RUGBY.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVI, Issue 138, 10 June 1905, Page 12

RUGBY.

I Saturday's game, on the No. 1 ground j was not a brilliiuit exposition of football.l I but nevertheless it was not without ex-j i citing moments, and right up to the call, of tune the result wa.s in doubt. The sides were very evenly matched, especially in the forward division, and' I thr> ball travelled up and down the field I all through, first one side and then the.' J other holding the advantage. There wa.s.l however, too much individual effort' amona; the forward.-, anil too little combination. Both .-ides went into tho game, with a full head of steam, and kept up the pressure, and much of the energy was misapplied. The kicking in the open was too hard, and in close play ttoa men were slow in getting round the'ball, one or two of the Newton men being especially noticeable in this respect. \ I he Newton backs were within an ace of .-eorinfr. (iray on the wing playing a i dashing game, but each time Ponsonby i averted a score, and neutralia?d the ad- , i vantage. Redwood was the weak spot j among the Newton back?. Riley played about the best game he I has shown this -■■ason. doing a deal of \ work, both in attack and defence. Hi: was ably assisted by Wilson, who. with a little more experience, will make a i really good man. | Trevarthen played the best forward ; game ou the ground, and Eaton was also very fair. Lewis showed his usual tendency towards oil-side piny. Krahcis was. in fair form for Ponsonby. and Dunning and Carder also played up well. The (Jrafton-Suburbs match, which i was played on the No. 2. ground, attract. | Ed very little attention. There were five : six juniors in each team, and the ex- ' I hibition was a poor one. The players ' took the tield half an hour late, that time being spent in getting teams to- | get her. The r-pells lasted only half an hour each. The only hack who showed senior form i was King, who played five-eighths for I (irafton. Practically the whole of the. defence dcevlopcd upon him. and lie acquitted himself remarkahly well. Kiernan. who has been showing pood I form this season, evidently had a day off i { last Saturday, for he gave a very poor I display. 11. Ahaolum made his first appearance for Suburbs on Saturday, but he was clearly out of form. lluddhstone and McCormick (Orafton ) were the only forwards who showed up in the match againnt Suburbs on I Saturday. None of Suburbs forwards , j showed up particularly, but all worked hard. I The game between North Shore and • Parnell was considerably of a one-sided nature, but Parnell made a good up-hill fight of it all through, and finished, in spite of odds, as gamely as they started. Almost every man in the team was con- I ceding weight to his opponent, and added to this they were lamentably j wanting in combination. The toatn, ■ however, showed itself In be possessed of some sterling stuff, and with assiduous practice would undoubtedly make ' , a place for ilsr>lf. < >n Saturday the pack went down to jt with a will every time, I and several times secured the ball from! their weightier opponents, but as soon I as it moving again want of com- i bined piny told its talc. Conspicuous among the van were Poanausa and J. ' Taylor, who both played a sound for- ; ; ward panic. The individual work of J I most of the backs was distinctly credit- '. able, the tackling of some of them being; especially praise worthy, but in passing '• they were worse than bad. hardly a | I clean pass bein™ taken by one of them ] I during the whole play. Twiname was ai tower of strength to his side, especially I in tackling, always bring ready for his { man, while Smith was another of the. rear division who distinguished him- ! ( self, although his light weight often! ! nullified his. efforts. For Shore the back men were con- ' spicuous. their passing being especially j noticeable for its quality, and ou seveI nil occasions it amounted almost to brilliancy. Both the Wynyards distinguished themselves, and P. Oerrard j played well up to form, nearly always ; I being there when wanted. No such parj ticular merit attached itsfelf to the play i of the forward division, which was in- ' clined too much to looseness, and did ! not shine nearly so much against the i weaker combination of the maroons as i could have reasonably been expected.! ' Of the vanguard MeClusky ]>layed n ) ! good bustling game. Yeolaud made, j some very fair essays at the cross-bar. j The New Zealand team for Britain j has been finally chosen, and it cannot be said to have given the completest satin-1 faction. The exclusion of McKenzie has 1 : caused no .?nd of disappointment in Auck-; land, where it was very confidently an-1 ticipated that "Scobie" would iind a' place. He was selected as one of the ! second, batch of names published by the j I Union, subject, of course, to retaining form. That he has retained his form no one who has seen him play will deny,! and his treatment has been of the shab-j biest. There is no better defensive back

i so likely to prori? valuable to a touring, team. During the last two yeisrs 1 have seen every back of prominence in the colony at work, and, in my opinion.' which is giv,?n for what it is worth, no man in or out of Auckland plays so good an all-round game as MeKenzi..'. Admittedly, he failed when tried as full back for a New Zealand team, but bis 1 place was never at full, and it is not to he wondered at that when his first ap-j pearariee at full-back was made on an important occasion, he failed to show good form. Last season and this be has fielded the ball faultlessly, has kicked in capital style, and has collared n<j cleanly as any back in Auckland, while' his. running with the ball has been a= , brilliant as ever. Vet wHienJLhe numbers j go up his name is excluded from the i list. ThrTo arc backs in the team who' •could well be replaced by McKenzie. Booth, for instance, is not within miles of the New Zealand rep. level, and is. in fact, not much above decent club form. He should never have been included. Macgregor is admittedly a brilliant man in attack, but he has not "McKenzie's defensive powers, and \ would much prefpr to see the Aucklander in. in view of the; fact that the team will undoubtedly have a lot of defending to do. In the lnterIsland match. MeKenzic played on (Ik , I left. wing, while the play was all on the : right, and so he got few opportunities. Of those which came his way, however. , he made the best advantage, according to , those competent to judge, and ill one case! I hi* brilliantly stopped a. try. Kverv enthusiast in Auckland regrets his noninclusion. In making the.-c remarks the writer is not ac- : tuated by any motive of "provincial bias." because it is well known that' : McKenzie was a first-class footballer T>e- ! fore he saw a ground in Auckland, and that most of his knowledge of the game was acquired in tlv South. The kingpin of the team for Britain, the half-back, seems likely to be a source of weakness to the side. Only one man regularly playing a half-back game. Roberts, has been chosen, and when he unable to play Hunter will come up from five-eighths. Roberts is a long way below Kiernan at his best, while Hunter is just about up U) the moderate standard behind the serum. The New Zealand Rugby Cnion occasionally does sonic wonderful things, but one of the most remarkable its determination to send home "•liuimy" Duncan as coach to the rep. team, and this to the exclusion of a playing member. Twenty-six players were few enough to send Home for thirty matches, played in fifteen weeks, and a reduction, though i but by one. should not have been made. The idea of sending a conch Home with a side fitted to represent the colony is too grotesque for further comment. The ■ attention which the will pay to the ancient one will not amount to much, as the liappenintrs in connection with the New South Wales tour, on which oeenj sion he was master of ceremonies, prove, i Hut perhaps this is just as well. The , I'liion has turned a complete somersault : in ihe matter, for not very long ago it decided that no trainer should he -cut with the team. The , name of the onVe has been altered to coach, but the petition remains the same. A proposal has been mooted, and ''as rcceiveil considerable support, to the etl'ect that a <u(licient sum should be raised to pay the expenses of McKenzie Home. If this be done the £2~>() necessary muM be raised immediately, and no doubt it could l>o done. The I position calls to mind the fad that Alf. Mailey. when excluded by the selectors from llrv New Zealand reps, ior New ; South Wales, accompanied the team at his own expeii.-.e. and played • so well that he was chosen captain of the side, and \va« awarded the trophy offered to i the best, all-round player in the team. If sufficient were raised to pay his ex- ' penses. and provided he is willing to go. I the New Zealand I'niim would no doubt I appoint McKenzie a regular member of ' the team. Kfforts are still being made Hi secure his inclusion on the same I terms as the 25. A recent inter-club fixture in Sydney attracted five thousand live hundred people. J ii marked contrast is the utj tendance at Cup competitions in Auckj land, where the "gates'" have so far this season been much smaller than for ;i number of year? past. I The Northern M.V. Cup has been won by the YVnrrington team, defeating Hull (Kingston [{overs in the final match of i the season. I Mr. 11. ('. llolden. secretary of the i New South Wales Rugby I nioii. has received a cable message from Kllgljind stating in cfl'eet that the authorities i had decide:! that no goal can now !>•» j kicked from a ••speculator.'' thai is. a ; kick from a rolling ball. A goal from a j mark is to be reckoned three points, as ;also Mill a goal from a drop kick. The (council of the N.8.W.R.U., have decided 'not to interfere with the existing scorI injr points until more definite inforniaj tion is received from England* I In some respects, Rugby football dur- ; ing 1904-:") has been disappointing, says j the "I.S. and TV' Taking. fir 4, the lnI ternationul matches, which, in the absence of League and Cup tournaments, have no rivals as regards importance flhd popularity, it must be confessed that England and Scotland have been a long way below their old slanda.rd of strength. Ireland have been bettor than I usual. Perhaps their finest performance I was their victory over Scotland, in Edinburgh. Wales have once again secured j '"the triple crown." but one is not certain that even the Welsh fifteens have ' been so mechanically correct in their I operations as in certain past, years. Still. Wales have been unlucky in the matter of accidents, and have yet been good j enough to beat England.. Scotland, and I Ireland. Swansea have been the dub I fifteen of the year, and. in going I through a programme of 31 matches without suffering defeat, have accom- . plished a wonderful performance, con- | sidering how keen is competition in these j Apparently our reps, will have to be i prepared to meet a little "pointing" ' when they reach Wales, as the following extract from "The Field" goes to show: j "In the interests of Rugby football it is to be regretted that complaints of rough and unfair play should be heard in connection with international matchcf. Our report of the game between <the Scottish and Welsh, fifteens shows .tha.t die rtteree ielfe o>mtea2M»& J* ie-

. prove one of the players, and that dissatisfaction was felt with of the tricks employed on the winning side. I Whether in strict law (if there is any such thing in the Rugby game) certain stratagems arc right or wrong, the frequency with which players, officials, and expert spectators take different views points to a defect in 1 lie management of the jrame which the International Board I ought to lose no time in removing. It will be remembered that at la>; year the match between England and Wales was spoilt by the ininien.se number of free kicks that a referee of indubitable competence inflicted by way 'of penalty for wilful breaches of the 'law. Now. it is not to bi> supposed it hat experienced Welsh players were cithrt* unscrupulous or foolish enough to risk losing the game a dozen times within a few minutes, and it is certain that, they were sincerely aggrieved by the referee's decisions. There is no doubt, that the trouble has been brought about by the changes in the laws which have encouraged forwards to act chiefly as a screen for their hacks and halfbacks, to be excessively anxious to gain j possession of the hall behind this screen,while, their opponents are debarred from coming forward to interfere with them, /f tlie old off-side rule, the keystone of the Rugby game, bad been preserved in its integrity, there coukl have l>e< n no difficulty of The kind, whereas 'we are apparently drifting into a nieilhod of play similar to that which has I led to an outcry against football in the I'nitcd SUitcs. It i> to be noticed tbat suspicions and inuendos most frequently occur when clubs practising the Welsh , style meet with those still preserving 'something of the old forward play, lietweeii play which i- absolutely spiteful and that which i< merely sharp practice, or is suspected of being so. there i- :in intimate relation, ami it is. therefore, ■ most important to bring about a uni- I form interpretation of the. rules among players and _referees."