RUGBY LEAGUE

Hokitika Guardian, 15 August 1932, Page 2

RUGBY LEAGUE

. TEST AT CHRISTCHURCH. ENGLAND'S (EASY WIN. . ; CHRISTCHURCH, August 13. The; test match ;to-day : drew . 6,000 people. England won by 25 v , points to 14. Brisbane led the ,New Zealand‘ side on to the field, and was immediately fallowed by the visitors -with Sullivan at’ their head. The teams faced a battery of cameras and exchanged compliments. The turn of the coin favoured New Zealand, who elected. to play with a brisk wind and the * sun in their favour. • Evans kicked off for England, but the teams were recalled for . a serum, from which England won the ball. Evans got it away to 'Brogden, who "kicked through, ..but Watene held up ■the play. The Englishmen w«re penalised j and Cooke found the line well down in England’s territory. New Zealand’s backs attempted to open .up the

jflay but their parsing was erratic. ‘" itist, however, secured on' the right 1 flank and kicked through. In their ' anxiety- to keep the line intact the. Englishmen were penalised, and Watene took the shot at goal- The. ball just fell short. Following the drop out, Atkinson and Eftlaby combined in , a passing rush and carried play to neutral territory. New Zealand attempted to throw, the ball about. The parsing went astray and Evans burst through ■ with"' several Englishmen in support. With lightning rapidity play swung to -the opposite. end of the field, whore 1 Cooke, following through fast, grasped OBllaby., Thb ball was unleashed to the if. New Zealand backs; and it ■ went fight through- the chain to Brisbane. The New Zealand captain eluded high tack- ■ ling and i sent the ball ,to List, with the : defence hopelessly bewildered. Ihe winger,, while he did not take the. ball cleanly, gathered and burst across at the; corner. Watene’s kick was . poor.

New Zealand ,3, England 0. New Zealand ’ continued to . attack, their ; forwards '•.bustling - the : opposition, and the backs w;ere holding their own. r The crowd roared as Hutt, the burly c New Zealand forward, gathered in; the, loose and, came near, to ' bullocking ; his way over. Then from . a t heated forward melee ten yards : put ,‘froin the English line Colder gathered : and. swung, the', ball- out to Bass an. The five-eighth • pia.de ground, but his pass .went; astray. .The New‘‘Zealand backs had ; a gallop but Brisbane failed to collect his,; pass when a try looked likely. Abbott se- ; efired the rolling ball j and ; darted»past 1,-several of the defenders. These wer® - anxious moments for 'the visitors, but they gradually worked ’ their way back j into neutral territory. vHere .'Evans get £-the ball away and the) Englishmen gave , > a. sample of their passing. The . tack- . .ling, however, was deadly, ,iaad,-their:-ads vanceS were only yard :by yard until t 'Brogden received » pass from the base 5 ’bf the eerura, veered .out oad in to cut- ; the defence tofthredg a]nd : *dnrt.acro*» .. under the pcite. Sullivan • made ewy J : wQrk -of the kick, 5.'.'’ : j. England 5, New Zealand 3. j ''' •, - . ’ . . ‘ j ' It was a superb effort on the part of / the English fly-half. A few minutes

later,. when;’New Zealand were endeavouring to make amends, the visitors were penalised after the alert Cooke had once more caught.Ellaby in possession. The kick was entrusted to Amos, who turned it to account. England 5, New Zealand 5. A period of give and take play followed, and then the Englishmen indulged in the long passing characteristic of them. Oooke intercepted beautifully and with a twinkling run came near to having the defence beaten. Cooke put New Zealand hard on the offensive once more with a neat kick into touch'. The visitors heeled and Sullivan, chiming into the passing bout that followed, they had the New Zealand backs well beaten. But the final pass to Smith «went astray. Trouble came 'New Zealand’s way when . Watene misdirected a kickyto touch aiid Smith . veered infield with only the full-back to beat. It looked like sure points for the visitors, but the crowd bargained without Cooke and List,'who got the winger from behind. England maintained the (pressure and from loose play in New Zealand’s twenty-five Evans secured and Whipped a pass out to Atkinson, who jinked his way over at the corner. Sullivan converted with a magnificent kick from out, near ; touch. England, lb, New Zealand 5. Cooke, who was forced to retire to the sideline, returned and was given an ovation. • • His 'services were imrnedij.tely required, for Smith, the Englishmen’s speedy three-quarter, collected a speculator by List and made a. determined dash for the line. Cooke and Watene . bath pounced on the winger and threw him forcibly into touch. Watene, r playing excellent football, saved a' sure ‘ try with a low tackle when Brogden had worked Atkinson into a scoring N position.i .New Zealand raced to the attack after this let-off, where, from rapid forward exchanges in the .visitors’ , twenty-five, Abbott, "secured. He made ground and then .passed wide to Hassan. The fivef eighth swung outwards, drew .Sullivan, ■and gave a well-timed pass to List, who [ clapped on the pace and dived across jas ’he • was being tackled by Risman. Amos goaled ■ from out. near touch.

England 10, New Zealand 10,

Fortunes, fluctuated in great -styl e . The next interesting moment was when Brisbane, the New Zealand captain,; gathered a rolling ball from loose play at ‘ half-way and. punted over the head of Sullivan. Hodgson and Fildes, however, beat him in the race to the ball, /Hodgson pouncing on it. A few minutes later England were penalised Aar off-side play, and Amos put New, -Zealand in front onoe more with /a beautiful kick from thirty yards out on an angle. , .

New Zealand 12, England 10

New Zealand were now playing with twelve men, Cooke being fatted to retire once moM, but they were holding their own in all departments. Half-' time we* celled when Amo* wag about to v take »- penalty ehot. The scores were then unaltered and read: . New Zealand 12, England 10. At the interval the teams lined up

in the centre of the field and the Governor-General (and Lady Bledisloe, •who were accompanied by the Mayor and Mayoress, shook hands with the players. There was some comment about the referee not allowing Amos to take the penalty kick juat before -the spell ended, but it appeared that the halftime bell -sounded a minute before the breach by England occurred.

THE SECOND -SPELL. The second spell opened quietly with both* sides -sparring for openings. Cooke took his place once more in the team and played at second five*eighth. Brisbane replaced Hassan at first fiveeighth and the latter went to centre. England looked dangerous and after an exchange of kicks Atkinson brpke away on the right flank with Spcpdk .and Ellaby trailing in support. Ellaby. however, was crowded into touch. When next New Zealand were attacking the Englishmen infringed and Amos, who had his kicking boots on, put New Zealand in front with a magnificent kick into the wind.

New Zealand 14, England 10,

Stung by this reverse the visitors commenced to throw the ball about in brisk style. Half the team handled and finally ißisman centred to find a gap in the field. Watene was hopelessly out of -position and this enabled Smith to follow through fast, gather the ball in his -stride and fly across under the -posts. The kick -presented no difficulty to Sullivan.

England 15, New Zealand 14. Passing by England broke down at Risman, and Hassan and Davidson pinned -him down to play the ball at half-way. Heated forward play followed -in which Calder had a hal’d tussle with Hodgson, who displayed temper and was hooted by the crowd and as a -result warned. It was the one disagreeable incident in the match to date. The New Zealand backs opened up in. fine style 'for Brisbane to send Li'st flying along the line. The .winger clapped on the pace, using hia fend to advantage, but was pushed into touch in -the nick of time. Sullivan gave his side a respit© with beautiful j line-kicking and for a time the teams fought on even terms. Here Hassan received rough handling at the hands of Hodgson and play was held up for a 6 pell while he -received attention. Following loose play, danger threatened New Zealand when Ellaby kicked through and followed' through fast. But Watene .saved brilliantly. A few minutes later the visitors -stormed the line and in exchangee that ensued Evans secured -and passed to Atkinson, who burst his way through weak tackling to run round near the po-sts. Sullivan’s shot -struck an upright and bounced over on the business eide.

W&M 20, New Zealand 14. Ail Exchange ef 'kicking saw play eettle down'ia New Zealand’s territory, Here the Englishmen heeled for Evans to dash round on the blind' aide and send Ellaby flying along the wing. His in-pass, however, went astray, and Watene saved. The pace slackened up and ■New Zealand appeared to be tiring. Ellaby gave the crowd a thrill when he came like a flash on the blind side to shake off tackles toy Hutt and Davidson, but when faced by Watene, in the last line of defence, lie sent a forward pass infield. England were having all the better of tlhe play, and New Zealand were playing without method, principally on the defensive. Then England spurted, both backs and forwards combining in a passing rush. The ball flashed between half a dozen players for Horton to finally receive an in-pass and to veer in to score wide out. Sullivan, •with another superb kick, converted.

England 25, New Zealand 14. New Zealand livened and applied the pressure vigorously. First Cooke came close to sending List in on the right flank. Then Watene and Davidson were seen in a concerted passing bout that had England in difficulties. Davidson in-passed to Watene, but when a score looked imminent Hodgson bumped the latter into touch. The home side’s bustling tactics, however, were shortlived, and rangy kicking found them once more defending, desperately. The teams were battling on even terms when the'-final bell went, and Sullivan walked Into touch with the bait. The Anal score read ENGLAND 25 NEW ZEALAND ... ... ... M Referee, Mr A. Oiarlock (South Auckland).