RUGBY FOOTBALL

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 281, 22 July 1932, Page 2

RUGBY FOOTBALL

ROTORUA REPS. TEAMS SHOW WEAKNESS IN MATCH WITH MATAMATA. GREAT IMPROVEMENT NEEDED. (Notes by "Free Kick") Football followers who witnessed the match between Matamata and Rotorua for the Peace Cup must have been gr'eatly impi'essed at the high standard that the game has reached in the Matamata district. Only three years ago a Matamata representative side was not considered a very tough proposition, but to-day they are in possesson of the Peace Cup, the muchcoveted prize of football unions in the Waikato, and it will take a very strong side to make them part with it. Although the scores could have been much closer had Rotorua shown an inelination to tackle, the winners showed a superior knowledge of football that as a team placed them a grade ahead of their opponents. Once again the asset of having a reliable place-kick-er was fully demonstrated, for Matamata annexed thirteen points per this medium, Carlson converting five tries and kicking a penalty. Rotorua's pack was an exoeptionally heavy one and must have outweighed their opponents by at least a stone all round, but they lacked the finish and co-operation of the Matamata van in backing one another up and in the set scrums the hooking was not as clean as that of the opposition. It should be remembered that five of ' Matamata's tries started from set scrums in Rotorua's twenty-five. Mackie was the pick of the Rotorua forwards and made a very creditable showing, with Scott, Heke and Archer prominent on attack but the defence was woeful, notably on two occasions, three players making no effort to stop an opponent. In this respect they resorted to bumping tactics instead of clean tackling, often resulting in taking a header in the grass. In the backs, Rotorua's most glai--ing weakness was in the five-eighths, although not one showed the ability expected of representative football. T. Thompson, behind the pack, was far too slow in sending the ball out and should learn a lesson from Solomon, Matamata's rake, who swung around on one heel and whipped the ball away like a flash. T. Morrison (first five-eighths) was the b'est of the backs and at times used his head, but his handling and defence leave room for plenty of improvement. Had he been better supported by Garlick — whose exhibition must debar him from further selection — he would have had r. on opportunities. T. Waerea was well marked and was allowed few opportunities, but his lobpassing and weak defence offset any good play. Given the proper coaching he should develop into a tricky three-quarter.

M. Morrison, on the right wing, saw little of the ball, but was always ready if it came his way. Coming across to support Sullivan who was tackled, enabled him to score Rotorua's only try. His defence, however, was palpably weak. Sullivan, on the left wing, was too slow and could not keep up with his three-quarter line, still he redeemed himself by making the opening for Rotorua's try. . His defence was fairly sound and was the only one of his side who attempted to tackle an opponent. E. Sutherland, fullback, after tbe fine showing against Putaruru the previous Saturday, was exceedingly weak;*-his defence when properly tested was found wanting. His placekicking, also, is very inconsistent, for a penalty kick in front of the posts, early in the game, he should not have missed. Taking club football as the standard, the selection was, with two exceptions, the best available and if Rotorua is to share in the honours in the Waikato, club football will have to show great improvement. The "B" Rep. Game. The B Rep. match between Matamata and Rotorua last Saturday was interesting from the spectators' point of view, although it provided few thrills. The crowd was roused to great pitehes of excitement at times, yet there was no department of the game in which the Rotorua team would be said to excel. Matamata was superior in the scrums and also had the better of the line-outs. At first their backs did not seem any better than the Rotorua combination, or, rather, noncombination, but as the game pa'ogressed they obtained more confidence, and by playing an open game and throwing the ball about at every opportunity in the last ten minutes, they had the Rotorua team well' on the run. Stewart and Wilson were outstanding in good passing rushes, while Fallon did some useful work behind the scrum. Easily the best back on the field, however, was the Matamata fullback. His kicking was very impressive and he showed a high standard in both handling and tackling. Not much can be said for the Rotorua team, who, with the material to have given their opponents a solid beating, failed badly, especially in the closing stageS of the game. In the first half, the home team almost held their own, and with' a little less selfishness on the-part of the five-eighth, and less of the wild booting which characterised their play at times, they might have won the match. But when their opponents obtained a lead of

several points, they got their tails down, and let the Matamata backs do what they liked. The weaknesses of the team were quite obvious, lack of combination, bad tackling, lack of backing up, and lack of the spirit to win. The forwards were a solid lot, but did not seem to get their share of tbe ball from the scrums. Poland, Boord and Dittmer played well in the loose, while McKinnon, the big Hikuwai forward, might have made better use of his size in the line-outs. G. Mitchell gSve a solid dsplay at halfback. His defence was quite good, but he had very little support from his five-eighths, Mitchell and Keep-a, who both hung on too long and cut in on every available opportunity. Their tackling and general defensive work was also weak. I would suggest M. McRae (Waikite), N. Steele (Kahukura) and P. Kukum'e (Whaka) as five-eighths of a better standard for any future fixtures. B. James and W. Martin (Ngongotaha) have also been for some reason overlooked. Easily the best Rotorua backs were the Reid brothers, H. J. and G. ("Dummy") Reid. Both' were good on attack and defence. G. Reid's tackling was sound, and he always knew what to do with it, on the rare occasions the ball came out to him cleanly. J. Reid made some great dashes on the wing, and given more opportunities to use his speed, would have scored several times.