Rugby Football, 1940

RETROSPECT.

With only three old colours and a very young first game, the prospects of this season were not encouraging. It seemed likely that a workable pack would be produced, yet behind would be a weakness with newcomers of inexperience and youth.

The performance of the side early fulfilled this expectation; in spite of a heavy defeat from Worksop, the pack secured the ball in a majority of scrums ; behind was poor defence and slowness in attack. As the season progressed the backs made commendable progress and, indeed, turned the tables and finished as the strong part of the side. Frost and Broadhurst particularly made great strides.

The team was well captained and really may be said to have made the best of things in view of the lack of outstanding talent. More robust fitness and a more serious view of training would be welcomed; it is to be hoped that the good work of the captain in the lower games will not be unproductive, and that we shall develop more of a tradition for Rugby football in the School than exists at present. 1st XV caps : F. F. Steele, G. R. Morris and F. N. Buckler.

Points P. W. L. D. F. A. 1st XV ... 12 4 8 0 74 261 2nd XV ... 5 0 5 0 14 128 Colts 4 1 3 0 17 23

1st XV CHARACTERS. * Denotes a cap. The whole team are colours. F. F. Steele*. Captained the side with ability and enthusiasm. Play improved considerably as a back-row forward. Line-out work particularly valuable. G. R. Morris (Vice-Captain). Changed from forward to centre three-quarter to bolster up the backs. Attack vigorous but not yet skilful, although improving.

Defence good generally but positioning a little weak.

H. L. Taylor. Has had great success as hooker and also open field play much improved. Has tackled well on occasion. G. Long. Front-row forward. Packs well and also active in the loose. A vigorous player. H. Broadhurst. A very promising centre who has come on splendidly. Good kick and turn in. Tackling improved after a weak start. Should gain in speed next year to develop the swing out move in attack. J. R. Frost. A clever but rather slow fly-half. Combined very well with Buckler. Knows how to swing in, but not fast enough for the opposite manoeuvre. Passing improving but still apt to be wild under pressure. Good kick. Should do very well. F. N. Buckler*. A really good scrum-half who has worked very hard for the side. Very unselfish. Reverse pass good, fearless tackle and stopper of rushes. D. Cole. Full-back. Has played well in this position.

Handicapped by slowness of footwork, yet his play is generally safe. An accurate but not lengthy kick; defence good near the touch-line. E. P. Bulmer. Wing three-quarter. Fast and much improved in the last few games. Needs confidence; must try to change his running position. A. A. Short. Secured his place as wing three-quarter by virtue of his determined tackling. Showed a good sense of football. Woefully slow, however. R. Earle. Second-row forward. Packed very well, useful in the line-out. With more devil would make a good player. W. H. Ping. Fitted well in the second row. Will do well next season. J. P. Pulleyn. Loose forward. A very good little footballer.

Has a fine sense of position and dribbles well. H. C. Belchamber Back-row forward. Has not yet the knack of breaking wide to catch the opposing fly. Needs . more devil and should always finish the tackle. Will do well next season.

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D. Taylor. Front-row forward. His weight is very useful in the tight scrums, and he packs well. Inclined to lethargy in the loose. Shows his fiery temperament too rarely.

RESULTS. 1ST XV.

F. A. Sat., Oct. 5th. R.A.F., Linton Lost 11 38 Wed., PP 9th. R.A.F., Clifton ... Won 15 6 Sat., ,, 12th. St. John's College ... Lost 3 34 Sat., ,, 19th. Worksop College ... Lost 41 Wed., pp 23rd. Boys' Co. Signals, Catterick Lost 9 Sat., „ 26th. Catterick Garrison ... Lost 56 Sat., Nov. 2nd. Giggleswick School ... Won 6 3 Wed., PP 6th. Army Pay Corps, York Won 17 Sat., 9th. York ... Lost 8 Wed., „ 20th. Durham School Lost 3 6 Sat., ,, 23rd. Leeds G. S. ... Won 11 10 Sat., pp 30th. Ampleforth College Lost 8 50

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2ND XV.

F. A. Sat., Oct. 19th. Worksop College ... ... Lost 8 10 Wed., „ 23rd. Drax G. S. 1st XV ... ... Lost Wed., Nov. 6th. Drax G. S. 1st XV ... ... Lost Wed., „ 13th. Ripon G. S. 1st XV ... Lost Sat., „ 30th. Ampleforth College 2nd XV. Lost 3 19

COLTS' XV.

F. A. Sat., Oct. 12th. Giggleswick School ... ... Lost 0 6 Sat., Nov. 23rd. Durham School ... Won 12 5 Wed., Dec. 4th. Worksop College ... Lost 3 Sat., „ 7th. Ampleforth College Lost 5 9

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SCHOOL v. WORKSOP COLLEGE. Played at Worksop.

The unusually hard ground, two very fast Worksop wings, a hefty and clever fly-half in Buchanan, and the poor tackling of our wings were the causes of our defeat.

Their two wing men were much faster than ours. Cookson did tackle the man when he could catch him, but lay back too far and often could not get up to him.

The game started with some loose forward play which was pretty even. Then Worksop heeled and passed to Buchanan, who broke through a loose scrum and passed to a forward who went over.

Their wings were always dangerous, and it was only Cole's fine tackling at full-back which stopped them from scoring more tries. Revill's man got through twice, and both tries were converted. Buchanan broke right through the pack and went over with three men clinging on to him. Halftime came with the score at 0-18.

Our pack were very much better than theirs in the tight, and in the whole game we only lost the ball some six times in set scrums. We scrummed our line-outs and got the ball back from the loose fairly frequently.

The second half was very much a repetition of the first. The pack playing very well, though they were bad at tackling in the loose, their wings and Buchanan breaking through. Taylor hooked really well, Buckler showed pluck at scrum-half and Cole played a good game at full-back.

Our backs showed signs of attack later on in the second half, and Morris very nearly got through. Morris still does not realise his capabilities ; when he does he will become a very effective, bustling centre.

A feature of the game was Buchanan's superb goal kicking. He converted seven of their tries, some of them really fine kicks. Result : School 0, Worksop 41.

Team :—D. Cole; C. A. F. Cookson, A. Broadhurst, G. R. Morris, H. D. Revill; J. R. Frost, F. N. Buckler; D. Taylor, H. L. Taylor, G. Long; R. Earle, W. H. Ping, H. C. Belchamber, P. H. 0. Ruddock, F. F. Steele. 53

SCHOOL v. GIGGLESWICK SCHOOL. Played at Headingley.

It had poured all morning and was still raining when the teams took the field. For the first time this season we played a full team. In spite of all the rain, the ball, though slippery, was fairly easy to handle, and there was some back play.

The Giggleswick forwards were a hefty, bustling lot who did some grand rushes, but their back play was weak.

The game started with a series of rushes by their forwards, which we managed to hold. We heeled, and Frost took us back to the half-way line with a grand kick. Play was very scrappy, the handling on both sides being bad, but our backs showed more science and were very much more dangerous than theirs.

Frost, at fly-half, was following up a good game against Catterick with another. He is still a little slow off the mark, but he was kicking well and cutting through with discretion. By means of the dubious trick of holding the ball in the scrum we got a kick in front of their posts, and Belchamber made no mistake.

Soon after, Belchamber kicked another penalty kick.

Then we lost Short after 10 minutes' play. In tackling Wilson, he got kicked on the head and had to be taken off with concussion.

Belchamber went out of the scrum on to the wing, and after one mistake which allowed Wilson to score their only try played a good game, tackling well.

Our seven forwards had to put in an enormous amount of work to hold their pack. Time and time again Giggleswick were almost over.

The second half was a ding-dong forward battle with an occasional spurt by our backs. The ball would be on our line and we would rush it back to theirs.

In the last quarter of an hour their weight began to tell, and it was Steele's falling and tackling and taking which saved the game. At one time near the end, after a series of 54

tremendous forward rushes by their pack, it looked as if our pack would crack; but they pulled themselves together and fought magnificently, no-side coming with the ball back in the middle of the field and the School victorious by six points to three.

Team :—D. Cole; E. P. Bulmer, A. Broadhurst, G. R. Morris, A. A. Short; J. R. Frost, F. N. Buckler; G. Long, H. L. Taylor, D. Taylor, R. Earle, W. H. Ping, H. C. Belchamber, J. P. Pulleyn, F. F. Steele.

SCHOOL v. DURHAM. Played at Durham.

The School were without both Taylors, and this considerably weakened the pack. Pulleyn hooked as well as H. Taylor, but we missed D. Taylor's thirteen stone.

It poured all morning, but cleared up before the match began.

The game began with some scrappy forward play, in which it was evident that their pack was heavier. The backs on both sides made some tentative movements, more with the object of searching out weaknesses in the opposing defences rather than scoring.

We were getting the ball back from the tight fairly easily, but the backs were not running fiat out. Throughout the game they persisted in standing in front of the man with the ball.

We were much more dangerous than they were, but all the time our backs gave one the impression that if only they would spurt a little more they would get over.

The pack rushed the ball down to their line, and from a set scrum the ball came out, travelled along the line, and Bulmer went over unmarked.

They equalised soon after, one of their wing forwards backing up his threes, scoring the try.

The game developed into a ding-dong battle with both sides going hard and both coming near to scoring.

Frost nearly got over, but was tackled on the line with two unmarked men outside him.

Our backs showed more science than theirs, but did not play with determination, possibly upset by the long bus journey. Durham had one dangerous centre, and a pack which had some good rushes.

The game was a very even and enjoyable one.

Durham are our oldest enemy. Records of rugger matches with them go back eighty odd years, 1866, I think, but matches must have been played before then. It is a longish time since we beat Durham on our ground, and the last time we beat them on theirs was somewhere in the 1870's.

We must beat them next year.

Result : School 3, Durham School 6.

Team :—D. Cole; C. A. F. Cookson, G. R. Morris, A. Broadhurst, E. P. Bulmer; J. R. Frost, F. N. Buckler; D. D. S. Evans, J. P. Pulleyn, G. Long; R. Earle, W. H. Ping; H. C. Belchamber, E. A. Shearston, F. F. Steele.

SCHOOL v. AMPLEFORTH COLLEGE. Played at Ampleforth.

The Leeds match gave us some inkling of what was going to happen in this match.

The pack, with Earle off, was again lifeless, and except for a period in the second half with good rushes, rarely did anything.

The Ampleforth pack was a fast one, with three really good back-row forwards. These three, Vidal being outstanding, were always up with their three-quarters, and scored three or four tries through this backing up.

Their backs were fast—too fast for ours—and scored fairly easily.

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Our backs, on the defensive the whole time, as the pack rarely got the ball back, tackled well and put up a good show against what was virtually a three-quarter line of seven.

Ampleforth scored fairly regularly and we got two tries ; Broadhurst ran through their defence and Buckler touched down after a good dribble.

Result: School 8, Ampleforth 50.

Team :—D. Cole ; E. P. Bulmer, G. R. Morris, A. Broadhurst, A. A. Short; J. R. Frost, F. N. Buckler; G. Long, H. L. Taylor, D. Taylor; D. D. S. Evans, W. H. Ping; H. C. Belchamber, J. P. Pulleyn, F. F. Steele.

HOUSE MATCHES.

In these games School House beat Temple fairly easily and themselves lost to the Rise.

McKinlay played very well in the first game for School House and in the final with Rise. Buckler did his best to compete with the powerful Rise pack, but had to admit a heavy defeat by 25 points to 3. Coombe was in good form for the Rise and was chiefly responsible for their success.

In the Junior House competition the Rise triumphed again, although not with the same ease as in the Senior. The score was 9 points to nil. Brown, A. C., played well for the Rise. In the challenge round, Temple, although defeated, had a promising player in Walker.

COLTS RUGGER.

The Colts, although they only won one match, have had the best season of all three teams.

They lost 0-6 to Giggleswick, but in this match were playing without Brown and Cookson, and they did not play as well as in the last two matches.

In the Durham match • we were attacking consistently and were rarely out of their half, but they tackled well and we did not score as often as we might. We won, 12-5.

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