Rugby. FIRST ROUND ENDS

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 123, 10 June 1937, Page 15

Rugby. FIRST ROUND ENDS

"Omxxi")

Changed Tactics Give M.A.C. Victory POOR FIRST SPELLS

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Wintry conditions prevailed for Rugby last Saturday yet despite tMs puhlic interest was wdll maintained, Ohief interest centred in thp main attraclffon at Hastings trhen M.A,C. wou nairewly from Napier Old Boys. After a sqmewhat ragged eommencement Celtpc improved to win from Havelock North. In Napier, Marist axxd Technical Old Boys, after modest liiBt half efforts eventually rau out cosifortable winners, Thus the first round of fixtures ended with M.A.C, and Marist leading the field, ' M.A.C. had a close call agaxnst Napier Old Boys. Just how close a call jb was not aM present fully realisecj. .What the majority noted was that for a certain period in the second speli Old Boys had a surprisjngly hig number of free kicks given against tliexn and that from these the Ataoris, per medium of S. Jackson, landed a couplo of -pexxalty goals to put them 6-5 ahcacl. The inside story of "black period" for Oid Boys is that they essayed a new deyelopmexxt of the scrum i'ormation, aeeking a tariation oi .the 2-3-2 scrum to befit the JVIaoris for th© ball. The idea failed to conxe off because the referee, 3fr J. Scott, kept his eye on the front men and caught them "boating the bail" with their raised feet. It wa* a coBtly expefpment for Old Boys. TJxe wonder is that they tried it. Though territorially they were cerfainly not getting th© best of thiiigs, they at least were "sitting pretty" with fiva points in hand. There was no nced for this swopping of horses half way as far as they were concerned. How•vor, th© fact remain» that they changed their tactics' and it was during this vital period that their opponenta Bnstched thp means of turning defeat into victory Maoris Osssrved Suocess. Th© game as a, whole was excellent, being productjve of bright and exciting Itugby, That M.A.C. deserved to win there is no gaineaying. They easily had th© better of play in every pffaso but that of actualiy scoring tries, and their failuro in that respect was not for the want of trying and trying hard. Full credit must be given to Old Boys for their first-clas# defence. It was really magnificent. Though on attack the Old Boys backB wero not able to function as smoothly as they might, and have done in recent games, on defence they were undoubtedly a con ■olidated unit. Th© real struggle came from the forwards and there was hot a paasenger in either pack. fleid, Jackson, Jury Thompson and Greening for M.A.C. and Crawford-Smith, Ennor, and. the forrner Wellingtonian Baynes, wero just • shade more prominent than .their confreres. Among the backs Hutchin•on, and S. Jackson, the two fullbacks, deserve special mention for the manner in which they came out of the hard test provided. Th© line of backs was very ortbodox, the inside men working smoothly. On the other hand the M.A.C. backs indulged in more individqalism, with Arthur Watford the leading light. and Staples a clofce secondL Celtic Well on Top. The game on tbe No 2 area at Nelson Park did not attract much abtention owxng to the counter-attraction on the adjoining area. Celtic ran out easy winners, and deservedly so on the general run of the play. .They were shown up in more than usual favourabl© light in every division, The first spefi. was inelined to b© ragged the Villago forwards being atlowcd, or at least assuming, greater iatitude than usual in their more or less roving commissions. However. once the Celtin forwards really settled down to the business in hand tbe Villages had to dsvote their energies more tp meeting the Celtic forward xushes led by Hannigan, Alvy Bennett. Bowers and Co. So engrossed were they in this business that at the time the Celtic backs almost had the field clear to themselves, but the ball did not cottle out to them as often as anticipated. Mainly responsible for this was that the Village backs stood close up to tlxe forwards and concentrated on breakiug up the Celtic back movexlxents in tlie earJy stages. Napier Games. Public interest in Napier was about ©qually dividcd between ,both grounds, but tbe attendancc, repvesenting £32, was a long way below tbe £120 of the pjrevious week. • - The main attraction was thc game between Marist and Hastings, and the Greens, despite the "assistance of a slxong breeze, made little impression on the Hastings defence, chicfly represented by- Dyer. During this period thc Marist forwaTds had been somcwhat lethargie and their supporters were a little apprehensive of the sccond half, but eventually they rose to the oceasion and proVided the rearguard witfi opportunities. It was while tho homc side was hfiving its moments iu the second half that the Hastings tackling appeared to slump. Tackling is one oi the rudiments of the game of Eugby, ypt it is at times almost a neglected art. The way in . which Hastings comznenced the second half, witcu a great passing rusk cngineered by 'Muir produced a try, created visions oi another Green reversc, but it was in rcality almost a concluding effort and tnercafter Marist held the stage. A player coming in as an cxtra back produccd tho try tliat gave Ihe Greeus the lead. There appears to be something radically Wfong with the Marist pack. (Jertfiittly they wero on Saturday witkout the services of Griffin attd Exeter, but they required almost spurring into activity. A good hard course of scrum-