A RUGBY WIN.

Hokitika Guardian, 15 March 1924, Page 4

A RUGBY WIN.

ENGLAND BEATS WALES. LONDON, Jan 21. At Swansea on Saturday England defeated Wales by one goal and four tries to three tries. This is the first success the English Rugby team have gained at Swansea for 29 years.

Those optimsts who would not hear of an English defeat by Wales were entirely justified in their faith by the events of Saturday afternoon. The English forwards held their own. and the English backs were superior in pace and combination that when once the ball got loose there was only one team in it.

On the visiting side there was not a single failure, but more than one member .if the homo fifteen must have made his first and only appearance for his country.

Torrents of rain swept over Swansea. on Saturday morning, but the St. Helen’s ground recovered splendidly under the influence of a drying wind, and very little fault could be found with the conditions.

Wales, winning the toss, bad the advantage ot a still breeze at then backs, but made singularly poor use of it. After half-time the wind dropped perceptibly, but the English backs turned it to the best account and got in many tine relief kicks when the Welsh forwards made their great effort. ,

England for once went oil' with great dash, and in the opening minute or two 11. M. Locke brought off the first of his many dashing runs and went straight through to the lullback.

A try seemed inevitable. 11. I'. Jacob bad only to catch the ball to score. But a bad pass fell at bis feet, and a golden opportunity was lost. Males cleared their lines, and for some time ding-dong pay was the. order of tile day. B. S. Chantrill, by a brilliant catch, kick, and follow-up. again placed Wales on the defensive, and the Englishmen set. up a hot attack. A free kick gave Wales much-needed relief. and it was England's turn to defend desperately. WALES FIRST TO SCORE.

Presently Chantrill was adjudged tc have carried the ball over bis onn line and from the scrum outside Wales made tremendous efforts to score. \\ J. Ould got over, but was held up, auc then T Jones fought his way across with a well-deserved lav. eighteen minutes from the start.

R. Edwards had to go off to have a damaged muscle attended to, but was soon again in the thick ot the fiay. 11. C’. Catcheside was prominent with a fine run, and Males were penalised several times, but the strong wind made the free kicks useless. Then came the sensational period ol the match. In six. minutes England scored three brilliant tries, the second of them being by common consent one of the finest ever seen in an international match.

First of all Catebside dashed along the right wing, and nearing the line gave E. Myers a beautifully timed inside pass. The Yorkshireman saw an opening and was over like a bullet from a rifle. Chantrill made a good .shot at goal, but from a difficult position just failed. Three minutes later, when play "as in the English “twenty-five,” the hall went out to Cacheside. who presently passed to ML ML AYakclield. The English captain made a lot ol ground and gave the ball to T. Yovee. who handed on to 11. M. Locke. All this was done at dazzling speed, am! when Locke cave Jacob the final pass the Oxford

iviug was absolutely unopposed and cantered in at bis leisure. Chantrill kicked an easy goal. The game had hardly started again when 1.. Corbett cut through and passed to Locke, who rail hard and straight for the line. This time the place-kick was too difficult for Chni.trill to convert.

The dramatic change in the fortunes of tlm game was emphasised immediately after half-time, for Corbett at once dashed away again, and a pass to Jacob must have meant, a try. The ball went inwards, however, and the movement was cheeked.. Almost at once Corbett was oil again, this time bearing to the right, and a perfect pass to Catcheside sent the lair-liaiied Northumbrian in and brought. the score to 1 I—3. VOVUE'S BROKEN RIB. The result now seemed .1 loregone conclusion, but the AVel.-li forwards bad still to be reckoned with. Drawn from eight different clubs, they bad taken a long-time to settle down, but nothing could have been more impressive Gian the way in which they rallied and strove haul to pull ilio mutch out of the lire.

Two or three of the English pack bad been in tile wars, and Yovee was playing with a broken rib, and lor some twenty minutes Wales bad all the butter of tile* game. T heir backs as a whole, however, let them down badly, anil the two tries they obtained at this period were due to the cleverness ol E. AVatkins and the determination of T. Johnson.

A. Owen got one and Johnson himself the other, both on the blind side of the scrummage. Neither was converted and the score was 14 —9.

AVitit twenty minutes to go and only five points behind. Wales still had a chance. Jt was a dour battle tor the next, quarter of an hour or so. but the English pack stuck manfully to their work, and tile home tea could not cross 1 110 English line.

At last. Corbett broke away and fed Catcheside, who ran hard and had the satisfaction of obtaining the decisive try of the match. Thereafter England made sound use of the touch-line, and with the M’elsli backs, for some unfathomable reason, enthusiastically following their lead, a great game drew to a close, and the sinister tradition of Swansea, as the grave of English hopes was shattered.

Once more a brilliant English victory has silenced the critics of the selectors. They showed sound judgment in their final choice of the forwards, and the inclusion of 11. Cove-Smith was an inspiration, tor he was in his element in such a hurly-burly as the game proved to be. There was not a weak man in the pack ; each man did his job and did it thoroughly. W. W. M a Icefield is an inspiring captain and he was here, there, and everywhere. It is almost invidious to mention individuals. but W. Ci. E. I.Vuhlington played his best game of the season, and in the loose A. E. Blnkiston was a veritable terror.