St Michaels University School - Black Red and Blue Yearbook (Victoria, British Columbia Canada)

Page 29 text:

THE COLTS Grubb. R. Schmidt Clark, G, Cohen Bird Brown, D. Montgomery Eyes. L. Lahey Bernard CCapt.l Godfrey, C. Forrester Allen Henman Ogle COLTS RUGBY The year on the Rugby Field was rightly dominated by the successful performances of the lst XV. In justice this record of the Colts season should begin by stating that this team also was never defeated and. of greater importance. that it saw the appearance of a number of players whose promise for the future raises high hopes that the current run of success will be a long one. A member of the visiting Barbarians team and a well-known coach stated that he would never be satisfied with fewer than three ninety-minute practice periods each week. excluding games. For various reasons it has never been possible to maintain such a schedule. However. the team this season was prepared to go out on to the field just to practise. and to keep practising. The reward for such enterprise should come in the week-end game. but the weather. sickness and lack of available opposition reduced the seasonal total of matches to six. The filst two games were played against Qualicum College. who were returning to Rugby after several years of absence and were not the equal of a more experienced side. Both scores ran to more than 50 points in the School's favour, This provided useful attacking prac- tice for the three-quarters and served to introduce newcomers to the game. but it tended towards a complacency in the team which was hardly justified. 25

Page 28 text:

FIRST FIFTEEN CHARACTERS DALZIEL CCaptainl -Unrivalled as a wing forward, he enjoyed another splendid season. Tireless and determined he supported his outsides mag- nificently both in attack and defence. His ceaseless harassing of the opposition and his ability to profit by their every mistake brought him some brilliant tries. Enthusiastic. robust and courageous. he loved football and played it with a vim and verve all too rarely seen. McCLASKEY CYice-Captainl -Rather unwieldy for the position of hooker, he nevertheless stayed with it well. Only once was he consistently beaten, and for the most part he won his hooking duels. Spirited in the loose and the line-out. and very dangerous near the line. Always most enthusiastic and keen. LUND-Developed as was expected into an extremely good front-rank for- ward. Most spirited and effective in the line-out and an honest worker in the loose. Kept himself in good condition and always gave of his best. IYILSON I- A somewhat improved front row forward. Possessed good hands and was very useful in the line-out. Rather slow in the loose and his con- dition was always suspect. SWANGARD I-A useful second row man. He had some good games but appeared to play really hard in spells only. He must learn to tackle rather than wrestle. CROWDY - Quite useful in the line-out, and in the tight scrum. Rather slow and ponderous in the loose. SLEEP - One of the lighter members of the pack. he was usually outweighed and outreached though putting in rnuch good work. Tackling he enjoyed and he was one of the most reliable members of the team in this phase of the game. COLEMAN -Rather light, but experienced and intelligent, and had a splendid season as a wing forward. One of the best tacklers and fallers on the side, he was always sound and courageous in defence. POLLARD KSCYUIU Halfl -His service from the base of the scrum was not particularly quick but it was accurate and intelligent. Tackled and handled well. kicked adequately. faced forwards fearlessly and always gave of his best CUPPAGE COutside Halfl -An accomplished and experienced player. Handled beautifully and made clever use of the dummy and the short kick in attack. His passes were well given and he was invariably unselfish. In the main he was not quite so happy when defending, though here again his kicking ability was most noticeable. As a place-kicker he was a dis- appointment. - PRATT ClN'ing Three-quarterj -Keen, and a much-improved player. In attack he possesses sufficient speed, but he lacks resource as yet and his passing is uncertain. In defence he is adequate and shows no lack of courage. A weak kick. BRUNLEES fCentre Three-quarterl -An improved player who had some good matches, particularly in defence. In attack his passing, though im- proved. was not well-timed. His play was spirited but his condition was always suspect. YNHITEHOUSE fWing Three-quarterj - Possessed the pace to make him a dangerous man when in the clear, and when intelligently fed proved him- self to be a good finisher. Rather lacking in resource and guile owing to inexperience. and his defence is very shaky. GETZ CCentre Three-quarterl -Quite new to the game but possessed great natural ability. and was a brilliant finisher with pace. thrust and swerve. An untidy passer as yet and his defence is uncertain, but he is a player of rare promise. FAIRBOURN CFull Backj - Reasonably cool under pressure with good hands and the courage to fall in defence. His tackling is adequate but his kick- ing lacks both length and accuracy as yet. A very promising player. W. R. G. W. 24

Page 30 text:

The visit to St. George's produced the best performance of the season, and the team was widely congratulated on its speed, vigour and skill. The scrum played a good, fast game and the three-quarters were handling with unaccustomed sureness. The score was 22-3 and included two excellent tries-one scored by Forrester as the result of a close forward rush half the length of the field, and the other the outcome of a fine opening by Qgle, who sent the ball quickly down the line to Eves on the wing. At Shawnigan the opposition was stronger and the team suffered from a malaise that could not be attributed to the increase in altitude. The game was won by eight points to six. The excitement and suspense were altogether too prolonged for comfort. However, the standard of football was nowhere near as high as it had been the previous week. The scrum was slow on the loose ball. passes were dropped or went astray and tackles were missed. Grubb, at full back, frequently re- covered the mistakes of others, and without his steady tackling and kicking the matter would have ended otherwise. He had his reward when he kicked the winning goal. The Easter term was marred by the eccentricity of the weather. The only two matches were played in the last week of the term. Both of them were adequate victories against St. George's and Shawnigan, although all the teams were depleted through illness. The final game clashed with the Drama Festival and found three members of the team promoted to the Senate. 'An extra game was played against Qualicum, which provided an opportunity for those who had never appeared in a school match before, The Qualicum side was strengthened with some of their senior players and they won the game by a margin of six points. The exper- ience was valuable to those who would not otherwise have had a game. Several newcomers were on the team: Bird, Brown IH, Mont- gomery, Simpson H and Cree all came as novices and earned their places by enthusiasm and consistent practice. Montgomery has a natural stride and variation of pace, which give him fine possibilities as a centre. Brown supplied the answer to the lengthy search for a quick scrum half. reliable in defence as well as attack. Ogle and Grubb had previous experience which both of them used to considerable effect. They lent a restraint and sanity to their more hot-headed companions behind the scrum. Among those who survived from previous seasons. Eves I has fulfilled his promise and added good handling and an elusive quality to his natural speed. He is one of the best offensive three-quarters in the School. In the scrum Bernard re- turned to captain the side and lead the forwards: his excellent example was vigorously followed by Godfrey I, Forrester, Schmidt and Cohen. Lahey, though absent for a considerable time through illness, proved to be the only reliable hooker. Allen and Wenman, both experienced at scrum half. used their knowledge to good effect as break forwards, frequently supporting their outsides in attack and especially success- ful in gaining control of the loose ball. Peters, Glark I, Stephen, Wil- son II and Godfrey II also played on the side during the season. Apart from all these, there were many others who could be relied upon 26