THE RUGBY GAME

Evening Star, Issue 23378, 22 September 1939, Page 4

THE RUGBY GAME

Payne Trophy Match Reviewed

Canterbury College Provides Entertaining Football

[By Hooker.]

J out the season the pack has been I Union’s strength, being very determined in all their scrum play. Val Newall, who has been one of the outstanding men in the Union pack throughout the season, stood out above the rest, playing a very vigorous and tireless game. W. Ireland, a young forward who filled one of the gaps caused by defections in the Union team, showed out frequently in the loose, and is another of the youngsters to benefit from his association with the former All Black, F. H. Yorrath. 0. K. Jenkins and T. Gensik did some useful work, but it was the heavier men in the Union pack who did not pull their weight as well as they could have done. Vorrath showed out on occasions in opening up play for his hacks, and although Slyfield’s attempts at spoiling were not always effective lie showed some dash in the loose. The Union hacks suffered through the absence of Ron M'Skiinniing, who has been the sheet-anchor of the team throughout the club season. J. Walker, the Otago representative forward, filled the vacancy at first five-eighth, and under the circumstances played a very sound game. His defence was firstclass, and his kicking gained a lot of ground for Union. Some of Ins passes were inclined to go astray, but in this respect he was no bigger an offender than a number of the Union hacks. Mathewson, the second five-eighth, is the most promising hack in the Union team. He did not get many opportunities last Saturday, but always showed penetration and was very quick in breaking up some of the Canterbury attacks. , . „ , ■ Ron Silver, the Otago full-back, played at centre, being outstanding on defence. His excellent covermg-up saved his side on quite a few occasions. L. Werner again proved a hard-run-ning, determined winger, and had very had hick in not gaining a try when he crossed the line at the corner after a fine run, the referee ruling a twentyfive drop-out. On the other wing, D. Elder had few chances, but defended stoutly. CANDIDATE FOR ALL BLACK HONOURS After the Taranaki-Otago match, the writer drew special attention to the outstanding display given by J. B. Loul •in the Taranaki pack. Coull is one of four forwards from the Kaponga Club who have helped to mould the Taranaki van into one of the strongest in the country, and besides being an excellent lock he has weight and pace to match. He is 23 years of age, stands olt 14m, and weighs 15.9. The good opinions formed of him after the match with Otago were confirmed when Taranaki played Wellington, and a ‘Sports Post ’ writer says there was no more impressive Taranaki forward; in fact no more impressive forward on the ground in the match with Wellington than Coull. The Taranaki player has thoroughly earned his place in the North Island team. SEASON'S FINALE The curtain will he rung down on the season next week when the return game will be played at Carisbrook between Otr.go and Southland, and having regard to the excellent records of the two teams in the north, the match will still arouse much interest in spite of the present situation. While Southland proved very definitely the better side in tile Ranfurly Shield game at Invercargill, Otago should he able to put in the field next week a much stronger and better balanced pack, and while Southland may be the favourites the issue should by no means he taken as a foregone conclusion. OUT OF TOUGH J. M. Taylor, Wellington and New Zealand fnli-back, has definitely been out of touch in the last few weeks. His form has not been bad, but neither has it been particularly good, measured by the best Taylor. There is not the confidence about his work that characterised his game a month or so ago (says a 'Wellington writer). But his lapse is surely only temporary. He is still too good a footballer for there to be any permanent marked falling away in capacity. He appears to have lost'his physical edge, and that, after all, isn’t surprising. He has had a hard season. One way and another, he has taken a lot of punishment, much more than he ever took in Dunedin. A short spell would have done him 110 end of good, even a change of position in the representative side may have done the trick. Taylor could have been placed with advantage in the threequarter line in the last game or two. With Thurston out of action, ho is the best centre in Wellington to-day. TOUR OF ITALY ? The Pretoria Rugby Football Club has received an invitation to send a team to undertake a tour of Italy round about November (says a Pretoria paper). In a letter addressed to .Mr P. 'J'hcruu, secretary of the Pretoria

The Payne Trophy match between the J Christchurch and Dunedin Rugby pre- i miers, Canterbury College and Union, provided entertaining football, the visitors winning a closely-contested gam© by the slender margin of 13-12, the issue having a good' crowd of spectators at [ Carisbrook on their toes to the very end.

Although the margin was only one point, Canterbury College were definitely the better side on the day, looking infinitely more dangerous on attack than Union. The visitors frequently cut the Union defence in half, and only dropped passes and forward passes at critical stages prevented them from crossing Union’s goal line more often than they did.

The . Canterbury College players showed a desire to throw tho hall about at every conceivable opportunity, and the spectators no doubt enjoyed their care-free type of game. It was noticeable that even with only a.few minutes to go and holding a hare one-point lead, the University players still persisted in their endeavours to take risky chances in keeping the game open. These were not good tactics, and not what one would liave expected of an experienced player like M'Auliffe. By this it is not suggested that a team should sit on its lead, but there is the middle course, and foolish and unnecessary risks do not constitute good football. Nevertheless, the game was of an interesting character, and several highly promising players were seen in action.

Behind the Canterbury scrum, J. J. M'Anliffe, a player of long experience, was very steady and sent out wellplaced passes, both on the open and short sides. In the last 15 _ or 20 minutes, when Union held a fairly substantial lead, M'Auliffe opened up the game from almost any position on the field and made the efforts of the Union backs to stop the onslaught look rather futile.

The play of the Canterbury College inside backs was a mixture of good and bad. At times both A. L. Ellis and H. M. Kimberley showed excellent penetrative ability, although after making the break through they were too prone to come back infield and lose touch with their three-quarter Hue, which was in good position to finish off the movement. On the other hand, they frequently passed yards before drawing any of the Union backs, and this consequently piled up the defence on the three-quarter line. The centre three-quarter, A, G. Hunter, on these occasions frequently attempted to straighten up the attack, and that was why R. Silver quite often caught him with the ball, hut Hunter did the only thing that could bring the Canterbury attack to anything like fruition. Hunter showed,himself to be a very dangerous man on attack, and given room to work in he looks a particularly promising centre three-cmar-ter. At times his running lacked resolution. but at all times he endeavoured to make ground and showed himself to be a very straight runner. There was one point in his play which may or may not he a fault. This is that he is inclined to cut in too much instead of concentrating on bringing his wings into scoring position. J. S. Cartwright did not have main 7 chances on attack, but when he did ho showed speed and a good swerve. He is a deceptive runner, though inclined a little on Saturday to be hesitant in opposition to the hard-tackling Union winger, L. Werner. The Canterbury College full-back, M. P. Donnelly, the New Zealand cricketer, fielded and kicked well, and was enterprising, though less often under pressure than A. M'Kerrow, who played a very sound game for Union. The Canterbury College forwards secured a surfeit of ball from scrums, line-outs, and rucks, and a pair of outstanding packmen were the All All Black C. W. Williams and the Canterbury rep. G. S, Walter. They did excellent work on the line-out, and Williams was the best, all-round forward on the field. His try was the result of keen anticipation, and the way he thundered across the line was reminiscent of some of the best forwards of other days. Walter impressed when he played here against Otago University earlier in the season and more recently in the Canterbury representative side against Otago. He was a host in himself on the line-outs aud frequently hustled his wav through in the loose. A The former Otago University player. C. G. Foote,, for honest work, was one of Canterbury College’s best. It is 13 years since G. T. J. Wilson made his first appearance for Canterbury College, and in the meantime he has gained his University Blue at Home. Returning to New Zealand, he again came to the assistance of his old club, but Saturday’s game was his last. It was a fitting end to a useful footballing career, for Wilson hooked the ball in fine style and gave his backs plenty of opportunities to open up the E a me. The Union forwards lacked their usual concerted effort, and it was particularly noticeable that their packing in the scrums and rucks was very loose, enabling the opposition to got a surfeit of the ball. When Union did secure possession, the Canterbury College foAvards had little difficulty in breaking quickly through on to Samson. who emerged from a gruelling afternoon’s work with credit. It was rather strange that the Union forwards played like this, as through-

Rugby Football Club, the Italian Rugby Federation asks in tho first place for atour, and secondly it wishes to know if there are any South Africans—two is the number, suggested—who would be willing to spend a few months in Italy in order to coach Italian sides in Rugby. Mr Theron, who last year was a Rugby coach in lta]y ? has laid the matter before the committee, which is showing keen interest in tho proposal. Up to the present, however, nothing definite has been decided. It is thought that such a tour would be quite a feasible undertaking, provided that shipping facilities were forthcoming. PLACING OF THE BALL There was a controversy the other day about the best method of placing a Rugby ball for a kick at goal—on end, like Columbus’s egg, or on a slant. In the match against Natal Watson, the Free State wing, who had considerable success, placed tho ball on end. Lamprecht, whose phenomenal kicking against Western Province at the Ramblers recently, will live a long time in the memory of those who saw it. also uses this method. But Gerry Brand prefers the ball on the slant (says a South African paper). Asked for his opinion, Gerry said: “Place it on a slant. Then you have something to direct your kick, and about a square inch to kick—the bigger the aiming mark the better. But if you place the ball on end you have only a lino to kick at, with greater possibility of error. With the ball slanting there is no doubt that you achieve greater distance.” There are successful kickers, however, who use the slanting method for long kicks—to get the distance Brand talks about—and the upright method for short ones, for they maintain that the latter is the more accurate method. SOUTHLANDERS AT AUCKLAND Commenting on the Sonthland-Anck-land match, the ‘ New Zealand Observer ’ says; “Sutherland is the finest winger seen on Eden Park this season—better even than Cartwright—and he seems to havq acquired _greater confidence in himself since 1937. The midfield trio of backs, however, were somewhat disappointing. Saxton, Grace, and Wesney often lost ground with their passing, and showed conspicuous lack of resource. Long passes from Purdue to Saxton and Saxton to Grace had a Springbok style about them, but Saxton missed the essential factor in the swing pass that it must bo accompanied by a hinge movement, otherwise the gaps will never appear. - It was' his job to wheel his backs into action, but instead he stood flatfooted and contented himself with throwing a prodigious pass which never brought any advantage. Once or twice in the early stages he found an opening and went through it on those twinkling feet of his, hut Hare was always equal to the occasion. Pcarman, on the day, was a much better five-eighth than Saxton, whose type of game was accurately summed up in the observation that he plnved first five-eighth like a good scrum half.” MUCH DEBATED GOAL The coroctiicss or otherwise of tho decision of the referee, Mr R. K. Hayhow, in the match at Eden Park has been hotly debated in Auckland Rugby circles. It was an unfortunate ending to a thrilling and enjoyable game. It is a point not provided for in tho rules. When there is a possibility of a try being appealed against the referee must allow the kick at goal to be taken, and, in the event of the try being subsequently disallowed the goal is also automatically washed out. However, when a breach occurs such as that unintentionally committed by an _ Auckland player there is nothing in the rules to direct the referee, apart from the fact that all players (i. 0., those intending to charge the kick) must retire behind their goal line. It is laid down in the rules that ft referee may change his decision on an occasion when he has failed to notice the line umpire holding up his flag and has followed a movement which ends in a try which he has awarded. In such case the try is washed out and players return for a line-out. This is the only occasion that change of decision is provided for. In Saturday’s match Wesney had taken his kick, which missed, and the referee gave his decision of no goal. Was he correct in changing it when the breach of the no-charge ride was pointed out to him? It is a point which could well bo submitted to the English Rugby Union for settlement, more especially as it may happen again in some match or other. Seeing that the breach was undetected by the referee or Auckland's captain, and that the offending player was 60yds or so from the spot where the kick was taken, it was certainly a severe penalty for Auckland, irrespective of whether tho referee’s decision was correct or otherwise. In one point the referee erred, that being when he allowed a second charge after ruling a no-charge.