THE PLAY.

Auckland Star, Volume XIX, Issue 113, 14 May 1888, Page 5

THE PLAY.

[BY TELEGR._rH_p_.:E SS ASSOCIATION.]

Wellington, May 12. |HE English footballers arrived by the s.s. earlvV, aU this IKOrning, but owing to the caartt the Rece Ption Committee were Drew. DarPPinS> only one member being __},)■_ There was a lai'ge crowd of the WHy however. The visitors were driven bed R to the EmP«'e Hotel, and went to ■as they were not able to get berths, iJi 8Pc, nt the night on deck. The followtli*. c En Blish te«ra : Full-back, Paul; son ? arters> Haslam, Speakman, AnderSedLT, s' Bumby, Nolan; forwards, %her 9 (C^tain)l Ea B'ks' Kent > Benketh, ThTtev onias' Stuart. Banks, Burnett. Phved ~match of the English tour was in (J °n tile Basin Reserve this afternoon thou^»i nee of between six and seven and \i p6ople- The weather was fine dition a' and tlle gro"nd in capital conWn„? Spite the morning's rain. The visitors i n tim? n Were arrayed in black, the *o re bai" v usual colours, and the men Enof ciBWlfch numbers, though some of Wp£?- en for S°fc to put them on. toss T T- d the local team and lost the barters,'? k wa« finally placed at three»_re war Uge fullback. The umpires It ma,. J ams?nd.Nicolls ; referee, Knapp. c, Pocia|lv > i at once that the matcb) 8 °Bttlni » c who hac'' witnessed the tf»«M» w.u rgr? disappointing,

owing to the excellent collaring and interminable appeals to umpires. Scrummages were so frequent as to obscure the better points of the game, added to which were the number of delays through men being huvb. Thus the play was far from beinsr fast and exciting as anticipated, and on the whole the match may be pronounced the poorest of the series, while it cerbainly exhibited the Englishmen in a worse light than they have yet appeared. This is partly attributable to the fact that that they had only landed on the liiornini' of the game, and partly, no doubt, to the fact of the matches following in such quick succession. The local team were quite above the Englishmen in the first spell, and had their opponents been able or willing to push the advantage they obtained, the match would scarcely have ended in a draw. Haslam was very meekly allowed to. obtain a try, which the slightest exertion would have prevented, and the forwards played without a particle of combination. After the first goal had been kicked there was vast improvement, and they pushed the Englishmen very closely. Thomson equalised the .score early in the second spell by a wonderfully clever piece of play, and from that time out the black uniforms were often to be seen in tho vicinity of the other goal. At times some excellent dribbling was exhibited by the Wellington men, but their passing, like the other provincial teams, bore no comparison to the clean and accurate throwing of the strangers. There was some capital kicking on both sides. It should be said that during the hitter part of the game the Englishmen played a man short, Banks having to retire, and at another period Stuart, Haslam, and Bumby got some hard knocks, which temporarily disabled them. Warbrick and Moorehouse also suffered in the same way, but though there was .. disposition on the part of the Englishmen to accuse their opponents of rough play, it could nob be seen thai there was any attempt at wilful injury. Most of the damage was caused by men throwing themselves at the feet of charging forwards for the purposo of securing the ball, and from the boldness with which some of the players did this it was not surprising that they occasionally got hurt. Naturally under such circumstances there was a surplusage of talk, and all through tho match the 1.1111 pires had a lively time of it. The spectators showed great dislike to these constant appeals, and rather unfairly took into their heads to reprehend the Englishmen for it all

Seddon, having won the toss, chose the eastern end, from which a .slight breeze was blowing, and King kicked off. Within five minutes the reds were forced down, but Fairbrother then allowed himself to be collared close to his goal, and the Englishmen returned the compliment. Thomson, with a cool kick, stalled ofl'a line charge of the red forwards, but Bum by headed the dribble ■which turned the scale once more, and so close did the reds get it to the line, that Moore, having secured a mark, had no room to kick, and the blacks were again forced down. At this stage, the local men seemed at sea, and their opponents broke through them again and again. Fairbrother and Warbrick, both of whom were suspiciously unreliable at first, effected some long drops, but each time the ball was driven back, and every moment there was a danger of score, but after an interval of suspense, chiefly occupied in dull scrummages, the blacks broke away. Moorhouse kicked the ball well up to the goal, where Paul mulled it. The speedy Wellington skipper chased the ball, but luckily for England it rolled out of bounds behind the goal, or a try would certainly have scored. This was only a flash in the pan, as a long kick out, helped by much fumbling, saw the reds once more established in the Wellington quarters, and there they remained for some time. Haslam made a fine dash along the southern end of the ground, but accidentally sent the ball forward at a critical moment. It did not matter, for very soon a quick pass put him once more in possession in front of the goal. He safely passed the nearest men, escaped Warbrick's clutches, and threw himself over the line before Gage could get well hold of him. There was ample time to stop him, as he did not travel at any speed, but the local men were caught napping, and suffered, for Paul easily kicked a goal This reverse which, happened jusb before bhe interval, had a marked effect on bhe local men, and henceforward bheir play was much more effective. The forwards made some pretty rushes, but the red backs were too smart, and always checked them in time. After a short respite, owing to Btimby receiving a kick on the neck, the whistle sounded for the interval. Score : England a goal to nil.

From the kick-off Warbrick secured the ball, but failed to make good use of his kick, and his comrades had some difficulty in shifting the reds away from their goal. Eventually the Englishmen were pushed back through a series of scrummages, and Moorhouse cleverly threw the ball between his legs to Fail-brother, who in burn passed bo Thomson, who was immediately grappled, but wriggled away. Seeing he could not get clear, he rapidly turned, and with a side kick landed a beautiful goal, which was loudly cheered, and thoroughly deserved it. The scores were nowequal, and curiosity was keen to see whether the Englishmen would put on the pacr they were reported to have done in the latter part of previous matches. Expectations were not realised, for though there was a perceptible rally, it was not of long duration. King and Fairbrother exhibited a pretty turn of foot, but Haslam vigorously responded, and ran to within 20 yards of the goal. He then had to retire for a few minutes in consequence of a blow on the thigh, received in rolling into touch. There were some snatches of passing among the English which gave the onlookers an inkling of what their play might be like under advantageous circumstances, but many efforts in this direction were nipped in the bud. and the local men were equally skilful in loose dribbling, which it took the others all their time to stop. Through one of these skirmishes the ball found its way to the vicinity of the eastern goal, and a scrummage was formed near the line. Paul, attempting to run round the back, found himself shut in, and only saved the position by grounding the ' ball. A considerable interval of rather tame play followed, neither having any advantage. Stewart was hurt in the groin, and had to be carried off the field. The visitors roused themselves for another effort, and again there was a short display of passing, but the Wellington men were determined, and their collaring and running satisfactory. Then Moorhouse and Banks were successively injured, and the latter limped off' the field, just as Stewart slowly hobbled on again. Banks did not return. Bumby started on a run, and passing to Speakman, carried the ball in past the blacks' 25, where Thomson obtained a free kick. From this time forward the local men confined the game to the other end of the ground. Paul, hard pressed, sent the ball but of touch, and Warbrick securing a well-judged mark, which the Englishmen seemed inclined to dispute, drove it down again. The reds evidently felt the loss of a man, and from the anxious remarks of the non-playing members of the team, who shouted directions from the side of the field, it was apparent they would be glad when time was called. The backs determinedly assailed their ranks, with the intention of pressing the advantage they felt they had secured. King claimed a mark, but no whistle sounding, started on a run, and passed to Thomson, who had a shot at goal. Then, for some reason not discernible, the whistle did sound, and the ball was taken back, but as soon as it was dead time was called, no further score having been obtained. The match was therefore drawn,' each having obtained three points. For the reasons given above, the game was scarcely a fair criterion of the merits of either team, bub it y&s pretty evident the

local men were somewhat stronger than anticipated. Apart from the mistake of letting Haslam through the back, the play was the strongest Wellington has shown for some seasons. The inclusion of Warbrick whose kicking, by the way, was somewhat wild, and placing Gage full-back, elevated the weak spots. Much interest is now taken in the issue of Monday's match.

Wellington, May 13.

Banks and Stewart, two of the English footballers, were hurt yesterday. The former received a kick on the knee, and it is doubtful whether ho will again play during the present tour in New Zealand. Stewart was injured in the scrum, but after a few minutes' spell resumed play. The match Combined Wellington and Wairarapa Unions v. Englishmen, for to-morrow has fallen through. It appears Wairaraoa had agreed to provide six of tho men, but last night found only three men could come down and play. Under these circumstances, the Wellington Union met Lillvwhite and Shrewsbury this morning, when it was decided that the match should fall through. The amount taken at the gates was £270, exclusive of tickets sold throughout the town. Of the local team, Warbrick and Moorhouse were a good deal bruised and shaken. The Englishmen leave for New Plymouth on Tuesday.

Wellington, (midnight)

The Wellington Rugby Union having withdrawn from the match against the Englishmen, a meeting of footballers was held at the Empire Hotel at nine o'clock this evening, when it was decided to choose h team to play to-morrow. U. Campbell, A. Cooper, and E. Davy were elected a selection Committee, and they chose the following :— Fullback, Sim ; three-quarters,Fairbrother, Oagc and Thorn]ison ; halves, Moore and H. Roberts ; forwards, Cockroft, JVieLeary, Ellison, F. Moore, Ilyland, Whatman, Storey, Crowcll. and Mclntyro. Emergency: backs, Johnston and G. Cooper; forwards, Malcolm and Welsh. Tho English team had not been selected this evening. Tho weather promises to be fine.