RUGBY University Beats Old Boys By 24 Points

Press, Volume XCV, Issue 28263, 29 April 1957, Page 7

RUGBY University Beats Old Boys By 24 Points

the second round of the CarXbury Rugby Union's senior competition on Saturday four . were undefeated. They teams UnjTers jty, Christchurch, Ivdenham and . Technical. The leather and grounds were per- ’’’ f or open football and the i j2h scoring in nearly all games is an Indication of the manner Jo which teams played their biggest surprise of the day was the large margin—24 points —by which University beat Old Bovs in the main game on Lancaster Park Oval. It is many years since Old Boys, one of the strongest teams in the competition in other years, have been beaten by such a high margin and have been at the bottom of the senior ladder after two games. Marist, another strong team, lost its game to Sydenham, also by a double figure margin. On Saturday, University, Christchurch, Sydenham, Albion, Technical." "tmd Sunnyside-Spreydon won their games and Marist, New Brighton, Merivale and Old Boys suffered their second loss in two games. Results:— University 24, Old Boys 0. Christchurch 21, Belfast 0. Sydenham 16, Marist 6. Albion 19, New Brighton 3. Sunnyside-Spreydon 11, Merivale 0. Technical 8, Linwood 6. The position of teams at the conclusion of the second round is as follows: —

UNIVERSITY IN FORM It must be many years since an Old Boys senior team was beaten by 24 points to nil, but this sweeping victory to University in the main match at Lancaster Park did not flatter the winning team: on at least three occasions University failed very narrowly to itcore tries. University, the champion team last winter, gave a particularly good display in the Wcond spell. •nd it wss sound evidence that it will be very hard to beat again this season. Old Boys were clearly outclassed, back and forward. University’s success was based on the pace and fire of its bustling forwards, who played with tremendous spirit and skill. They gaxe their backs plenty of ball except for a period in the second nail, and, more important, they gave them room in which to move. The University backs Played with swift certainty and confidence, and the backing-up was so intense that at times it vas an embarrassment to the Pttack. Some of the best passing movements. however, came from the forwards, who exploited a weaknefs behind the Old Boys scrum ruthlessly and relentlessly. The University forwards’ rushes often swept aside the defence with absurd ease. Old Boys were very heavily handicapped by the loss of the haL-back, R. Young, five minutes t? l ®- start - A flank forward. J? Robinson, did his best to fill the gap. but he, too, was injured very early in the second spell, and a five-eighths, A. J. Krisnic. then plaved behind the scrum. It was little wonder that the Old Boys’ backs were unable to get moving, or that the University forwards were so often able tn burst down the middle. Old Eoys added to their troubles, however, by failing to counter the two sometimes three University forwards who came round so quickly on the half-back. Old Boys persisted m sending the ball back instead of holding it and forcing rebjrn of the loose forwards, ♦i, tt F ® was hardl Y a player in the University team who did not distinguish himself. The inside backs, B. J. Molloy. S. G. Bremn <. r A. Hutchinson, wem often brilliant. Mollov gave an excellent service, and late in the game ran almost at will. Bremner sueweded with nearly everything e did. and Hutchinson’s eye for ? e .„. gap brought him several Jbnaing breaks in the first spell, the forwards, a flanker. N. c aught the eye most often. bursting with energy and and to this he allied anticipation OU^!SHSRj^ e back of the lineT t w'^v**^*** 6 of tbe scrum. ■nJ ’Jr lUI , a I ns at number eight. at loc k. were particularly good.. O ld . Boys fielded a relatively in♦S >er J enced and 11 lacked _J ve . shown by Old Boys forwards in the last few years. • Hern, and r. Cochrane fought nt battle with tenacity, and made some excellent P e first five-eighths. A. 1n« ? a “ dled beautifully, tak__g ball off his toes as easily iron,, 0 a . return when he U T lck l ts for Sydenham. He five-eighths of promise, hopelessly placed in b L\ ma l cb -, S - K- Henderson, play®g hl » ? rst match - did nothing of WiiSu- wa , s Sound enough after nr S lnson bad beaten him once thin®«? Ce L ’ J °hnsen did many winF » e >'< and though the right Matthews, cost his side try ’ b’ s speed and deternn a \ lon w ere rf 4 en very valuable ■JLu £ ence - Old Boys really .racked only for a period of about minutes in the second J?*. Wo o d s, a five-eighths ? n ayi A g ftdi’back, won applause for ms beautiful taking of the TT On the run. University led bv eight points ai the interval, with tries by J- Croucher, one of meh B. M. J. Dineen converted. y * n second spell, WilV f?°. red f. rom one °f the brilnt University forward passing J fi f< Ven Z en t s ’ and he scored again Molloy had made a break L.° p the centre. Another formovement started from an a B oys dropped pass, and after Players had handled. Hockley ran the last 30 yards to ° re ’ then Croucher scored his r««° nd try - Both these tries were by Dineen. ahe referee was Mr K. Noonan.

LAST-MINUTE WIN

Technical College had a close AthleHr! ts “? tch with Linwood at fry rtaht n a n k t and ° nly a grand try right on tune gave it a win Vbe’tr'vv- Li ~ ha? torial ad, ° + tbe play and territorial advantage until the last quarter of the match when Techmcal summoned reserves of de--1 A H a n °? to Show its be ®t form wten d “the firSt ha a Was for S°tten brieht second half brought LinwnoS'V a higher standard. inwood held a deserved 6-0 lead th r? half from a X bvth Iby B ' Powel l and a try the ceni^’T I’’ 1 ’’ R ' Spriggs ' Wh ™ tne centre three-quarters, D. TayTao’v SC ° red for Tec bhical and T Jaekson converted, it looked as Then thX ~b x ‘, he flnal scoremen the half-back, N. Grenfell gained the decisive try. Urenfel1 ’ Sluggish early, the big TechP 1 ? 31 forwards finally took the initiative with powerful driv- and purpose and it was then hat N Teague and G. Sibley really b ca Pabilhies. D. did ed Well ' but the d ‘“. n°t have a happy day in orthodox movements. Fumbled and dropped passes were too fre?u ent and tf Was from one of sco?e. that Spriggs ran 30 yards to

Technical's two tries oontH bin^ Ut D ed t 0 flne d - p >ays e °o U f ld om! d Passing among backs and the hr dS v- In the last ' initi ated by the breaking of a tackle by the manv Rve -®iS h ‘bs, J. Howison, many members of the team handled Of the other player? the 6 ?? 1 Was , com P ete nt behind the SCI um and Jackson at fullangSt ° n S ‘°° d ° Ut in hoVd’it«°? d i.°° ked as if u w ° uid , ° ld . lts hard-earned lead, but the tackling failed at the crucial time H was nevertheless a fine display mick %h eW ful i" back ' F - McCord mtok, the speedy wings, Spriggs half N M irlin& and tb ® clevS thl f ’ h N - Mam catching the eye in til i ba ? ks ’ The forwards played tirelessly against a heavier pack P .° Wel1 ' K ' Powell and B Ti evella to the fore. Mr W. Fright was referee. SYDEXHAM ON TOP

bett? tl >,i bandllng O 1 the ball. ron?d v ack,1 ng and a better allround knowledge of the requirements of the game gave Sydenham a well-deserved win over Marist at Rugby Park, although the size of the score—l 6 points to B—was flattering to the winners. Only three tries were scored, two by Sydenham and one by Marist, the remaining points coining from goals. Because of the different styles of play and the evenness of the two teams the game retained its interest for a good crowd for the greater part of the game. Early in the game, M. Gowans, the Sydenham full-back, had two long shots at goal from penalties bpt be failed to find length or direction. Sydenham got results, however, when from loose play at the twenty-five M. J. Dixon kicked over the line and beat the Marist backs to score a try wide-out. This time Gowans found length and direction with a splendid conversion and soon afterwards he put over a great kick from a / foot over the halfway line. l£ach side had turns on attack and Marist missed two chances when J. Collier broke through and passes went astray. R. Cotton and R. Bowich played well on defence for Sydenham and waiting for the bounce of the ball cost Marist valuable ground. Gowns twice attempted field goals without result and at half time Sydenham let by 8 points to 0. Marist attempted to open up back play from line-outs, in which K. F. Meates had matters much his own way, but the safe tackling of the Sydenham backs drove the play across field. Cotton, who was the star of the Sydenham back-line, cut out two Marist backs with a brilliant burst and sent Bowich in for a try behind the posts. Again Gowans converted.

With W. L’Estrange and J. M. Le Lievre at the head of the forwards Marist forced Sydenham twice in succession and in stopping a rush Gowans was injured, Dixon going to full-back and A. W. Prestage playing at wing three-quarters. Sydenham, helped by good forwards in Bisman, Wilson and Smith, shifted play to the Marist line and after missing a 35 yards penalty Cotton received a scrum and potted a goal. From then on Marist tried to break through and the first points came when Collier kicked a goal from in front of the posts, and passing from a scrum went to the Marist wing, E. Noonan, who scored wide out. No goal was kicked. For Sydenham Cotton at fiveeighths, Dixon at wing threequarters and later at full back, and Whitta at half-back were the best of the backs, and for Marist the best were Collier, five-eighths. J. Stuart, half-back, and N. F. Anderson, wing three-quarters. In a good even Sydenham pack G. Smith, Ht Fox and T. Bisman were always on .. the ball and while Meates for Marist was the master of the line-out L’Estrange was the best all-rounder with loyal support from Le Lievre. Sydenham won by 16 points (two goals from tries, a penalty goal and a field goal) to 6 points (a penalty goal and a try). Mr J. P Malcolm was referee CHRISTCHURCH IN FORM

Christchurch beat Belfast by 21 points (three goals from tries and two tries) to nil at Belfast. The winning team showed superior form throughout in a rugged and hard match. Belfast was unlucky not to score on at least two “occasions, but Christchurch was better both on attack and on defence. The Christchurch backs ,functioned smoothly with R. Liddicoat and T. George showing great promise as an inside-back combination. R. M. Smith was a notable absentee from the Christchurch line, but his replacement. B. McPhail, showed good form on attack and defence. On the other wing. D. Sewell repeated his good display of the first round and scored two good tries. In the forwards, Christchurch fielded the heavier pack, and had Belfast well beaten at the end. R. H. Duff was, as usual, a tower of strength. Duff was well supported in the tight by D. Mathieson. J. Staines again showed himself to be a tireless front-ranker, and K.

N. Orsbourne was the outstanding loose forward on the field. Very fast to the ball. Orsbourne scored one try through good followingup. C. Cassidy, at centre, made several good breaks for Belfast, but the back-line as a whole could not match the speed of its opponents. The Belfast defence slackened visibly towards the end of the match and Christchurch scored two quick tries. Among the Belfast forwards, L. Halligan and G. Fechney were good in the loose. Tries for Christchurch were scored by Sewell (two), Orsbourne, McPhail and Staines. M. Gold converted three of these. Mr L. Kirk was referee. WIN FOR ALBION

After having much the better of the first spell, New Brighton was well beaten by Albion in the early match at Lancaster Park Oval. Albion won by 19 points to three, and scored three tries to New Brighton’s one. The best efforts of both teams failed to provide much good football, but at least the attempt to play an open game was made. Good tackling and handling errors contributed fairly evenly towards stopping most movements. The New Brighton forwards in the first spell set the pace, and they were very well led by H. C. Burry, who retired because of concussion just before the interval. They tired later, as the game slipped away from New Brighton. The New Brighton backs tackled resolutely, but the three tries the side conceded all came through the backs being caught out of position when Albion suddenly switched the direction of an attack.

Albion’s eager forwards came into their own late in the game and the backs showed plenty of pace. A. E. G. Elsom, on defence, sometimes staked his speed against first Rugby principles, and lost: but he remained the outstanding player on the ground. New Brighton’s try, scored by Burry, was a fine one, with a swarm of forwards converging on a centre-kick from K. Logan. Elsom scored two tries for Albion, and P. Lennon one. N. Edgington converted two tries and kicked two penalty goals. The referee was Mr L. A. Mahoney. A SCRAPPY GAME

Far too much line kicking, poor handling and lob passing produced a game which contained little interest for followers of the Merivale and Sunnyside-Spreydon teams on the south ground at Lancaster Park. Sunnyside, scoring all its points in the second half, won by 11 points (a goal from a try and two tries) to nil. Sunnyside-Spreydon enjoyed a territorial advantage in the first half but was unable to score, mainly through poor handling. In this half the ball seldom got as far as the second five-eighths and the wings hardly had a run. I. Richards, at half-back and B. Owens at second five-eighths played well for the combined team at times and in the forwards I. Hoe, G. Kendrew and R. Stuthridge were the pick of an improving pack. Small mistakes at crucial moments cost Merivale points. An easy penalty right in front of the posts was missed and once R. Wilson made a grand break and with two men in support raced for the line. When a try seemed imminent he changed direction, lost his supports and the movement died. This seemed the turning point in the game and the combined side took control from then on. , „ R. Wilson, at second-five-eighths, and H. Parana at centre were the best of the backs and in the forwards B. Cantwell, B. Turner and D. Skelton played hard.

Sunnyside-Spreydon’s points came from tries by Richards, D. Hill and A. Olliver and D. Woods converted one try. Mr L. M. West was referee.

Points Ch P. W. L. D. F. A. Pts ttar. 2 2 — — 42 3 2 Chch. .. 2 2 — — 29 6 2 Syd. .. 2 2 _ — 32 9 2 Tech. ..2 2 — 21 17 2 Alb. .. 2 1 1 — 22 19 1 Lin. ..2 1 1 — 12 11 1 Bel. .. 2 1 1 — 10 27 1 S.-S. ..2 1 1 — 22 13 1 Mar. .. 2 — 2 — 12 24 0 SB. .. 2 — 2 — 6 37 0 M«. ..2 — 2 — 6 21 0 O.B. .. 2 — 2 — 3 30 o