KEEN CONTEST

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21155, 3 July 1940, Page 10

KEEN CONTEST

1940 STAG SERIES RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP FORM LAST SATURDAY With the second round of the Stag Trophy Rugby championship now in full swing, the indications are that the championship will reach as exciting a conclusion as has always been the case in the past. City drew level with Frankton last Saturday and the tussle for the lead in the next few games should be keen. Teams are continually losing players to the armed forces but all clubs are at an equal disadvantage in this respect, and, only in a few cases, have losses hit one team more than another. Frankton has shown the most consistent form so far this season but the side was decidedly outclassed by Old Boys on Saturday. City secured what may be considered a cheap victory. Four teams—Frankton, City, Old Boys, and Taupiri—all have prospects for the championship, but Technical Old Boys and Raglan have become too far down in points to be among those with prospects. Considering that all clubs have lost as a result of the war, the standard of Rugby in the championship so far has been excellent and many of the matches have been of a more exciting character than the general standard in recent seasons. Frankton’s Defeat Frankton’s defeat at.the hands of Old Boys on Saturday was one of the biggest reverses experienced in the championship so far this year. In both forwards and backs Old Boys had a margin of superiority and, although kicking gave Old Boys an encouraging lead, the team scored twice in the match, while Frankton failed to cross its opponent’s line. Old Boys played much improved football and the backs definitely outclassed the Frankton rearguard. The ability of Reece and R. Everest was more or less lost to the Frankton team because there was no efficient link between these two clever backs. It would appear that Frankton would have secured more success in the backs if Everest and Reece had played alongside each other. Backs Played Well Improved form was revealed by the Old*Boys backs in the match with Frankton on Saturday. The forwards secured a good share of the ball and Broad gave good service from the base of the scrum. J. Carroll, who has been with the army for some months, played his first game of the season as second five-eighths for Old Boys and his inclusion infused considerable impetus into Old Boys’ attack. Paterson played an improved game and co-operated well with Carroll in launching attacks deep into the Frankton defence. Carroll and Slow used the line cleverly to gain ground. On defence, Old Boys was much improved, although when the Frankton backs broke through the movements were stopped more often than not because the other Frankton backs failed to come up in support. Old Boys benefited considerably from this lack of cohesion in the Frankton back line. In the Scrums

In the forwards, also, Old Boys had a slight margin over Frankton. The scrums went with a slight margin of superiority for Old Boys, although neither side packed particularly well. There was again too many infringements in the game. Jones played a splendid game in the Old Boys line-out, Bremer was again one of the mainstays of the pack, while Maclean played a useful game particularly in the loose. Not So Impressive

The form in the City—Technical match was disappointing. Neither set of backs developed any concerted thrust and poor passing was repeatedly responsible for a breakdown of effort. Both sets of backs expended a great deal of effort in gaining very little ground as a result of across-field running. City lacked its usual sting and Perkins had very little opportunity because of the repeated break-downs further in. Brighouse, who appeared to have prospects of securing Waikato representation as fullback, was not as impressive on Saturday, when the general standard of fullback play in the games in Hamilton was not high. Better Tackling One of the reasons why City did not succeed with the majority of its movements was the manner in which the Technical fifteen tackled. The side realised that solid tackling tfould be necessary if City was to be kept at bay, and, although Technical was on the defensive for the most part of the match, a considerable score could easily have mounted up against it had the tackling been faulty. Haughey provided a solid front in this respect and often managed to ground Perkins before the centre had time to get into action. He was assisted, of course, by the fact that the ball was nearly always slow in coming out to Perkins. McGrail played five-eighths for Technical but did not fit into the position. He was inclined to try to carry the whole burden of the attack. Captained His Team Playing bis last match before going on sendee with the armed forces. Chell captained the City team on Saturday. He was playing a solid game in the forwards until he moved to the wing when Dobson was injured. Barr and Johnson played well in the City pack, with Osborne being more prominent than usual. In Technical’s pack O'Meara, Hills, Butt, and Morgan were the best of the eight. Another Waikato Game Next Saturday will be the last day’s football before the selection of the Waikato team to play Auckland, at Auckland on July 13. The team will probably be announced next Monday.