WELLINGTON RUGBY

Camp News, Volume 2, Issue 87, 29 August 1941, Page 7

WELLINGTON RUGBY

SEASON NEARS END

Athletic clinched their, grip on the Wellington Rugby Union’s senior first division championship by beating Marist Bros. Old Boys in tlie main game in Saturday’s fixtures. The weather was fine but cold. Grounds were in a heavy state following the week’s of continuous rain.

Results were: Athletic. 12, Marist Bros. 0.8. 5; Army 22, ; Petone 8; Wellington 15, Hutt 11; University 14, College Old Boys 11; St. Patrick’s College 0.8. 11, Johnsonville 6; Oriental 14, Eastbourne 9; Poneke 24, Air Force 12.

It is probable that one more round of senior matches will be played with Athletic-Army as the chief attraction, but Athletic cannot be beaten for the championship.

Army in Form. Though nine of their regular players were on final leave, the Army team gave one of its best displays of the season in outplaying Petone 22-8 on the Petone Recreation Ground. The Army team was handicapped through having no experienced hooker, and Petone took scrums instead of line-outs, and secured the ball from almost every set scrum. Notwithstanding this,-the Army team, with a helpful southerly wind behind them, had all the better of the first spell, in which they piled on 17 points to 3. Ewert appeared in a new role as half-back,'and was the brains of the Army team. He opened up the play in brilliant fashion, and scored no fewer than 16 points himself, scoring a try, which he himself converted, landing three penalty goals, and converted a try scored by Fulham. In this last try no fewer than five Army players handled the ball. Eastwood also scored a try for Army. Petone’s points were made up of a try by Bills, and a try by Dougan, which Mallett converted. Referee, Mr. T. E. Cole.

Free Scoring. Poneke beat Air Force 24-12 in a free scoring game at Kilbirnie. A feature of the match was the accurate goal-kicking. V. Calcinai landed a penalty and converted four tries, one from near the corner. Fontaine and Kemp kicked good penalty goals for Air Force. Poneke won mainly because of the dash of their forwards. Referee. Mr. W. R. Ellison.

Championship s Points. Points. Ph P. A. Chi W. pts. P. W. D. D. L. L. F. F. A. pts Athletic .... 16 14 0 2 272 113 28 Army 14 14 11 11 0 0 3 3 255 255 115 115 22' 99 Wellington 16 11 0 5 206 154 22 Marist O.B. .. 16 9 1 6 166 107 19 Petone 15 8 9 5 157 128 18 Hutt 15 8 1 6 176 153 , 17 Johnsonville .. 15 6 9 7 97 130 14 University 16 7 6 9 128 118 14 Eastbourne 16 15 , 7 6 0 i 9 8 128 175 148 163 14 13 College O.B. . 16 7 0 9 165 183 13 St. Pat.’s C.O.B. 16 6 1 9 157 174 13 Oriental .... 15 6 0 9 138 206 12 Ponoke 16 16 4 1 11 125 216 9 Air Force .... 15 4 1 11 125 216 9 Air Force .... 15 3 0 12 111 223 6