RUGBY FOOTBALL.

Shannon News, 17 September 1926, Page 3

RUGBY FOOTBALL.

NOTES ON THE GAME. The hard nature of the ground .In the Combined—Wellington gain© was hardly relished by the players, and many hard knocks were received on tooth sides. It- was not uncommon to see a player, after being brought to earth, take some moments %o Tegain his feet, and stoppages were numerous on this account. The going suited the lighter Wellington team and they 'frequently demonstrated that they bad several men in their ranks who were quick \%o jsCizie (opportunities tthey came along. .Judging by the display given by the iManawtienua fifteen it would appear that they are more suited to a, heavy ground, for their "play was a long way removed from that which they' put up against HAiwkes Bay. The marked difference in the standhrd of play by the Greens in bioith > games is hard to account for, cer- ' Taihly it makes one think that they took the Wellington fifteen a little cheaply, but whatever the cause of the difference, for a team that has played together, their combination, behind the scrum particularly, was to sav the least, disappointing. FORM OF THE! FLAYERS. , : M. 'McDonald as full-back, was an improvement -on . tftie players ftvho' ■ha,ve previously been tried out in that position. He handled and kicked well, but has one Tault, he does not go up to meet his man with his tackle. He was usually faced With a couple of Blacks in possession of the ball arid was .often caught in two minds. As a full-back, he should realisn that, as long as he downs his man he has done his duty, and should not hang back waiting .for an interception. Walker was decidedly unfortunate in breaking his collarbone right at • the end of the season. The mishap was the. result of a hard tackle _by Darby, - and his services on, the w'ing were" sorely missed. Warren, who caitue onjii his stead, was on the day,, riot up to rep. standard, and gave his worst, display this season.;. This boy entered rep. football as a five-eight, and as it wo& quite obvious/that the Greens' five-eighth line'was not wqrking well, Warren could easily have changed places with Law who is, oh his style of play, essentially a wing-three-quarter. Roberts, on the. opposite wing did what came his way well, but saw little of the ball on attack ' as it seldom gtit out to'his wing. Hunt, worked hard but like his outside men was starved on attack. He frequently saved his side on defence. Akuira was Manawhenua's best back. Time and again witfh tricky little s runs' - he would break through the defence and pave the way for a try, only to see' his work go astray through faulty handling.

Law, although also running straight, did not use much judgment and usually worked his way into the ruck, giying his outside men no chance, whatever of keeping in touch with him.

in the fust spell T. McDonald was not the half-back we have been used to and appeared to be all at sea. His handling from the ba&e of the scrum was most uncertain. He improved out of sight as -the game progressed, and towards the finish was playing right up to form. » Jacob was Jacob' at his best. Repeatedly he put it all over Jessup 'and, although he complained of not feeling too' good before the match, there were times during the. game when »his play was really brilliant. Mis effort, from half-way during the second spell when with the ball at his feet lie dribbled through the opposition, Wrought tfbe crowd to a state of excitement. Many queetion.ed his wisdom in attempting to pick the ball up when near the line, but the truth of the matter is, that the wav the leather was rolling, he anticfpated a bounce with the object ol going round under the post©, but as ft turned out the ball played a trick and he did not achieve his purpose. Manawhenua gained control of the leather more during' this game in tne scrums, than at any time previously this season. ~,-,-' t - Both Maihi and Stewart 1 tally justified their place as hookers, and apart from, this both played exceeding good games., . Maihi particularly (was right on the joh and there was *iot a better "forward on the ground. Doing his share in the heavy stuff he was alwavs prominent in the loose, and fitted with, pace, often he was up to fake a pass when one or two of the ./ backs were missing. j ~.a iv, Apart from Gleeson and Gotham, the' Green pack did not display their usual dash' in the loose rushes which were rather half-hearted. , The former followed up consisteut1 V and had a finger in f vetoing that was going, while Goliad was not far behind him. Galpm who has been playing great football f*™£ < son was. not at his best, while Bond seemed to be off colour: Saturday's final for f*****®* between Shannon and WandereJ providing tooth rij&ams are at fill strength, should be the game of the Sion This match is creating a SLable amount of taterert^J Record crowd will witness .the contest.. FOOTBALL. The Shannon Mentor team to meet Wanderers at Levin to-morrow in the final for. the Nash Cttp ™" *£ S |X ■Pd from the follownng:-Boyes, hoi> Irts Hunt, Whyte, U Balzell, W«Us. /Spring, Tohi, Maihi Hurst. K, Dal S, Moynihan, Hendncksen, Johan son! Matthews, Sands and FitzgeT aid.'