LATE COLLAPSE

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21203, 28 August 1940, Page 14

LATE COLLAPSE

HAMILTON RUGBY DEFEAT MATCH WITH MORRINSVILLE i FORWARDS NOT EQUAL TO TASK ! After having every chance to earn | the right to challenge for the Peace ! Cup, the Hamilton Rugby representatives lost the elimination match against Morrinsville last Saturday only seven minutes before the end. Taken on the whole, Morrinsville had the better of the match but Hamilton should have been able to retain the lead which was secured in the first half which ended with the side leading by 10 points to 3 One of the principal reasons for Hamilton’s defeat was t£e fact that the team was outclassed in the forwards in the second half. Throughout the spell Morrinsville dominated the play even, more than Hamilton had commanded the first half of the game. In the backs Hamilton had the better combination and had they been well fed with the ball throughout the game Morrinsville would probably not have overhauled the score. Form in the Forwards In the first place the Hamilton forwards were too light. They secured the ball quite well in the first half but they tired noticeably in the heavy work towards the end. The Morrinsville forwards were breaking through the line-outs and scrums and charging downfield passing the baU amongst themselves in clever fashion. It was these sallies that gave Morrinsville the decided advantage in the scond half. In the Hamilton pack there were several excellent loose forwards—in fact too many for one team—and the following up was excellent. Most of its effectiveness was lost, however, because of the lack of backing-up.

Showed Out in the Pack One of the outstanding forwards on the ground was V. Ensor, of Morrinsville, who played on the side of the scrum. He was the best of the Morrinsville pack, although he was ably supported by F. Hart. In the hard rucking they were nearly always j the first two to break loose to the head of charging rushes, while in the loose they were repeatedly conspicuous. W. Walker, too, played a fine game in the Morrinsville pack. One of the best Hamilton forwards was Cliff Satherley. Not only did he handle the ball well, take a leading position in the rushes, and try to cooperate with the backs, but also he covered up for the half-back, E. R. Houghton. R. Dick, and O. Elliott toiled well throughout the game but their diminutive build in comparison with other forwards on the field, was an obvious handicap. One of the cleanest pair of hands of any of the forwards was that of T. Bremer, who showed clever form on several occasions. Barr and Flannagan were solid workers. In the first spell Bowler was able to get the ball from the scrums to secure a slight advantage over the Morrinsville hooker, Mclntyre, but when the weight relaxed as the Hamilton forwards tired in the second spell, Morrinsville secured by far the most of the ball. The Inside Backs The standard of tackling was high on Saturday in both teams. With this the predominant characteristic of the play of the inside backs it was not surprising that many attacks were short-lived. Had Hamilton’s attacks been initiated more rapidly the inside backs should have been able to penetrate. As it was, however, Reece was often crowded-out before he was under way. Often it was because the ball came slowly from the scrum. In the first place the scrum was not letting the ball away rapidly, and then on occasions Houghton delayed a moment to grasp the ball instead of despatching it immediately. His passingj however, was very clean and crisp, but Reece was too often ahead of the pass. R. Everest made several splendid openings, but Howie watched him fairly carefully.

Splendid Kicking The Waikato fullback, D. G. Ensor, of Morrinsville, played considerably better on Saturday than he has in recent Waikato games. Although he mis-fielded on several occasions he was able to make quick recoveries. The outstanding feature of his game, however, was his remarkable linekicking. A. J. Aitken played better Rugby. He made several very fast penetrations, but J. Everest was nearly always able to prevent his thrusts from becoming dangerous. Perkins was often responsible for relieving Hamilton when Morrinsville was pressing hard, while one or two of his attacking runs were brilliant. Ahern, on the other wing, was a weak link. He appeared to be watching his man instead of the ball and as a result dropped the pass nearly every time. He showed ability to be able to beat his man but nearly always the ball was dropped in doing so.

Junior Representatives The following have been selected to represent Hamilton in a junior representative match against Morrinsville to be played at a curtainraiser to the Waikato—Thames Valley match at Morrinsville on Saturday:— T. Collins; H. Whyte, R. Booth, B. Mexted; M. Hand, G. Bettley; L. Gibbs; G. Booth, P. McDevitt, J. Tanner, M. Thomas. D. Scobie, J. Irwin, E. Grocock, H. Shattock. Reserves: Backs, L. McNamara, Fowler; forwards, H. Cresswell, J. Newman. A practice will be held tomorrow night. The bus will leave the railway cross at noon on Saturday. Brilliant Scoring Record i For the third year in succession, I M. Crump, of the City Rugby Foot- : ball Club has scored over 100 points, i He has only- been playing in the Ham- ! ilton grade competitions three seaJ sons, joining the resuscitated City j Club in its first year, when he left ! school. His remarkable scoring abilI ity is not due to kicking alone, as out I of this year’s total of 103 points, 39 I were as the result of tries. His points were scored this year in eleven [games comprising 13 tries, 14 penalities and 11 conversions. Despite the ; fact that he has reached the century jmark (in fact in 1938 he scored 211 j points) he has never “potted” a goal,

and in the past five years he has never even attempted to. Although he is only 9£ stone, Crump’s left-foot conversions and penalties have turned many an important game in favour of the City Club. For High School teams in 1936 he scored 88 points and in 1937 he scored 73 points. In his first year as third grade for Qity he scored 211 points, in 1939 he scored 144 points, and this season he has again reached the century. He usually plays the three-quarter-line and has been a member of the Junior team this season. When City seniors played Technical Old Boys in the Clarke Cup competition he filled the position of fullback and in scoring six of the thirteen points accumulated by his side he was responsible for its victory.

Crump commenced this season well with two tries, a penalty and two conversions and, in his next match he scored all City’s 19 points being made up of four tries, two conversions and a penalty. He scored points in every match and, for the season, scored 42 points from penalties, 22 from conversions and 39 from tries.

Tribute From Supporter The following tribute to a wellknowp Waikato footballer has been received from “Sports Lover”: — Next Saturday, with the match between Frankton and Technical seniors, is virtually the closing of the Hamilton Rugby season, and with it brings the final appearance of that widely-known and evergreen popular sportsman, A. H. “Slip” Griffiths, who has been playing senior Rugby continuously for approximately 20 years. Many times Hamilton and Waikato Rugby representative, this player, with his scintillating speed, lightning runs up the line, has time and time again brought the crowd to their feet with those characteristic dashes to score innumerable tries with the plaudits of the Rugby fans echoing all over the ground. “Slip’s” pleasing personality, his fine sense of good sportsmanship, both on and off the field, has earned for him the highest respect from all supporters and officials. To my mind, it is doubtful if Waikato has ever produced as good a wing-wthree-quarter as this player, and there are many of his supporters who consider that he was very unlucky not to wear the silver fern. If he had been living in one of the main cities, there is no question that he would have reached the pinnacle of fame in the Rugby world. Besides his undoubted ability as a Rugby player, he also attained a high peak on the running track. Being one of New Zealand’s leading sprinters, holder of many sprint championships, of ten-times “cleaning up” the entire programme, a first-class exponent of the high jump, “Slip’s” presence on the athletic parks was always a big draw card. He is one of the very few class sprinters who reproduced his Exceptional speed on the football field. Rugby and sport in general can ill-afford to lose such a fine allround sportsman, but to use a modern phrase, time marches on, and he will long be remembered by his host of friends and supporters as a brilliant footballer, a splendid athlete and above all a true-blue sportsman.