FOOTBALL.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXI, Issue 65, 17 March 1900, Page 4 (Supplement)

FOOTBALL.

Following up their victory over Eng« land, Wales, on January 27, vanquished Scotland at Cardiff by 12 points to 3 (4 tries to 1). The Scotchmen were beaten in the pack, and the Welsh halves, gaining- possession of the leather five times out of six, passed out and opened up the game for their threequarters in a way that recalled the best days of the brothers James. According to the London Press, " the! bright particular star of the day, however, proved to be Gwyn Xicholls. "Both in attack and defence he was magnificent." The amount of money} taken at the match was £1,220.

The Welsh International captain, Bancroft, at the present moment holds the record of having played in more Rugby International matches thaii any other player. His record is: England, Scotland, and Ireland in IS9O, 1891, 1892, 1593, 1594, 1395, and 1896;; England, 1597; England and Ireland, IS9S; England, Ireland, and Scotland, 1399; and England, 1900. So that he has played for his country in every, match since 1890, and in all has therefore played in 28 matches. "

It is one of the ironies of Rugbyj Union football, relates- a writer that experienced players make the most childish mistakes. Three very recent! instances of this fact may be worth, calling attention to, and they are the more interesting- and instructive seeing- that in each case the man at fault; was no stranger to first-class football. In one match the referee had sounded the "no charge" whilst a place-kieic was in course of being taken. Much depended upon the result of the kick, but the kicker, apparently oblivious of the fact that he was at liberty to take his time, gave the order to the placer of the ball just as if the opposing side had committed no irregularity. Indeed, the placer had barely, i time to remove his hands ere the kickj er's foot was on the ball. The attempt was a disastrous failure, and fate did not forgive the erring player or his side. In another case a forward dribbled the ball half the length of thes field, and had got to within a few feet of the adversary's goal line. Here an opposing back caught him up and contented himself with quietly kicking the ball over the line in question. The forward trotted on, and. falling on it without opposition, secured a try. The back had confused the goal line with the dead ball line. A third instance of mental aberration was even more peculiar. A back, aTTer a magnificent run, passed the full back, and had his opponents at his mercy. To the general surprise, when a little more than twenty yards from the goal jline, he grounded the ball, and walked I leisurely back. It Avas quite light at ; the time, yet he had mistaken his opponents' "twenty-five line" for their .goal line. Such occurrences tend io i show that the head is not always in ' such good working order as theiegs.