WAIKATO’S BIG WIN

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21209, 4 September 1940, Page 10

WAIKATO’S BIG WIN

FINAL RUGBY MATCH DISAPPOINTING ENCOUNTER TAYLOR AND WARRENDER A Rugby team plays only as well as it has to. That was evident on Saturday at Morrinsville when the Waikato Rugby representatives scored an overwhelming victory against Thames Valley in the final representative fixture of the season. Confronted with poor opposition the team had no occasion to excell itself with the result that once the tally had reached almost the score the players slackened off and did not put their best effort into the play. Because of that the spectators were seldom moved to enthusiasm. In fact, the effortless scoring became rather boring.

May Have Been Serious As matters were, one *f the chief delights of the crowd was the speculation on whether each new goal kicker that Waikato tried would raise the flags. It became almost amusing that Waikato could not convert its scores but it was a matter that may have been serious had Thames Valley been in a position to score more frequently. Scoring eight tries to Thames Valley’s two, Waikato did not have to worry about converting but there have been many occasions when a fifteen has been defeated simply because it did not have a reliable kick. Waikato has many potential goal kickers but few of them are reliable. That would indicate that more attention should be given to training men to kick and encouraging them to practise. Five men in the team attempted kicks on Saturday—Aitken, Hewitt, Ensor. Carroll, and Johnson. Hewitt was the most likely. Towards the end of the game others were given a chance because nothing was at stake.

Question of Hooking The match was remarkable for the small number of scrums. Waikato secured plenty of the ball from the rucking but on the few occasions that a scrum was packed Catley was penalised by the referee, Mr A. Paterson, of Hamilton, for lifting. It was a further indication of the indefinite nature of the hooking rules which throws the referee back on his interpretation. It is difficult for both referee and hooker that such should be the case and a revision of the laws to provide a more definite and more workable rule seems to be long overdue. Played Fine Game Outstanding players in the Waikato pack on Saturday were two of the.* pack’s mainstays, M. J. Taylor, and W. H. Warrender, who have played consistently good football this season. There can be little doubt that both of these men are among the best forwards in the country today. They led the pack in some first-class tight and loose work and showed themselves thoroughly versatile. Both cooperated well in passing movements. All the scrum played well with Catley, Farren, Thomson, and Satherley the best of the others. Satherley’s dribbling was again spectacular. Hewifi performed well in the linecut. Waikato’s Backs As a result of his game on the wing, Childs showed that it has been unfortunate for Waikato this season that he has not been able to play earlier. An operation kept him out of Rugby for earlier representative matches. Of the other backs J. Everest was the star, tackling well, evading the opposition brilliantly, and speeding in to make openings for good back movements. Aitken and Perkins played successfully also, the latter scoring three fine tries. Brown and Carroll may have caused some concern if the opposition had been stronger. The former was slow in delivering the ball from the scrum and made the mistake of turning practically everytime with the ball before passing. Thames Valley Team Much lighter, less experienced, and lacking combination, the Thames Valley team could not provide solid opposition to Waikato. On occasions it make sweeping attacks but none developed into serious thrusts except the two scoring movements which were the result of good anticipation and the seizing of momentary opportunities. Millar and Woodlands, the centre and first five-eighth respectively, were the best of the backs, while Taylor, until he was injured, was the outstanding forward. Technical Wins Again Although the standard of play was not very high at Rugby Park when the Clarke Cup competition was re-r sumed on Saturday the close nature of the scoring between Technical and Old Boys maintained the interest of the spectators. Technical’s inside backs were again impressive individually, while the wingers both showed determination. Again, however, lack of combination spoilt many promising movements. Frankton’s backs were disorganised by the loss of Reece and the two Everest’s but the team made Technical fight every inch of the way. As the youngest side in the competition Technical should provide very strong opposition next season if it can call on most of its players again. •

No College Match Another season has nearly concluded without a College Day in Hamilton. Seeing that the Hamilton High School and Hamilton Technical College first XV’s now play the same outside school teams surely it is time that these two teams met in Hamilton. One of the features of the Auckland season is College Day, and a feature of Hamilton football should be the annual meeting of the two big secondary school teams. The Saturday that the Waikato team plays its return match with Auckland at Auckland, surely could be arranged as a College Day in Hamilton. This game would be far brighter than some of the substitute games played at this period.