RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP ENDS

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21183, 5 August 1940, Page 13

RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP ENDS

BRIGHT FINALE FRANKTON WINS AGAIN OI.D BOYS RUNNER-UP TAUPIRI’S LARGE MARGIN Frankton 12, City 11. Raglan 3, Old Boys 0. Taupiri 35, Technical 6. Stag Trophy final points: Frankton 17, Old Boys 12, City 11, Taupiri 10, Technical Old Boys 6, Raglan 4. With another victory on Saturday Frankton increased its lead as victor of the Stag Trophy for the 1940 season to a margin of five points. The tussle for the position of runnerup was keen, only two points separating three teams —Old Boys, City, and Taupiri—the result being success for Ola Boys by one point. Bright Rugby characterised the chief match of the championship final day which was played between Frankton and City. After a keen tussle Frankton won. Big scoring was a feature of the game between Taupiri and Technical Old Boys, which became a procession of scoring in Taupiri’s favour. Raglan secured another meritorious victory in defeating Old Boys. Some spectacular glimpses of clever football were seen in the cur-tain-raiser at Rugby Park when Hamilton High School defeated Rotorua High School by 12 points to 11 NARROW VICTORY FRANKTON JUST HOME EXCITING MATCH WITH CITY In one of the most exciting matches this season Frankton, this year’s champion, just headed oif City, last year's champion, by one point. It was the chief attraction of a big Rugby day and the crowd was entertained by a fast display. Play ran from one end of the field to the other with surprising speed. The value of a reliable goal-kicker to any team was again proved, City having several opportunities to goal, but missing them all. The teams were:— Frankton.—Nepj, Jones, Jim Everest, Griffiths, R. Everest, Reece, Wilkins, Satherley, Elliott, Newcombe, Belcher, Mclntosh, Dick, Bowler, Eootten. City.—Brighouse, Sunich, Perkins, Smith, McCallum, Dobson, McCabe, Dowling, Chell, R. Keen, McDevitt, Barr, Johnson, W. Keen, Scott. Frankton immediately scored a grand try. Chell had kicked high but Nepi evaded the charging forwards and sped straight up-field. He caught the City defence napping and handed in to Satherley and Belcher. The last-named handed on to R. Everest. The second five-eighths clapped on the pace and made a great opening for Jones to score. Satherley failed to goal—Frankton 3, City 0. Chell and Dowling brought City into an attacking position but offside play halted them. Perkins then had a run but was blocked and Nepi beat the city man for the touchdown from Perkins’ high kick. Frankton on Attack A nice break by Jim Everest saw him centre kick but Perkins was back in time. From the ensuing fiveyard scrum City was penalised but Satherley failed to conv v A neat dummy by Jim Everest placed Frankton on the attack again. He centred and R. Everest was up to take the kick but he was smothered. Dobson then broke away nicely but he was not supported. A little later Dobson intercepted a pass but again he was unsupported. Reece then made a great opening for Frankton but Smith saved. City had the margin of attack for a long spell, Dowling crossing the line once but he was recalled for a knock on. CHy was then awarded a free kick under the posts but Chell failed. The Frankton back-line operated twice, the ball travelling right through to Griffiths, the winger making splendid dashes, but Perkins saved City both times. Then came a great try by City. McDevitt dribbled the ball half the length of the field, keeping it at his feet well to score under-the posts. He converted the try. Just before half-time Reece and R. Everest combined splendidly, but Reece knocked on just prior to crossing the line. Half-time came with the scores—City 5, Frankton 3. A free kick to City early in the second spell saw Johnson just miss, but City’s forwards kept up the pressure and. from a good rush. Banscored, Smith failing.—City 8. Frankton 3. City in Lead Frankton immediately replied with a try. R. Everest made a fine opening but was smothered near tho pests. Satherley, however, picked up and crossed over. His kick hit an upright and bounced back.--Frankton 6. City 8. Another great Frankton back movement saw the ball go out to Griffiths and in to Reece for the latter to go over but he was recalled for a forward pass. City had the margin of attack for a spell and, despite some hard dashes hv Perkins, the side could not score. Neat back movements gave Frankton the territorial advantage again and Satherley put the Stag Trophy winner in the lead with a great kick from a penalty. Satherley kicked another fine goal shortly afterwards. — Frankton 12. City 8. The game was very exciting at this str<ge. City making every effort to score. Several times Frankton was caught napping and the team was fortunate to escape when there was no backing up. Jim Everest, tackling very solidly, saved Frankton on at least three occasions. City, however. scored a well-deserved try. when from a bright movement Sunich dived over in the corner after a determined run. Johnson just failed to convert and the final score was— Frankton . . 12 City 1! Mr T. R. Fraser was the referee.

ANOTHER WIN RAGLAN’S IMPROVED FORM NARROW DEFEAT OF OLD BOYS i i Although there were glimpses of | bright play, the lack of finesse in hack movements militated against : exciting football in the Raglan—Oldj Boys game on No. 2 ground at Rug- ; by Park. With the forwards com- i manding the ball and the backs play- [ ing a vastly improved game, Raglan j secured victory by 3 points to 0. The teams were; — Raglan.—T. Phillips, White, D. ! Robertson, McCracken, Berthelsen, | Thompson, Ormiston, Phillips, Van- j houte, Goodwin, McCracken, A. ! Robertson. Old Boys.—Slow, Bartlett, Pater- ' son, Sayers, Vogt, Lissette. Gillespie, j Blow, Maclean, Bremer, Needham, j Holloway, Waite, Reese, Lee. Raglan had Old Boys solidly on 1 the defensive in the early stages of the game and repeatedly the team narrowly missed scoring. The ball was being kept on the move continually and it was only Old Boys’ nippier moving that enabled the defending side to win the force down on repeated occasions. Gradually, however, Raglan was forced back after missing several opportunities and Old Boys began to assert the pressure. There was little concerted movement, however, and the attack did not develop strongly. Slow failed to land a free kick at goal. Old Boys’ Bid The ball flashed through the Old j Boys.backs as Raglan started to feel j the pressure greater and Gillespie ! made a determined bid for the line. | Raglan infringed and again Slow j missed a kick. Raglan came very near to the line : when Slow was caught in possession, j Bartlett, however, cleared brilliantly ! and Holloway and Paterson carried ' on to neutral ground. Raglan re- j peated the thrust, however, with j Ormiston making a brilliant opening. Old Boys had switched the balance j of play before half-time came with- [ out any score. Shortly after the interval Raglan j developed a rapid offensive. Old * Boys infringed but Raglan missed the kick. The side maintained the pres- \ sure for some time. McCracken attempted to land a field goal but the effort was not a good one. Then the Old Boys forwards, head- j ed by Maclean, swung into action ; and carried the ball right to Rag- j lan’s line, but Raglan had command I in the scrums and, deprived of the < ball, Old Boys could not make the i distance. Gradually the Raglan j forwards carried the ball back again j and then developed an attack which j the backs pursued with D. Robert- 1 son making the opening for Berthel- | sen, who secured a fine try. The | kick failed.—Raglan 3, Old Boys 0. 1 In a great back movement Old j Boys rattled Raglan op to the defen- ; sive with Bremer opening the way j for Paterson. Bartlett, however, j knocked-on a difficult pass. Old ; Boys maintained an advantage but a chance was lost when Slow failed I to land a free kick. Shortly after- I wards Bremer just failed in an at- j tempted field goal, and the game i ended with the score still— Raglan 3 Old Boys f) Mr H. R. Bishop was the referee. • j HIGH SCORING TECHNICAL BEATEN 35—6 TAUPIRI TEAM EXCELS In a bright, open game on No. 3 ground, Rugby Park, Taupiri proved too good for Technical Old Boys and ! won by 35 points to 6. A pleasing feature of this game was the manner in which both teams’ backs and forwards threw the ball about, instead of kicking. For the winner, Shaw, Taylor, Catley and Farren were outstanding in a pack of hard-working forwards, while E. Burke, W. Tapp and Pene were the best of the backs. For Technical Flannagan, Patterson, Houghton and Simpson played prominently. The teams were:— Taupiri.—E. Burke, D. Burke, Birkett, Pene, Dowling, E. Taylor, W. Tapp, E. Rumney, Shaw, Carter, J. Rumney, Bennett, Farren, Catley, Taylor. Technical Old Bc^ys.—Barry, Simpson, Wilson, Lye, Fraser, Sykes, E. ! R. Houghton, O’Meara, Snell, Flan- ! nagan, Warren, Kemp, Hills, Pat- j terson, Morgan. I Taupiri’s Early Lead Taupiri went to the attack, and from a penalty Tapp raised the flags j to give his team a useful lead. The visitors were not long in in- j creasing their scare, when, after | Technical had been attacking, the ! country team swept to Technical’s j line, where Taylor scored. Tapp j added the extra points. From the kick-off Taupiri went to j Technical’s territory, where J. Rumney secured‘in an open field and! potted a good goal.—Taupiri 12, j Technical 0. Taupiri further increased its lead j when J. Rumney crossed wide out. i Tapps’ kick at goal just missed. Im- | mediately upon resumption the j visiting forwards swept to the line I and once more Taupiri went over, j the scorer on this occasion being E. ; Rumney. E. Burkes’ attempt to : convert went wide.—Taupiri 18, j Technical 0. Technical then took a turn at attack, I and from an excellent passing move- I ment Simpson scored in the corner. The attempt to convert barely rose. I —Taupiri 18, Technical 3. After some central play, Taupiri j went further ahead, when Tapp ! kicked a splendid goal from wide out.—Taupiri 21, Technical 3. Half- ! time found the score unchanged, j with Tauoiri attacking. Succession of Tries Soon after the interval Technical increased its points, when from an infringement Fraser kicked a good I goal. Taupiri soon went further 1 ahead, however, when Tapp kicked : an excellent goal from almost half- j way, after Technical had infringed. —Taupiri 24, Technical Old Boys 6. ■ Taupiri scored two further tries j

! in quick succession, the first by Penc ; under the posts, and the second by ; J. M. Taylor in the corner. Tapp | missed both shots at converting.— Taupiri 30, Technical 6. ! Farren then was injured and had to retire from the match. Still more points were added to the country team’s score, when Carter ran past several Technical players and scored under the posts. Tapp made no mistake with his conversion.—Taupiri 35, Technical 6. Technical was awarded a free kick in a handy position, but Fraser’s effort went wide. The game ended shortly after. Mr H. G. Houten was referee. TROPHIES PRESENTED Before the start of the match between City and Old Boys on No. 1 ground, Mr A. E. Gibbons presented R. Everest, captain of the Frankton :eam, with the Stag Trophy and the Sage Memorial Cup. In congratulating Frankton on ivinning the Stag Trophy—the emblem of club supremacy in Western Waikato—Mr Gibbons said that the .earn thoroughly deserved its victory as it had played fine sporting Rugjy. The Sage Cup was for the top Hamilton team and Frankton had won this also. JUST HOME COLLEGE RUGBY HAMILTON HIGH WINS ROTORUA FIRST DEFEATED Only one point separated the .earns in scores; the losing team actually scored three tries to the ■vinner's one, but the match was so wen that the decision may nave gone hther way. That, briefly, was the dory of the annual encounter be,ween the first fifteens of the Hamii.on High School and the Rotorua riigh School in the curtain raiser ai Rugpy Park on Saturday, when Hamilton won by 12 points to 11. it was a game of bright Rugby with some splendid movements by both teams, although at times faulty Handling and passing spoilt the play. Hamilton was superior in the forwards. The team secured the majority of the bail from the scrums and the mobile pack carried through Rotorua’s vanguard. Hamilton failad to protect its half-back from the apposing breakaways, however. Rotorua backs were given quick service when the scrum won the ball and the fullback’s line-kicking was brilliant. The teams were:— Hamilton High School.—l. Grinter, E. Boyes, C. Branton, S. Boyes, D. Hanna, A. Hawke, R. Tait, G. McCoskrie, W. Burns, K, Lowe, K. Wilson, D. Banks, I. Paterson, R. Taylor, J. Coombes. Rotorua High School—E. Andrews, W. Nicholas, E. Bergan, P. Lyall, J. Dansey, A. Black, T. Naera, R. Barnett, K. Lockie, D. Jackson, J. Bull, S. Lewis, R. Jones, R. Nairn, D. Tunnicliffe. In a bout of rapid exchanges the match opened at a fast pace but neither team developed a definite advantage except for an early assault by Hamilton, which almost won success. Within the first 10 minutes Rotorua had a chance to goal from a penalty kick but Andrews, the visiting captain-fullback, failed. In another attempt a little later Andrews’ kick hit the post. The Hamilton High School forwards were moving rapidly to disconcert the opposition and after 2C minutes of play the pack moved as a phalanx down upon the Rotorua line. Rotorua breakaways infringed and Branton landed a fine penalty goal for Hamilton.—Hamilton High 3, Rotorua 0. Within five minutes Rotorua had equalled the score as the result of a fine back movement rapidly senl away by the half-back Naera. Branton missed his man with the result that Lyall scored a fine try. Bergan failed to convert.—Rotorua High 3, Hamilton 3. Another Penalty Goal Branton missed penalty goals for Hamilton twice in the succeeding few minutes. A third shot almost immediately raised Hamilton to s three-point command again just as half-time sounded. The opening stages of the second spell were characterised by rather straggling play, the remarkable touch-kicking of the Rotorua fullback, Andrews, being the only real highlight. Passing and handling by many of both teams’ backs were poor. Excitement revived, however, when the Rotorua backs swung into concerted action and disorganised the defence before Lyall sped over for his second great try on the wing. Andrews’ kick just failed.—Rotorua 6, Hamilton 6. Rotorua hemmed in the Hamilton team mid-way through the second spell, first Naera and then Nicholas making a strong bid to score. Eventually the Hamilton defence collapsed after shakily resisting the Rotorua thrusts for some time. The half-back, Naera, successfully dived around the scrum to score a great try which Andrews converted.— Rotorua High 11, Hamilton 6. Determined to retaliate, the Hamilton forwards carried the ball to within an ace of scoring, but a knock-on when the backs secured control foiled the effort. Hamilton secured a penalty and Branton sicked a goal. Rotorua still led 11—9. In the concluding stages of the natch Hamilton High made a very determined bid to secure winning points. Repeatedly the team won scrums right on the line but the ball VP.S slow coming away from the Half-back and the exchanges were lot sufficiently rapid to ensure success. The Rotorua defence was solid but eventually Branton sprinted around the flank to wedge a passage .hrough for a good try. His own sick failed.—Hamilton 12, Rotorua 11. The referee was Mr J. Rendle LOWER GRADE GAME In an intermediate game, Hamil:on High School defeated Takapuna Grammar School by 9 points to 8