POLLARD CUP

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 123, 15 August 1927, Page 6

POLLARD CUP

RUGBY CLUB MATCHES VARSITY DOWNED TRAMWAYS’ NARROW WIN Tramways beat Varsity B by three points to nil after a. bout in the greasy mud on Showgrounds No. 2 area. Thus was avenged their last clash when the students won by about ten points. The game was Tramways* fifth successive win. The players were: Varsity B.—E. Wills, IT. M. Scott. L. Dixon, S. E. Thompson, L. H. Cheal, A. G. Summers, S. Black, A. Babbage, D. Stotter, R. Stehr, G. Conway, J. TI. Humm, Mclvor and J. Blaikie. Tramways.—T. McKoy, J. Keenan, C. Boag, TI. Wilkins, D. Warren, F. Rodger, Mitchell, Horne, Dean, H. Robinson, McGrath, G. Moddren, B. Fielder, A. Oxner and Corden. The deciding factor was the Trammies’ pack, which showed the beneficial effect of recent coaching. It hung together well and in a very close game it was the forwards who tipped the beam for the victors. The Varsity backs failed to come off with a heavy ball and heavy ground, and it did not take their opponents long to adopt close forward play. They heeled the ball repeatedly until at length they decided to keep it tight. The two sides were quite as even as the score indicates. Play ranged up and down the mud patch with neither side showing any superiority. Not until the beginning of the third quarter did Tramways score the sole three points of the match —an obstruction try awarded Mitchell, the halfback. It is open to argument at least whether he was not decidedly lucky to get it. McKoy, who has a. reputation for place-kicking on wet days, narrowly missed a very difficult kick. There was little incident in succeeding play to mar the beautiful evenness of the match. Nothing looked seriously like resulting in points until Dean, Wilkin and Mitchell combined to carry the game down to the students’ corner. There they stuck for some time in a series of mauls and scrums until a penalty allowed Varsity to clear. The remainder of the game did not; produce any further score, and the result was: Tramways 3 Varsity 0 Mr. G. Peace was referee. *