FOOTBALL.

FIXTURES. INTER-UNION MXTURES. j September 10 -Canterbury v. Southland, at Christchurcb. } September 17— Southland v. Otago, at Dunedin.

STOTES BY FORWARD. I Mr D. Torrance, of Dunedin, is to act as j referee in the match between Canterbury and Southland at Christchurch on Saturday next. The Otago forwards in the match against j Southland last week justified the good j opinion that had been formed of them, and j for the first time for many matches proved j a better combination than the Southland for- i wards. [ I "If the Otago forward's had the Southland 1 : backs behind them, they would give any team \ " gyp- " Thus spoke a Southlander who saw i last week's match at Invercargill. What a j reversal of old-time conditions '. i It seems that Mackenzie has been unjustly | blamed for giving away the try that won the j ! match at Invercargill for {Southland. In the i first place, Stephenson was out of his position, j ' otherwise he should have stopped Bain, who was responsible for sending the ball from the Southland quarters down to the opposite end of the field} and in the second place Cunningham should have fielded th 3 ball. The club premiership in Sydney this year has, largely owing to the excellent placeKicking of L. W. Appleby (the ex-Christ-j church player), been won by the Pirates Club, I which, the Sydney Mau mentions, was called into existence in 1889, and consisted princi- [ pally of old Dunedin boys, the title being taken from the club of the same name here. In' his comments on the match last week between Southland and Otago, "Touchline" in the News pays: "In the first spell Southland, witn the advantage of the wind, had slightly the best of the game as far as keeping the play in Otago's territory was concerned, but the -visitors were all there in regard to skill and combination, and especii ally was this the case with their forwards. j On the line out the Otago men were very prominent, and broke away in a bunch with the ball on many occasions, but the rushes j were stopped by the Maroon backs, Stead in ; particular saving grandly, and Fraser also j ] defending well. The northern forwards j ' packed the scrums well, and secured the ball j a few times more than did the local men in this spell, but ihe Otago backs did not handle the ball well, with the exception of Mason and Duncan. The passing of Southland's backs was admirable, and generally gained ground, while that of their opponents usually ended at Sinclair or Cunningham. Both teams tackled well, and the first spell fittingly ended without much advantage on either ■ side." The same authority continues : " Otago having the aid of a strong breeze in the segand -

spell, worked into the Maroons' quarters early, and set uj> a strong attack, which was determinedly and successfully met until about i half way through. At this point Otao-o began to carry all before them in forward play, and whether at getting possession in the scrums or on. the line outs, they showed a marked superiority. The Olag-o backs had chance after chance to score, but the grand tackling of their oppon- | cnts and their own slow and indecisive passing left them pointless. Just at the time I when the tide of battle was strongest against ] Southland, an unexpected turn of For tune's ' wheel allowed them a chance to Fcore, which they did, and this advantage gained, the ' Maroons woke up, and for the remainder of the spell the match was never in uoubt, for ■ although tho Otago men played all they knew and worked together in grand stylo, Southland rose to the oqeasion, and played a win- ' ning game to the end." After pacing the backs on the Olago team under review, and giving special praise to Duncan and Mason, and bestowing unfavourable comment on the play of Cunningham and Sinclair, '"Touchline" adds: "The best part of Otago's team was undoubtedly the forward portion, and their play left nothing to be desired, so -well did they perform — in fact, it is very hard to particularise them, and H any showed out more prominently than the rest it was Given, Hobbs, and Coady." The following Southland team are chosen to go on tour : — H. Itcdgers, B. Jiain, H. Murphy H. Hill, W. Stead, P. Ward, P. Fraj-er, C. Mathoson, W. Myers, C. Todcl, H. Anthony, J. Jenkins, W. King, C. Purdue, P. Anderson (captain) ; emergency, R. D.Dopaldson. Mr R. Galbraith has been iippointed manager. The secretary of the Otago Rugby Union received a telegram last week from the Wairarapa Union inviting the Otago team to play itj representatives on the Bth in&l., and suggesting that the Wellington match might bo played on the loth. A reply was tent to the effect that if the tour of the Otago team was row extended ie would involve a breach of | faith with the employers of the players. ' There was a considerable attendance of spec- | tators at the Cansbrook giound on Saturday, ! the piincipal attraction being the match be- ! tween the Pirates Second and Star. Both teams having performed well during the s=ea1 son, the Star, whose record has been one of i success upon success, were strongly fancied, ■ and it was particularly desired by those who i are especial admirers of the team that they should pcore, at least, 13 points, as that would bring the club's aggregate for the season to 300 points. Tho Star played from the 'pa-> ilion end for the first halt, and this gave them i what advantage there was to be derived from ' a strong wind which swept almost straight across from touch line to touch line. In this fust spell they placed three tries to their credit — two of them being the direct outcome of patent blunders on the part of their opponents — but no goals were kicked. W. Dennett, I\. Bennett, and hey accounted for the t.ios. Early in the second spell R. Bennett gained another try, which was not converted, but for the greater part of the bout the Pi- , rates held their own fairly well, and it was i just on the call of time that, amidst great jubilations, Dey dashed across the line near the cdrner, raising the Star score to 15 points to 1 nothing. The backs on the winning side gave an admirable display of passing, despite occasional fumbling by one of the half-ba6ks, ; and they played with great keenness, their j performance generally creating- a distinctly ', favourable impression. Their forwards have, 1 however, a lot to learn, and were inferior to ] their opponents, for whom Thomson was frequently prominent, while among the Pirates' ; backs Hay did the work of two or three ! players. J The match between these junior teams was to have been followed by one between the University Club and a combined tenm from the Alhambra and Union clubs, but this ! proved something like a fiasco. Several of I the players picked for the combined fifteen I were absent, and when the team was comI pleted on the ground it included members of i the Kaikorai, Zingari-Richmond, Pirates, and Caversham clubs, as well as of the two clubs which were supposed to furnish the fifteen, j and not only was this the case, but the Unij versity Club itself looked beyond its own I ranks to complete its team. Under these circumstances the match was not much better than a scratch one, and though it produced some good football, it excited little interest. ! A Wellington telegram gives the following as the results of Saturday's senior championship matches : Melrose beat Wellington b3 r 13 points to 3 ; Petone beat Oriental by 18 points to nil ; Athletic beat Poneke by 10 points to 3. The Melrose team are leading for the j championship with one match, that against the Athletic, to play. If they score a win or make a draw of the game, they will secure the j championship for the third year in succession, ! and the senior shield will become the absolute i property of the club. A defeat in the final j match would place Melrose level with Pei tone, and the two teams would have to play [ off. A Wellington junior representative team ! defeated a team of Wairarapa juniors at ] Greytown by 6 points to nil. I A Wellington telegram states that at a meetj ing of the New Zealand football Association i the matches for the coming tournament to be I held at Wellington were drawn as follows : — j Kuahine to meet Wellington on Wednesday, September 14 ; Otago to meet Auckland on i Thursday. September 15 : and the winners of these ties to play off on Saturday, September 17. It was also resohed that the size of the giound should be fixeu at 110 yards by 70 yards. The weekly mepting of the committee of the Otago Rugby Onion wo<; attended by Messrs Gallaway (president), Morris, Campbell, Duncan, Harris, Miscall, Strong, and Hutchison. A letter was received from the Referees' Association stating that illness was the cause of I the absence of referee appointed for the match Ravensbourne v. Kaikorai Second. In connection with the assertion of the Alhambra Club that the cause of the non-fulfilment by its Third Fifteen of their fixture with the Northern Second on the . 20th August was the non-appointment of a referee, letters were received from the Referees' Association and .Northern Club showing that Mr D. Ritchie had been appointed the official for the match, and the Northern Club stated, further, that on the arrival of their team on the ground they were met by four or five of the Alhambra Club, including the captain, who told 1 the Northern captain that the latter could | claim the match, as the Alhambra were unable •to raise a team. The secretary was instructed j to forward this correspondence to the Ali hambra Club with a request for an explanaj tion.