RUGBY FOOTBALL.

Shannon News, 5 July 1929, Page 4

RUGBY FOOTBALL.

| WANDERERS "DEFEAT' OTAKI. jji.' ivjrn:'// (Otaki' Mail). 3£ ~.' ~• , .;, , . . ' I'; A ;d);|apgj%tißgj .gam.e—aa far as t. Otak\",Jwa?i .concerned—wa.s played on % the loVal'dwwi, OQ'Saturday between *i a solid ieffla., in .the .field, but were P minuj)',. $e j .services of Tatana, while £ : 'Otaki u snd /I a..;g00d 1 all-round fifteen I; who ha-ye ,put up a better per- |- formancc. ,iThft-.forwards were good, !Vbut jsme,,.were lax in following up, (, white ;the,'{,bac.ks, on the whole, gave a 7. poor -exhibition, their collaring cspecial- ■ iy frequently they at- " temptfld to collar high—and missed. . Wandc-rers set the ball in motion, and IS. soon attacked as the result, of a passh ing rush. Had it not been for Meta, ff> at full-back, Bryant would have soon I" opened the visitors' account. Several l ; \ times Meta stayed the onslaughts, and ] |r his kicking was .of a high standard) i f-, Tahiwi and (Hakaraia started a IK- nice passing rush but it was stopped ,I'r ' before the three-quarters could get pro- ('-'■' perly under way. Then Enoka put in X. a good run and Otaki got into neutral f> territory. As the result of smart play £v by Parata, Nicholson, Stoker., and St. t. Clair Wanderers again attacked, and & . the latter missed a chance by fumbling [■>■' the ball. Then Ransiield, Parata, and I Webber got under way, and the latter ;'"■; "dodged through the backs and scbred ;'', ' under the bar. ■ -Parata's kick failed. ; '' "' AVanderers 3, Otaki nil. The attack .. was maintained, mainly through the i.' efforts of Parata, Stoker, and St. Clair, !■- i and the latter, after a long run, was r' tackled in good style by Hakaraia. '''" Enoka and D. D'Ath then came into \"" the limelight and made good runs, but 1 eventually the ball got into Wander- . ers' hands and the opposition tackling \ being a failure, allowed the northernl'.. crs to return to the attack. Kehu, and '.' Ogicr then became, prominent, and re- -"- lieved the pressure. Nicholson then 'f" made a good followed ,by Rans;ir field who kicked.the ball over the dead j ■ ball line from a loose dribble. The atU tack was kept up and U'dy fell over ;■[ at the corner, scoring Wanderers' sec- ',' ond try. McDonald made a fine, but r./ unsuccessful, attempt to convert, 6 —o. „ ,' Pine play by Meta and D. D <Ath— Otaki's mainstays in the back division — saw the ball carried well up field. ■', •• Then Tahiwi received a nasty injury '; - to his shoulder and retired as half-time ; was sounded.' * ' The second spell was almost a repetition of the first. Some ,of the /,' Otaki forwards'played hard, but back ' ! support was lacking, due largely to '.' weak tackling. Parata started his side off with fine passing and was making good headway when D. D'Ath stopped him by a solid tackle. Then the ball was carried into Wanderers' territory, mainly by the fine play,of Meta and D'Ath. From a handy position W. D'Ath had a pot at goal. The kick was a good one and missed the upright by a narrow margin. Tripping for a time was prominent, in fact too prevalent, and for breaches Wanderer players were cautioned. Otaki again attacked, and a. forward pass lost a likely score. Meta, from a few yards -inside the ihaJf-way, fiad an ninsuc- * cessful shot at goal. lie afterwards put in a good run but obstruction spoiled his chance. P. Tahiwi, who took his brother's place, Ogier, Tuna, and Kchu put in nice play, tout the Wanderer (backs . were (equal -to the occasion and stayed the onslaught. Otaki, at this stage, were playing better, but the northerners were too good, ' and from a free kick McDonald kicked a splendid goal, 9—o. Mr. Parata was referee. Otaki backs certainly had a day off while some of the forwards were below their average form. On the other hand Wanderers were at their jbest, and their passing rushes were most creditable but, nevertheless, had Otaki collared better many of the rushe3 would have been stopped. c