COMMENTS ON THE PLAY.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVII, Issue 213, 9 August 1937, Page 5

COMMENTS ON THE PLAY.

VICTORY OVER WAIRARAPA. WINNERS LACK VIM. Both forwards and backs in the Manawatu side which played the Wairarapa team failed to reach expectations. The match, coming only a few days after the Springbok game, brought to light a changed Manawatu team, one which failed to display any marked determination for penetration and. although the opposition was young in years and experience also, only four tries were scored as against the visitors’ two, the remaining 10 points ot the winners’ 22 being provided by two conversions and two penalty kicks. Had Manawatu been faced with a stronger side which opened play up and threw the ball about, they would in all probability have provided a much better exhibition, for they would themselves have been forced more into an open style of play.

In the Manawatu forwards there was a marked desire to remain out of the tight. The result was that a pack which should have been roundly trounced took the ball freely from serums, line-outs and rucks, but the visiting backs were not of a standard to push their advantage in possession righthome. Kicking by both sides was frequent and there was a lack for much of the game of the machine-like precision in handling, apart from team work understanding, which would enable even only a portion of either back-line to make a dangerous thrust.

In the first half the Manawatu team had much the better of matters. They were favoured by having the sun at. their backs, but Wairarapa secured a generous share of the ball from set scrums and line-outs, which allowed them to clear or to make abortive passing rushes which at least gained enough ground to keep the Manawatu team just clear of the danger line. In the Manawatu backs, on the other hand, there was a serious weakness in the five-eighths. Finlay, playing next, the half-back, was not, making openings freely and Nicol, outside him, appeared to be undergoing a footballer’s “black day.” Time after time the attack broke down between the two, kicking when there were openings on the outside and passing when the openings were being rapidly filled up with opposition players being noticeable on more than one occasion. In the second spell the positions of the two men were interchanged and Finlay found himself with far more room to move in, with distinct advantage to the Manawatu side. Nicol became the connecting link from Irvine, who was easily the best of the home side’s backs, ait the base of the scrum. With Wasley as a strong runner outside him, Finlay instituted a number of movements which liad not been seen in the first half. It was seldom that the wingers gained possession through a clear-cut passing bout. Instead, they secured. mainly from loose play and their work was generally of a scrambling nature. Campbell played a game at full-back which was without glamour, but was, in the main, good. He kicked very well on occasions and in other departments also measured-quite up to the general standard set on the day.

| Manawatu suffered a loss with the i departure of Fell. He was replaced by a fresh and eager player in Whyte, but Fell had been doing much work in the open, and on numbers of occasions it was lie wlio swung the ball out from the ruck and the tight to the backs. McKenzie was not to be bustled-except when he was within striking distance, but lie made bis weight and strength felt when they were demanded in the tight. Williams played as if he meant to retain his place in the side. Enquiries made this morning showed that Fell, who had to retire in the closing stages of the game, bad suffered a torn ligament of a rib. The doctor’s report was that the trouble should be righted in a fortnight.