RUGBY.

Waikato Times, Volume 118, Issue 19648, 7 August 1935, Page 10

RUGBY.

PEACE GUP MATCH.... i I . s i HAMILTON REP. GAMES. I I ! j BRIGHT MATCHES LAST WEEK. (By “Drop Kick.") Three representative matches- of interest to enthusiasts were'played on Saturday and close games were witnessed in each encounter. The principal match, the Peace Cup fixture between Matamata and Taupiri, was rather exciting, but there were only' phases of real bright football. The other two games between. Hamilton A and B teams and. Cambridge A arid B teams produced bright,' fast and spectacular Rugby and with .the scores evened on several occasions excitement was intense. Matamata defeated Taupiri in the second Peace Cup challenge of the season by 12 points to 5 and Hamilton teams narrowly defeated both Cambridge teams. Games on Saturday. Rugby enthusiasts in. Hamilton will, be.'treated to three gqod matches at Rugby Park on Saturday. The annual, fixture between the first fifteens of .the* Auckland .'.Grammar School arid' -the Hamilton High School ,will have p.ride of place and large'crowd is expected.'to witness the; most .sparkling type of | football- —i nte r- sec oncl ar y ■school,Rugby. The second series of games' in) the Clarke Gup competition will also be played. In the first matches Technical Old Boys defeated Frankton. by 9 points- to 4,. and Marist defeated Old Boys, 1.4 points to 5. The Waikato representatives’ third fixture of the season will also be decided when the team will, travel' to Te 'Kuiti to •play Kipg.’Country.

Peace Cup Disappointing. With weather and. ground conditions ideal the Peace Gup fixture 'of, 'Matamata on Saturday was disappointing in that there, was little bright and spectacular play; 'The' , scores were very even, however, and this kept 'the crowd enthusiastic, especially as. the challengers attacked for the major portion of "the : game. Their forwards went particularly well, but the backs lacked pace and finish and although they were in an advantageous position on several occasions they could hot press home their advantage. The Matamata packs participated in three bright movements'and each' one resulted in a score.

Brighter Play Developed. The large crowd of enthusiasts who watched the representative game between Hamilton and Cambridge at Cambridge on Saturday were treated to-a match which became.more spectacular and exciting as it progressed. The visiting forwards kept the game tight in 'the first half, and were responsible for scrum infringements which cost ’ them several penalty kicks. Neither sets of backs' saw much of the ball in the first spell and the game was distinctly patchy. After the Interval, however, hooking was cleaner on both 'sides and there was some lively back play. Combination Counts. Perhaps the greatest 'Contributing factor in the defeat of Cambridge B by .Hamilton B in the game at Rugby Park was the finesse displayed by the •home team in their passing rushes. The majority of Hamilton’s scores were the culmination of crisp passing of the back line. The visitors’ tries impressed more as good individual efforts rather than as a result of concerted play. A disappointing feature of the game was the lamentable kicking of the two teams, Hamilton converting only one of the seven tries scored and a penalty goal being, Cambridge’s only success in goal kicking.

A Speedy Winger. F. Germann, who again replaced Swap on Matamata’s wing, played a dashing game in the Peace Hup fixture and scored two fine tries" by fast "determined running. He had few opportunities but impressed'with his pace and determination, and should retain his position. Swap, on the other wing, did not play as well as usual, while D. Carlson, "at centre, also had few opportunities, Carlson was more outstanding on defence than usual and fed his wings at the right time when he had possession."

Last-Minute Win. In llie, game with Cambridge the. final score was 21 —16 in favour of Hamilton, who converted a draw, into a win in the last minute of play;. On .three .occasions during, the, ga.nie the ■score was even, so the exciting nature of the encounter can. well -;be itViagine’d. Hamilton was . dcflri i t,ejy, not in the best, of.'form, .much, of ..the. trouble among the backs originating .with ... the •inside men-, On the. other hand, the Cambridge backs showed initiative, and dash and their handling was much superior. Broderick In Form.. Scoring three tries, Broderick was the impressive ■ back on Hie held in Hie Hamilton H3 —Cambridge B encounter, at Rugby Park. In most of bis matches this season Hu's player has- not.had enough.opportunity,to use his. pace and weight to the. fullest advantage,.tint oil'Saturday lie received a bigger share of the 'ball .and'made the most of every opportunity. . Receiving well-directed, passes from w. Cassidy lie ran straight 'and. solidly and showed ability to .cut in successfully when it was necessary. . Portcons, on tile, other wing, did not receive llie same share of Iho. ball 'but 'turned his speed and versatility to advantage when a chance &ime his way. Had No Chance. The Taupiri threequarters had no chance'in their'Pence Cup challenge on Saturday- as besides lacking opportunities they did not have the pace or polish of llie Malarnala backs. Perie, reputed a strong and determined runner. only -liad one. chance and went close to scoring. Grogan was keen at centre and be scored bis team’s only try. as (lie result of a neat cutin. Robinson. Hie fullback, was. reliable and, on llie .day., gave a belter display Ilian MataiYiUlu’s fullback, F. Saxon,

Hulme Shines for Cambridge. Hulme was the outstanding back in the Cambridge B team and initiated many attacking movements. Together with . Mean]© and Dodd lie was seen in many passing sallies Into Hamilton’s territory. Scoring a splendid try and kicking a- penalty goal he made a substantial contribution to his team’s quota ■of points, besides being a valued asset in 'every moyeni'ent.'. ; Biles, in the halfback position, proved energetic'arid handled surely.

Hamilton’s BcCcks. Dempsey, . flrst-flve-eiglith, played a great attacking game at Cambridge on Saturday, but lie was not so effective on defence. In the first half;i/when little concerted action took place, some'.of the backs, on both sides, shone individually and Dempsey was one of them. Snodgrass, who replaced J. Denz at centre early, has been- s.een to better advantage, although lie was helpful. Griffiths had few opportunities to demonstrate his speed and lie was often •checked through solid defence on the part of the opposing, wingers. Voice was more prominent on the other Hamilton flank, while Everest shared with some of the ; other baoks a t tendency to handle erratically. Behind the scrum Mills was . ever conscieritious, but he took second place to' the opposing half in general play.

Not on Form,

Matamata’s captain, W. 11. Carlson, was not in good form on Saturday and only played a mediocre game. At times he. showed his 'Customary, dash .and •penetrative powers by slashing runs of thirty yards or more, but he was nearly always caught in • possession. His failure to iacklc low would have had Matamata-in trouble had Taupiri backs shown more cohesion. W. Carroll, Matamata and Waikato fiveeighths, has gone to Auckland to play League football. His' place was filled on Saturday by M. Strong, who played a fine gaiiie. He was,a perfect connecting link and/but in judiciously, while his defence Was.,also sound. J. •Cole, the .half, played rail outstanding game . on attack rind defence, and has improved with every: match. On Saturday he played as well as any halfback in the Waikato: at present.

Cambridge Backs Active. Getting more of the ball from the scrums and line-outs, the 'Cambridge A backs made a number of sweeping rushes which carried all before 'them, in the match against Hamilton at Cambridge. Hogan and Holmes, the fiveeighths, were valways in the picture, with Peake ready at all times to cut in and exploit every possibility. Yet at times some of the,backs made .silly mistakes such as kicking high across the goal-mouth, arid knocking-on when all they had to do was go over and score. W. Stewart, in the second spell, . established an understanding with Reid, 'the winger, and the pair of them gave many anxious moments when in possession.

Forwards Impress. The Hamilton forwards in 'the B representative feature between Cambridge and Hamilton could not be •faulted, playing with dash and determination from the opening to the final whistle- Every man performed creditably and did . his fair share of the work. . Whittaker played a bustling game and followed up fast and successfully, while Tietjens and Hall were always in the front of any forward, foray. T. Cassidy was .an acquisition to his team in the loose and proved a good scoring man near the line. .

Two Fullbacks. On the day Dalbeth (Hamilton) was a more reliable fullback than his vis-a-vis, Kelly, in the game at Cambridge, though the former was not faultless arid has done better at local club games. Kelly (Cambridge) was badly bustled at times but is the type who should improve with more experienceLacked Cohesion. A lack 'of understanding , and cooperation between the Inside backs was the cause: of. Taupiri’s. failure in , the T-eace- Gup match- on Saturday. Davis, the second flve-efghths,;'irnpresscd by a 'smart cut-in 'and- fast dash on two occasions, but 'his 'opportunities were few and he did not’appear to be keen .to make openings;, for ;hifnself. Stanriaway was' out of'position at-' first five, arid receiving the ball Hat footed was invariably robbed "by. the Matamata forwards. Tapp, at’half,, fed out well on occasions,, but was' only mediocre and- showed little-initiative. The Matamata Forwards. The Matamata forwards, were up against a tough proposition in their Peace Cup match with Taupiri on Saturday and though they worked hard they were,well beaten by the Taupiri van in most departments,, Delaney and Fitzgerald vvere always in d-lie loose, while fe>VT' worked harder in tho tight than Sharpe arid McLeay. The'pack -has" been changed several times and. there is little douht that Saturday’s van was''the':'best the subunion has fielded tbis season. Initiative In Pack. It is a pity that more forwards do not show initiative enough to work in with the hacks when opportunity affords. Hewitt adopted this policy playing for Cambridge against Hamilton at Cambridge on Saturday, and he was easily one of the best forwards on ~the field. Beer, Miller and Hall were , (the pick of his confreres. Of the Hamilton forwards the most useful .in tight and loose were Coombrjdge, Pardington, Nicol and Chitty. Pardington - converted four tries and wasi a 'consistent boiler throughout.

Visiting Vanguard. It was to the credit of the visiting vanguard that Cambridge was within an ace .of snatching a victory over Hamilton in the B grade fixture at Rugby Park. Playing a spoiling game from the outset they broke' down many •of Hamilton’s offensive movements and at the same time-kept their backs supplied with the ball. Blackett was a big, useful player who was in the forefront of 'everything, while he received support on all occasions from Wet ere and Hutchison. When Cambridge were behind by a substantial margin halfway through the second spell it was only the determination and solid packing of their forwards that allowed them to draw even.

Did Their Job. There is no gainsaying that the Taupiri forwards did their job well in their Peace Cup challenge -on Saturday. Led by Taylor, with Hub-head, Belcher and Day always prominent, the forwards had Matamata penned in their own territory most of the second spell- 'Cat-ley, Waikato’s hooker, certainly gave Taupiri a'big proportion of the ball'from the. set scrums, brit nullified this by being penalised at least eight times for "lifting.” His play in the other departments ,-of the game was not particularly impressive and on his game on Saturday, Nicol, Hamilton’® middle man in. the front row, would serve the Waikato team better. -

CAMBRIDGE SUB-UNION. 4

FIXTURES FOR SATURDAY. I VISIT OF UNIVERSITY. The weekly meeting or the Cambridge Rugby Union management committee was held on .Monday evening. The Hamilton Sub-union suggested that the appointment of a rereree for the Peace Cup elmiiiation game he.left to the Waikato appointment board. This was agreed to. University’s Offer. The president reported that the treasurer or the Auckland University senior team had offered to bring the team to Cambridge on August 10. The chairman’s

action itf arranging the match was approved. The meeting agreed to accept , a visit from a Hamilton fourth grade team next Saturday to play the local third grade representatives. Juniors for RepresentativesThe secretary reported that tho senior representative selector had intimated that owing to three senior representatives being selected for the Waikato team next Saturday, it might be necessary to draw upon two .Junior players,. The matter was subject to some discussion, but it was realised the matter was one Tor the selector. ~ It was ■ declded''to ' advise , Waipa- that owing to a visit rrom University next Saturday, the union desired, if possible, to ar range another date, and the arrangements were left to the emergency-committee Fixtures. The fixtures for Saturday next are:— Cambridge-v. Auckland University, 53.45 or earlier It: possible. -Third grade representatives, curtain-raiser—Hamilton 4ib grade. Cambridge Juniors.—United v. Karapiro, Leamington, No. l; Leamington v. Hautapu, Leamington, No. S 3; both games at Ip.m. Messrs H. Roberts and J. Dagg wero appointed co-managers *or the senior team. The Schools’ Association delegate (Mr Kerr) advised that it was desired to plav the annual seven-a-slde tourney at the Leamington grounds on Saturday, August 17. There would be about forty teams competing.—Permission was granted. A Protest. A protest was tabled rrom Maungalautari A juniors, who claimed that in the match with United they had played a senior player (R. Cooper).—The secretary pointed out that the protest was not in order as it did not comply with the rules. The chairman said he would not like to rule out the protest on a technical point. However, the United team had only played this player after - the club had sought Cooper’s regrading.and it had been sanctioned by the emergency committee. The chairman asked that the committee’s action be confirmed. There was some discussion as .to whether the emergency committee had power to regrade a player, but finally its action was confirmed and tbe protest was returned. The Pram Derby A report was presented by the committee’s representative for the pram derby, and the reasons were explained Tor declaring the race at Vogel street corner. Keen' appreciation was expressed of the generosity and the active interest Mr R. Twining had taken in the event It was resolved to send letters of thanks and appreciation to Mr Twining, to Amalgamated Theatres for a substantial contribution to the derby expenses, and to the Inspector of Police, Hamilton, for the assistance of the police in controlling the, crowds at Hamilton and Cambridge.