INTERPROVINCIAL.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1223, 4 September 1911, Page 6

INTERPROVINCIAL.

OTAGO ROUTED BY TARANAKI. WARM SECOND SPELL. (By Telejtraph.—Press Association.) , Duncdin, September 2. It is mnny years since Olago received such a scvero drubbing as tlioy got to day, when Taranaki improved oil theii fin« performance against Wellington last week, leaving the field victors by 27 points to 3. The game vns witnessed by fully MOO people, and tho day was nearly as hot as in the middle of summer. There is only one excuse which can, with any reason, bo put forward for Otago's severe defeat, and that' is tho way in which the team had to lie altered iu the last tew days owing to men picked being injured a.nd unable to play. Otago's forwards' had little combination in looso rushes, while their back play itas sadly hampered by Culoman, wing-forward, get. ting oil to Sutherland, (he Otago halfback, before he could get the ball away. First Spoil Fairly Even. Tho first spell proved rather uniiiterest. ing, and, though Tarnnaki had slightly the better of tho game, the local men made such a good showing that their sup. porters began to .suppose that tho game might end in a win ior Otago. The Otago forwards generally managed to hook tiio hall in the serums, but the tall, yellow forwards mora lltaa made uu for this

by breaking away from every line-outj, njad having all the better of the exchanges in the loose. Stohr had soveral shots at goal from likely positions in the. first spell, but failed every time, whilo Otago's attempts in this direction also camo to nougtit. Only ono try was scored, in t.ho first half, Roberts heading a dribblinsrush, and kicking past the Otago fullback, and scoring. Taranaki, 3 points; Otago, nil. Towards the close of the spell, Taranaki attacked strongly, and M'Leod and -Hawkins both lost good chances by failing to take the hall and .throwing forward. Tho hov.io full-back, Duthie, retired at the end of tho spell on account of an injury, his placo being taken by Watson.

And Afterwards—Tho Trouble. The second half saw a complete chango in the game. The oollaring of tho local forwards : «ind backs grow _ very weak, while, time and again, the Yellows broke away from the line, and they also now began to seciiro the ball from the scrums. A few minutes after . re-starting, Otago were forced, and, fro in the kick-out, Mynott secured, and passed to Roberts, who handed on to Cameron, the last-named player sending the ball in-field as lio was brought down by Cuthill. Stohr then knocked-on, a.nd so lost a good chance, but. immediately after, the same player capped a neat bit of passing by cuttingin, aiid scoring at, the corner. Taranaki, 6 points; Otago, nil. AVhon play resumod, Paterson headed a rush to Taranaki territory, and Eckhold secured the ball, and passed to Black, who handed on to Morris, but that, player dropped the leather at the Colours' twenty-five, and Cameron, picking up, put in a sensational, jinky run down the line for fifty ,yards, and thrc\v in to Mynott, who had a clear run-in-under. the posts. Cameron added the major points. Taranaki, 11 points; Otago, nil. The Colours now commenced to open up the game, and gavn the Blues plenty of running about. From a scrum in the Taranaki twenty-five, .Sutherland doubled back to the blind side, and passed to Black, and, after'some fumbling, AVatson spored at the corner. Paton failed with tho kick. Taranaki, 11 points; Otago, 3 points. It was only a flash in the pan, for, presently," M'Leod secured the' leather at half-way, and drew the attack, and passed to Mynott. He sent it on to Eoberts, and then Stohr completed the movement by cutting-in beautifully, and racing round behind the posts. Cameron again goaled. '• Taranaki, 16 points; Otago, 3 .points. Young and Tussock led the Taranaki forwards back to tho attack, and, from Jooso play in Otago's twenty-five, Mynott secured from Brown, and seut on to M'Leod, who in turn gave the leather to Eoberts. This player cut through the opposition, and scored under the posts. Cameron once more converted. Taranaki, 21 points; Otago, 3 rioints. Eoberts hurt himself in this rush, and had to Vave the field.

Mynott Was Evsryv;hcre. Half tho spell was.now gone, and Princ-3 filled, the vacancy. Ofago worked the ball to tlio opposition's twenty-five, but, from a throw-in, Mynott started a pass-ing-rush. which, ended right on Otago's line. He received the bail from the end of n long line-out, and threw out wide to Cameron, who scorcd an easy try. Stohr did not improve matters. Taranaki, 2-1. points; Otago, 3 points. After some loose, scrambling rushes at the r centre, Mynott, who was without doubt tho king-pin of the attack, opened Dut play again, and Prince scored. Stohr was once more found wanting. Shortly after this tho whistle wont, leaving the totals as follow: Taranaki, 27 points; Otago, 3 points.

- AUCKLAND, 6; CANTERBURY, 3. .■■WINNERS NOT BRILLIANT. (By Telegraph.—Press Association.) . , Christchurch, September 2. ' The Auckland representative team, who are the holders of the Ranfuriy Shield, opened their southern tour at Lancaster Park, this afternoon iigainst Canterbury. They won by .6 points (a penalty goal and a goal from a mark) to . 3 points (a try). There-, was' a.capital attendance, tho' takings' 'at the' :, gflti>J' 'and'"' stands amounting to .£278 Bs. (id.—the largest amount,yet registered for ; an interprovincial match.; Tho gamo fell decidedly short of the standard cipected,'' and' the Ancklanders by no means proved themselves tho champions that, reports from the northern city led southerners to expect. Play was mostly confined to the. forwards, and, for threefourths of the game, tho Canterbury pack quite held their own. The Auckland backs did not give a convincing display, and though, at lirst, thb Canterbury tackling was not ; as sound as it should have been ,it improved as tho game went on. In the closing stages,, the Aucklanders were particularly sound in their lino-kick-ing, and so saved their forwards a lot of unnecessary running about. Auckland won the toss, and Canterbury kicked off against jthe wind. From a freekick Murray found the line past half-way, and .Gray returned well, but tricky play between' Ot,terson and Hall gave Canterbury soma trouble, Murray eventually coming to tho. relief. ■ A forward rush by Canterbury took plav to the centre, but there O'Leary checked them, and, a moment later, 'Macky had a futile shot from a free-kick. Then O'Leary had a couple of attempts, both shots passing just outside the post. A free-kick by Gray got Canterbury out of trouble, and the Southerners liyoned up, but were unable to hold their advantage. A long kick, well followed up, enabled Auckland to attack, but Doell saved in good style. Murray then headed a Canterbury rush which threatened danger till stopped by Mahoney. In tho. second quarter th« Auckland backs set up an attack, and Geddes, taking . a good ■ pass from Magee, nrndo a dashing, run, being tackled just outside the line. A counter attack by Canterbury was spoilt by Jacobsen dropping his pass. Much dash was being shown by Canterbury at this stage, but Bnrrstt and Hayward presently headed a rush that changed the state of affairs, and Canterbury were then penalised near their 25, and a goal was put on. Auckland, 3 points; Canterbury, nil. The kick-off gave Canterbury the advantage, and Guthrie, snapping up the ball in a loose rush, passed to Mahoney, who sent on to Bain, the lastnamed dashing over. Auckland, 3 points; Canterbury, 3 points. In tho third quarter Canterbury attacked warmly. At this stage Geddes retired with an injured shoulder, and O'Leary took his place at five-eighths, O'Brien filling the vacancy. Auckland made strong efforts to raise the seigo, but without appreciable result, as the Canterbury forwards were playing briskly and their backs were kicking with judgment. No chango in tho scoro took place in this quarter. The . opening of the final period was rnarkod by an attack by Auckland. Good kicking by Macky troubled the home lueu, and Auckland continued to malco good use of the line. With play in Canterbury's 2a OLeary took a mark, and landed a goal from a place-kick, this putting his sido ahead. Auckland, G points; Canterbury, 3 points. There was no further incident. MANAWATU—WANGANUI. Wanganui, September 3. • Tho Rugby match between Wanganui and Manawatu was won by the former by 15 points to 13.. Manawatu, however, bad tho better of tho game. OTHER RUGBY. CLERKS ON THE BAIaL. SHIPPING OFFICES V. UNION CO. 1 Thirty stalwarts representing tho staffs of the Union Steam Ship Company and the Combined Shipping Offices tossed and tussled in a lumpy Rugby sea at Seatoun Park on Saturday afternoon. There was enthusiasm amongst tho players, and more enthusiasm on the line, and both sides opened out and worked.for a time under a full head of steam. In many cases, however, tho machinery was not in good running order, and, before tho journey had progressed very far, thefo wore leaky valves in plenty. At the outset tho Combined team attacked with a will, and off-side play by a Union Company man enabled Drake to place a penalty goal. Tho Combined men kept at it, and,'at length, another try came their way. Binnie getting over after a passing rush. This was the last score in the first half. Just before half-time Smith was injured, nml had to leave ilhe field, his place being taken by Birkett. The Union Company opened their scoring account after an attack which marked the. beginning of the second spoil, Lees grounding the leather over the line after

a nico dash. Attack and counter of varying degrees of brilliancy by two jaded sots of forwards kept .the spectators in a constant s!ato of joy derived from urging t.he flagging heroes on to deeds of derringdo, but no further score was recorded, the final tally reading:—Combined Companies, 8 points; Union Company, 3 points.

The Annual Dinner. Both teams and their supporters and friends dined at tho Hotel 'Windsor in t.ho evening. Mr. K. C- Eenner (Patea Shipping Co.) was in the chair, and there wero also present Mr. E. AV. Alison, of Auckland, Mr. I'. AV. de Clifford (Port Chalmers), Captain G. G. Smith, and representatives of all the shipping companies in "Wellington. Apologies were received from tho lion. J. A. Millar, Minister for Marine, Afr. .T. H. Gunson, chairman of the Auckland Chamber of Commerce, Captain M'Arthur, Captain Evans, Mr. E. Fletcher, Mr. J. H. 3s. Burnes, Mr. AV. A. Kennedy, and othersAA'hen tho 117 who wero present had done full jnstico to the good things, an enjoyablo social evening followed. The toas't-ljst was not unduly lengthy, and several recitations and musical items wero also rendered. Mr. R. Gilbert opened proceedings with a pianoforte solo. The toast of "The Navy" was proposed by Mr. C- W. Jones, and Captain Hooper, K.N.E., in tho abscnce of an active naval officer, responded. "The New Zealand Mercantile Marine" was proposed by Mr. AV. Pryor, and Captain I). AA'atson responded. Mr. A. A r . H. Munroe v;as entrusted with tho toast of '"Tho Shipping. Companies." to which Messrs. AV. G. Smith and AV. AA'allis responded. AVhat the speaker termed "the toast of the evening"—namely. "The Teams"—was proposed by Mr. N. Galbraith, and the captains of both teams (Messrs. Binnie and Gilbert) replied! "The Press" was proposed by Mr. E. A". Bevau. During the evening the chairman presented the captain of the winning team (Mr. D. Binnie) with the challenge shield which tho Combined Shipping Companies' team are entitled to hold for another year. .Messrs. P. Drake (Combined team) and J. B. Leys (Union Company's team) were presented with gold medals as being the best individual player in the two teams, and the best back on the field, respectively. Tho following contributed to the programme Messrs. B. J. Jacobs, C. E. Adams, A; Douglas, C. Harbottle_, C. Evcrard, — Grant, A. Ccrritty, E. Ivorthcote, H. Graves, J. 31. Samson, — Gatihorpe, ( and E. AV. Alison. The accompanist was Mr. Stoughton. Mr. Barnes was an efficient secretary, and had an energetic committer to assist hiui in carrying out arrangements.

A Eiigby match between teams representing St. John's .Tunior Biblo Class and St. James Sunday School was played on the Duppa Street Eeservo. on Saturday, the former team winning by It points to 5. • For the winners tries were scored by Jamieson, Kelly, Hedges, and Ivin;;. Hedges converted bis try. For the losers Haigie scored and. Scott converted.

! RUGBY IN NEW SOUTH WALES. (licc. September 3, 5.5 p.m.) By Tclcsraph—Press Association—Copyright. Sydney, September 3. . Neivtown won the Rugby Union premiership, beating University in the final by 27 points to 10.

UNDER N.U. RULES. A GOOD "GATE" AT AUCKLAND, IBs Telccraph.—Press Association.) • Auckland, September 2. Tho Northern Union football match between Auckland and Taranaki was played in Sne weather, and was won by Auckland by points to 15. Tho gamo attracted a record attendance for interprovincial matches, the number being GOOO. The exhibition was not so good as previous displays of the season, both sides showing want of combination, while the attack of tho Auckland backs was.very, bad.' Asher (2), I'ricker (2), Mitchell, and Rukutai scored tries for Auckland, four of which wero converted by Dunning. Twoliill, Kyle, and Moii scored tries for Taranaki, Jlargreaves converting all three. ■ ■*■■■■■ ' >" Wangantiß'scptgtffßer'-S. A third Northern League football match was played hero on Saturday beforo seven or eight hundred spectators. Wanganui defeated Nelson by 40 points to nil. Despito the score, tho game was o splendid exhibition to watch. It was fast and open, and the Wanganui backs plaj-ed brilliantly.