SATURDAY'S RUGBY.

Shannon News, 28 May 1926, Page 3

SATURDAY'S RUGBY.

- NOTES AT RANDOM. In the past, Wanderers and Otaki have always provided fast open footI ball, with little to choose between the teams, but on Saturday the evidence of Wanderers' superiority .was borne out in the general run of the I play, which, was rather one-sided. Qtaki, as a combination, was a failure 'and gave the worst display seen from this team so far this, season. In the tight stuff, the Green forwards more titan held their own, but when it came out into the open, Wanderers simply swamped them. Otaki's chief trouble seems to be the lack of training and, until.they pay more attention to this, they cannot expect to win their games. Beaten in the scrums, Hie Black vanguard wisely made it open at every opportunity, and combining well, their loose rushes constantly harassed their opponents. Jacob played his best game to date, and at times his play was a. treat to watch. One of his tries, originating at halfway, was the result* of real heady play that left a bunch of, Gneen forwards standing helplessly' by. The surprise of the day, however, was the game played by Hector McDonald. This player is looked upon as one'Of'the old brigade. He certainly knows all the tricks of the game, but judging .'him on his form on Saturday, he still has plenty of .football left in him. He.was at the I'head of most of the Wanderers rushes, and "was one of the fittest men on the field, his play at times, reaching a very high order, t ■ Another player who impressed very much was. Tatana , who plays on the side of the scrum for the Blacks, and, on his present form he has serious claims to selection'in the Maori, team lor the big trip. . ', 'Gleeson, who is usually Otaki's fullback, stepped out among the forwards on Saturday and was easily the best player on Ms side. ' Towards the finish of the game he seemed to ne, the only Green player• with any kick" left in him. He was primarily responsible for Otaki's only score. Bevan and Hakaraia are a solid proposition when it comes to hooking the ball. They certainly gave their backs plenty of it, but the men behind the scrum failed to'make,use of this advantage. Wanderers' hacks did wot work well, and a rearrangement is necessary. Jacob shot out some perlect passes and the ball would reach Williams who was playing in the' fiveeighth line, and then the movement would end. l

Williams, whose pace alone makes him, a good scoring unit, should be played further out. He does not seem to have the happy knack of, making his own openings, jand it is essential ■■that' the inside men should give him plenty of room to work in. His try on Saturday was a fine effort. Hui Mai received a big fright hi Saturday, and just scraped home against a weak Foxton team by eight points to six. <. The Green and White forwards did hot play with their usual dash, and certainly did not have anything on the Yellow pack. With an eight points lead the Manakau men seemed content to rest an their advantage, but Taylor, Foxt'on's full-back, altered the aspect of things by landing a couple of corking penalties. The Yellows should have pulled . the game out, for towards the .finish they lost a moral try through' overeagerness. On a ground three parts tmder water County met and defeated' Southern United at Paraparaumu by U. paints to nil. The surprising part about the game was the manner in which the County backs it an died the ball under the wretched conditions. Both sets of forwards were fairly evenly matched and the .Southern vanguard put up a good fight, against their Blue pack. It was behind the scrum that County's advantage lay, and in the second spell the Dark Blues' defence could not withstand the onslaught -if

tb,e County backs. W.' Parata, half-back, gave a. bright display and,fed his fiveeighths with clock-like regularity. (~ Heremaia was tried out as a wing-three-quarter oh the County side. He was unfortunate striking a sodden ground'for his first "pop," still, io acquitted himself ably. He has one bad'habit, however. He doubles bac* far too much when in a tight corner, and is inclined to give a lot ofground away. ' Warren again, was a tower m strength to his side and gave a good display at centre combining nicely with his outside men. It will certainly be hard to keep this player out of the Rep. team. Hoskings was the pick of the county forwards. - Tuna spoilt an otherwise with too much off-side play. Tim is a had fault to develop and might mean the loss of a match when opposed against a team that includes a good goal-kicker amongst its McLean and Ropata were the best of a pretty even lot in the Southerners' pack. . . The former player is carrying abo.it a stone too much in weight, but should be at the top of his form when the bigger stuff comes along. Clav was the outstanding back on United's side, showing: plenty ot dash, but receiving UHlo support Bevan and Hakaraia make a fine combination in the front line of Otalu =>

scrum, and there is not another pair in the competition equal to these two as hookers. What an advantage this is. Still, on Saturday's play the Green backs failed to make use of it. Saturday's game at Levin between County and Shannon should provide an epic struggle, and should certainly be worth seeing. Tana scored a fine try against Foxtoiii, the result of fast following up Shooting out of the rack, he booted downfield and following.' 'through quickly, he snapped the ball up and was over the line before the Yellows seemed to realise what had happened. McDonald was the pick of the Yellow forwards Avhile in the backs Hirini put up the best performance.

SATURDAY'S FIXTURES.

SENIORS. Oiaki v. S. United, at Otaki, 2.50, E. Bevan. Wanderers v. Pox ton, at Foxton, 2.50, J. Smith. County v. Shannon, at Levin, 2.50, .'. Sciascia. j JUNIORS. ! Awahou v. Otaki, at. Maori College, 2.. 50, T. Parata. lln t Mai v. Weraroa, at Manakau, 2.50, Hi. Hemi. Shannon v. Wanderers, at Shannon. 2.50, W. H. Rhodes. Miranui V-. Tokomaru, at Miranui, , i 2.50, P. H. McGregor. I , THIRDS. Miranui v. Wanderers, at Weraroa, 2.50, H, Karauti. Foxton v. Shannon, at Foxton, 2.50, W. Neville. Otaki M.C. v. Kuku, at Maori College, 1.30. S. E. Hill. Otaki v. S. United, at Otaki, 1.30 J. Walton. FOURTHS. Foxton D.H.S. v. Levin B.H.S. at Foxton, 1.30, W.. Neville. Shannon v. Foxton, at Foxton. 1.30, ,T. Smith. There will M ho matches on Saturday, sth -June—Otaki riac«s.