FULLER THE FELLOW

NZ Truth, Issue 1237, 15 August 1929, Page 16

FULLER THE FELLOW

When Merit Did Not Meet With Its Just Reward

WAIRARAPA WERE FORTUN ATE

(By "N-Z. Truth's" Special Rugby Writer)

They have a nice resting plai Wairarapa, .but if that demon, Li tions last Saturday, massed bane team up Queen Street on Monda; TO score four tries to their opponent's one, and then lose, was the position Auckland found themselves m at ti-ift rail of no-side^' T&re ha^e been certainties beaten before to-day, but no bigger moral left the field defeated than the northern fifteen on Saturday last. ■ Fifteen a-side is the Union game, but Wairarapa had eighteen to assist them-the extra three being comprised of the unseen, but ever present, Good F °The ne "emblem of. supremacy was called the Ranfurly, Shield up till Saturday's game; now it is ; being called the Fuller Shield. __ _ For it was the stripling, Fred. Ful- ■ ler, who. made a debit into a credit, with a boot which kicked with unerring accuracy: Fourteen of the points canie from his -kicking— four penalty goals and a conversion — the remaining thre& points coming from a try by Irvine, a try, by the w ay, which no wide-awake pack of, forwards would have allowed to „.,>■ be scored. Fancy a lending pack teWng^ta time to get up into a »ne-outt_ TJg is >ow Auckland presented Wairarapa in^'ithout waste of a moment, and the Auckland forward line, being scattered round the paddock, was not there tO^fa^'that never at any stage Reached 5 interprovincial standard —ihore often than not it was a rabble. Kicking won the day— the goalkickmg of Fuller and the touch finding ° f SS£nd had the opportunity of increasing the score by penalty kicks, but that desirable and very necessary element, Luck, was laughing at them al Had y the efforts been, poor it would no? have been so bad, but they were "Bush had the. length and but the direction was 'just a fraction out So near, and yet so far., _ With Bush on the spot Auckland would have won by a ten-point marof. goal-kicking, Auckland held the upper hand..m,eyery o departr ment, with the exception of hard scrummaging. . Jim McLeod, manager of the AM Blacks, had the courage to tell Auckland, on his. return from the Australian visit, that the rules, as played m the north, were ruining good players. -.:■■, He is rights -In their endeavors to combat a 'serious menace, Auckland hai had to interpret the . rules somewhat elastically, so as to speed the That is all' very, well while meeting teams playing similar rules^ but when the opposition goes m for solid scrummaging, the break-away and get-out-intb-the-open forward soon takes "certainly is nice to watch forwards galloping about/like so many tacks, but when it is air said and done a forward is a forward, not a cross between a back and a scrummager: The South African tour showed how seriously forward play m New Zealand has deteriorated, as a result of tinkerins with the rules, and the English ,telm next season will .brinff home to our back doors the futility of the forward game as now played. .">■ Auckland had a pack of forwards which on looks outweighed the Wairarapa seven, yet m the tight stuff the holders' were supreme. The Wairarapa pack played as a unit and Auckland as a collection df individuals. Combination will, always beat individualism. , ... Second to Fuller's devastating kicking Was the touch finding of Cooke, whose thirty, forty and fifty yard cround-gaining punts must have broiven the hearts of the Aucklanders. As a match-winning crew, the ; Wairarapa backs were not to be often than not the chain snapued after MilMiad ; got. rid of the ball, 2nd on the game he played, Cundy : imfst be congratulated on having pulled on an All Black jersey. Abou all- he has m his favor is weight— let it be left at that. Gooke's reputation fixes him— he is not allowed an inch to move m, and they played right on top of him most of the day. Bert tried to drive them back. with short punts into the open ana at times he used the kick throupli with great success, but back woulc come the Auckland inside men tc ■bottle him m -a limited area. . Stringfellow, on .the outside O1 Cooke -as a natural sequence, suffered but on occasions he gave glimpses o1 e ßooth was slow, painfully slow, anc

je for the Ranfurly Shield m the ick, had not entered into calculate would have led the Auckland I. ■ ■ ■ , ..,-■ ; -. • . Fuller, outside of' his wonderful kickling', did little. He. has. the football m him and should 'mould into a flne I "winger with the experience.

Roach was tragic, and he caused ! shivers, to run down the spines of his supporters. His kicking was woefully weak. Mill is the same box of tricks, as clever and as cunning as of yore, but Jim does not carry out his work with the snap of days gone by. There is a hesitancy about his work that was never

there when he shone behind the Bay pack.

Jim Donald, Bill Trvine and Tar Harvey are m the veteran stage, and they showed it very clearly, and this may be their ];>st season. Their experience, however, more than counterbalanced the periods of rests they took ever so often, and it was their leading that welded the pack into a combination. But 'at .times they very clearly illus-

trated the saying of an old dog for a hard road.

The rest of the pack worked hard right through, .but, at times, they were inclined to attempt and accomplish, m the lineouts, acts whtcli the rules say are infra dig. '.■',■; : ■:. ••■ ■ ,;. •■ •; --■ The ' Auckland back machine -was a far better-oiled- vehicle than the Wairarapa line. It introduced a new one to the southern end of t lie island, m young Corner. He is only a kid, and is lacking m weight, but' in nothing else is he deficient. A coming youngster is this boy. The two five-eighths were thought to be a bit weak m defence, but. the game did not' show thls. : It -was rather their attack that was poor. They went In for an over-plus of . across-field running and thus badly ■* hampered Minns and Lucas on the wings. Bush was .solid and stolid, but he got two nasty knocks that "took the sting' out of him. , He : wants a bit more pace to run his outside men into position-. Minns, with a ton of pace, was ever keen to give it a go, but the same could not be said of Lucas. He was not getting over-much room to manoeuvre m and this may have disheartened • him, but that he played m patches cannot be denied. The try he

scored, when, -with a brilliant side-step, he left Roach looking silly, was an epic, Butler completely overshono his-oppo-nent and was sure and safe. Hook had all the better of Donald at wing-forward and further, he played the game m the correct spirit. And let it be said sonic of the stuff that came his way was not m complete accordance with the book of words, The pack was unimpressive — as a pack. They were all too anxious to get out and tear about m the loose, and when possession had been lost, were inclined to take matters too easily m getting back into support. The Knights, by their size, were ever prominent. But, alas, they were too prominent. They could be seen walking about as If on a tramping expedition. . ' r That there was a game m progress seemed to have escaped, them on quite a number of occasions. " Cathcart, Batty and Anderson toiled and the two front row. men, Ijadley and Finlay.son. had something to contend with, and had the referee been strong he would have- made their lota deal easier, i \ It was a hard game to control, not because it was over-rough^— though. ' flying fists were . seen on several > occasions during the second spell — but because (of the pitch the players were, keyed up to.However, the latitude that was allowed m the scrums, which half the time were nothing else but bull -fights, was inexcusable. ; ■...•■ j .■■■■ Three, and -four times the referee would haye ■„ to.rasfe'.for ■ the ball to be put m correptly;.) Qiice should have been enough —then" a- penalty. . Jim was bouncing the ball' off the hooker's outside foot and taking . it as it reb o uh d cd. And every time he took it 'he, was off-side. Yetvphly ,pnee was he -peh'alised. , .The tactics, such as came at on, Saturday were of'- the type that makes - ' : f hje ".* word wing-forwfiird*, anaihemaV „:; 1 ".'■'■' ■■'■■ Wairarapa wi 1 1 meet the next strong Shield challenge on August 28, when Canterbury line out at Masterton.

It: is: tdo-much to .expect the luck of l.a'stf Satiirday .to stand to them always, &nd unless some big improvement is made m \tlre< interim^ the Shield will be going on asea trip; * :. •*:-..'

That' is, if .Canterbury cafn field a full tearii,'yl>alley,;L.ilburne J Oliver and Carletori, with the support of a couple of wings, and a good solid, hard-working pack, will shake Wairarapa • even. -.more severely than- did the earthquake. . v

When the roll is called m Masterton on August 28, Canterbury will be there — but that's about all.

Having held their own with the bulky and experienced Auckland forwards, Wairarapa have created an atmosphere of doubt m Rugby circled m Canterbury, where the mediocrity of forward play has been the bugbear of the season.

Excepting .Jim Burrows and lan Cottrell and, occasionally, George Scrimshaw, none of ' the forwards playing m the Christchurch club . ' competitions have shown anything like outstanding promise m Saturday matches, and m the Town v. Country match, the husky men from the plains gave the city men an object lesson m what bustling forward play realjy means. Stilt, It can be safely predicted that the old prejudice against includr ing country players In 'the . provincial side will again prevail and if . - one other, In addition to Toby Robinson, is selected, the country will be surely blessed.- . . ■ [ ' ' " ■' ' . "'. :".'.. •.••■' - "Truth'* -is firmly > : of the belief.ihbweyir, that if the selectors' 'do: not go \io.^t\ie country- for their forwards, it, is .useless going m quest of the Raiifurly Shield. "Wairarapa have h6w held their 1 , own against the; Hawkes ■ Bay • and Auckland packs, and when the facts are 'faced squarely, very little hope can be held out for whatever pack is selected from . Canterbury, if recent 'club standards can- be accepted as a guide .

"Curly" Page looks the only, possible half-back to replace Bill Dalley, who is out for the rest of the; season, but even with him, and the Oliver-Lilburne-Carle-ton trio, Canterbury- cannot hope for much if, they are beaten m front .as seems sure to be their fate.

. Hart, the Christ:cli ur c h ■winger, looks sure for a : place on one wing. "He lias a sound club record this season, he has speed ' and pluck, and works well In a small strip of ground. There will be many aspirants for the other wing, but on' present form, the selectors will find it. . hard to

■ \ ■■ overlook Bill Mer-. ritt, the International ■ cricketer. Bill has been condemned for lack , of courage, for lack of defence; m fact, his, critics would have him lacking everything, but m his. last few. games he has glveh an emphatic answer to his critics, illustrating that he has speed, courage and, above all, brains.

Who will get the full-back position is open to doubt.. Jack Harris, since resuming his old position for Old Boys, has .done everything asked of him. ; ■

Since^ (Joining from Wanganui, ,. Fulton has not^jjlayed one' : bad game, "and he looks'ilike/rXinnlng .^Harris closelyjfor the vqtiliiQ'i[}^-i^: : ;/y-'^--'\^:-'y ■ :■<■■*■■■*■'. ; - ■. ' '•?' Taking a line through the forward play seen' far this sjeksbh In Christchurch, the Canterbury should, be a good thing ior-Wairarja^a;. ■ ; . : >• .

duced for years. And there is years of football m him yet." Accidents and sickness made the selecting of teams a, nightmare.- So bad did it become that the selection committee found it necessary to call m some of the players, just to find out what could be done and what could not. Tuck was not suited for the position he was picked, and, with Dalley out, another half had to be cabled for.. And m talking of Tuck, one of the. team told "Truth" that the boy would make a name, but not as a. tyalf-back. The referees were generally conceded to be excellent and tnose who had been on a previous, visit. reckoned they were heaven-sent. „ .' Forward play ''had. developed greatly over the other sjde , and: there, was none of that loose;, t.^iipr in style, as affected by the visiting -'team of: last -.year..' . . V It Avas all solid v scrummaging and had ;to be tn;et ..with m kind. Having the McWilliams, w "Sonhtag arid Snow, type' in the team the younger members were broken m by a hard school. This will be all to the, benefit of national football when the Englishmen come next year. A comparison between' Ross and Nepia was invited and it was freely held that Ross

was every bit the

equal of George m

taking and Kicking,- but Jim McLeod tells of an incident that he r e cko n s puts Nepia m a class | of his own. "T lireo New South Wales' i backs had broken away and had only Nepia between them and the line. "I was sitting with Cliff. Porter and I said to him: .'They'll score here.' "'No,' said Cliff., 'I think George will get out of it.' An the trio- came down on him, George gradually worked them together, arid,' makiitgv Towers send on the ball,- GebrgeJ dived and t6ok the next man, ball, and all, to the fraction of the second. ■■'■--'■" ■■'■ ■ - • ."Not once, but twice did he. work them this way, and his manoeuvring showed him to be the greatest player of his time." . v .-Sydney was; loud m praise of Porter and the team and are telling the world. ■ Cliff, played m the second test without, having a run. The, doctors told him hot to play, but he turned out and, with this 'gallop into him,- he was a super-man m the final test. . • , That the wing-forward game. can be