Rugby

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 14, Issue 16, 25 July 1949, Page 5

Rugby

BAY OF PLENTY TOUBING TEAM WINS SECOND GAME OVER POVERTY BAY 13—9

(Special to Beacon) Gisborne, Saturday. The brilliant defence of the full back, E. Welch, in the last quarter of the Bay of Plenty-Poverty Bay representative rugby match at Gisborne this afternoon saved defeat for the touring side. Bay of Plenty won by 13 points to 9 after having lost the initiative at the close of the first spell. The open tactics adopted by the Bay of Plenty backs in- the first half, combined with their speed, enabled the visitors to pile up 13 points in the first 30 minutes of play, N. Smith, notching a field goal and registering a try, S. McLaughlin a try and Welch converting both. In the second half Bay of Plenty was kept on defence for the greater part of the time and Poverty Bay was quick to smother anything likely to lead to another Bay of Plenty try. Having raised three points with a penalty kick five minutes after the start of play, Poverty Bay added two unconverted tries in the second spell, one under the posts, which should have been converted. Had the Gisborne goal kicker been on form there may have been a different story. Apart from Welch, in a backline that seldom faltered and had plenty of speed and thrust, L. Raureti, Smith and J. Goldsmith were always dangerous. The pack lost some of its dash in the second half of the

match and had to lower its colours to the dominant Poverty Bay forwards. Honours were fairly easy in the set scrums, the home side winning 12 to 10, nine being indecisive. Poverty Bay had a better lineout technique, winning 21 to 13 of the 54 lineouts. The prominent Bay of Plenty forwards were McLaughlin, Gabolinsky, Kerei and Ranapia. The teams were:— Bay of Plenty (blue and gold): Full back, E. Welch; three-quart-ers, B. McGougan, S. Martin, S. Morrison; five-eighths, J. Goldsmith, N. Smith; half back, L. Raureti; back row, N. Cawte; middle row, S. McLaughlin, H. Ranapia, P. Ratahi, W. Moses; front row, W.. Kerei, E. Monciir, J. Gabolinsky. Newdick replaced McGougan and Sullivan replaced Morrison, both retiring with knee injuries. Poverty Bay (scarlet): Full back, G. McKinley; three-quarters, G. Harris, N. Kane, E. Carrington; fivej eighths, R. Clay, B. Fitzpatrick; half back, S. Lee; back row, R. White; middle row, B. Birrell, J. Shaw, W. Carrington, J. Cleary; | front row, W. Brown, T. Donovan, ; J. Shaskey. I Referee: Mr J. Lockwood, Gisborne. RANGITAIKI RETAINS MOORE SHIELD Rangitaiki B retained the Moore Shield, staving off a strong Rotorua challenge at Te Teko on Saturday ■ by 3 points, &—G. I There was very little between j the teams, Rotorua having a little ! the better of the set scrums and Rotorua a bit the better in the , loose. Lineouts. were about even. I The backs were evenly matched, but their exhibition was only a fair , display of Rugby, j Scorers for ■ Rangitaiki were Marks a try and a penalty, J. Hahi- • pene, a try.

OPOTIKI SUCCESSFUL IN SHALFOON SHIELD MATCH A successful challenge for the Shalfoon Shield was lodged by the Opotiki junior representatives against Rotorua on Saturday, Opotiki winning 12—8 at Arawa Park, Rotorua. Opotiki’s team was the heavier, and also displayed better defensive, tactics. The score was a fair measure of the relative merits of the teams. For Opotiki R. Boynton scored a try eaidy in the piece, and that was the only score before half time. After the break,. G. Abbot scored two unconverted tries and J. Moore potted a field goal for Opotiki. For Rotorua G. Shuker scored a try (unconverted), and A. Morgan scored another converted by W. Barber. SENIOR CLUB COMPETITION ENDS The senior rugby competition at Whakatane came to an end on Saturday with Wairaka the winners of the senior grade. 'l’he last day of play resulted in a win for Taneatua over United 17—8 and Wairaka' retaining their unbeaten record by defeating a surprisingly strong Paroa side 12—3. Neither of the games were particularly bright with play being rather ragged for the most part. As the competition ended Wairaka came out on top with Taneatua second, Poroporo a close third, United fourth and then Paroa. East v West Referees Referees from throughout the Bay of Plenty attended the annual football match between East and West referees at Matata yesterday. The game was won by West 9—3 after an uninspiring match.