RUGBY FOOTBALL.

CHAMPIONSHIP CONTESTS. GRAFTON'S GOOD DISPLAY. 'COOKE IN BRILLIANT FORM. ("tiio of the brighest club games of tho present Rugby season was that between Grafton and Grammar Old Boys at Eden Park on Saturday. Although the scoring was high, there was not at any stage many pointy difference between the teams. Grafton owed their victory mainly to -the fine work of A. 1:1. Cooke, who showed some of his most wonderful form and scored three, tries, two of which were of exceptional merit. Both teams threw the ball about, but Grafton's work in this department was the more effective. A strong feature of Grammar's plav was' the work of their forwards in the loose. They showed better judgment and control of the ball than their opponents when dribbling. Grafton's scrum work was excellent. The forwards packed solidly, and when the ball was hooked it always camo out cleanly and smartly to tho halfback. In fact, the winners' work in this direction .could hardly bo improved upon. A weakness of tho Grammar backs vas erratic passing, particularly by tho ntro backs. This caused 110 end of trouble. Hughes (Grafton) was not slow to tako advantage of theso errors, and consequently got in some very effective work. Of the individual Grafton players Cooke was Cooke at his best. This tells its own story. It was a treat to lovers of good■ football to witness his anticipation of play, both in attack and defence. Hughes played a particularly good g.aloe at five-eighths, repeatedly breaking through tho Grammar backs with fine, dodgy runs. Menzies .played a good defensive game. Finlay, at fullback, was fair. Picking up tho ball from tho ground while running appears to be a weak point in his play. B. Keary, Wakerley and Lynch were .the most prominent of tho winning forwards. : ' -,;- s For Grammar there was really 110 outstanding back, but for a good, all-round game, none played better than N. Ifwersen. Wilson was -esponsiblo for soma strong, straight running. Goodacre, at fallback, has played many better Ho did not judgo the flight of tho ball yery well on Saturday. Batty was the most prominent forward on tho ground, for his fast, dashing play in tho loose. Arnold showed by his play that it will not be long before he strikes good form. A. Knight played a good all-round forward game, working particularly , hard in tho close play. . Mfirlsts and University. < University were unable to produoo against Marist Old Boys tho form that characterised their displays earlier in tho season, especially among the backs. The score,. 5 all, was a fair indication of the 'play in the first half, but. Marists put ■ on another, 15 points in the second, while University; who missed several gpod ! chances, failed to rmprove their score. The, Marist forwards played a solid game, giv.ing a better display than 11 the previous Saturday, and their backs, v.ho showed more combination, made much better use of their opportunities than their opponents. Loft'- was generally prominent among tho Marist backs on attack, and was a constant "source 01' danger to University, but his play on defence was not all that could be desired 'at times. Brodrick playeH a very fair game, showing plenty of dash. Ho took a lot of stopping. Miller is another player who is hard to stop and he tackles well. The Marist forwards were responsible for a lot of good work. Macdonald, who is playing very' consistently this season, was always in tho van. Peters was in good goal-kicking form, and converted four tries. The best of tho University forwards was \ Keepo/ who played a fine, all-round game, He is a great asset to the team. Stone, Anderson, and Brookor also worked hard. Tho University backs did not show to advantage in concerted attacking movements,'many of the bouts breaking down through faulty handling. Gashmore got through a lot of work and lie and Macken were associated in a smart handling bout, which brought University's only score. The five-eighths were not impressive. Olsen- showed considerable cleverness and made .few mistakes. Ponsonby's Speedy Backs. Ponsonby had little difficulty in decisively defeating Collego Rifles, although one man short; for more than half the game. Pelharn and Syme wera both playing well before receiving injuries. Ponsonby will probably bo without Pelham's services for some time owing to liis broken collarbone. Lucas and Tonkin combined splendidly in tho Ponsonby threoquarter, lino, and ' tho former's lino-kicking I gained much ground. Tonkin scored his three tries by clever play and straight running, and both the tries scored by Lucas were characteristic. . McGregor and Hook, the five-eighths, wero frequently prominent, and McManus got through a great deal of work behind the scrum. Ho was well supplied with the ball by his pack, who attacked solidly. For the losers, Heise and Gillespie (showed out among the backs, but they were unsupported as a rule and their efforts were wasted. The College Rifles' tackling was not impressive, and tho speedy Ponsonby backs often did as they pleased. When tho former team's halfback, Kirk, secured tho ball from the scrum ho was quick to give liis backs their opportunity. Fogartv was tho most conspicuous forward and Muir was also in the limelight at times. Although they improved somewhat in the last quarter, College Rifles did not reproduce their good form against University on the previous Saturday and their display was disappointing. Noted Footballer's Death. Many old Ilugby players and supporters will remember Frank Surman, who died recently in New South Wales at the age of 59, for he was a noted footballer and professional runner in the nineties. He had the distinction of having represented New South Wales, New Zealand and Auckland on the football field. Before residing in New Zealand Surman played wing-threequarter for the Rami wick Club. He was exceptionally fast on flie field, and when playing for New South Wales against New Zealand at Sydney in 1893, scored a great try after" running * . rsght through from his own twenty-five. Tho following year he captained the New South Wales team against New Zealand at Christchurch. About that time Surman took up bis residence in Auckland and represented the province in 1895 and 1886. He was il most spectacular player. In 1895 he gained a place in the New i : Zealand fifteen. CUP FOR TAURANGA UNION. [BY T-ELEGRAPI^ —OWN COHRtSPON'DENT. ] ■ TAURANGA. Monday. John Reid and Son, Auckland, have presented a very handsome cup for competition among club;, of the Tauranga Ilugby Union The cup will be won outright. A oimiiar cup ls (o bo pre . gented annually by this firm.