RUGBY FOOTBALL

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 11, Issue 51, 9 July 1947, Page 5

RUGBY FOOTBALL

RANGITAIKI 3, ROTORUA 0 TE HURUNUI APANUI SHIELD After a tightly contested but relatively unspectacular gartie, a Rangitaiki representative XV. defeated Rotorua by three to nil in the first elimination match of-the Te Hurunui Apanui Shield competition at Arawa Park on Saturday. The game was fast but close and neither back line had many opportunities of swinging into step. The teams were:—

Rangitaiki: J. Pope; R. Lees, L. Newick, G. Burt; P., Jacobsen, J. Marks; L. Raurete; J. Ahipene, L. Hall, T. Waldegrave, K. Woods, T. Nathan, T. Tauti, G. Murray, L. Gardiner.

Rotorua: S. Sewell; D. Mason, B. Seton, S. Morrison; I. Kennedy, H. Webby; R. Hooper; J. Donaldson, T. Baker, S. Winiata, D. Hulton, W. Murray, E. Moncur, I. Seton, W. Rawiri. .The day was a perfect one, there being no wind and a haze over the sun. One of the largest galleries seen at Arawa Park for some time witnessed the game. / Backs Off Form Had Sewell, the fullback, been in form, Rotorua would undoubtedly have 'won the game by a fair margin, but it was Sewell’s day off, and although the opportunity was his time after time with penalties which he would normally have taken in his stride, he failed each time to capitalise.

Morrison, at centre, also played disappointingly at the start, although he showed flashes of his old brilliance later in the game. Webby, at first five-eighths, thoroughly justified his place in the team, and played a fast, open game. He was well supported by I. Kennedy at second five-eighths, replacing P. Lyle who was suffering from an injured hand. Mason on the right wing, was fast and scientific, and always in position when wanted. Forwards Sluggish Hooper, Rotorua’s scrum. half, played excellently, feeding the line promptly and accurately from the scrums. Winiati, I. Seton and Moncur played energetically in the forwards, but were not backed up by the rest of the pack. Donaldson, the last man down, received injuries to his shoulder halfway through the second spell, and was replaced by B. Jackson.

The Rangitaiki XV. played well as a side, although its back line did not combine as well as the forwards. The fullback, Pope, one of the youngest players, proved a match for Sewell in kicking ability, his touch finding and safety in defence contributing much to his team’s victory. L. Newdick and R. Lees respectively on the left and right wings, played sound football, a brilliant piece of opportunism by the former gaining his side its only score. The three-quarters were the main weakness in the back line, fumbling and bad positioning costing the side points. The forwards, on the other hand, made up for the deficiency and outclassed the Rotorua pack, although infringements in the scrum might have cost the side many points in penalty kicks had Sewell been in form.

Dour Struggle Rotorua attacked fairly strongly in the first few minutes of play, but Rangitaiki rallied and a breakthrough by the half, Raurete, took play well into Rotorua’s 25. From a line out, the visitors’ back line swung into step, but a qiuck piece of interception by Webby broke up the movement. Play 'settled down to a dour struggle on the halfway line, Rangitaiki finally infringing and paying a penalty. Sewell failed with a kick that had been already accepted as posted by the majority of spectators. Shortly afterwards, the Rotorua line began to move from a set scrum, but a fumble by Morrison allowed a Rangitaiki player to find touch. Hooper’s passes from the scrum became rather erratic for a while at this stage, and Kennedy was finding difficulty in taking them on the run. Mason Nearly Scores The crowd rose in excitement for the first time when Mason, neatly intercepting, a Rangitaiki pass, almost succeeded in scoring under the southern corner flag. Finding himself cornered, he neatly booted to centre, but there *#as no one there. Sewell received his second opportunity a few minutes later, when Jacobsen was penalised for offside.

Again his kick failed, the ball just scraping the right-hand post. Shortly after, Rangitaiki initiated a move which was to gain its only score. From a loose forward rush which took the play well into Rotorua’s 25, Newdick punted a beautifully conceived cross-kick to the winger Lees, who just evaded Mason’s tackle to score under the flag. Pope’s kick failed. Eager to push its advantage, Rangitaiki battled hard but rather too eagerly.

Uninspiring Spell

Three minutes after the whistle for the start of the second spell, Sewell again lined the ball up on the 25-yard mark for a shot at the posts. His kick went wide.

At one stage it appeared as though Rotorua would be certain to equalise with a score by Mason or Morrison, both of whom were streaking up the wind, but the Rangitaiki defence held.

Towards the end Winiata, a second row forward, decided to have a lash, and almost succeeded in crossing, backed up by Mason. The referee was Mr C. F. Walker, Tauranga. \ HURUNUI SHIELD ELIMINATION MATCHES One Hurunui Shield and two further elimination games were played in the Bay of Plenty province on Saturday. Opotiki, the holders of the shield, defeated Apanui, 26 to 5 in a hard game at Opotiki. Whakatane suffered defeat at the hands of Galatea when they lost by 19 points to 27 at Whakatane, and Te Puke beat Tauranga, 11-8 in the third elimination game at Te Puke. At Rotorua Rangitaiki defeated Rotorua 3 points to nil. The losers of all these matches, have now forfeited their chance to challenge for the shield later in the season.

REP. RUGBY BAY TEAM CHOSEN TO PLAY THAMES VALLEY The following team has been selected to play Thames Valley at Te' Puke on Saturday , next, July 12:— Fullback: J. Clarke (Tauranga). Threequarters: M. Delamere, Capt. (Opotiki), J. Biddle, B. McGougan (Whakatane). Five-eighths': P. Shepherd (Galatea), M. Wickham (Te Puke).

Halfback: L. Raureth (Rangitaiki).

Forwards: K. Woods (Rangitaiki), J. Seton, W. Murray (Rotorua), H. Roygard (Tauranga), T. Jacobs, N. Barrow (Te Puke), H. Ranapia (Whakatane), W. Tibbie (Apanui). Emergencies: Backs, G. Burt (Rangitaiki), T. Moore (Opotiki); forwards, P. Ratahi (Whakatane), N. Sadd (Te Puke). THAMES VALLEY TEAM The Thames Valley team is as follows: Fullback: B. O’Neill. Three-quarters: W. Voycey, E. Murdoch, B. Thompson. Five-eighths: J. Mitchell, J. Woodlands (Capt). Halfback: H. McOllum.

Forwards: W. Wills, D. Spiers, A. Bach, W. Moses, G. Maxwell, R. Knight, W. Carnes, C. Dwight. Emergencies: H. Johnson, P. Gillespie, P. Collins, D. Fisher. CURTAIN RAISER The junior team to play Colts as a curtain raiser is as follows: — Fullback: Anderson (Te Puke). Three-quarters: Kapua (Rotorua), Haimona (Rotorua), Rutherford (Whakatane). Five-eighths: Black (Opotiki), Stewart (Opotiki). Halfback: Tiepa (Whakatane). Forwards: Reid (Te Puke), Abbot (Opotiki), Mundy (Whakatane), Clarke (Tauranga), Perram (Rotorua), Burton (Opotiki), Pattie (Te Puke), Ross (Te Puke). Emergencies: Rewita (Opotiki), Knoles (Rotorua), Ormsby (Tauranga), Lockhead (Tauranga). Managers The managers of the senior team are Messrs. Tat Anderson and Geo. Farmer. Mr Fred Burt will manage the junior team. SHALFOON SHIELD ROTORUA v RANGITAIKI One of the most keenly contested and spectacular Rugby matches of the season was the Shalfoon Shield game at Te Teko on Saturday, between Rangitaiki and Rotorua, won

by the former by a penalty goal to nil. The match was played at a gruelling pace that told somewhat on the lighter challengers in the second half; nevertheless they were unfortunate not to make a draw of it, at least. Two penalty kicks were awarded against Rangitaiki, both failing, when taken by Solly—an easy one—and Mansfield respectively. The one penalty awarded against Rotorua was the only score. A rebound from Solly on to Lawless, who was offside, was the cause of the kick by the Rangitaiki first fiveeighth, Davis. For the winning side, the safety play of Haimona, at fullback, was outstanding. Haimanu, at centre and Gardner, Lyons and Eiv.ers, among the forwards, were in top playing form. On the Rotorua side, the Mamaku wing three-quarter, Sim, J. Haimona at centre, Knowles at first fiveeighths, and A. Doyles, the half, played sterling Rugby among the backs, while of the forwards, Perham, in particular, also Lynch and Mansfield, distinguished themselves. Sim was unlucky on one occasion when he lost possession of the ball after getting across, while Knowles grounded just short of the line. The backs got plenty of the ball from the scrums but they lacked thrust. Mr Donovan, Te Puke, was referee.