HIGH-CLASS RUGBY

Camp News, Volume 3, Issue 133, 31 July 1942, Page 3

HIGH-CLASS RUGBY

Wellington Beat Tank Brigade MARGIN OF ONE POINT It is long since a better exposition of wet weather Rugby has been seen in Wellington than that displayed in the match between the Wellington representative fifteen and a team from the New Zealand Tank Brigade, at Athletic Park on Saturday afternoon. Though played in bitterly cold weather, with heavy showers from the south, and with a slippery field and ball to contend with, the backs on both sides handled well, and many . spectacular rearguard movements delighted the spectators in the well-filled grandstand. It is questionable if ever better three-quarter backs have been seen at headquarters than those who took part in the match, and it was largely because of their dash and speed that the game proved so attractive to watch. The centrethreequarters, E. Donovan (Wellington) and J. Elkis (Tank Brigade) were a highclass pair, and both distinguished themselves "by strong runs, which brought tries. ' . The forwards were evenly matched and adapted themselves well to the soggy conditions, some rare duels being seen in scrums and rqcks, and much clever footwork being displayed. The teams were :—

N.Z. Tank Brigade : H. Johns ; C. F. Sullivan, J. Elkis, F. N. Rosenfelt ; H. S. Robinsbn, A. L. Manion; H, J. Julian; R. McC. McKenzie (captain), D. P. Grant, W. ■A. Pyatt, G. H. Humphrev. K. D. Arnold, C. F. Caldwell, L. J. Rutherford, W. C. Porter. Wellington : S. W. Clark ; D. G. Steven-

son, E. Donovan, JI. Hudson ; B. Hayes, B. Stott H. R. Johns; R. White (captain), P. Stanaway, F. Foley, J. Brownlie, P. Murphy, P. Baumber, S. Bills, S. J. Harvey. Thought Wellington had the advantage of a stiff southerly wind behind them in the first spell, so sound was the defence that it was not till the spell was half over that the first score came. Donovan made one of his sharp bursts from centrethreequarter, and handed on to Hayes, who crossed the line in a handy position, but. Clark failed to add the extra points. Johns, the noted Taranaki fullback, was putting in fine work for the Tank Brigade, fielded cleanly, and rarely failing to find the line with his long kicks. A little later a good centring kick by Stevenson caught the Tank defence out of position, and several Wellington forwards had an open goal-line in front of them, Baumber scoring the try, which Clark failed to convert.

With the wind behind them the Tank Brigade attacked early in the second spell, and only ’ over-eagerness prevented them from scoring twice. Clark, who was playing well at fullback, eventually drove the attackers back, and then the crowd was thrilled by a spectacular movement, which brought Wellington’s third try. Stevenson made a sharp dash down the right touch-line, and in-passed to Donovan, who took the ball when travelling at top speed, and raced" half the length of the 'field .to score between the posts. Brownlie converted to make the score 11-0 in Wellington’s favour. . • This stung the Tank force into action, and they attacked to see Elkis, the ex-

Canterbury representative, cut through for a try near the posts, which Rosenfelt converted. With Brownlie, Murphy, and Stanaway in the van, Wellington then swept play ,■ to the Tank line, and Harvey ended up the movement with a try, which Brownlie improved, to make the score 16-5 in Wellington’s favour. Tank Brigade, however, were lasting well, and they staged a great finishing rally which just. failed by one point to bring them victory. A movement started by Julian, who was'feeding his backs from the scrum on every possible occasion, saw Elkis cleverly slip through the Wellington backs to score near the posts for Rosenfelt .to convert. The matcn ended on a high note, Rosenfelt, the speedy Auckland wing-threequarter, who had always looked dangerous, took a kindly bounce on the halfway line, and sprinted away to score a brilliant try. Rosenfelt kicked his third goal to make the final scores: Wellington, 16; Tank Brigade, 15. Mr. I. Ramsay was the referee.