BRILLIANT RUGBY.

Shannon News, 10 August 1926, Page 3

BRILLIANT RUGBY.

Horowhenua-Manawatu Hold Up Champions. PLAY DRAW WITH HAWKES BAY. Although it was considered that the Horowhenua-Manawatu fifteen would hold its end up against the -elect oi the premier .province of the reahn of Rugby there was nobody of the 6000 odd spectators at the Palmerston Showgrounds 'On Saturday who di not go there in full anticipation pf the combined side having to suffer d decisive defeat, particularly as tne Hawkes Bay team, with the of .Mill and Irvine,- was that whic has been selected to defend the Shi at Namier. The Combination, however, has staged surprises another was Pf draw. The Coman oi Shield-winning possibilities. THE TEAMS. .

The teams were, as , follow. •Hawke*S Bay (black and -white)Haw ke S V Jensen, Paewai, Grenside, ->-> wnlker, Cooke, Mardon, Corkhill. J- / Icilpatrick, Swain, M. “ honey C. Brownlie, Rush, -Single. ; Manawatu-Horowhenue . a • while): ' ( Walker, Law, Akiura, Jacob, O’Keefe, Maihi, Bond, Gleeson, Dalzell, Gothard, Galpin. _ N. Johnson replaced Lorkhil way through the first spell and the disposition of, the team way altered. ✓ At the beginning of the second P - Gleeson, who had previously g temporarily, was replaced by Moyni lian Ilrst Blood to Manawatu. - From the kick-off, the Combined teaih was called upon to defend, Cooke making a good open with a speculator from the held' T bail was hfd by the green backhand McDonald sent to Akuira, to ij * who booted,, the. ball going out near the Bay 25. From the line out, Jaco and Gothard led a-forward rush to the Tktv iroal but Paewai forced. _ • Bro wS.ie ».= .penalised tot offside just after the drop.kick and Jacob guided the ball so well, from 10 jards beyond halfway that three points were hoisted in the first five minutes. —Combined 3-0. Blake and Jensen blurted the scene of action to the opposing 25, where from a scrum five yards opt. Akuira kicked clear, and the grandstand inhaled deeply. Maurice Brownlie accepted the ball in mid-field and set out to break through the whole of the back line, but he soon found the grass. Akuira, Bond and Maihi got the leather away from the ruck, _bu the sphere was intercepted and Mahoney found the line,.well up. With a passing rush, Blake ana Corkhill placed the greens on the de.fence, but C. Brownlie took a pass ■ forward and the assault was halted by Mr. Ned Parata’s watchful whistle. Walker, Manawatu’s winger, tried a - solo stunt but fell over C. Brownlie s boots. At this x stage Corkhill went off . with an injure.d shoulder. Blake was mainly instrumental in sending th ball back to greens* goal-line anl Johnston effected a hurried f ° rc <y down The relief was lucky, but not ‘lasting, fm at once J * Walk. ol- ' C. Brownlie and Rush piloted the ball through , the opposition, for the lastnamed to scoe. Grenside converted from a good angle and the score read ' —Hawke’s Bay 5-3. Forwards’ Keen Struggle, For the remainder of the spell, the forwards had more than their share of work and raised doubts as to whether the Combined team would be able to maintain the pace. Obviously the Bays were trying to wear down the opposing pack, whose tack, ling was uncomfortably accurate. From the kick-out McDonald, Jacbh Akuira and Roberts were associated m a brilliant rush. The last-name* lost' posseSssion on the line when a score seemed certain. Law* was -at hand and dived across but was forward, and a scrum resulted. CTeeson retired temporarily with an injured A Grand National Candidate. An answering rush by Paewai, Blake® and Jensen ended whe-h the third man got offside, and some hard, close . Play supervened. . . Eventua l Maihi broke away and . rushed up, then having only ong man, Paewai. to beat, but he foolishly tried to imrche the All Black, with the result that he lost both his balance and the ban : and Cooke cleared. A free-ldck to the Bay was not \ made any use of, and Gleeson and \ Galpin led the green forwards on another expedition, but a pass forward C. Brownlie bullocked hife way through to the green 25, a wild pass heing nicely intercepted by Roberts, Once more Browse • tried to break the defence but the, whistle put on the brake. The ball went out to Walker at Ctuar^ r and he made a dash down the sideline, and stub-punted over Pae '™ , head, but the other was too speedy for the Manawatu man, w o shepherded by Grerside and p aewa ran into touch in goal. Maihi, Ga - pin and McDonald were the three Musketeers in Manawatu’s nsxt sally, but the pass of the last-named to Walker, was forward and an excellent chance was dissipated, a free, kick being taken by the blacks. Bay’s Longest Head. Raw was hurt . through hugging ‘ ' swain too heartily, but some, thins solid had to be done, as the line was only 10 yards away. • From the line-out, Hawke’s Bay pushed through, but Jacob forced

Bay kept at it, M. Brownlie being taken low by Maihi just when lie had picked up steam. A line-kick saved the situation. Paewai’s hoot, in reply, turned a Combined attack into defence and after a fight on the home goal line, Jensen rolled over with the ball to score well. Grenside s kick fell short, and the spell ended: - 4 Hawke’s Bay < s Combined 3 During the interval Moynihan donned the spare green jersey in place of Gleeson, whose head had been trout), ling him. From the kick-off, the Bay pack went at it bald-headed,, but the forwards were always too solid. Law and Akuira got up a green benefit, and brought play to the black 25, but there lost possession and the forwards carried on. Akuira again came to light, taking- a nippy mark. His attempted goal in front of the posts missed by inches.

The Combineds kept hanging around, refusing to “go home’’, and worked down the sideline, •where Roberts got the ball and. threw a poor pass to Law, who was unable to accept but the übiquitous Jacob was at hand and completed the movement to score on the corner. He failed to add the major points and the score was altered to: —Combined 6.8. Combineds Again Ahead.

Galjiin returned the kick-out to half-way when Moynihan, McDonald arid Walker indulged in a dribbling rush, the winger booting hard across the line, but in the race, Paewai won and forced. Jacob did not avail himself of a penalty kick at goal, Rush and C. Brownlie clearing to neutral ground. Followed an. exchange of long punts then Hunt broke through, and passed out to Roberts, who centred to Law, followed up, and accepted an out.field pass but lost the 'ball on the line. Hunt however, was at hand and smartly picking up, ' dived over iat the corner with Grenside on . top. Jacob couldn’t convert and the greens again had the lead: — 9-8. Cooke’s Masterpiece. Hawke’s Bay set to work to get some more chips, and play settled round the quarterway, where Grcn. side had a fairly easy chance at goal, but the ball went very wide. Another exchange of kicks ended in mid-field It was apparent that the Bays - were determined ’to throw the balance of the game the other , way and hanging on for all they were worth they worked the ball down the left wing. Lineout followed line-out, the black and whites gaining yard .on yard until they were on the goal line. A deflected throw.in brought,a scrum near the posts. The black hookers heeleu out, and Johnson sent out a snort, low pass to Cooke, who evaded Ak*:ira’s arms and raced to the corner. Jensen rushed in-field as though to take the pass, but Cooke sheltering .behind the shepherding of his winger hung on and completed the movement with a tricky try. Grenside again failed with the kick. -—Hawke’s Bay 11-9. Gothard and Law opened up the game and were not stopped until under the shadow of the long sticks, but Law’s second pass lacked direction and the packs got down to a , scrum. From the packing in front of the posts the ball came ro McDonald, who whipped it. over' to Akuira, to Hunt, who sidestepped the remaining two yards and dived under the bar. Jacob had no difficulty in adding the extra two points to make the score:—l4-11. Last Chance Goes. ,

A change in the Bay back line pgt Paewai up to five-eighths, Mardon going back to the last-line. Pressing co hall'-way, Mardon gained another 25 yards with a kick from the lineout, the Bay backs got a passing rush that was stopped by the solid. tackling of the Combined backs. However, from the ruck in mid-field, Johnson and Walker broke away with the ball at toe and worked over to the Aving, where they handed over to Grenside. The great, tsrecquarters raced over the line after sidestepping a poor tackle by Johnston, but was frightened out of scoring under the posts by the presence of Hunt. Paewai was given a last chance to win the match, but his kick was a poor one, and the game ended shortly afterward: — Hawke’s Bay 14. Combined 14 THRILLING RUGBY, MANAWATU-lIOROWHENUA TEAM’S ' WONDERFUL DISPLAY, RANFUREY SHIELD HOLDERS NARROWLY ESCAPE DEFEAT. NOTES ON THE GAME. When the above teams lined out, to do battle at the Showgrounds at Palmerston on Saturday, not one of the many hundreds of the Combined Team’s supporters, were sanguine [ enough to expect their representatives to hold their redoubtable opponents, and it was generally anticipated that the Hawkes Bay men would give the Combined Team a, lesson in the playing of Rugby football. Such was not the case, however, for, playing RLc inen possessed, the Combined learn rose ,to magnificent heights, and, on the general run of the play, Avere decidedly unlucky not to win. The Combined forwards seemed to be inspired, and fighting out every inch of ground, hurled themselves in repeated onslaughts against the op 0 ® I "** pack. Their example set a standard to the men behind them,, who m turn were equally determined to do then 6l The game played toy ttle whenua fifteen, can be readily si med up in the statement put bf wa by Norman McKenzie, the Hawkes Bay selector, after the match. , men,” he said, "played a Avondeiful

o-arne. We received the shock of out lives and were lucky to make a draw °Vhe first spell was a tale of lostopportunities, for on three sepßßrtv occasions the Green and A\ln es bad the Hawkes Bay defence comple A beaten but over-eagerness caused m i iringeinents in the way of knock-ons, ? etc., and this alone averted scores . On the other hand, Hawkes Ba\ ( seized what chances came their way, and when half-time arrived, had a lead of eight points to three. Many j thought that it was the beginning of , the end. Not so, however, and us the game progressed and became faster and faster, the more determinedly did the Combineds hurl thenisehes into the- fray, and towards the close of the game the Shield holders were having decidedly the worst of the argument. The heavy ground eventually mm its tale, and during a momentary . up on the part of the. Greens, the Hawkes Boy forwards and backs burst through, hi one desperate effort that swept all befcire it, and culminated in Grenside going over for the equalising try. Hawkes Bay were only past the half-way line half-a-dozen times during the second spell. The Combined forwards were outclassed in the scrums, and the ball came out to the Hawkes Bay back lirie (with monotonous regularity. Deadly tackling by Ire Green backs nullified tlie advantage, however, and rarely did the Shield-holders’ combination behind the scrum get going properly. At times, one noticed a fair amount of unnecessary hard stuff going on during some of the scrummages, boat in a game of this nature where' “beg pardons” \ were neither asked nor given, this was more or less to be expected. It would perhaps be unfair to single out any particular forward amongst the Combined pack for special mention, for they all gave of their best, and were fighters every one of them. it would not be an injustice to the remainder, however, to offer a word of praise to Galpin and Bond. The former played a wonderful game and on his display would be worthy of his place in any company. In the line-outs loose-work- and scrummages he was always conspicuous and did yeoman service. Bond was not far behind him, particularly in the lineouts and tight work. This player excels in the, heavy stuff, and gets tlirough the work of two men. The Hawkes Bay players have a high opinion of this forward. . Maihi was another who surprised even his most ardent supporters, and was going harder than anyone at the finish. He however .should drop the dangerous habit of hurdling his opponents, as he is only courting tiouibio 'Altliough closely watched, Jacob was always prominent, particularly so in the second spell. He used his head to very good effect, and his hefty punts upheld took a lot of sting out of the Bay pack. One instance, ■wlien the Gomlbilleds , were defending, will give an example of how active this player is on a football field.. Hawkes Bay had heeled from a • sorbin, and Jacob actually followed the passage of the ball along the whole line of Bay backs, forcing each man to rid himself of the ball, until play had gone into touch. ; t. McDonald had a gruelling tune behind the Green scrummage, and when the ball did come his way always had the Brownlies to contend with In spite of _ this, he sent his passes out like a champion, and. was ever readv to go down to the. opposing forward rushes. In the first spell he initiated what was, in the writer s opinion the most brilliant, piece of play during the game. Intercepting a pass at midfield he shot dowq the side-line,' and at the right moment, sent infield to Maihi, who m tu-m passed .to Galpin. Accepting the latter’s return pass, McDonald drew Paewai nicely, and sent Walker over, for what appeared to be a good ti>, but a forward pass Avas ruled. It was certainly a (brilliant piece • play, and had the opposition completely beaten. , Law’s tackling was a treat to watch, and was quite a feature of the game. He made no mistake about dumping his man. On several occasions early in the game, Cooke attempted to go past him with tricky runs, hut Law was not to be fooled, and downed Ins man every time. Akuira shone more on attack, ana , 1 received and isent on his passes crisply and cleanly. Although opposed .by Blake, the All Black centre .three-quarter, Hunt s reputation did not suffer in any way whatever, and he gave a dashing display. The try he scored, under the posts in the second spell, was the result of some exceptionally fi u ] ck braimvork. T. McDonald sent the leather along, and the Hawk® Bay backs moved out expecting the hal o reach Walker. Quick as lightning (Hunt shot through between- Cook and Blake, and was over the line in the twinkling of an eye. Undoubtedly the best wing-three-quarter on the ground was Roberts. Full of tricks, this player repeatedly thrilled the crowd avHli clever runs down the line, and on several occasions he badly fooled half the Bay team. He caused the opposition a lot of worry, and proved altogether too much for Grenside. Walker on the opposite wing also showed himself to be a dangerous man, being gifted with plenty of pace.’ His defence is inclined to be

weak. . Meta Johnston was often caught out of position, and is not the full-back of’two seasons ago. The game was somewhat reminis-

cent of that memorable contestagainst the Springboks, but in many respects Avas more spectacular, and was voted by many, as the best ever seen in Palmerston. Tilere is every likelihood of the Hawkes Bay team being seen in action in Levin, later in the season, as Norman McKenzie intimated his intention, if at all possible, of bringing his strongest team down to play ITorowhen.ua, and needless to say it will be the sincere wish of every •Rugbyite jin fthi© district that die game will eventuate. COMBINED UNIONS’ TOURISTS. The following have been selected to represent the Manawatu-Horowhe-nua Combined Union, who play Taranaki at Eltham on Wednesday next, and Wanganui on the following Saturday at Wanganui: — Full-back: McLean (M.) Three-quarters: Walker (M.), Hunt (PI.), Roberts (H.) Five-eighths: LaAV (M.), Akuira (M.) Half-back: T. McDonald (H.) Wing forward: Jacob (H.) captain. Hookers: Maihi (IT;.), Stewart (M.) Lock: Bond (H.) Supports: Galpin (MO, Gleeson (IT.) BreakaAvays: Gothard (M.), Dalzell (H.) . Reserves—Backs: Evans (M.), M. McDonald (IT.) Forwards: Hare (M.), O’Keefe (M.) The team will leave to-day week and' any' members unable to travel, are requested to) let the selectors know by Thursday. FOURTH GRADE TEAM. The following Avill be chosen to represent the Horowhenua fourths against Manawatu on "August 21:— Full-back, Leitch (Levin 1 H.S.); threequarters, C. Newson (Fcxton fourths); E. Moffatt (Foxton H.S.); L. Doyle (Levin ITi.S.); five-eighths', J. Francis (Foxton fourths), E. Ball (Foxton PI.SO; half, Aitken. (Levin H.S.); Aving forward, Moffatt (Foxton HOS.); hookers, Curran (Shannon fourths), H. Newson '(Foxton four lbs); lock, Bishop (Levin H.S.); supports, Jamison (Shannon fourths), Jude (Shannon fourths)'; breakaways, MoEWen (Shannon " fourths), G. jAldbidge '(Foxton fourths). Emergencies, Holden (Shannon fourths), McDonald (Levin H.S.). Mr Hutchins will be team manager. FOOTBALL FIXTURES. SATURDAY, * 14th AUGUST. . SENIORS. Shannon v. County, at Shannon, 2.50. Wanderers v. Hui Mai, at Manakau, 2.50. Fo'kton v. Otaki, at Otaki, 2.50. JUNIORS. Foxton v. Wanderers, at Foxton, 2.50. *Weraroa v. Shannon, at Levin, 2.00. Miranui v. Awahou, at. Foxton, 2.50. THIRDS. Miranui v. Foxton, at Foxton, 1.30. '*Wanderers v. Weraroa, _ at Levin, 1.30. Otaki M.C. v. Otaki, at Maori College, 2.50. , fourth. Levin D lES. ,v. Foxton D.H.S., at Foxton, 1.30. Shannon v. Foxton at -Snannon, 1.30.