NOTES BY FULL BACK

Otago Witness, Issue 2894, 25 August 1909, Page 60

NOTES BY FULL BACK

It is many years sinc-s a Southland team visited Dunedin without the familiar face ' and figure of veteran Isaac Jenkins, tha ! foero of over half a century e£ rapresenta.- i tive matches to his credit. The recently- j defeated Southlanders were without that I worthy who, however, did duty on ths Kne j as one of the touch judges. Another vete- j ion ex-playe. who officiated as touch- judge .; for Otago waa D. B. Torrance, of Kaikorai j fame. j A feature of Southland's play in the first ' spell on Saturday past finding out was the repeated efforts of the Maroon backs to find tho line when paying with the -wind. They gained nothing by this movement, whereas if they had kept kicking the ball j 'down tbei centre of the field and following • ■up fast they would have had ihi Otago '• Jbacks in trouble on more than one occasion. As it was, the line-kicking was merely spectacular, without bein^ in any (wav effective to the Southland team. It is impassible to go into ecstaciss over ■Mi»-» r.:atcli Southland v. Otago on Saturday and to enthu-s-a about the thrilling- run- < f ths lacks and the r-as-sing aushrs of the : forwards. "Without" berng eolourkes, the J {,-anie as ar ■eixJiibitioa of Rugby was of a . j>oor character. It ira? not exactly with- j owt its good points. But it was ahogethir Aoo ons-sideu to fee inlemely iutcrtstinj.-. 'The play for tlw most part was ragged end uneven, and save for the work 0? tbe Oturo iforwa-rds. -was laaking in cohssicr. Tiling's ,did not hang togother too well, and there mas a feelin-s- of vaicertainty about tbs fivcleishfch-? and three-quaTter Jin' 1 . Neverthe-B-SS3 the game had its spectacular moment?, A>ut in the main when any we-i--:ntentaon«d massing movement was on. the relay broke sdown half-way og, the road, and rhc Bpectators sent up a well-drawn "Oh !" of dieap:>poiatment. The gawne, as a fact, was qnostly made up of "Oh's!" and "Ah'sl" iDisappodnfcnients and anticipations. With a fine forward) team like Otago lined totit on Saturday, a dry ground, and the ball comiag out on. "the Otago Bide of the scrum ■with ■unfailing regularity, most things were 3>&asib!e, but it wanted a master hand in the 'lack division to give a touch of genius to «• he prooeediag&. 35very on« appaared 4o 3iav« a first' primer -knowledge of how be^ to do things, and forthwith proceeded to put these ideas into execution. jTbe match wae woi- hapdeomely, 'tis true, but the tries were got at tiroes in the tamt unfortunate manner— scarosly co much by tha cleverness of Otago as through the uattftrtftigty ud fegitMiOjr pf_tiw

Tander3. who allowed their ranks to be penetrated in the roost absurd fashion. For his first representative game Scott, ths young Taieri player, was set an exceedingly light task. Everything was going we.'l with the Otago team, end the Blues' full back was not called upon to exert him£:>lf. I should like to have scan Scott get some, defence work to do, but the attack of Southland ua3 tco weak to permit of this. Anyway, from what I have seen of Scclt, he is a tliorouglily eound defensive player. His fielding of the ball on Saturday was clean and his kicking well timed, but thcjre was an . inclination to find touch without direction. Wanted, a i«liab!e placs-kick for the Otago representative tar n; one who can kick goals from any aji«le preferred; also, not afraid of work. Apply Messrs Cavana^h, Low, and -King, ssk-ctors of Otago representative teaiU'-i. The plaoa-kickrng in Saturday's match a.gainsfc Southland was too awful to contemplate, tond some of the attempts made Icoked like nothing else in tbe world. For i the most part, it was the pull of the ' kickers, and when it was not, it was ihe j inaccurata placing of the ball. There ' was one really fir.yt-c.lass effort out of the ; many mediccre attempts. This was Scott's i fiom a d : fHcult angle — a yard or two inside ] the touch-line, the ball ea'ling straight and ! trus over the cro-^-bar. A'.iothe;- shol just ' ekimmod tho right goal po^t — a closa thing. I The Ota.sro three-qu-.u-ier line was far from j being brilliant on Saturday, aid consider- ! iritr the cold fact that they were being j fed w if -h che ball all day, and the flofenca ! of the opposition so weak, the Blu°s threequarters failed lamentably to mak? the best j of the numerous opportunities The | principal weakness was in the centre, where Bennett, usually so reliable, failed io take a ball, the passing rushes frequently breaking down at the psychological moment. J For the most part, too, the passing of the i three-quarters was straight across the field, no attempt being made to cut >'n. Here is where B«-nnet, getting command of theball, should have stood our, but the Alharmbra centre was really ri?ht off form, and the rushes sagged badly in the middle. The beet of a weak three-quarter line was Davidson, who, on more than oneoccasion, broke fresh ground, and f.howed that be has some knowledge of what is required of him as a wing three-quarter. The Zirngari man's judgment was, at, times, a trifle at fault in following up to take a pass. This can only be r?medied by anticipating ths "other fellow." It was evidently Benoiet's off-daj , for he fa.iled throughout the game to reproduce form, and was lamenta-hle in taking his passes. It should be sa-id in extenuation that the passes were not always well directed nor rea-.orj.ably timed. There wes t too much <ret rid-of-the-ball business about some of the tran-fers which forebodes trouble As. one Rugby T'nion official put it to m^ after the game : "Ji's -i g-ood iob Ola 30 did not have tlio Xorta T lard fcrwardv bn-'akinsr in en them to-tt Iy. Wit'-i Bf-'.inet *l'Uin<r down' so badly in ■(119 rrntro, on: l:ack> -would have ban clinp!c<t." I Of couref*. the prswer to ihat should l:a that j tho Xo-t'i Is!:>nd forward* would not lune . L-ocn able to b- - eak thi-cugii tl"» Biuo vanj pu?rd ra "asiiy, but tl'.o warning js there : just tho &a.mc. j Th,-. AlSiambra wing plav<M-, Morton, with , a long list rf tri^ 10 hi-, credit, played j f:>irly well. I. 'it lni-gli! l.r\° macl<» rrcie of ' 1 his cpport'initi^-, particular!} as thins-* v/cie I goins; well i v -." the 81-'.os, cud tho -o v.a; 1:0 lack of ball ' J.larston's pol'icl go^l v.'as really a fir.^ effort, and r:> clones all the congratulat'cus shewfirod on him. The •worivout theory that the netted goal is lucky p'.av bhouM not bi* ai'vanc-cd by pvperU. The potted goal is on« cf the finest, attacking movemems that can he executed when crossing the line js barred br impregnable defence, and every threequarter should practise it. INot only is it effective, but the movement gives a chance for intelligent icctaviduaVlsni. The two five-eighths — Eckho'c l and M'Donald — "paired" as well as most expected, yet there was a good deal wanting in the harmony ©f Ihe five-eighth line. The Southern man was inclined to hang on to the ball toe long, when ho did not cut M'Donald out of the passing. Possibly that was intended to throw the opposition off its guao-d. If so, it was sufficiently intelligent to warrant repeating-, but- not so frequently as it the match against Southland. It comes as no surprise to the opposition when the inside /iyje.-ejjrMh repeatedly whins

the ball otot the outside man to the centre* three-quarter. As played on Saturday, the movement did not come off. Bennet may liave complained that he could not anticipate M'Donald, but the ex-Christohurch. man was not hard to follow on the run of the play. He did not cut in as often as I have seen him, And lie migSfc hare done but 'or fear of losing his centre threequarter. On one occasion in the first spell in front of Southland's goaJ, M'Donald took a flying pass one hand, swerved, and cut out two of the opposition defence ; blocked by a third he passed to Bennec, but the centre failed to take- the pass and an excellent opportunity was lost. i Probably the pick of the back line was Sutherland at scrum half, who made the most of the excellent hooking of the forwards, and got the ball away in fine style. j I saw Sutherland do one or two rather clever things which suggests that he plays with a reasonable show of intelligence. He can be quite crisp in his passing when he likes. | No quarrel can be found with the forwards, who played splendidly together, coming away in a bunch in close formation of the Scottish style. Their combination was really excellent in marked contrast to the individual efforts of the Southlanders. There was a fine breezy atmosphere about the play of the forwards, too, which fore- j bodes trouble for the opposition pack if it cannot hold them Casey and Fitzpatrick were par excellence in the front rank, i hooking the ball from almost every scrum ; j while the remaining forwards, of wht/n ' M'Donald, Patterson, and Mitchell were " the most prominent, played with commendable dash. In several of the dribbling rushes there was at times a tendency to kick too hard. Fitzpatrick and Casey were notable exceptions, the front rankers keeping the ball close at their toes, and having it in command all the time. j The weakest team which has yet represented Southland against Otago might be written of the recently-defeated visitors from the south. Ths team was unrecognisable in Rugby strategy and all-round merit from those which we have cause to re- i member in days gone by. The manner of selection does not appear to have altogether pleased the critics, one of whom, a good judge of the game. too. said they had the material in the south. The Southland forwards were a younjr, green lot, who played as individuals and not as part | of the Southland machinery. There was always a cog loose somewhere, and the engine could not run smoothly The Maroons appeared lost without a lender, ■ and would not or cculd not combine. With j the forward line broken up, twisted, and bent double, the Maroon backs were up ' against it, and were on the defence j throughout the game There were one or two fast men in the j near division of Southland, but they had j no opportunity to show their pace on i attack, being kept for the most part in chasing the passing rushes of tbe Otajro backs. In this they were kept constantly on the alert, for the attack broke out in a fresh rolace with every passing rush. Southland's play, on the whole, is really beyond comment. Not only did they fail to show up on attack, but their defence was likewise lamentably weak. Altogether it was the worst exhibition given by a Southland team against. Otago since the inauguration of the series of matches between the provinces. The Oracro representative team to tour the goldfields is a likely-looking combination, which should give our country players something to think about. The backs are f fair for such a tour, but by no means in : the higher flights. The forwards are a ! solid lot, and should more than hold their • own with the teams lined out against rhem. j At the same time I quite expect to bear of Vincent County giving the metropolitan team a good game. ; — — - — *~— ~— * — i