INTERPROVINCIAL.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1849, 8 September 1913, Page 4

INTERPROVINCIAL.

OTAGO DEFEATS WAIRARAPA. (By Telesraph—Frtsa Awoolatlon.) Dunedin, Sepetmber 6. Wairarapa wero beaten by Otago today, somo four or fivo thousand spec-, tat-ors being present. Tho game, though ' fairly fast, was not brilliant. Otago played in tho first spell . with a fairly strong breeze. Thoir forwards pressed Wairarapa back, and then, after a short bout of passing, Mowat dived over, drawing first blood, j Eckliold converted. Otago, o —o. Humdrum play followed, till Ball (AVairarapa half-back) set his backs going, and , Sievers, cutting in smartly, transferred to Strang, but player and ball were ' smothered. After staving off another ; Otago attack, AVairarapa swept' up the , field, and Lodge throw out to Darvill, tho lattor almost getting over. Otago then pushed tho Northern men to tho ; otber end, where Eckliold secured a , mark and sent over a good goal, making j tho score 8 points to nil. The next incident of any note was duo to Sievers, who broke away on his own. Ho was , collared by AVither", who lay on the j ball and was penalised. M'Kenzie kicked a good goal. AVairarapa, 3 —B. . Play now became vigorous, and Otago , fought their way down to the visitors' , line, where Black was all but over. The AVairarapa forwards, led by Hodge, transferred play to Otago territory, where Darville cut in neatly enough, nndj gained a good stretch of ground, but no score resulted. After restarting the second spell, Otago carried play into the visitors twenty-fivo, where they wero awarded a try for obstruction by one of tho visiting forwards holding Harris (Otago's wing-three-quarter) as ho dashed for the ball om tho lino. Otaeo, 11—3. 1 Later in tho spell Sievers (AVairarapa) : sustained an'injury to his ankle,, and • was carried off, his place being taken b.v Watson. Otago had tho advantago of tho ensuing pl.iv. Hodge, howover, was leading tho Wairarapa forwards in ■ good style, and onco he took play right i to Otago's line, where G. Ross was unfortunate in not crossing. A second i AVairarapa sortie culminated in a pen- | alty : shot, and Mackenzie rose to tho ] occasion with a goal. AVairarapa, 6 —ll. Tho Otago van now played up hard, j Eventually Casoy dropped over from a ; scramble. The game ended_ with the ; score reading: Otago, 14 points; Wai- j rarapa, 6 points. i CANTERBURY TOUR. • (By Telegraph—Press Association.) < Croymouth, September 6. J A representative match was played I between Canterbury and AVest Coast ; to-day. After a hard game Canterbury ' proved their superiority, and won easily ' by 20 points to 5. Tho game produced i good football, especially the Canterbury j back division, who gave a brilliant ex- ' hibition of passing. The Coast men wero superior in forward play,' but lacked finish. Tries were scored for tho winners by Hasoll, Parson, Guthrie, Eraser; and Boag (2), olio being con-' j verted. O'Callaghan scored for the ' Coast from a fino passing rush, and Nel- 1 son converted. Mr. Malonoy was i referee. I - MATCHES ELSEWHERE. Christchurch, September 7. Cliristelrurch met Dunedin Pirates in their annual match at Lancaster Park. The ground was fast, and good Rugby 1 football was witnessed. Christchurch. won by 13 points to 11. M'Oully, Cook, and Robinson scored for Ohristchurch, and Cook and Miller each converted one try. Sloan, AVren., and Baxter scored for Pirates, and Lomas converted one try. Tho match arranged at Athlotic Park between Oriental third and St. Patrick's College, to havo been played as a curtain raiser to tho Australia-New Zealand match, was struck out on account of tho bad state of tho grouiid. The New Zealand Rugby Union will moot to-night to deal with matters concerning next AVednesday's match and tho Califomian tour, and to transact ordinary business. There will/not bo a meeting on AVednesday night. GENERAL NOTES. ! THE BLUE AND THE AMBER. Tho Now Plymouth "Herald" says of the Australian match with Taranaki: — | "Tho weather conditions were ideal, ex- ' cepting, perhaps, that tho sun was too ■ brilliant in. the first spell. Tho ground j was ir. first-class order, and a fast, closo game was tlio result of the meeting. : After their defeat by Auckland and Taranaki's win over tho latter it was ' thought tho home team would sccuro the victory, but somo of tho local backs did ] not distinguish themselves,' and tho visi- ! tors shining in this department, wero able to outclass tho Amber and Black rearguard.. The Taranaki forwards more than held their own, and it was to thoir slashing play that the local fifteen was j able to secure tho points thoy did. Tho i Australian backs wero nippy and fast, ; and played spectacular football; and | had it not been for slight broaches at 1 critical moments must have scored moro i often than thoy did. Only on raro oc- | casions did tho Taranaki backs shine at , all, and then something always seemed ; to go wrong at tho iS'oper time. It is ; only fair to stato that Cameron was rendered practically useless early in the game, Loveridge was in the same condition for most of tho second spell, and Brown had to retiro in tho last ten ' minutes of play. Our forwards repeated tho form shown against Auckland, and both Taylor and Pini had hard luck in not regi'storing tries. Still, the better ( team won on tho day." j Tho Crcan Tourists. A Christchurch paper says of tho ; AVairarapa-Canterbury match: "Tho i Barno was productivo of • plenty of in- i

tc-rest and oxcitoment, but on the day's play Canterbury wero unquestionably the better team. Tho visitors' forwards constituted their main strength, for as nil attacking combination tho Wairarapa backs wero not a particularly skilful lot. Coming with their dofeat of Taranaki to advertise their prowess, tho AVairarapa forwards wero expected to prove too good for tho homo team. Ilowovor, tho lattor's forwards eavo their supporters quito an agrceablo surpriso, and in tho second half- they wero playing a stronger ganlo than their opponents, and the superiority of tho Canterbury backs won them tho game. Tho work of tho Canterbury backs was cortainly capable of improvement, for tlioro was something radically wrong in tho centre. Howovcr, thero was a vast change for tlio better when Burns went in as centro three-quarter, and ho opened up t'ho play very effectively, though, perhaps inclined to do too much. Had Gray boon in tho team, Canterbury would havo scored a more decisive win, for tlioro wero somo splendid chances going that a player of his skill would havo taken full advantago of. The mainstay of tho Canterbury backs wero H. Taylor, Burns, and Sandman, the others being decidedly patchy in their work, while Simmers was undeniably weak. Tho forwards wero responsible for somo very effectivo tackling and following up, especially In the second spoil. Maxwell, and H. and C. Murray boing most conspicuous. Tlio Wairarapa players wero a fairly even lot, but among the backs Siovorß did a lot of good work, especially in defcnco."