"THE ROUGH STUFF."

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XL, Issue 13251, 9 December 1913, Page 5

" THE ROUGH STUFF."

CALIFORNIA^!* LOOK FOR TROUBLE. AND GET IT FROM N.Z. iIUUBY TEAM. iSAJS FKAJSiUISUU, Oct. 27. The University of California has accomplished wnat was considered impossible, it has registered a try against the "AIL liiiicks." Ihia &ecoutl .meeting ot the JNew Zealanders, detided at Berkeley College grounds on Saturday, October $25, had many curious features. It was one ot the roughest exhibitions of Rugby iootbail ever seen m California. Ine American players liad been schooled by their trainers, to infuse the greatest vigor into their piay and they fuililled the behests to the last letter. But what a surprise pacKet was m store for them! 'ihe Zeaiaiiders showed that they themselves coiud play hard football, and they did so watliout the slightest infringement of the rules. A grew crowd occupied the grandstand. California, stalled out to play an aggressive game, and throughout the first iiali were giving the best they had. They were not over-gentle, aim when the- half ended with, the score eight points to nil m favor of '.New Zealand, the CaKi'ornians had the satisfaction of .knowing that they had pulled through the smallest scoring half that the New Zealanders had played m America. ;Apparently the strenuous game that the California team had played during the initial period was not altogether to the liking of the New Zealanclers. A palpable interference with Wyiie m front of the goali. whei). he was not playing Uie ; bajll, and vyiiieh. the referee did not see, aroused' the men from the Southern Islands. They started to play the strenuous game, and the tilings they know about playing hard football were worth while watching. They did not infringe on the rule's, but when they hit a man they hjt him hard. They tackled the',' Calif brnians by the necks of their jerseys, and the material not. being made to, stand such a strain as the grip of the New Zeala^nders, parted, -and left the Californian players standing stripped to the waist with nothing but their harness concealing shoulders and ; collar-bones. In going up m the air after a kicked ball the New Zealanders showed tnat they could turn, the trick without leaving themselves exposed to the charge which usually knocks a,, man silly, .when he is off his feat. They came to earth and landed on their feet, and \he men who charged them usually limped off. The New Zealanders opened up the second period by scoring m less than two minutes. . A few minutes! later the New Zealand fullback made a long. kick along the side line. The ball lauded m playing territory, but not a California player moved to take' I ', it. Graham picked up and ran unopposed to a try. Two minutes later Dewar picked up m the middle of the field, and passed out to M'Kenzie. The five-eighth dodged the nearest player, and the Californian team apparently decided not to make an attempt to stop the movement. Mitchinson took the ball, and ran at a i moderate pace towards the goal line, backed up by Lynch. When one of the California three-quarters mode a half- ■ hearted attempt to tackle Mitchinson he passed 1 to Lynch, the wing man ran over for a try, looking over his shoulder at one of the Californians, who was chasing "him, but ' apparently not endeavoring to catch him, as Lynch was only going half-speed. While Graham was kicking the goal that followed this try, Coach Schaeffer had his men behind the goal line. WTiatever the coach told them during the heart-to-heart talk, it had the effect of removing the . listlessness of the team. A dribbling rush that swept through the New Zealand defence followed. Abrams picked up and scored the first try got m America against t hevisitors, and the Blue and Gold took up the running where they left off when it looked as it the New Zoa.landers had | their numbers 'm the "rough stuff. 1 [ The feat of Abrams was signalised by the wildest cheering, . for -no other American player had ever crossed the New Zealand line. Time and again the Californians assaulted their opponents' quarters, but Cuthill relieved. Just as the pistol hounded the end of the game Roberts rushed into a line-out and batted the ball back to Wylie, who went through the posts for a try; The Californians heard the pistol shot and rushed fromj the field. Graham was preparing to kick the goal, but. when he saw that the opposing team was not lined up against him he simply tapped the ball with his foot and made no attempt to kick it over the bar. 1 ' . \ NeW Zealand retired victors again with a score of 38 points to 3. As an exhibition of good clean Rugby football the New Zealand manager deemed the match the worst he had ever witnessed. , A New Zealand critic who accompanied the team, said:-' "There is no use disguising the fact that rough and unsportsmanlike tactics were too often apparent, and when the New" Zealanders were goaded into retaliating the opposition behaved m the cry-baby fashion of refusing to play. They actually had to be : urged by their coaches to continue. They started a game at which they met their masters, and when they realised this they did not like it." CALIFORNAiN CHAMPIONS ROUTED Santa Clara University, just previously, were beaten ,by the New Zealanders by 42 points to 0. It Mas the big football feature of the Portola Festival of California^ ■ '■'■- ' " ' Santa Clara put up a great game m the first half, the All-Blacks only managing to secure thre,e '. tyies before changing ends. Santa Clara' achieved the distinction of holding .the^squthern stars m their own territory for ,ten consecutive minutes, a longer" period than any of the other Calif pmian, teams had : succeed [» ed m accomplishing. , The exertion of foiling the dangerous New Zealand' attack for 35 minutes, with only three breaks m the defence, proved too much for the collegiaais, and the ' All-Blacks romped over them m the second halfi scoring 33 points, m addition to the three tries of the first half. Once mare the goal lacking of the New Zealanders cost them a lot of points. Of their 11 tries only three ' were converted. A fine kick by Stohr from a penalty gave them the other three points. Dick Roberts and Downing were tho stars oj the All-Wacks, more particularly the ■former. Roberts' speed, dodging, and kicking ability ,'were shown at the best, and he must be considered as one of the world's greatest players on his showing since- he landed m »Sim Francisco. All the sporting critics agree on this fact. Downing was prominent m every move made by the Blacks' forwards, and played a, dsishing game. The forwards were not so strong on the dribMinjf rushes as usual, many #ood ohnnces bejng lost by the men attempting to pick up when they would .luivo done tatter by hooping the ball at their feet. In the evening, the visitors were the guests of the San Francisco Press Club, and ; were presented with the trophy mid medals attaching to tTio Portola Football Championship, to whirh their defeat of Santa Clara entitled them.