RUGBY,

Well done, ' Spud Murphy !' ' The Juniors had a go-as-you-please on No. 2 ground. Were there any loafers in the blue and white vanguard ? South Canterbury are not so alarmingly rough as Taranaki. South Canterbury's team did not look big, but they stripped well. Fitchett was ordered to scand down from Saturday's match, Parnell against Newton. Edmonds again assumed the captaincy, with a happier result than the previous Saturday. Quinn was best on the line and in the open, and got on one or two good little dribbles. Hart was a consistent scrummager and came through repeatedly ; he was also good in the open. Eonayne, who was a spectator, is progressing handsomely, but will be unable to play for a few weeks yet. Canterbury's forwards had the best of all the tight scrums, and to their all-round excellence can be attributed the interesting game. The inclusion of Albie Braund in the reps, will weaken the team to play Waikato, and a defeat is not unlikely in that quarter. Oiiphant and Murphy were the principal scorers. Oiiphant with two tries and one goal, and ' Murphy ' with one try and one place goal. Masefield is an ever-improving man at full, and must command- some consideration for the Nerth Island team. He got in some splendid work on Saturday. McPhail, picked to play against Waikato, is a doubtful member of the team. He got a shaking up in the North-cote-Henderson scramble last Saturday. Stewart was perhaps the best of the Southern team of forwards. He was smart on the line out and good in the open, and accounted for a lot of ' pounds ' in the scrum. Artie Boys was slightly ahead of Helean. Both had plenty to do, and were ready for the spell at half-time. Boys picks up smartly and collars prettily. That place kick was a terror, though ! Gardner on the wing was a constant annoyance to Oiiphant, and these two players had a game all to themselves. Both showed clever wing play, but I slightly favour Bob. The evergreen ' Charlie ' Marshall once more represented Auckland and was always prominent. Some say Charlie is a bit more cunning than he used to be, and Hodges the graft ; but he certainly appeared to be wherever the business was, and in open play was ' as young as he used to be.' McGill, who was shunted in favour of Peace, again donned the blue and white jersey and did all that was asked of him ; he took his passes well, ran and tackled well. He got on a nice run in the second spell that resulted in a score, he passed to McKenzie at the right moment, who immediately placed the ball in the hands of an unmarked comrade, a try eventuating from this undoubtedly clever bit of play.

Albie Braund will perform in blue and white against Thames. Thames are said to be stronger this year than ever before, and may accomplish the downfall of our selected. Johnson showed considerable pace ■ but was too forward all the time. His dashing runs were pretty and light, but he did not always collar his man. Rab McKenzie's genial countenance beamed on the proceedings, and he seemed to take a delight in the ganle he played. He was on many occasions ahead of his comrades, and showed up well in the open. Rhodes again took his place amongst our rep forwards, and played a hard game. He was good on the line and did a oit of back work during the game, coming out very well. He is retained for the match with the Thames. South Canterbury were weak in their backs, more so even than the Aucklanders, Simpson at full being probably the best of the lot, though he had a tendency to play rather too close up. This lost him a good chance to collar both Oliphant and Murphy when they scored. His kicking was quickly and well accomplished. ' Murphy ' played the best forward game on the Auckland side and was ever prominent ; he showed considerable pace, outstripping his opponents in a- masterly fasnion when he scored his try, which was applauded very industriously by the spectators. A place in the North Island team is not improbable for ' Murphy.' The choppy-changy system adopted by the Selection Committee is, after all, the best thing going for the players themselves, as several who otherwise are chanceless for a cap will forever be enrolled on Auckland's ' roll of honour,' and after all said and done, the winning of the ' cap ' is what a lot of our players aim at, and don't care a dump whether they win or no. The five-eighth system has at last had a trial by Auckland, and although it was not the biggest success in the world, will have another trial. Elliott, who took that position, failed to act up to his reputation and played a wretched game. He hung to the ball badly, and for the life of him wouldn't give it up ; he passed badly, and in fact, was generally disappointing. He has been superannuated. Rishworth,tbe lightest of our backs, played a fair game ; he wa3 suffering from two things, nervousness and the club feeling that always spoilt Roberts' play in rep. matches. Elliott gave him one or two shows, but Kissling spoilt several opportunities by not trusting him with the ball. Had Breen been in Eassling's place, Rishworth would have shown up as well as he did in the practice matches. The 1894 Selection Committee are earning a great reputation for changeableness. After the way they have been seesawing between Roberts, McGill, Peace, Rishworth, and Warbrick, always keeping Kissling in the centre, it is not surprising to see that they again overlook the claims of Breen to a place and put in a player who hails from Dunedin and who has only played one match in Auckland and that one game for the Parnell 11. This player is having greatness thrust upon him ; his name, Fitcnett, will become famous. The selection of Fitchett to fill a place in our three-quarter back team against the Thames, will be generally condemned. He has played once for Parnell juniors and cannot have any substantial claim to rep. honors ; his Southern reputation does not place him in the rank of quality with our reps., as he only managed to secure a place in the Alhambra team 'by the skin of his teeth.' However, now he is picked, I hope he will develop qualities justifying in some measure his selection. Of all the backs who have played in senior ranks this season none have had such hard times as Breen. Being unfortunately for himself a resident in a weak football district, he has had in each match to do at least two men's work, and twice did he play a superb game with an immense boil stiffening his neck, and again during the practise matches his play was favorably commented on by public and press alike, and he was looked upon as likely to be the first centre three-quarter tried in the rep. matches (he is admittedly a fine player, either on the wing or centre) instead of his being selected we find that seven other backs have been tried without his name being mentioned. Breen was the player who gave both McGill and Rishworth the chances in the practice matches upon which their claims to rep. honors were mainly based, yet we find both these men selected before Breen. Whatever there is existing between Breen and any other member of the selection committee should be entirely overlooked when the best men are wanted ; his claims rank higher than those of some of the players who have been honored with places in past teams.

Brady put in a lot of good scrum work. Mills and Donald both played good games, but. that was a dangerous trick of Mills when he ran round his own goal. He, however, came out of it all right. Boys, the three-quarter, was fairly safe, but had a tendency to keep too far to the wing away from the play. Was he dodging the craft or waiting for chances ? The SelectioD Committee are satisfied to again trust the same forwards, notwithstanding the fact that Canterbury carried all the scrums, and this is accepted by footballers as the most decisive thing they have done. The action of the management committee in ordering Fitchett to stand down in the match, Parnell v. Newton Junior, is questionable. They, of course, worked on Rule 29, which reads : ' Recognised players of any grade shall be debarred from taking part in the cup matches of a lower grade, at the discretion of the committee.' Fitchett has only played in one grade in Auckland, and cannot be said to have qualified for anything higher, and it is on the face of it, an injustice to Parnell II to stop him playing for them. His selection in the reps., let us hope, was not a move of the committee's to cover their action, though it effectually does so. Rule 29 places a vast amount of power in the hands of the committee, and they want to use extreme caution how they use it, so as to be fair to all competing clubs.