RUGBY IN WANGANUI: COMMENT ON RECENT MATCHES

Wanganui Chronicle, 6 May 1949, Page 8

RUGBY IN WANGANUI: COMMENT ON RECENT MATCHES

Pirates, Strong Side, Will Take Some Beating

Any team that has been playing I Pirates this season will know they have been playing Any team that | beats the black side will have achieved something. The pack has weight, perhaps is a bit slower at following up than was the case last year, can dominate the ball in those vital minutes towards the end of a game Defensively the side is tops. The backs back up well and the roving forward, D. Beard, corers with uncanny accuracy. He has only to get the ball with a fair chance to kick and he can break the heart of attackers. A hooker of some calibre would place this side in an almost impregnable position, because the backs, especially close in to the scrum, are resolute, better at handling than most, and team well together. The Dixon-Bryers-Les Head combination is solid and at the same time capable of making the most ot an opening. The pace is there. Head has most of the qualities a good footballer should have —good hands, a good boot, can tackle, has speed, backs up. A watch on temperament is what he needs to reach top flight. Bryers makes a reliable first fiveeighths, his handling being outstanding and he always gives a good pass to his backs. Hickling, the centre, was inclined to hang on a bit long in the match on Saturday. .... With N. Anderson to feed on the wing and the two Tauntons available as utility backs, D. Cotton for a similar role, and T. Bristol for full-back, the Pirates side has a wealth of talent behind the scrum. Let it be hoped that it can give all the players the games necessary to maintain their interest.

Forward the side is as heavy as it was last year, but on Saturday seemed slower. Ben Pedley looked to have slowed up a great deal. That impression may have been gained from the fact that Technical Old Boys played well in the van until the last. Pirates have been slower, but they were on top at the end, and that is a very important thing. But no side is invincible, and Technical Old Boys almost proved that against the blacks. The forwards outhooked Pirates very effectively, but the hard-won possession was not made the most of. That was due partly to mistakes of Technical Old Boys, but also to resolute defence by the blacks. Barnett played reliably at half, and Aubrey went better at first fiveeighths than at second. There wasn't the same reliable handling, however, by those inside backs as was the case on the other side. Alan Webby played well on the wing, except on one occasion he went high instead of low jvhen about to tackle. With backs of Pirates calibre going high will rarely be effective. Kaierau and Waverley played somewhat ragged Rugby, made exciting by the fact that the bustling tactics of the Waverley team had Kaierau on foe defensive for a great deal of the time. I. Whale and C. Lynch were the best of the Kaierau backs. Whale's backing up was good. Not much was seen of Leonie, the first five-eighths, but he had that about him which indicated experience. Bellis covered his team well and seemed to be at hand when danger threatened. R. Ward played well in the Kaierau pack. The Waverley team was without some of its best players, notably Alexander, the fast three-quarter. Had he been playing to impart the necessary finish to the threequarter line, “Waverly might have won. They lost at least two good chances through lack of pace.

Mark Halley played wing threequarter instead of in the pack and while he gave everything a go. and defended well, he was opposed by faster men. Hughes, centre, was the best of the Waverley backs. “Sonny" Sturmey made a good impression and his backing up was good. R. Best scored a good try from a ruck near the line, but was inclined to be slow in getting the ball away, though it must be admitted the chances he got were few and far between. In the Waverley van H. Newland and R. Dallison were prominent in a team that hunted with traditional Waverley vim. Both teams were well served at full-back, Kaierau by the junior boy, W. Dawson and Waverley by C. Dallison. The meeting of Wanganui and Old Boys and Pirates on Saturday should be productive of a keenly-contested match. Last Saturday Old Boys played a robust forward game against Marist on the Racecourse, the match ending in a 3-all draw. D. McGregor and M. Griffin were two forwards who played solidly throughout both sessions of play for Old Boys. In the backs M. Hunter was always prominent, until his retirement in the early part of the second half. B. Poantmga, the Duntroon graduate, and old boy of Palmerston North Boys’ High School, gave good service, especial!? on attack. E. Bligh playd his usual sound game at fullback. While no: over exerting himself, Knox Welsh was responsible for much heady play and his penalty goal was a welljudged kick. As every member of the Marist team on the day made a valuable -ontribution to his side's draw with Old Boys, it is difficult to select individuals for praise. In the backs, however, Oliver in the five-eighths line, and Wallace, at fullback, were sound on both attack and defence. Lash was a tireless forward, being always up with the play. Pettis and O’Leary were two other industrious packmen. The solid defence of Marist in the face of Old Poes’ consolidated attacks throughout the game was a tribute Io their coaching in this respect. B.

Corliss, who registered Marist’s penalty goal, had hard luck in no* scoring a try on one occasion. A feature of the game was that neither side had its line crossed.