CENTRAL H.B. RUGBY

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 105, 20 May 1937, Page 13

CENTRAL H.B. RUGBY

"Referee.)

Otane's High Scoring | OMAKERE UNLUCKY

(By

Last Friday's welcome rain made Saturday's footbali the most enjoyable of the season fdr Oentfal Hawke's Bay players. from now : on grounds Should teinaln ifi godd otder. Last week's senidr games resulted as i'ollow Waipukurau 30 beat Omakere 11. Takapau 16 beat Porangahau 3. Otane 26 beat Ongaonga 3. Te Aute 10 beat Old Boys 3. With six of their players down with influenza, Omakere put up a creditable lcsistance to the visiting Waipukurau team. On theif c)Wn gf blind Oiftakei'e, when at full strength, will surpfke some df the competition leaders. Prior to their defeat by Otane last season Om&kefd had a xun of over twenty consecutive wins on the home ground, while these victories were in "friendiy" matches the record Was impressive. In their last four games Otane have .-eOl'ed 83 points against their opponentsj 17. In the earJy matches nearly all their scoring wiis done by f orvvaids, but against Ongaonga last Saturday their backs came into action. dix of Otane's eight tries were takou by the backs, the witig-three-quarters, bmith and b. Drinkrow, each ruoordmg two. If the Otane rearguard oontinues to support its excellent forwards in this faehion the village tfeahi will finish the season with an impressive total of points. While H. Drxnkrow continues tho improvement previouSly noted, ho is iticlined td become ovdr-feMCitedj further experience should reStrain his somewhat impetuoUs nletliOds. The Te Aute team appears to be well up to standard. Although their winning Margin dVer Old Boys Was small, only lack of finish prevented them from running up a larger score. Throughout tho gaine Te Aute held a big territorial advantage, but Old Boys were handicapped by the abseace Ull'ollgli ihjiliy df tliCiP leading i'Oi'ward, 0. Wilson. Their most useful player against the College Was the fullback, JanrleSOii- the i'CSt of the backs had ail Off-day. Vvith a convincing victory Over Porangahau, Takapau maintained their unbeaten reeox-d. As the Takapau men have little Opportunity for practice the consxstent excellent of their footbali is remarkable, and their match with Te Aute on the College ground nest Saturday should draw a large number of spectators, While Takapau 's weight and experienc© should win the game, Te Aute will have the advantage of playing at home; last season '8 match on this grdund was wdn 11—3 by the visiting team. Having encountered four of the strongest teams in this distriet, Porangahau have yet to win a ffl&teh. The strength of the Opposition has givGn them little chance to improve, but at least two victories which should come their way in the next month will help them to settle down. With large, rugged forwards aud detennined backs. all that Porangahau lleeds is a little more team work.