Auckland, Holder Of Shield, Defeated

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31079, 7 June 1966, Page 15

Auckland, Holder Of Shield, Defeated

The Ranfurly Shield holder, Auckland, was beaten by Waikato, 16-11, in one of the many Queen’s Birthday Rugby matches throughout New Zealand yesterday.

Press Association reports of the matches are:—

Waikato showed glimpes of its former glory when it beat Auckland, in the exciting match at Rugby Park, Hamilton.

In a match of lost opportunities, Waikato held off a desperate bid by Auckland after leading, 11-0, at halftime.

At this stage Waikato was well on top, with the inexperienced Waikato forwards dominating possession in both scrums and line-out. After the interval the Auckland pack, led by M. Jones, G. Monteith and L. Fell, took charge. Monteith started to win the ball from the lineouts and the Auckland backs, which included three All Blacks, started to throw the ball about

With a penalty by M. C. M. Cormack and try by the leftwing D. W. McKay, Auckland had reduced the deficit to five points with only six minutes of the second spell gone. Auckland camped in Waikato’s territory and on several occasions just missed scoring. With 12 minutes left Auckland levelled the scores when Cormack broke past several defenders on the touchline and threw a long pass to the centre, R. Rangi. Rangi broke down the right touchline and passed to P. Murdoch,, a replacement who zipped over 15 yards in from touch. Cormack kicked the goal for 11-all. Waikato fought back magnificently and once again as in the first spell, began to control the forward play. From a scrum on the Auckland twenty-five, the ball went to the Waikato second fiveeights, J. L. Cresswell, who flew past several desperate tackles to score between the posts. D. Flavell, the fullback converted to give Waikato a 16-11 victory. Auckland, which included seven All Blacks, threw away many chances with bad handling and poor defence The under-rated Waikato pack, on the other hand, played well above itself and the loose forward trio, R. B. Baldwin, V. Paterson and B. A. Guest outplayed their much-vaunted opposites, Fell, W. Nathan and K. Nelson. Points were scored for Waikato in the first half by Cresswell, two tries, and Flavell a penalty goal and a conversion.

Wellington, 25-0 Scoring 22 points in the second half, Wellington beat Manawatu, 25-0, in their annual Queen’s Birthday Rugby fixture at the Show Grounds, Palmerston North. Manawatu battled hard to hold the visitors to 3-0 at halftime but the heavier Wellington pack dominated play in the last 30 minutes. The outstanding Wellington back was B. Hill at centre-three-quarters, who set his wings up for three tries, while the loose forward, R. P. Dellabarca was prominent in the forwards. For Manawatu, H. C. Wright at full-back, defended well. Wellington’s points came from tries by A. J. Osborne (2), P. J. A. Myers, G. Catley and G. C. Williams. M. Williment kicked two penalty goals and converted two tries. Taranaki, 21-14 Taranaki beat Wanganui, 21-14, in a scrappy game. Taranaki built up a 18-6 lead at half-time with the assistance of good goal-kicking from the full-back, B O’Dowda, but the Wanganui forwards hunted better after the change. For Taranaki K. Hurley (2), M. Willis and J. Major scored tries and O’Dowda kicked three penalty goals. Wanganui’s points came from tries by P. Johns and H. Carveil and two penalty goals and a conversion by I. Aitken. Hawke’s Bay, 22-0 Hawke’s Bay beat Wairarapa, 22-0, in a one-sided Rugby match at McLean Park, Napier, Hawke’s Bay led, 9-0 at half-time, K. R. Tremain, captain of Hawke’s Bay, just failed to score his hundredth try in first-class Rugby, getting to within six inches of the line.

The game produced very little convincing play but Hawke’s Bay’s speedy backs and greater penetration gave

the advantage over the Wai rarapa.

I. Mcßae (Hawke's Bay), the All Black centre, was unable to play because of a leg injury. W. Davis scored two tries, I. Bishop kicked two conversions and four penalty goals. North Auckland, 15-6

North Auckland retained the Coronation Shield when it beat Counties, 15-6. North Auckland led, 3-0 at halftime.

North Auckland’s points came from tries by L. Haddon and J. Fairbum, a penalty goal and a dropped goal by 1. Worrall and a penalty goal by K. Going. K. Hori scored a try for Counties and P. Worrall, kicked a penalty goal. Poverty Bay, 22-6 Poverty Bay beat East Coast, 22-6, at Gisborne after leading 8-0 at half-time. The match was played in dull, showery weather. Poverty Bay scored six tries, two converted, and East Coast scored a try and a penalty goal. Poverty Bay enjoyed a feast of ball from the lineouts. K. Twigley, a wing, scored four tries and just missed a fifth. The other tries were scored by A. Lewis, wing, and 1. Kirkpatrick, flanker. P. Karauria and T t Crawford converted one try each. The match came alive 15 minutes before the end when East Coast was trailing by 19 points. A try by the wing, M. Haua, and a penalty goal by V. Takarangi fired East Coast to great efforts. The pick of the Poverty Bay forwards were Kirkpatrick, H. McDonald and G. Thompson. Best of the East

Coast pack were P. Nepe (8), D. Wi Repa (flanker), and W. Stewart (prop).

Horowhenua, 21-6

In a stirring encounter, Horowhenua won its first game of the season when it beat Wellington Colts, 21-6, at Levin. The half-time score was 11-3.

The home side, although beaten in the line-outs, upset the Wellington backs. Horowhenua points came from two tries by the wings, B. Seymour and N, Winterburn. J. Seymour kicked two penalty goals and three conversions. Wellington’s points came from tries by W. Trotter and M. C. Cull. Draw, 11-11 On a soggy ground at Pahiatua, Bush and Hawke’s Bay B fought a tough but uninspiring, 11-all draw. Although Bush led 11-0 at half-time, the Hawke’s Bay forwards led a second half recovery. Scorers for Bush were D. Thrush, a try, G. Humphries, two penalty goals and a conversion. Hawke’s Bay B points came from tries by F. Jones and D. Castles. P. McLean kicked a penalty goal and converted a try. Wellington B, 9-6 Wellington B beat Marlborough, 9-6, at Lansdowne Park, Blenheim, after leading 9-3 at half-time. The match was played on a heavy ground. For Wellington, tries were scored by A. E. D. Adams and B. Koopu, and ’ Nicholls kicked a penalty goal. Marlborough's points came from a try by P. Clarke and a penalty goal by M. M’Nulty.