FINAL IS NEAR

NZ Truth, Issue 1183, 2 August 1928, Page 14

FINAL IS NEAR

Wellington To Stage Hot Finish (From "N.Z. Truth's" Wellington -Rep.) Varsity continue their winning way m Wellington senior Rugby championship. Last Saturday they accounted for Old " Boys, but the battle royal will be staged when they meet the leaders (Poneke), to decide the championship. AGAINST Varsity's fast-moving and trk clever pack, Old Boys put up one of their, best games to date. The final score, 16-13, clearly shows what manner of bid they made to down the students. In the opening spell. Varsity had the advantage of what' wind there was and when half-time sounded they had notched 13 points to their opponents' three. . • ' With the change round, however, Old Boys' forwards played a sterling game, but this, with the exception of perhaps one or two players, cannot be said of the backs. ' : . . ■ NOT TOO EASY The white's vanguard were instrumental m the steady advance of the team's score, their scrummaging" and line-out work holding the. Varsity forwards in' good check. . If the Old Boys' backs had played the same clever game as their forwards, there might have been a different tale to tell. As it was, when the ball came into, the possession of the green backs they made the best use of their opportunities, delighting jthe crowd with some fine open and spectacular passing. Varsity were without the services of Noble-Adams at full-back, and his place was filled by Griff en. With nowhere near the pace and none of the former's initiative, Griffen 3vas weak m defence. One of the fastest and trickiest ■',.. runners m senior football in' '* Wellington senior games this season is Brown on Varsity's wing. Last Saturday he scored a dandy try. The ball came out to him at the end of a fine piece of chain passing. He took a difficult, pass high m the air and with a fine burst of speed and a swerve, was over the line before some of the players had realized what had happened. . ;■•• Macllay, on the other wing, is also a dangerous man on botn attack and defence. Nothing much gets past him. He took the. ball at the gallop from Ramson once on Saturday, cut m and touched, down under the v posts. In the five-eighths line, Irwln and Mackenzie are a great attacking pair. On Saturday, , however, they did not show the same amount . of resourcefulness m defence. ' ROCK OF GIBRALTAR • Leys, at half, though, was a shining lifeht during those portions of the game, when Old Boys threatened to' overwhelm Varsity's defence. He was safety itself. The forwards as a whole did not put the same amount of vim into their work as they did the previous .Saturday. ■ ' . /.-■ .-.-■ '„; ;...: Cormack is a good scoring forward- in the Varsity pack. He got over again for the greens last Saturday. Deiderich and O'Regan Were, always m the thick of it, frequently harrying the white backs. Blacker made a sad blunder once through over-eagerness., Through offside tactics he gave Old Boys a penalty kick which, placed, them m an attacking position. „ ' . Malcolm, at full-back for Old Boys, played his usual safe game. ' '■■ Wylie and R. Lamason, on the wings, are resourceful players, but were to a certain extent starved of the ball. .'"'.■ The weakness 'm the< white back division seemed to lie m the inside backs. ■ ' . Dv Chateau was on his game. 'He. always varied his play m heady styla. On several occasions he sold the "dummy" nicely. McDonald, second five-eighths, would have been a troublesome man to the green division had he not had the misfortune to injure his knee early in -the game. He rested it for a few. minutes while play was resumed and later took the field. Several times he bumped his injured limb, and this militated against his giving of his best throughout the game. OPENING PENALTY Old Boys' opening score came from a penalty kick almost m front of their opponents' goal. Malcolm put the ball over the cross-bar nicely. Later, a fine piece of combined work by the back division, saw Wylie cross near the corner. Malcolm again added the major points. Old Boys were endeavoring to keep the game tight and m this they partially succeeded. It was when play opened up that they* lost their ascendancy. • One of the hardest working forwards m the Old Boys' pack was Claridge. Towards the close of play he had the misfortune to get laid out and was carried off the field on a stretcher. When the final whistle sounded. Old Boys were still hammering hard for supremacy. Poneke easily defeated Berhampore at Newtown Park, the final score, 19---6 m favor of Poneke, indicating the ratio of merit. Although Berhampore put up a stubborn defence, the more finished work of the Poneke vanguard and the fast work of their forwards was too much for them. At Prince of Wiles park, Athletic easily accounted for a weak Wellington team by 14 points to nil. Play was keenly .contested m the forward divisions, but both sets of backs giving a disappointing "display. Through clever handling of the ball the Marist backs were' instrumental m giving their team a twp -point victor j> over Eastbourne. The score, 9-7 m tavor of Marist, would have been greater had not several good opportunities gone begging. : • Petone came to light jlast Saturday and m clear-cut fashion scored a decisive win over Oriental by .15 points to 10. The forwards got down to it m good style and held the ascendancy throughout most of the. game. MORMAN RADFORD, the olever little *' • Englishman, who went blow for blow with Johnnie Leckie for fifteen rounds at Dunedin a fortnight ago, steps himself out against Tommy Griffiths at Dunedin on Saturday night. The similarity, m style and the speed and stamina of these boj r 3 will make for A' goad fight,