Beaten By Penalty Goals In Rugby Test at Wellington

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 452, 6 September 1928, Page 7

Beaten By Penalty Goals In Rugby Test at Wellington

BX-AUCKLANDER KICKS FOUR TW O ex-Aucklanders figured in New Zealand’s undeserved tl ViV^Tvp^ 1 over the W aratahs at Wellington yesterday, lie All Blacks’ tally being made up of four penalty goals ~ >i aclanovich and. a try by Cooke. New South. Wales scored three unconverted tries and a penalty, and played ar the better football, being unlucky on the day to lose. (Special to THE SUN)

WELLINGTON, Wednesday. New Zealand had very little to be proud about in to-day’s win over New South Wales. The Waratahs were beaten, not so much by the New Zealand team as a whole, as by a doughty, hard-working forward pack and the terrific tally of penalties exacted by Referee F. E. Sutherland. Except in rare spasms, the All Blacks played colourless, depressing football, in which the pack was the virile driving force, though it unhappily lacked finish, and was supported by backs who betrayed no apparent conception of anything in the way of combined attacking thrusts. By contrast, the Waratahs • were a picturesque, fleetfooted, mobile force, which tossed the ball about with gay abandon, and at times exhibited such dazzling speed and combination as to make New Zealand look sluggish. BRILLIANT WORK Rosenblum’s try in the-first spell was a gem, preceded as it was by a crisp movement, in which the ball swung

across the breadth of the field and back, passing from hand to hand before a harassed defence finally yielded. Again in the second spell, Malcolm darted round the blind side, while the packs were still down, and Holden still peering hopefully into the scrum. Confronted by Butler, Malcolm tossed the ball infield to Smairl. Cooke was the only New Zealander who had sensed the speed of the movement, but he was too late to stop Smairl from scoring.

It was with breezy rasing movements of this character that the Waratahs captured the big crowd’s admiration, and in its complete lack of jubilation at New Zealand’s .win by one try and four penalties to three grand tries and one penalty, could be detected the crowd’s acknowledgement that the honours of the day lay with the vanquished.

Lax management on the part of the Wellington Rugby Union was indicated by the fact that players on this important occasion were ten minutes late in appearing. By the time they had been presented to the GovernorGeneral, proceedings were 20 minutes behind schedule. A crowd of 16,000 bore the delay with ill-concealdd impatience. GOAL KICKERS BUSY

In the first spell White kicked a long-range penalty goal for the Waratahs. Bradanovitch equalised with an equally good shot, and Rosenblum set Cornstalks again ahead with the fine try aforementioned, Malcolm, George, Burge, Towers, Louden and several others all participating in the movement. The second spell opened with Bradanovitch equalising with another fine shot, only for Malcolm and White to collaborate in a speedy movement which carried the attack 50 yards, before tlie ball rolled clear, allowing Rosenblum to seize and dive over. Immediately afterwards, Malcolm attempted a sharp-angled pot, the ball rebounding from a post, but almost at once Malcolm cleverly initiated a blind-side movement, from which Smairl scored, this placing the Waratahs six points up. AUCKLANDER CAUTIONED An unsavoury incident, in which O’Connor was injured, was followed by a warning to Knight from Referee Sutherland, and cries of “put him off” from the crowd on the bank. From this point, the All Black pack, led in sterling fashion by Batty and Freitas, assumed definite control. The Waratahs throughout were inclined to take liberties with the offside rule, and a procession of penalties against them allowed Cooke, with scientific kicking, to keep them penned in their own quarters. COOKE AND BRADANOVICH Bradanovich capitalised two penalties, one with a goal from the sideline, and another from dead m front. Cooke completed New Zealand s scoring with a characteristic and elusive run through the Waratah threequarters and past the fullback for a try beside the posts, the kick being charged d °ln’tho closing stages, fullback Westfield. with a great run from ins own quarter, tried to pull the match out of the fire, and actually, after taking a. return pass from Smairl, touched down over the line, only to be recalled for an infringement. white had \gain, when time was up, White Had a chance to equalise from long range, but his kick veered outside Malcolm, Towers, Westfield, and White particularly the last-named, who has a powerful fend, impressed among the Waratahs’ backs. Of the forwards O’Connor, Rosenblum, Louden and the. lofty Bardsley were conspicuous. Batty was easily the best forward on the ground. He was well supported by Clark Steere, Freitas, and that nimble marauder, Porter. Knight deserves mention only because he consistently played the man fnstead of the ball. Behind the New Zealand pack, Holden was poor. Rmdanovich was sound and Cooke brUhant in defence. McClymont was best of a colourless threequarter line, which got few opportunities. Butler n-ave a capital display at fullback. “ The real Nemesis of the Waratahs was Referee Sutherland, who pounced

on all infringements, perhaps rather heavily at times. The Waratahs won the honours in hooking, though their supremacy here was not very decisive.