WELLINGTON WIN

Evening Post, Volume CXXVIII, Issue 23, 27 July 1939, Page 24

WELLINGTON WIN

ASHBURTON OUTCLASSED

A FAIR DISPLAY

Displaying snperiority both back and forward, Wellington tiad little difficulty in beating Ashburton by 47 points to 14 in an interprovincial Rugby,match-:at Athletic Park yesterday afternoon, before a crowd of between two and three thousand people. Wellington had a definite weight advantage in the scrums, and although their backs did not perhaps come up to expectations they were in a class above Ashbur ton's.

The match was fought at a fast clip, i and given an abundance of the ball, Wellington had almost unlimited opportunities. Some were used to advantage; others were not. For some unaccountable reason —late in the second spell, when Wellington had an j overwhelming advantage—the local j backs persisted in either kicking to j touch or bringing play infield for no apparent reason. Jones, who during the first spell at first five-eighth had | handled splendidly and generally j played an excellent game, was one of ! the chief offenders in this respect, j Actually, the "find" (if it may be so | called) of the match was Sherrat, who j played' an excellent game in the right i wing-three-quarter position. He scored four tries; but quite apart from those successes, he showed pace and determination which have certainly not been.; the characteristic generally of the majority of wing-three-quarters in Wellington this "season. Wright, on the-other wing, displayed rather bet-' ter form than he- has so far in club matches' this season, but there is | something about his play which either sugge'sts-that he is not taking the game too seriously or has lost some of nis dash)- Vile, at centre-three-quarter, could not handle, and taking all things into consideration, he is not up to representative clasw yet. Thomas, atj second five-eighth, did all that was re-; quired of him. He handled well, sent; out good passes, - and on occasions j showed 'enterprise. Tindill, as usual, | gave a plentiful supply of the ball to! his backs. i Generally speaking, little fault could \ be found with th 2 pack. In the absence ■ of McKenzie, the captain and centre; hooker of the Ashburton team (an accident last Saturday night necessitated thirteen stitches having to be put in his hand), Lambourn did almost as he wished in the hooking department..! Cooper led the side well and was one. I of the few forwards on the Wellington side to show agility in the lineouts, a department of play which was far from good. Wales was well to the fore in the loose rushes and Cassidy,. Gunn, and Kenny worked well in the tight. Hegglun and Ongley played well in spasms. The' worst feature of the Ashburton backs' play was the defence. Bradley, Fergus, and Lilley persisted in "going high" tactics and McCandlish and Kelly showed up only in moments of 'aggression. Newton and McLauchlan on the day were head and shoulders above the rest of the pack. Ashburton's points for the most part came from goals by Behrns who. in this department of play, showed himself to be the equal of Taylor, the Wellington and All Black full-back. The teams were;— Ashburton.—l. L.' Behrns; P. G. Bradley, J. S. Lilley, A. M. Fergus; A. C. McCandlish, A. "elly; D. J. R. White;! R. W. Doig. B. Doig, I. A. Hart. B. E. Newton, H. S. McLauchlan, W. J. Moore, T. G. Lister. D. G. Brooker. Wellington.—J. M. Taylor; J. R. Sherrat, B. Vile. A. Wright; D. Jones. L. Thomas; E. W. Tindill; M. McG. j Cooper, A. Kenny, J. Gunn, F. Cassidy, G. Wales. C. M. Ongley. A. Lambourn. T. Hegglun. PLAY DESCRIBED. Ashburton won the toss and played with the sun, but against the southerly wind. Passing rushes, lacking in snap, characterised play by both sides in the first'lew minutes. Wellington worked into a fairly handy position near the! opposing goal-line, but a scrummage! infringement allowed Behrns to clear well with a penalty kick to touch. Bradley showed up in a run on the wing for Ashburton, and Sherrat gained! twenty-five yards with a solid run for i Wellington. He slipped in swerving j infield, and-Ashburton saved. Sherrat I figured in another good run shortlyafterwards, when he received on the! blind side from Jones. He passed infield, but in subsequent play Ashburton forced. Wellington kept attacking, however; and Jones, receiving nicely on the blind side from Tindill, handed on to Wright, who scored. Taylor landed a great goal. Wellington 5-0. Two minutes later Behrns landed a difficult penalty goal to open the visitors' account. 5-3. Wellington pressed from the kickoff, and from a scrum in the Ashburton twenty-five the ball shot along the chain of backs to Sherrat. The winger clapped on the pace and scored in the corner. Taylor made the conversion look easy with another fine kick. Wellington 10-3. Behrns kicked another good penalty! goal two minutes after the kick-ofi. 10-6. Sixteen points had been scored in twenty-one minutes' play. Play was quite fast and entertaining, and following another bright passing bout by the Wellington backs, Wright was pushed into touch-in-goal. Taylor just missed with an attempted penalty goal j and Ashburton forced. The crowd gave Sherrat a good "hand" when he ran thirty yards and scored his second try, following an orthodox back move by Wellington. Taylor's kick curled away. Wellington 13-6. Newton and Hart were conspicuous figures in the Ashburton vanguard, but the pack was outclassed, and Wales and Cooper led play right back into Ashburton territory. Thomas, playing really sound football, was next to score for Wellington. He just walked over! in a handy position, and Taylor con-1 verted. Wellington 18-6. Sherrat completed his "hat-trick" when Tindill speculated into his hands with a clear field ahead. Taylor missed an easy kick. Wellington 21-6. J Two mmutes before half-time Wright j cut infield after a rather uninspired ] passing rush. He cauTht the opposition I on the wrong foot, and raced over with- i out a hand b^ine laid on him. Taylor! converted. Wellington 26-6. This was! the half-time score. ~ j THE SECOND SPELL. Behrns put Ashburton in a handy position with a fine line kick in the second spell, but Lambourn consistently outhooked Lister and the visitors' turns on attack were invariably short lived. Hegglun and Cooper were prominent -"n some rucking play near the Ashburton line. The ball came back to Tindill and he crossed on the blind side with three men hanging on to him. Taylor converted well. Wellington 31-6.

Kelly dropped a pass at a critical stage, when Ashburton rushed play to the Wellington line. Brooker secured possession, beat Taylor badly, and almost scored. Two minutes later, as a result of another run by Sherrat, play was back in the Ashburton twenty-five. Fergus figured in a good solo run past half-way, but there was no support. Fifteen minutes of the spell had gone when Sherrat scored his fourth try. He just outpaced the opposing wing-three-quarter and fullback. Taylor failed to convert. Wellington 34-6. Behrns kicked his third penalty from ten yards inside half-way a short while afterwards and the Scoreboard read, Wellington 34-9. The best move of the match followed a further penalty kick by Behrns. Taylor received possession, ran towards one wing, and re versed-passed to his backs. Jones received, clapped on the pace, and ran forty yards. The ball went astray after Sherrat had been bottled up. Play swung to the othei side of the field and Hegglun crossed

in the corner. The kick failed. Wellington 37-9. Kelly broke through th Wellington defence and McCandlish carried on. The ball went to Fergus, who scored after easily the best movement on Ashburton's part. Behrns kicked the goal. Wellington 37-14. Ashburton were showing improved form at this stage and were in Wellington's territory for some time. Behrns narrowly missed a penalty goal from the sideline. Wellington, however, came back in a fast forward rusn. Hegglun handed to Tindill and the latter scored under the bar. Taylor added the extra points. Wellington 42-14. From the kick-off Wales kicked through and Cooper, showing surpris-. ane pace, followed up and touched Hown as tre ball rolled over the goal\m* near the posts. Taylor converted. .Wellington 47-14. ._.. nn The reforee was Mr. J. A. Wilson.