RANFURLY SHIELD

Evening Star, Issue 22447, 18 September 1936, Page 10

RANFURLY SHIELD

OTAGO MEETS WELLINGTON TO-MORROW WELL-CONTESTED GAME ANTICIPATED - FOOKES PLAYING AS OTAGO CENTRE To-morrow afternoon, at Cansbrook, the Otago Rugby team will meet Wellington in the seventh Ranfurly Shield match of the season, and everything points to the game being one ot the best of the year. Even if the shield were not at stake one would expect a fast, bright, and open game for that is invariably what eventuates when Otago and Wellington meet. Year by year it is always one of the very best matches of the season. Undoubtedly, however, additional interest is given to the meeting of the teams to-morrow, because Otago is defending the coveted trophy of provincial supremacy in the national game, and it the weather is favourable it would not be surprising to see a crowd of well over 20.000. , , Wellington has brought down a very fine team to make a big bid to wrest the trophy from Otago, _ and should provide very strong opposition for the home side. Both teams have good records for the year, each having been defeated on only one occasion. In most cases this year it has keen the superior team work of Otago that has proved the undoing of opposing sides, but in the game to-morrow Otago will be up against a side that has been coached by one of the great tacticians of New Zealand Rugby in the person of Mr Mark Nicholls. Unfortunately he has not been able to come to Dunedin to see his team in action. The performances of the Otago side this year, however, have made it clear that it will require a very strong and finished side to take the trophy away from Dunedin. . As a curtain-raiser to the shield match the primary schools’ representative team will play a High Schools’ team, this game commencing at 1.40. The kick-off in the shield match will take place at 3 p.m. The teams will take the field as follow: WELLINGTON. Full-back, H. R. Pollock 10.6. Three-quarters—L. H. Edwards 11.9, J. W. Fleming 11.0, R. Nees Five-eighths—J. L. Griffiths 10.10, H. L. Baldwin 12.3. Half-back, E. W. Tindill 10.5. Forwards—E. C. . L/eahy 14.5, A. Lambourne 13.2, R. R. Hull 15.0, H. W. Devine 14.0, F. H. Eraser-Smith 14.3, J. Wells 14.4, J. R. Lamason 13.0, A. H. Andrews 15.9. Reserves. —Forwards: K. Guy 14.11, S. Barry 14.0, A. Kenny 13. Q, M. F. Wright 13.0. Backs: J. Varton 14.7, A. Upchurch 10.9, and W. C. Crisp 12.0. OTAGO. Full-back, J. M. Taylor 12.1. Three-quarters—J. M. Watt 12.6, H. F. Fookes 12.12, W. A. Black 13.0. Five-eighths—C. C. Gillies'll.7, D. Trevathan 12.9. Half-hack, H. Simon 10.9. Forwards—C. Quaid 13.7, W. Laney 11.12, J. Hore 12.9. W. Parkhill 13.0, F. Vorrath 14.0. F. Green 13.2, L. Niven 13.0, and W. Forman 13.7. Reserves.—Backs: C. Saxton 10.0, R. M‘9kimming 10.12, R. G. Mahony 10.8. Forwards: J. Campbell 11.6, E. Murphy 13.8, E. Valentine 12.7, R. Neiper 10.9. In the Otago side it wdll be noticed that H. F. Fookes is taking the centre three-quarter position in place of H. Smith, who unluckily injured his ankle in getting aboard a tram, on Thursday night When in form Fookes is a brilliant footballer, fast, a good handler, and with a clever swerve, while his defence is of the best. Any doubts as to his fitness have been dispelled by his performances in recent training with the Otago team during the past few weeks, and a remark of one of the Otago selectors this morning was that he will be one of the fittest men on the field. Otherwise the Otago backs are the same as have played in recent matches, and all now nave experience in big football. Often Wellington has had an advantage over Otago -in the speed in its back division, but on this occasion there is nothing to worry over on that score, tor it is very doubtful if any team in New Zealand has more speed in its rearguard than is in the Otago backs. The Wellington backs, too, are a fast lot, with pace, initiative, and experience. Unfortunately the All Black half, Sadler, who played so well in the test match last Saturday, is unable to play through illness, but his place is being filled by Tindill, another half of undoubted quality, and one who is a dangerous man with his drop _ kick. Baldwin will be the first five-eighth, playing inside Griffiths, the All Black captain, while the three-quarter line is Edwards, Fleming, Nees. In their previous games this season the visiting backs have functioned well, and have scored many joints through combined passing efforts. It remains to be seen, however, how they fare against the undoubtedly solid Otago defence, which has seldom been pierced this year. Pollock will give his side confidence as the last line of defence. Very good, however, as was his display in the test match last week, it was no better than that given in all the rep. games this year by Taylor, whose display has been almost faultless.

With good backs on either side a great deal is going to depend on ascendancy among the forwards. The Otago pack playing to-morrow is the strongest available, and its performances against heavier visiting packs this year leads one to believe that it will take a particularly strong and clever set of forwards to matter it. It is no exaggeration to say, in fact, that no Otago pack has ever given a better combined display for very many years. In nearly all the games so far this season the local forwards were up against heavier opponents, yet they pinned then down completely through hunting as a pack. A glance at the names of some of the Wellington forwards shows that to-morrow Otago will be opposed by players of no mean calibre. Lambourne, Wells, Lamason, Fraser-Smith. and Andrews are all experienced in big football, and the pack as a whole carries more weight than that of Otago. Their style of play will probably be found to be different from that of Otago, handling and dribbling being preferred by them to close work. Such a type of game, however, is not always found easy against a pack that is playing together and making its opponents work instead of getting out in the open. Much will depend, then, on whether Otago or Wellington calls the tune in the forwards. Wellington’s record in representative matches this year is as follows: — v. Taranaki, won 18-16. v. Hawke’s Bay, won 25-0. v. Auckland, lost 18-21. v. Wairarapa, won 31-26. v. Manawatu. won 12-11, v. Taranaki, won 20-12.

Otago’s record is as follows; v. Southland, won 16-3. v. Auckland, won 14-5. v. Manawatu, won 11-5. v. Southland (at Invercargill), lost 6-9. v. South Canterbury, won 26-3. v. Canterbury, won 16-0. v. North Auckland, won 30-0. The box plan is open at Messrs C. Begg and Co. It will be closed tomorrow at 11.30 a.m. Ground tickets are on sale at S. Jacobs’s and the Otago Sports Depot. Patrons are advised to purchase their tickets in town and thus save time at the gates. Official guides containing full particulars of the teams and players and other interesting notes will be on sale at the Otago Sports Depot, S. Jacobs’s, and Carisbrook. Mr S. Hollander, who refereed in the Otago-South Canterbury match, will be the referee to-morrow.