IN DEFENCE

NZ Truth, Issue 1181, 19 July 1928, Page 14

IN DEFENCE

Poor Start, But A Strong Finish

(Prom "N.Z. Truth's" Christchurch • Rep.) The Canterbury team, holders of , the Ranfurly Shield at the end of last season, had their first gallop , m defence of the much-disputed bauble last Saturday, when they beat' South Canterbury" by '29 points to 9. /~)NL.Y three members oi: the team that lifted the Shield, J. Harris, F. Clark and J. B. Jackson, -were included m the first team to defend it, and for a time it looked as if the new side were going to let the province down. South Canterbury handed out a nasty surprise by keeping Canterbury very busy throughout the first half and finishing" the spell with the scores 6 all. ' . But m the second half the holders found their feet and played a rattling good game. Once the backs got going South Canterbury's chances faded. , It was very fortunate for Canterbury that the belated decision was made to play South Canterbury first this • season. The Canterbury team was picked only half a week before the match, and it took half the match for the team to settle down. South Canterbury were having their first outing, too, but they got going right from the jump. . A very strong and treacherous wind proved a tremendous handicap to Canterbury m the first spell, and the challengers lost a splendid opportunity of piling on points, for . not one of the "opposing backs could handle the ball decently. Harris, the Canterbury full-back, had an off day, and his display m the first half was very poor, although he improved m the second spell. G. P. Hart, "'on the right wing, suffered from a lack of experience. He scored two fine tries and lost two others through- missing a pass. ' Once it was -such a moral that his knock-on sent the ball over the goal-line. . Hart will come good, and with another season's play .should develop into one of the best wings m New Zealand. On Saturday his defence was weak simply through inexperience. He was tried out. too soon. C. Oliver, at centre, made one or two mistakes, once hanging on to the ball when a pass might have meant a try, but taking the game generally,, he gave a splendid display, having a big part m the scoring of three others. His defence was sound and his attacking play at times brilliant. QUICK RECOVERY C. D. Chesley, on the other wing, put m some magnificent runs, and although he fumbled like the rest early m the game, he .was m great form later. He has a habit, after getting rid of the ball m a rush, of racing up to the play again and following the movement closely, and oh two or three occasions on. Saturday he was on hand to carry on again when the movement had been checked. . The three inside backs were all very solid m defence, and, when they got going, sound and reliable 'on attack. M. L. Page, captain of the team, fully justified his selection as half-back and gave a fine all-round display. Dave Hay, first five-eighths, was as sound and safe as he always: is on top. form, and D. G. Grant, with his cuttingin habit almost eradicated, was very dangerous near his opponents' line. Once he worked 1 the cut-in as it should be worked, 15 yards from the goal-line, and burst through a bunch of greens to score a good try. S. Fookes,. at wing-forward, played a fine game. He did it all just right. Some of the members of the pack were inclined to wing it. . Tom and Toby Robinson, though they played a" great game mi the , loose, were not always present when weight was needed m the tight, though Toby worked harder here than did Tom. Both of them are inclined to drop back amongst the backs and get into passing movements. Even that usually hard toiler, J. B. Jackson, was not putting all the weight m he might have into the scrums at times, but seemed to ' be looking for chances to break away. The best of the forwards was the big and hefty A. Y. Montgomery, who plays great football m good company.A battler from start to finish, he was neck deep into everything. A. I. Cottrell was also a hard and consistent worker, and T. Lawson, who seemed to be locking the scrum satisfactorily, and F. Clark went well. South Canterbury has a good threequarter line m H. A.-Scott, W. Neutze and ,B. Trotter, and Trotter especially put up a fine showing with limited opportunities. L. Connolly, at full-back, was only fair. P. Roper was a hard-working, half, and m the first half sent his backs away nicely. D. Fairbrother and H. Priestley were solid at five-eighths, Priestley making some good thrusting runs on attack. THE MAN IN MANNING Best of the' forwards was T. Manning, a big and very solid Maori. Both on attack and defence he hoed into his work m real style, showing up both m the tig^t and m the loose. A. Stevenson, H. Coxhead and J. McBride were all prominent, and every member of the,* southern pack worked like a hero m the first half. But they tired m the second. It was a. good game, and the 15,000 or so spectators who saw it were left with plenty of material on which to base arguments about the "Wairarapa match. ■'•■.■ But, whoever holds the Shield at the end of the season, both. Canterbury and South Canterbury fans should be shown some worth-while Rugby at the representative fixtures.