Page 46 - 1966

B.H.S. SECOND FIFTE
and at one time a try looked imminent when he handed it to Erskine, who linked up with his forwards. Nearly every forward handled the ball and the movement ended with a poor pass when Newton had the line at his mercy, and so another chance was lost.
School tried desperately to score again but with no avail. The nal score was King's 9, Southland 8.
Timaru
School was next to score when Wallace received the ball in the middle of a loose melee and set o weaving his way towards the line to score about 12 yards to the left of the posts. Newton missed the con­ version. Score was now 11-3.
After overnight rain the ground at School was fairly wet but rm for the game against Timaru. This one we had to win, and after our improved display against King's our hopes were vindicated when we won 17-6 in a game which we controlled almost throughout.
Waitaki's superior nish told its nal tale when a Black loose forward made the nal score 16-3. Waitaki deserved this on the basis of more intense and concerted play by their forwards and the willingness of their backs to run the ball at every opportunity.
ng's gh Sch l
The strategy under the conditions was to keep the ball close to the pack and to move forward to the ball all day. Excellent tactical kicking by Erskine and good concerted rucking by the pack brought this about.
Played at Invercargill on a rm dry ground. It was a beautiful day for rugby, with little sun and no wind. School lost the loss and kicked o with the sun behind our backs. We immediately went on to attack. Crisp back movements breached the King's defence in the rst ve minutes with Wallace in ne form, and one movement in particular saw Stevenson forced out in the corner.
School came into the game fast with hard rocking in the rst 15 minutes. This initial pressure by the School side lasted right throughout the rst half. Line­ outs were won consistently_by School while Timaru's ball was rather scrappy. McIntyre, well supported by Newton and Pittaway, provided the backs with good ball. Heenan eagerly and consistently hooked ball from the scrums despite an enforced change in "technique".
After ten minutes of play we had the great mis­ fortune to lose our centre, Wallace, who went o with an injured ankle. He looked by far School's most dangerous back and on a couple of occasions had beaten his marker. He was replaced by Hunter.
Newton opened the scoring with a penalty which was equalised by Timaru. The School backs often threatened the Timaru line and good kicking by Erskine followed up by the pack resulted in a try to Stevenson. The score of 6 points to 3 at half time slightly attered Timaru.
The rst points were scored when Newton landed a penalty goal from 30 yards out and between the posts and sideline. He had narrowly missed from a similar position a few minutes earlier. Southland 3, King's 0.
Throughout the second half, although School in­ creased the lead, play was not as desperate as in the rst half. School continued to follow the ball quickly and win second-phase ball, and possession in the set play was the same as in the rst half. A well-executed movement from a set scrum sent McKenzie in for a try near the posts. Newton converted. Although play see­ sawed up and down the paddock, School maintained control.
King's soon equalised with an easy penalty under School's posts when Chaplin was penalised for detach­ ing early from a scrum.
Two further penalties by Newton gave him a ne total of 11 points and put the nal result of 17 points to 6 beyond doubt.
School were getting some good ball from the front and middle of the line-out. Newton especially and McIntyre were combining well and a good deal of ball came our way.
With only four members of last year's 2nd XV returned, a complete new combination had to be found. This very young team developed well under the able coaching of Mr. Fyfe and J. R. Watson. Our thanks must go to them for our successful season. Because of the large number of teams in the Fourth Grade Com­ petition, it was split into an "A" and "B " Grade. The better teams were placed in the A Grade section and we therefore had few easy games, having to extend ourselves to win.
The forward battle at this stage was very even, with King's perhaps getting more ball from loose rucks.
With about ten minutes to go in the rst half, King's winger scored from a line-out midway twenty- ve and goal-line after the second ve-eighths broke through School defence. The conversion failed. King's led 6-3 at half-time.
It was King's turn to attack in the second half, and for the first 15 minutes School were rarely in King's half. King's were unlucky not to score on two or three occasions but the strong School defence held.
The 2nd XV was runners-up to Technical 1st XV after we were narrowly beaten in the last game. For the record we gained 196 points and had 62 points scored against. During the season we were unfortunate in losing the services of Pittaway and McLean due to demands from the 1st XV.
The game centred around half-way for about ten minutes, with play being rather scrappy.
Then it was our tum to attack. We all but scored when from a quick ruck just inside King's twenty- ve School backs had an overlap of two players in the backline, but the ball was dropped because of over­ crowding when a try seemed imminent.
For our team Chalmers gained fast ball from the hooking berth, being ably supported by Smeaton (cap­ tain) and Laughton. Blakely and Graham jumped well in the line-outs and N. Benfell, McGregor and Wright were fast on the loose ball and good on cover defence. Whyte, at the back of the scrum, had a very successful season until injured and was invaluable to the side .
With ve minutes from no-side it was Pennicott who scored for School. It was from a scrum under King's posts when Heenan hooked a tight head and our backs ran the blind, with Pennicott coming outside winger Semple to score in the corner. Newton converted with a beautiful kick. We had it in our grasp. School 8, King's 6.
At half-back Harris provided a good link between forwards and backs despite constant hammering by opposition loose forwards. Polson was always a clanger at rst ve-eighth, and Henry outside him was solid and reliable. Hunter, Benfell and Patterson had good seasons doing everything required of them. McKenzie at full­ back was a good defensive tackler and had the ability to nd a gap. Sligh was unlucky not to receive more chances this eason.
From the kick-o a ruck was formed from which a scrum resulted on our twenty- ve about six yards in from touch. Poutu was penalised for putting the ball under his hooker's feet.and the King's full-back kicked an easy goal with only two minutes remaining. School 8, King's 9.
Ti rty-six