RUGBY

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2457, 10 May 1915, Page 3

RUGBY

« CUP SEASON OPENED ATHLETIC EXTENDED TRENTHAM CAMP TEAMS AT PLAY The senior Rugby championship contest was opened in Wellington on Saturday afternoon. Two matches were played on Athletic Park, one at Petone, one at Lower Hutt, and one at Trentham. The play was interesting, and the form shown by the players was good for so early in the season. ATHLETIC AND PONEKE. Chief of the two matches played on tho principal ground, Athletic Park, was theAthletic-Poneke contest. Athletic have been the best team in the city for some years, but this year they may find great difficulty in keeping their hold on the championship title. They are now without tlie services of sev. ral first-class men, who have answered "tho call," and they will find that backs like E. Roberts and Adams are nob .plentiful or easy to replace. Fortunately, they have M'Vea, with whom to fill the gap left by Roberts, and they seem to have secured a good live-eighth in Blackmore, formerly of the Wairarapa. In their match with Poneke there was till near the end a considerchance of Athletic's having to acknowledge a Red and Black success, but steadiness under several hot attacks saved them. The iirst spell' ended with the scores very nearly even: Athletic had secured four points from a goal potted by S. Wilson, and Poneke had registered three points from a try by E. King. . In the second spell Athletic took the lead. Morris got a chance through the ball bouncing about rather erratically. . He took the chance and scored. Poneke, 6; Athletic, 4. A while later Heley wound up an Athletic passing rush by galloping over near the corner. Athletic, 7; Poneke, 6. This remained the state of the score board for some time, and, as Poneko were attacking vigorously, de.feat for Athletic seemed well within the bounds, of possibility. However, a particularly fine elusive run by M'Vea enabled J. Cunninghame to score, and as S. Wilson converted the ; try, Athletic led by 12 to 6. There was no other score, though Poneke were unlucky on several occasions in not pressing home rushes which were well worth a score. Poneke missed with two shots at goal in good position's just in the closing stages of the game, and. with a' little luck Tilyard would have been across the line a couple of times. However, the result was: Athletic, 12; Poneke, 6. Mr. A, C. Kitto was referee. SELWYN AND ORIENTAL. On Athletic Park No. 2 ground Selwyn met Oriental. This was Selwyn's first Cup match as a senior team, and they justified their, elevation by thrashing Oriental to the tune of 16 points to nil. Selwyn played good football, and Oriental played .very poorly. For Selwyn, Beck potted a goal and scored a try, Haydon scored two tries, and M'Donald one try. Selwyn, 16; Oriental, 0. WELLINGTON V. VICTORIA COLLECE. , Wellington, after an interesting game, defeated Victoria College at Lower Hutt by 16 to 8. For some minutes after tho kick-off a series of forward scrambles ensued, Wellington having slightly the advantage. A brilliant forward rush from a. line-out, initiated by Francis and Bishop, ended in Miller crossing the line. Beard failed with the kick Even play in mid-field followed. From a line-out Bishop secured and leapt over the line and scored, Board converting. On resuming, from seme loose play Bramwell marked near the quarter flag, and T. Beard placed a neat goal. College again pressed, and from the quarter line AUey commenced a loose forward ush, which ended in Beard scoring near the posts, the same player converting. From the kick-off play remained in mid-field. O'Sullivan started a smart passing rush, which ended in Churchill getting over, Beard converted. Wellington, 13; College, 8. Wellington came again with, a loose rush, and Wilson ran in along tho line and scored. The try was not converted, and the game ended: Wellington, 16; Victoria College, 8. Mr. G. H. Perkinson was refereo. TRENTHAM V. PETONE. There was a, fair attendance at the Petone Recreation Ground to witness the initial match of the season—Trentham A v. Petone. A glance at the two teams, the visitors in their bright blue, looking much heavier than their opponents, and remembering the number of New Zealand representatives in the Trentham team, gave one the impression that the local men would be romped over. But shortly after the kick-off it could readily be seen that Petone was determined to hold its own. From a forward rush by Trentham, Roberts picked up the hall and after a brisk' run, passed in a good position, but on. Petone being awarded a free kick, play was carried into Trentham's territory. The latter putting forth a big effort invaded the local goal, and here gave several chances, being penalised time after time. In fact, had I'etone secured one half of the penalty goals that were tried for, the visitors would have easily "gone under." Upon resuming after one of these unsuccessful attempts, 1 Clark, who was doing good work for Petone at three-quarters, tnnde a. fair attempt to pot, but the ball went low. 1 Then the game livened np somewhat. Ryan and Dent got ■iivav with a dribbling rush which was checked by Paul Vho marked near the Trentham goal. His kick was followed up bv Adams, Roberts, and Hopkins, hut in return a furious onslaught was made by Tancred, M'Ewan, Bent, and W. Ryan for Petone, who worked the leather well into the enemy's danger zone. Trentham, however, Boon returned the compliment with a passing rush, which was stopped by Bolton; Just here Joe Rvan managed to lnnd a penalty goal, drawing first blood. Petone, 3—o. Just before half-time Miller,'a Petone forward, sustained a ricked knee and had to be removed from the field. In the second spell play was faster, Petone attacking, and the visitors maintaining a solid_ defence. The soldiers then succeeded in carrying the ball near the Petone goal, and a scrum following Roberts pounced on the leather and crossed, scoring the only try of the day. Stewart's kick failed. Petone, 3 ; Trentham, 3. A brilliant run by the Petone backs was frustrated and Trentham lost several opportunities to score through off-sjde play. A struggle now ensued for victory, rush after rush of the Petone pack being smartly checked bv Trentham. A penalty kick awarded Trentham, enabled Roberts to bring the score up to: Petone 3; Trentham, 6. The last eight minutes of the game were exceedingly fast, and were enjoyed by the' spectators moro_ than perhaps the rest of the game. Riddler (Petone) was forced to- retire late in the game through a kick on the leg. Mr. L. Simpson was referee. IN OTHER CENTRES. (Bv TcleeraDh.— Pro™ AMwl.ninn < Auckland, May 9. The Rugby football season was officially opened here yesterday, with a Beven-a-side tournament. Nino teams The tournaineut wab won.

by the City team, which defeated University in the final. Christohurch, May 8. The third round results are as follow :—Lin wood 14 v. 'Varsity 3; Christchurch 14 v. Old Bojs 8; Merivale 16 v. Sydenham 12; Albion 9 v. Marist Brothers 0. Ounedin, May 8. The results of the play to-day were:— Dunedin 6 pts., Chalmers 3 pts.; Kai- ] korai 6, Alhambra 6; University 36, Union 3; Southern 12, Zingari nil. , the league came. ATHLETIC FINISH GAMELY. The League football season was opened at Newtown Park on Saturday, the opposing teams being Athletic and Suburbs. The game gave a good illustration of the fact that it is.the team that can last best that will win the most games, for although Athletic did not score in the first half, and the score at one time was 17 points to nil in Suburbs' favour, in the closing stages Athletic came to light, and won by 20 points to. 17. Jack Spence, an old Newtown player, who has joined Suburbs, owing to the disbandment of his old team, was the first to score for Suburbs, and George, another ex-Newtown man, kicked a goal. For some time after this Athletic attacked, and Suburbs bad to force down. Asher, a younger brother of tlie Auckland representative, was one of Athletic's best new men, and he tried hard to score in the first spell. The side could not get over, ana just before the spell closed, George came with another run for Suburbs, and scored their second try, which he converted, and the : half-time came with the total: Suburbs, 10; Athletic, tel. On the change round, Athletic made frequent attacks, and caused Suburbs to force down twice, but then some weak play gave Donaldson an opening for Suburbs, and he scored a good try, kicking the goal himself. A few minutes later Donaldson ag'ain kicked a gcal, from a mark, making the score 17 to nil in Suburbs' favour. It was at this stage that Athletic began to press their attack with vigour, and after a fine parsing rush between' Braddley, Bramley, and Asher, the latter scored. Mitchell failed with the kick. This was followed almost immediately by a try by Weaver, and Braddley kicked a good goal. Heartened by this, Athletic made several determined rushes, and their passing was very accurate. The next score v for them came as the result of a run by Weaver, Braddley, Hughes, and Sullivan. Sullivan scorM, and Braddley goaled, bringing Athletic's score to 13 points. From a mark a little later, Braddley kicked a beautiful gcal. This was in the closing stages of the game, and Suburbs made a strong offort to prevent their opponents again scoring. It looked as if they would maintain their advantage, but in the last few seconds Braddley got round the scrum with the hall, and scored near the corner. He added a nice goal, and the game ended with Athletic the viotors, and the ecore 20 points to 17. Mr. C. Murphy controlled the game. I EASY WIN FOR PETONE. f Hutt and Petone teams met at Hutt ; Park on Saturday, and Petone secured ' an easy win by 27 points to 3. In the - first spell Ashton (2) and Childs scored , for Petone, and Finlayson for Hutt. , None of the tries was converted, the 1 spell ending: Petone 9, Hutt 3. In the second spell Petone had much the better of the game. Ashton secured his third try from a passing rush amongst tho forwards, and Whitley, just failed to convert. ' Stewart also , scored a little later, but most of tho t players were then attending to Finlay- . son, who was hurt. The try was al- . lowed, and Whitley added a goal. The . Petone backs started to liven things at t this stage, and after a rush Palmer 1 scored. Whitley converted, and later r added a try, which House converted, j The final score was: Petone 27, Hutt 3. Mr. ,K. Barber controlled the game. 1 JUNIOR MATCH. i Central Juniors won by default from r Petone A. 1 THE AUCKLAND SEASON. 5 (By Telegraph.—Press Association.) 3 Auckland, May 9. i The Rugby League football 6eason was opened yesterday, when Senior 1 Grade' matches only were played. Tho ] results were as follow:—Grafton beat Ponsonby 11 points to 2; City beat '• Newton 15 points to nil; North' Shore 8 beat Otahuhu 4 points to 3. e L The "Dally M" Football and Hockey ' Boot, very light, with patent steel spring; black and white chrome. Price, 10s. 6d. and 17s. 6d. Laws and Manning, holders Patent Rights for N.Z., Wellngton.—Advt.