M Rugby

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1073, 10 September 1930, Page 14

M Rugby

—£__lhe Game and its* Players*.

Ponsonby-Grammar Even if Ponsonby defeats Grammar on Saturday or the game is drawn, these two teams will still meet again to decide the ownership of the Referee Cup which is played for by the winm*r and runner-up of the senior competition. If Ponsonby succeeds in' collecting the championship on Saturday this game will be played the following week. Saturday’s meeting of these two teams for the premiership should attract a big attendance. Interesting Competition An interesting competition was provided at Suva during the intervals of the games between Suva and the touring Varsity team with a goal-kicking competition. A prize of two guineas was donated by a local sportsman and the competitors were given three kicks each, one from each wing and one from tho centre. It is reported that tho competition was followed with keen interest by the spectators. How They Stand The following is the position of the teams in the Auckland Rugby Union’s senior competition.

Good Kicking Although tlioro was nothing particularly startling about the Rugby provided in the Auckland-Wairarapa game on Saturday it was at least responsible for some excellent goalkicking bj’ Fuller and Bush. The converting of the first try by Bush was a magnificent effort from wide out and from beyond the twenty|- five line. The ball rose very high jand sailed across the bar above the posts in me race oi a steady breeze. Fuller’s goal from a penalty just inside the half-way mark was a magnificent effort and it taught Auckland that it did not pay to give away penalties, even in midfield. For the Premiership Next Saturday should see one of the best games or. the year when Ponsonby and Grammar will meet in the second round of the senior championship. At present Ponsonby is leading with 23 points, having won 11 games and drawn one. and Grammar comes next with 21, having won 10. lost ono and drawn one. If Grammar succeeds in defeating Ponsonby the position woiild become very interesting and another match would have to be played. For this reason Grammar will probably carry the bulk of public support, this being a match that the public would have no objection to seeing twice. » * m Varsity A&ain Defeated In the second match again it Fiji the touring team from the Auckland University was defeated by 11 points to six after a keen and fast game. On the first occasion on which these two teams met, a week or so previously, Fiji won by i 3 points to 5. In the ; final game, just bei fore the commencement of the last quarter , Clarke, one of the Auckland forwards, was ordered off the field for striking an opponent who obstructed him. K. Rao, the Auckland halfback, was considered the best back on the ground. * * * A Great Forward If lan Harvey’s form against Auckland on Saturday is a true indication of his general play this year it is difficult to understand why he did not get a game in one of the Tests. At the latter part of last season Harvey had an accident to one of his eyes, and it is possible that this may have affected him in the early part of this season. On Saturday the burly Wairarapa captain played a magnificent game. Not only did he lock ; his scrum well, but in the line-outs j ho was worth two men to his side. It was also noticeable that in most ! of Wairarapa’s loose rushes Harvey led the van. He has tremendous energy and never seems to spare himself. This, probably, accounts for the long list of injuries he has accumulated in his Rugby career. On Saturday’s form Harvey is undoubtedly one of the seven best forwards in New Zealand. * • * Poor Rep. Season Saturday’s game with Wairarapa concludes a representative season which, apart from the match with Britain, has been one of the poorest seen for several years. There comes a time every two or three seasons when a province has to repay visits in order to ensure future home matches. This year saw Auckland faced with „a number of such obligations and the result has been that for home matches the province has had to content itself mostly with matches with minor unions. Generally speaking the standard has not been good and later matches were not improved in comparison with the fine game provided by the Auckland—British game. As is usually the case when a visiting team is in the country, interest in Rugby decreased rapidly once the tour ended, and with only minor representative games to fill the bill, this falling off in interest was naturally reflected in the gate takings. 4 * * Is it Worth While? Is the Pollard Cup competition'worth while? Probably the strongest argument against its continuance is the standard of football the competition has produced this season. It has been any tiling but edifying from the viewpoint of the spectators.' Theoretically the idea of the competition to keeD the remnants of club teams in training during the representative fixture season is excellent. Largely because the senior grade championship this year was a foregone conclusion, the Pollard Cup contest was quite the reverse of anticipated results. It was a striking commentary upon the interest of teams like Ponsonby and Grammar Old Boys in the competition that they have to join forces to field a fifteen, and even then on occasions have not been able to do so. In practically every match individual* and off-side play were very prominent, and, the majority of the players seemed to enter into the matches in a spirit of “What does it matter?” o o Not in the Picture “More because of the inefficiency of the home players than anything else, the Britishers seemed like a team of champions instead of what it should be—a jaded side at the close of a long and strenuous tour against the hard-playing New Zealanders,” states the Sydney “Sun.” “There were no stirring highlights in this game: no periods when the crowd could let go its full-throated power in support of

the Light Blue of New South Wales. Everybody wanted to do it. There were spasmodic attempts at getting the ‘‘Blue! Blue! Blue!” chant of inspiration into action. But it was halfhearted, and died almost before it was born. New South Wales could not rise to anything like the heights which would have brought the eager crowd to its feet. Gradually becoming worse and worse as the game developed, New South Wales at the close of the day was little more than a scratch rabble through which the British players poured, scoring three tries in a few minutes. Just as well the last whistle came -when it did; otherwise a healthy defeat would have become a debacle!” HAMILTON_SHOCKED TE AROHA DRAWS IN PEACE CUP GAME From Our Own Correspondent HAMILTON, Today. If a bomb had been dropped over Rugby Park, Hamilton, on Saturday, it could not Have caused greater surprise than the drawn game (3 all) played between Hamilton and Te Aroha for the Peace Cup. Te Aroha was regarded as one of the weakest challenging unions, and proved to be the strongest. Even allowing for the fact that the home forwards were not at full strength, the display of the local side was inferior, and the backs succumbed to the fast, loose rushes specialised in by the Te Aroha pack. Fast though the encounter was, the standard of Rugby was mediocre. The scores consisted of a penalty in the first half to Te Aroha and an unconverted try in the second spell to Hamilton. Incidentally this try was the only occasion On which the Hamilton backs came to the surface in the last half. The bustling tactics of the opposing pack and the deadly tackling of the backs had them properly rattled. Te Aroha was within an ace of scoring more often than Hamilton and was singularly unlucky not to have left with the t. ophy. The honours for saving a multitude of points against the homesters go to “Rocky” Going, who was a tower of strength as custodian. Few of the home team played up to scratch. For Te Aroha Lipsey’s line kicking was a great advantage and Towers played a magnificent game. Woodroofe, the wingforward, was very willing and was a constant source of worry to Mills, the local half, who had difficulty in getting the ball away. It would be unfair to individualise among the Te Aroha forwards. There is great material in this department. Hamilton can expect more excitement when Matamata challenges for the cup next Saturday. Thames has entered the last challenge of the season for the following Saturday, RUGBY DEAD ON PLAINS From Our Own Correspondent NGATEA. Today. Rugby football on the Hauraki Plains has died. None of the six clubs was able to field a team on Saturday last for the last matches of the inter-club competition, and it is unlikely that the season’s programme will be concluded. The season has been the . worst on record, primarily due to the iow standard of play, on account of there being too many clubs for the number of players available. The effect of the splendid winter on dairy production has kept milkers busy. The British team’s visit attracted players and supporters out of the district, and the broadcast of matches kept the lukewarm enthusiasts at home, so local games have been sadly neglected.

P. IV. h. P. Points Oh. F. A. Pts Ponsonby 12 3 1 1 194 88 23 Grammar . 32 10 1 1 367 69 21 Varsity .. . 12 8 4 0 3 49 95 3 6 Tec. O.B. 32 8 4 0 3 28 87 3 6 Manukau 32 7 0 118 92 14 Marist 32 6 6 0 98 131 12 Training Col 12 4 8 0 3 03 3 3 3 S City 12 3 0 65 122 G Grafton 32 1 11 67 208 2 College Rifle 12 1 11 0 S2 161 2