Whakatane A Badly Beaten By Speedy Opotiki Combination

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 12, Issue 82, 16 August 1948, Page 5

Whakatane A Badly Beaten By Speedy Opotiki Combination

In a clean and exceptionally fast Rugby match, Opotiki defeated the Whakatane A representatives 16—-5 at the Whakatane Domain on Saturday in very warm weather. The outstanding feature of the -game was the way the Opotiki side threw the ball around and packed well in the loose forward rushes. Teams were:—. Opotiki: C. Walker; D. Rankin, J. Parkinson, Oswald; T. Koopu, J. Goldsmith; G. Stewart; J. l Howe, T. Delamere, B. Gage, W. Poihipi, W. Delamere, ITanatui, T. Abbot, V. Hata. - Whakatane: Huta; R. McCready, Cave, Kahui; T. Riirli, Hurran; R. Crapp; T. Crapp, Cleland, Wardlaw, Hakopa, Ball, Rawson, Nathan, Hona. Both teams in the first half of the game played exceptionally fast Rugby, with. Opotiki getting a slightly better share of the ball in both departments. A hard-running combination, the Opotiki back line had Whakatane bustled on many occasions, ■' though the inside backs were a bit inclined to run too far across the field before i letting the ball out to the very fast wingers. However, the wingers were well fed, and, when they received the ball, v/ere very dangerous. Three of the four tries were collected by the fast Opotiki winger, Oswald, a straight and determined runner. Whakatane lacked combination in both backs and forwards, the main weakness in the forwards being lack

of fitness and consequently lack of following up and. defensive play. In the first part of the game they were able to hold their own with the opposing forwards and in some cases even to better them. However, this did not last for long. The Whakatane back line_ was weak in patches and overall' was weak in its passing. Hurran and Crapp were the strongest links inthe line, both tackling splendidly, something that was seriously lacking in the majority,of the team. Opotiki was not a really solid tackling team either, though .not tested properly during .the match. In' the Whakatane forward pack/ ■Nathan was, very prominent as were Ball and Hona. They were assisted by Gardiner inNfhe second spell when he replaced Hakopa. The first half ended vrith the score five all.

Opotiki opened the second half with a try in t£e first'few minutes and kept up the pace all the way until the last few minutes of the game, when both teams seemed dead weary. • Outstanding Opotiki players were Koopu and Goldsmith; who. were seen to advantage in the five-eighths line, with the Delameje Brothers and Poihipi as the pick of .the Opotiki forward pack, though the‘whole formation went like a machine and deserved a lot of credit for Winning the game. ... , y* . Scorers:— : - ‘ (Opotiki 16 points) : ,! Oswald; three tries; Parkinson a. try; Howe and; Goldsmith, a conversion each. Whakatane (5): Nathan, a. try, and. Riini, a conversion.