale (K), who has been playing good Rugby this season. The question comes back to whether Gudsell should be moved out a place, and Whale brought, in. Or, would Whale make a centre? * * * ♦ If he would it would give a back line like this:

Full-back: D. McCarthy (T). Wings: R. Bruce (M), P. Henderson (K). Centre: I Whale (K). Five-eighths: M. Hunter (W.0.8.), Ist, K. Gudsell (T. 0.8. 2nd. Half-back: J. Barnett (T. 0.8.

Of the country players who played in the backs against Wanganui on Saturday only one showed form equal to that of the city players, T. Goldsmith (Rangitikei wing three-quar-ter). And it was a wet day, not the best for wings. He looked, however, as though he would do well on the end of a good line of inside backs. .... But the Inside attacking ability of the country backs was not up to what Taranaki will set as a standard. Defensively Taihape was not bad, but. Rangitikei took a long time to realise that the opposition was dangerousvery dangerous.

When it comes lo forwards, however, the fact was clear that both in Rangitikei and Taihape they have some pretty good packmen. M. Tupaea (T.) surely must be one of the first players picked for the Wanganui front row. H. Rowley (R.) and C. Oulsnan (T.) both played up to rep. standard. P. Shannon (R.) and Fallaver (T.) also went well.

This side would give a good account of itself: Back of scrum: E. Bellis (W.) Sides: C. Oulsnan (T.) and G. Rowley (R.) Locks: B. Pedley and D. McGregor (both W.)

Front row: M. Tupaea (T.), R. Dallison (W.) and D. Goldsbury (W.>

Both Rangitikei and Taihape showed on Saturday that they have good material, which, when played together regularly, will develop the polish needed. Taihape won plenty of ball from the scrums, but the best use was not made of that possession by the backs.

To be down thirteen points, however, and to score ten and get within three of the winners, all in the second spell, was an achievement. And how important was the goal kicking! McCarthy’s boot was a great value. * * • •

Wanganui did well in the first match in goal kicking, Alan Webby converting all three tries. He is another player who has strong claims to a wing three-quarter position, and looks a certainty for the B team to play at New Plymouth. Despite what the crowd might have had to say, P. Henderson (K), wing three-quarter, played as well as he was able under the conditions on Saturday. His backs gave him very little to work on, and what play he participated in was largely of his own making. His pace is a danger to any opposition, but his kicking needs improvement and handling.

A noteworthy point about Sherlock, the Rangitikei full-back, was the way he used the line to aid his forwards. He knew Rangitikei’s strength—the pack—and played to that strength. On two occasions he found touch close to the Wanganui goal rather than attempt to kick a penalty with a wet ball. From one such position Rangitikei scored.

It would have been interesting to see a bit more of Wheeler (centre) and Sinclair five-eighths, (both Taihape) and on a dry day. As a matter of fact the indications were that had the ball been dry and the ground firm, two fast matches would have resulted. The Taihape backs would probably have been a lot more dangerous than in the wet.

There was not the happy combination behind the Wanganui scrum against Taihape that was apparent in the earlier match against Rangitikei. Dixon and F. Taunton were not teaming well together. Once or twice Dixon had to look about him to find out where Taunton was. It was the half's business to know. Later on Taunton moved further out, and played second, and I. Whale played at first. Thus the team had two five-eighths playing in more or less accustomed positions. Apart from that, the pack was not giving’ Dixon the protection Barnett got earlier, so it was perhaps a wrong sort of day to judge either of the five-eighths. Both Whale and Taunton, as everybody knows, are capable of better football.

It was unfortunate for Dixon, too, that he was sent out in his first major match with a pack that was destined to be beaten, on a wet muddy day, with a greasy ball. He went gamely into everything that came along, but the fates were unkind. Rugby has a habit of doing those sort of things, and while it is easy to praise the inside combination of the other team and just as easy to condemn it in the side waich beat Rangitikei, it is only fair to remember that there was a difference in the form of two packs. The better backs had the better pack Apart from that, the first team had the ground in a much better state to play on.

So, while the two matches were in the nature of trials, and the day was a poor day to pick ail-round footballers, the selection committee has the satisfaction of knowing the capabilities of most of the players, and will judge those capabilities accord-

ingly. There will be a building or to the sides of last year. Unbeaten in the competition to date, the Marist Club fourth grade Rugby team is fast establishing an impressive record for the 1948 season, which augurs well for the strength of senior teams in future years. The fifteen have hn,d their line crossed only once, and have scored 117 points to six against. Two of their match tallies approached the 50 mark.