Rugby

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 753, 28 August 1929, Page 15

Rugby

«*i-- —The Came and. its* Pieters*. **%.

Cart Canterbury? Although there appears to be little Aspect of Oliver, or Lilburne coming far as Auckland with tne Canterbury team, the side will have the services of two useful inside men in Hay 'nd Innas, while Mullan, who has renlaced Dailey at ha,f - is a halfback of iore than ordinary ability. However, J: i S forward that Canterbury will orobab’y find it.' weakness, and in this teDartrneTit the Auckland pack, providng it U P to revent form, should j*ve no difficulty in asserting its superiority. m + + A Solid Pack Xorth Auckland this season possesses a pack that should Just about bold its own with any in New Zealand. •jTjo forwards are tall, heavy and active, and they work hard in the tight. In the two All Blacks, “Bunny" finlayson and W. Rika, the Northern pack is also very ably led. Finlayson, vrho was reported to have been developing into a loose work specialist, is now making his weight and height felt at the line-outs and generally working bard in the tight, while Rika, always i hard toiler, appears to be playing better than ever. Unfortunately, the Northern union is badly off for inside backs and thus much of the good work 0 ( its forwards cannot be turned to account. Tea Preferred When the final whistle blows in a representative match the usual thought uppermost in the minds of players, whether victors or vanquished, is to make haste through the shower and repair with all speed to some rendeztous to celebrate the occasion in the ustonmry manner. The Auckland rep. ream at Dargaville on Saturday, however. cr€«ated something of a precedent when the majority of its members hastily changed and went out to afternoon tea. With the game ending shortly after four o’clock the Aucklanders decided that to fast until halfpast six, when the official dinner was u> be given, involved too great a strain on their systems. Cit and Mouse Against North Auckland at Dargaville on Saturday, Minns, the Auckland winger, gave a very fine exhibition of tackling, but ho nearly marred it with one small mistake. In stopping a movement Minns seized his opponent around the thighs, lifted him a few feet in the air, dropped him on the turf, and then. apparently satisfied, trotted _— r ...ace. His opponent, however, had not lost the ball, and when Minns looked back after going a few' yards he saw his man scrambling to his feet and making off again. Minns, who is very quick off the mark, pounced on him like a cat on to a mouse, and this time, to the amusement of the crowd, stayed there until the play rolled on. Toheroas Too Good In addition to its forwards, Dargaville is also famed for its toheroas. It naturally followed, after the rep. game there on Saturday, when the members of the Auckland side were taken for a drive out to the coast, that toheroas voulii figure largely on the luncheon nenu. A large quantity of soup was prepared and the Aucklanders, who were certainly very fine trenchermen, 'wre invited to try themselves out. Despite the very commendable efforts of the party a fair quantity of the soup .'till remained when the team, although "<*luctant to admit defeat, had to admit that there was a time when all good things had to come to an end. However, several enterprising members of the team overcame the difficulty by obtaining bottles and bringing the remainder back to Auckland with them.

link With the Past Great player though he has beep, Jack Steel’s inclusion in the Canter"ur\* Rugby tean. for the North Island i* a striking commentary on the reduced output of winK-threequarters of representative calibre in Canterbury, »*ven when one allows for the fact that injuries have kept A. C. C. R'obilliard off the field for most of the season, and that R. X. Williams, the most promising of this season’s products, is also not available because of injuries. There is, indeed a general paucity of really good-class wings in New Zeahnd. Steel is now in his 31 st year. He played in the first inter-island -ame after the Great War. that of 1919, ir Hl of the 31 men in that game—there "as a replacement because of injury during the match —he is the only one “UK playing in representative Rugby. He was a New Zealand representative nine years ago. Steel certainly retains a lot of speed, and his old fend, but has not the activity and energy’ of !>W. He could not expect to be retaining these qualities undiminished. Rugby in the North It is very evident that North Auckland is going to develop into a strong Rugby province. For many years Progress was held back largely through T J l ° lack of communication between lie various districts of the North, travel between Whangarel, Dargaville, Hokianga and Maunganui always being H problem in the winter months. With Me advent of better roads more out*kle matches are now being played and Public interest in the sport is growing yearly. j n Dargaville last week-end visit of the Auckland team appeared to be almost the sole topic, and •»n Saturday country residents were in town in full force. To suit the conyenienco of settlers in the dairying districts the game was commenced at ~ o’clock, this enabling them to get home in good time for milking. The v,s it of outside teams to the North help a lot to improve the standard of back play which, at present, is a H that is wanted. Cammick Should Be In In deciding to drop Cammick from ihe team to meet Canterbury on Saturday the selector has given cause for considerable comment. The Ponsonby five-eighth is playing particularly good football at the present time, showing a ' er >' fine combination of penetration and judgment. At Dargaville on Saturday he played a splendid game a fcainßt a pack of hard forwards that straining every nerve to spoil l* 1 ® Auckland Inside play, and he was for two of Auckland's three fries. if the performance had been Kiven on Ederi Park Cammick would yertainly have been in the team on Saturday next. 1,. Hook’s perforin*nce against Hawke’s Bay certainly J-omrnends him for ;i place in the side, yut it should be in the threequarter ane. Where Cammick has it over Hook as a five-eighth is in the fact Mat he beats his man without losing connection.

Useful Youngsters ! The truth is that Wanganui has dis- | carded several “diehards” and has left positions open to younger players. One of these. Nelson Ball, only 18 years of age, scored four tries against Taranaki. Not long ago, he was a third-grade provincial player. Tilley, another colt, kicked a goal from beyond halfway, and Ambrose was played ;as nrst nve-eiglith to the Wanganui I half, Frank Kilby, the All Black. * * *

Taranaki Astonished Taranaki, full of confidence over its approaching big engagements and proud in its claim to have a second Rugby side “almost as good as the first.’* received the biggest surprise in years when Wanganui swamped it at New Plymouth on Saturday by 28 points to 9. Not even Wanganui Rugby people had been too optimistic over the result, as Taranaki accounted for Wanganui earlier in the season bv 22 Points to 17. It was Taranaki’s biggest defeat on its home ground, with a strong side, too, for many years. There will be some serious thinking among the Rugby enthusiasts down there, for Wanganui, regarded as being on a lower Rugby scale than its neighbour, has not been considered a troublesome union. BUSINESS HOUSES RUGBY Following is the draw for the third round of the Auckland Business Houses’ Rugby competition to be played tomorrow afternoon:—Sargood, Son and Ewen v. Macky Logan, Victoria Park, 4 p.m.. Mr. L. Ouiney: Ross and Glendining v. Smith and Caughey, Victoria Park, 4 p.m., Mr. J. Corner: John Court. Ltd., v. Milne and Choyce, Victoria Park, 4 p.m., Mr. J. G. Wales. TAURANGA TEAM The Tauranga Rugby Union will send a representative team to Matamata on Saturday to play Matamata. The team will be selected from the following: R. J. Phelan, K. McL/eod, A. Tassell, H. Kelly, G. Farmer. K. Ikanui, R. Ainsley, W. Turner, C. Motutere, C. Haun. F. Bickers. C. Cameron, PI. Takerei, N. Leslie, D. Mountfort, A. Kelly, G. Burgess, S. Faulkner, E. Polley, McCausland, K. Mirrielees. FRANKTON TEAM The following Rugby team has been selected to play Frankton for the Peace Cup on Saturday at Plamilton:—Fullback, Delaney; threequarters, Allen, Everest, Johnston: five-eighths, St. George. Fitzgerald; half, Mitchell; rover, Chapman: forwards, Reynolds, Charlston, Courtney, Fleming. Bayly, Hooper, Scott. Emergencies: Forwards, Waters, Halstead; backs, Gilling arul Dalbeth. FRANKLIN TEAM The selectors for the Franklin Rugby Union, Messrs. G. T. Proude and P. A. Hillary, have selected the following team to represent Franklin against Hamilton at Hamilton on Saturday, in a match for the Peace Cup:—Fullback, J. Ilira; threequarters, Bush, Gummer, Hayes; five-eighths, D. Peter, 11. Peter; hall back, Lindberg; rover, A. Wray; forwards. Melhuish, J. Eyre, Lee, Pope, Lawson, Webster, Tawa. Emergencies: McKean, P. Eyre, Hickey, Moore, Lewis. TAURANGA NOTES TAURANGA, Tuesday. Rugby has taken on a new lease of life here. The Hurinui Shield match last Saturday drew a large number of spectators. The challengers were a team from Taupo, and although their score was not large, in comparison with their opponents, yet they played a very fine game. Among the home players, the outstanding ones were E. lies. Kelly, Turner and Tassel. The next to challenge is Opotiki, and as it had the shield for two years, a great contest is expected. Opotiki is out to get it back, while the Tauranga boys are determined to retain the trophy. KING COUNTRY SELECTION TAUMARUNUI, Tuesday. A meeting of the management committee of the King Country .Rugby Union discussed the matter of selecting representative teams, Mr. J. Body (Maniapoto Sub-Union) contending that the present method was wrong, as the teams should be chosen from the best available players, and not necessarily from the match attended by the selectors. Mr. R. S. "Webster (Pio Pio) moved that three selectors be chosen to pick the representative team to play Auckland at Te Kuiti. Mr. Body seconded the motion, which was carried. Mr. A. E. Rice (Taumarunui) being appointed chairman of the selection commitee. At a later meeting of the management committee of the Taumarunui Rugby Sub-Union Mr. J. Lynskey raised the matter of selecting representative teams, and maintained that the King Country Union’s decision to appoint three selectors was contrary to its own rule number 33, which states there shall be “one selector.” Mr. Lynskey contended that this rule could not be altered except by notice of motion, and it was decided to request the King Country Union to call a special meeting to discuss the matter of selecting representative teams. NEW PLYMOUTH WINS GAME AT HAMILTON (From Our Oien Correspondent) HAMILTON, Today. The touring New Plymouth High School fifteen, which was defeated by Auckland Grammar School at Auckland on Saturday, had a win yesterday. defeating the Hamilton High School team by 17 points to 9. The game was a very keen trial of strength. Hamilton took the lead early in the game and had a comfortable margin at half time. When the final quarter commenced, the teams were level, nine all. After brilliant and spectacular efforts in the closing stages of the game, the New Plymouth boys took the initiative and scored a substantial win. New Plymouth’s score was made up by tries by Gibbons. Andrews and Ekdahl. and two penalties and one conversion by Gibbons. For Hamilton High. Anderson. Snodgrass and We-stwater scored unconverted tries.