Rugby.

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 141, 1 July 1937, Page 15

Rugby.

"Oinni."\

TECH'S DOWNFALL Napier H.S.O.B. Stage a Sensation PLAY REVIEWED

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Last week'B series of senior fix- * tures again provided interesting football. Pirates led M.A.O. for the first half, but faded completely ia tlie second, while ia the maia attraction in Hastings the local Old Boyg had too much finish for Cedtic and won by a surprisingly vride margin. .In Napier, Marist had. an «asy win, but tbe real sensation of the day was tbe defeat of Technical by Napier Old Boys. This being tlieir tbird loss, Technical can no longer be regarded as serious championship contenderp. Napier Old Boys did no training last week and on Saturday turned out and defeated Technical Old Boys in the dying stages of a very entertaining match. It does not seem right that a fifteen should be so rewarded, but Rugby form is difficult to follow sometimes. 'On the day Napier Old Boys won on their merita, but in the same breath it could be said that the Technical rearguard was the greatest contributing factor, for they allowed the White rearguard a good deal of latitude tad this is what they like. All the tries scored wero well worth while and Hutchinson's field goal was a glorious effort. Hutchinson, by the way, has not been consistent this season, his tackling being very weak at fcimes, but on Saturday he did most things really well and a continuance of this form will make him once more a soutender for the representative fullback's job. Bradley was the spearhead of the Whites' attack, and besides scoring a try, engineered the runaway effort of E. Cox. A good pair cf bustling Old Boy forwards were Crawford-Smith and Smith, of Bayview, with E. Cox also in the limelight. The Technical back attack was tried frequently, but the inside men failed to do their part correctly. It was a pity, for Cushing on. the wing, with lunited opportunity, ,was in. his best form and scored one fine try and very nearly another. Herbert, on the other ving, was starved also, but he contributed to the scoring with a great conyertiug kick from alongside the fcouchliue. Sowman Outstanding. In the pack Bowman was outstand1 Ing and eaeily the beBt forward on the ground. The amount of work he does in line-outs, rucks and open play is amazing. Bob Johnson xeturned after weeks on the sideline as a result of injury, and it was apparent that the respite has not impaired his ability. In their iast two games, however, the Technical forwards have not played with the dash and vigour that marked their earlier efforts. Perhaps they are reserving something for a grandstand finish later in the month. Marist and Havelock. Marist, on'the adjoining ground, entertained Havelock North. and the Greens were in scoring mood early. Ihe first try from a " blind ' '-side mov® was not converted, but thereaftor the fecore went up five at a time due to the splendid converting kieks of Hnrgreaves, who came back into the team after a long rcst due to a knee injury. Three of his -successful alteinpls were from the side-line. All of tbe Marist tries were the result of briglit passing, and the cohesion of the Greens' inside backs gave the wingers, Allen and Davis, plenty of opportunities for & mn sueh as delights a wing throequarter. Obligingly enough, Marist completed their scoring fairly early in the second half, and for the remainder of the game Havelock had their raoments. For Marist Mclvor, at centre, played oue of his extra good games, and Robins, of course, supplied the highlights, receiving able assistance from Moss in this direction. In the forwards none was as prominent as J. O'Brien, with Griifin and Allsop next in order. Hats Off to Havelock! . . For Havelock, Bligh, at full-back, got through a big day 's work very well mdeed and C. Joll and Taylor were also prominent. Best of an even pack of forwards were Small, Fergusson and Whitehead. There is much to admire in the Havelock team; ror one rcason aone their entliusiasm for tbe game could well be capied by all. Nothing in the shape of a victory has come their way. in the eleven matches played, yet they take the field each Saturday with a complete fifteen aud play as keenly as if they were at the top of the championship ladder. Hats off to Havelock North!

M.A.C.'s Big Recovcry, Quite the most interesting aspect of tho M.A.C. v. Pirates game at Hastings on Saturday was the out-aud-in form of the Maoris. In the first spell they provided an unusually poor siiowing and fulJy deserved to be 18 — 8 points down at the interval. The poor defence and sbocking handling by the M.A.O. backs was largeiy responsible for this state of affairs, and the Buccanners made the most of it. After a good "shake-up" during the interval the Maoris revealed something of their true form aud completely over-run the opposition to givo a tbrilliug exhibition. S. Jackson was the only M.A.C. back who was not at fauJt in the first spell, but the main ofl'ender was Meai'ou, who presented a wrde-open gate in the defence. The opposition made good use of the weakness, botli in tlie i'onvard rusbes and with passing bouts. Thompson, the Pirates second five eig'htlx was quite their best performer, with Dowrick and Allan Lopdell also prominent on cccasions. The second spell was entireJy in favour of the Maori forwards, who took charge and set the pace. Reid collected another two tries, and with Everard Jackson, Sid Crawford and Jury Thompson in the Jead tho pack was in? great fettle. Tlie opposition for-

wards toiied earnestly and hard throughout. They more than held their own in the first spell, but after that they had to take second place, though they did so grudgingjy and uot witbout stitf rcsistance. lintil he prematurely left the field Fraser was the real leader with Bob Keeble, Hill and Mc&enzie lending ready support. Celtic Take a Slide. JLn view of the lecent exceJlent form of Celtic their tall defeat at the liands of Hastings H.S.O.B. on Saturday by 23 points to three was one of the big surprises of the year. it was not that they did not play unusually poorly, but that they were never able to take control, Old Boys setting the pace l'roin the outset iu the first spell then after the change-over they "sat-baok" on a Surprismgily good lead of 18 points to bottle up the play. I11 both respeets they were most successful. One interesting aspect was that the Old ' Boys forwards excelled against one of the strong pa'eks of the competition. For this tbey have to thank Kankin, Ford and Ashman, though ali the others made excellent showings. There was a pleasing rush to support any breaks and the whole pack was usually right on the ball. Curiously enough similar tactics were adopted by Celtic, but they were not as fast, individually and collectively, as Old Boys, and this made all tbe difierence.