FOOTFALL.

Taranaki Daily News, 4 June 1921, Page 3

FOOTFALL.

TARANAKI v. WANGANUI WIN FOR TARANAKI. SIX POINTS TO THREE. (By Wire—Special Reporter.) Wanganui. Last Night. Considerable interest was taken in the annual mutch between Taranaki and Wanganui, which was played here this afternoon in the presence of about SCOO spectators. Taranaki won by 6 points to 3. The ground was in good order, and as the rain cleared during the afternoon, a good game of football ‘ was witnessed. Play, which was hard and fast, was mostlj- confined to the forwards, with occasional flashes of back play. The issue of the game was in doubt until the final whistle sounded. Taranaki were fortunate in winning by two penalty goals to a try ilnconverted, and they undoubtedly owe their victory to the splendid footwork of their forwards and the magnificent defence of their full-back. Cain aiuUEoberts did not play, Osborne dropping back to centre three-quarter, and Cameron going in as second five-eighths, while Thurmine went into rhe front row. Taranaki attacked from the start, but soon Wanganui gained ground through the failure of the Taranaki backs to pick up the ball, whilst their passing also was weak. Coleman then had a shot from a penalty, but the hall went wide. Kissick, after a fine burst, transferred to Osborne, and Syke.', gathered the latter’s pass nicely and kicked for the line, but was well taken by Campion. Taranaki then gained the upper hard and press-' ed hard, but Campion cleared. Bellis and company then transferred play, but Kingston did his part and drove them back. Good play by the forwards, assisted by Coleman, saw the ball out at the corner. Wanganui backs then threw the 'ball about, but Robertson intercepted neatly. Failure Uy Osborne to gather ’up had Taranaki in trouble, but Robertson was able to clear. Taranaki again had Wanganui on the defence, until Svenson, by fast following up, led his tea® to the. attack, but half-time sounded without score.

On resuming Osborne marked, and just failed to goal. Bellis, Heeney, Ross and McConnell led Wanganui to the fray aid smothered Lynskey, but Birch all and Cameron were prominent in defence. A ’ttlc later Bellis got off-side, and Coleman landed a good goal. Taranaki 3 Wanganui 0 This roused Wanganui, and their forwards came with a burst. Mistakes by Kingston and then Robertson gave Taranaki anxious moments, until a line klfk cleared. Wanganui kept up the pressure, but forward passes spoilt' chances. West and company cleared, and then Taranaki took a hand, and a pretty bout of passing by AtkinS, Lynskey, Cameron and Sykea saw the latter taken by Brown when dangerous. Almost immediately the ball travelled via all- the backs to Robertson on the other wing, the Hawera man being thrown out in touch Then, from another free kick, Coleman landed another goal. Taranaki 6 Wanganui 0 Wanganui swarmed round Taranaki’s goal, where Ross made a great opening, which McAuliffe failed to grasp, and West, Tlioumine, Campbell and Coleman were successful in checking. Wanganui backs kept throwing the ball about, and S.enson was just collared on the line. Thoumine, Lynskey and Coleman showed great defence there. A good run by McXaught and Bellis saw rhe latter over, but the ball had gone out, and from the lineout Taranaki, thanks to fast following up. by Sykes, removed play to mid-field. From a penalty Grogan had a shot which fell short. T l, en Collier did some fine work, and a passing bout saw Scott cross the line, but he was called back, apparently having taken the

ball off-side. Wanganui hammered away unsuccessfully for a time, but finally the ball travelled beautifully along their line of backs, and Brown threaded over and scored behind the postA O'Connell failed to goal. There was no further score, and the game ended; — Taranaki 6 Wanganui 3 Mr. A. Pownali was referee. FIXTURES FOR TO-DAY. A GRADE SENIOR. Stratford v. Waimate, at Stratford. Hawera v. Tukapa, at Hawera. ' Kaponga v. Okaiawa, at Okaiawa. Patea v. Opunake, at Patea. B GRADE SENIOR. Okato v. Star, at New Plymouth. REPRESENTATIVE FIXTURES ARRANGED. *June 30—v. Manawatu, at Stratford. July 6—v. South Auckland, at HaWera. July 16 —v. South Africa, at New Plymouth. •July 28—v. Wanganui, at Stratford. .tegust 3—v. Canterbury, at Hawera. August 27—v. Otago, at New Plymouth. Sept. 17—v. Wellington, at New Plymouth. •Arranged tentatively. POSITION OF SENIOR TEAMS. “A” GRADE.

YESTERDAY'S MATCHES. B SENIOR GRADE. INGLEWOOD (0) v. ELTHAM (0). The match between Inglewood and Eltham was played at Taumata Park yesterday in cold and wet weather, and the game resolved itself into a spraimble between the opposing forwards. The match ended in a draw after a keen struggle. Inglewood had four of their regular players away, and were naturally weak. Eltham enlisted the services of the "veteran” Dive, and it was evident he had not lost his old dash. Eltham kicked off against the wind, and soon the home team had a few anxious moments close to their goal line, but by gradual stages they worked the ball to mid-field, and Dive found touch in the visitors’ twentyfive. The Inglewood forwards put in a good forward rush, and an exciting scramble took place, in which a score looked imminent for the visitors, but Dive relieved and found touch. Later, in a hard rush by the visit’ng forwards, McSweeney got down to it in good style and saved what looked like a certain score. Greig then broke through and appeared to have no opposition, when he was collared close to the visitors’ citadel. Halftime sounded with no score. V.’ith the wind in their favor 11 was anticipated that Elthsfcj .would have the sdvan-

tage, but the visiting forwards were on their mettle. E’lthr.jn were awarded a free kick in a handy position, but did not take advantage of it. In a loose scramble Little received an injury and had to retire. Coutts opened up the game and nearly got over; and Eltham were forced. The home forwards had Inglewood in difficulties, and a great scramble ensued, btit by hard play the ball went out to mid-field, wiiere several line-outs was the order. Soon after the game ended: Inglewood 0 Eltham 0 Mr. Skoglund refereed. NORTHERN DIVISION. Second Grade.--Tukapa 9, beat Old Boys 3., Third Grade.—-Star defeated High School by 11 to 6. Fourth Grade.—High School 14, beat Old Roys 3; Clifton 41, beat Tukapa 0; Star beat Technical College by 24 to 9. CENTRAL DIVISION. Second Grade.—Toko 10 v. Stratford 6; Strathmore forfeited to Midhirst. Third grade—Eltham 6 v. Stratford 3; Stratford District High School and Toko drew, Fourth grade.—Stratford 14 v. Eltham 3. ’VARSITY TEAM'S TOUR. BEAT DUNTROON COLLEGE. By Telegraph.—Press Assn.—Copyright. Received June 3, 10.45 p m. Sydney, June 3. The New Zealand University footballers beat Duntroon Military College by 1? points to 5. WAIRARAPA v. HAWKE’S BAY. By Telegraph—Press Association. Napier, Last Night. A representative match between Wairarapa and Hawke’s Bay was played to-day in dull weather. There was an attendance of about 2500. A keen, fast, and hotly contested game resulted in a draw, each side scoring a try. TW-DAY’S MATCHES. Clifton, the leading team in the competition, «has a bye to-day, and the greatest interest will centre In the meeting of Okaiawa and Kaponga, who are runners-up, being level, two points behind Clifton. The match should provide a great struggle, as each teaun possesses dashing young forwards, who. play a hard game right from start to call of lime. Their backs, also, contain men like Atkins and Roberts on one side, and Lynskey on the other.

Tukapa journey to Hawera, and can bo relied on to extend the southern champions. At Stratford the local team, who are ’<y no means out of the running, will meet JJ’ 3 *" mate, whilst the meeting of Patea and Opunake should provide an Interesting iqatch at VISIT OF THE SPRINGBOKS. A GREAT NATIONAL EVENT. The South African team's visit to Now Zealand will prove one of the most important and interesting events in the history of colonial football, writes E. E. Booth, tie well-known All Black. The meeting of the Ail Black and Sprinbok in full representative strength has been the oft-repeated desire of thousands cf rugby-ites in New Zealand and throughout the world. The clashing of the two colonial giants, who have never previously met, has caused a simmer of excitement throughout Maoriland. The South Africans are taking on a big contract on meeting the Mrorilander on his native heath, but. they recognise this and know the formidable array of talent that will be pitted against them. STYLE OF PLAY. The Springboks? style of play .is absolutely identical with that of the British. The old stereotyji’d and conservative methods predominate with the infusion of skill and vim. They, however, lack the variety, subtlety and finesse of the best New Zealand or Welsh styles, and really resemble the Australian more than any other and are equally as virile The play is also very open and bright, and they throw the ball about among the backs. The forwards are good men in tight rucks, and pack their scrum on the 3-2-3 principle, occasionally varied by 4 and 4. They have not specialised in hooking. First up, first down, has been their rule. The Springboks, in England, did not get the ball, losing it three out of four scrums. They excel in line-out play, and are great adepts at knocking back from the throw-In. High marking is also a feature of play, as well as short high punting and cross kicking. The forwards do not short pass as much as the New Zealanders, nor do they break up or get away from the scrum so quickly. . One thing they do Very qujckly is to get down into the scrum. They never wait for a man to come up. They are adepts in working a “loose head” in the front row, and have never been accused of blinding, jolting or other objectionable -resorts of front rankers. Nor do they try raising the ball between legs in scrums. Their pack—although heavy—is fast in the open. There Is a weakness in rush stopping. For the BACK DIVISION the Springboks adopt the Welsh formation—four tlireequ.irters—and are Inclined to play too shallow or close up. They do not encourage rovers in their movements, but each man keeps a set position. They have not learnt the Welsh reverse passing, but pass straight out fast and low, and rely a good deal on their pace, intercepting passing and generally scoring off their opponents' unistakes. The individual brilliancy of some of their successes in this department will be one of the outstanding features of tteir play. Ail the backs are splendid line kicks. in fact, there are none better. Morkef has the reputation of being a man-el in long place-kicks from past the 50-line. Van Heerden and D. C. Villiers are prone to "pot” goals. Much of their passing is long and singlehanded. The backs are all, speedy and interchangeable, as well as individually tricky. In successful winning games their cohesion will be wonderful, whilst in defence their weakness in rush stopping may enable the All Black forwards to penetrate their lines. Van Heerden was one of the South African Olympic representatives at Antwerp, and he often simply hurdles an opponent in his dashes. The back division are all of "Star” cast, and only the best of tackling will hold them.

The South Africans hold tenaciously to the old ideas. None will ever question their fairness. In the games with Britain, they are always the gentlemen players, and will have to be taken serious!j' if New Zealand is to retain her pride of place In the rugby world. The South Africans are making this tour a great national effort, and this team will represent two years’ selecting, training and coaching, and judging from the personnel is a rare blending of experience, combined with the fleetness and initiative of youth. It will indeed be a test of strength worth seeing.

5 .8 ! S 8 11 ~ 5= e < O Clifton 6 5 1 — 39 23 11 Kaponga 5 3 1 1 44 17 7 Okahiwa 5 3 1 1 35 15 7 Stratford 5 2 2 1 27 31 6 Ha we r a 5 2 2 1 51 17 6 Waimate G 2 2 2 34 37 6 Tukapa 5 1 1 3 23 29 3 Opunake 5 1 — 4 24 54 2 Patea * — — 6 20 74 0 “B” GRADE. Inglewood 5 3 1 1 22 13 7 Old Boys 5 3 1 1 53 24 7 Star 5 2 2 1 23 17 6 Eltham 5/2 — 3 17 31 4 Okato 4 — — 4 6 36 0