FOOTBALL.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 65, 16 March 1907, Page 12

FOOTBALL.

The annual meeting of the A.R.U. will be held on April 12, the Referees' Association meeting the same day. The following dates have been arranged by the various clubs: —Grafton. April 5; Parnell, April 5; City, April 4; North Shore, 22nd inst.; Ponsonby, 22nd; and Newton, before Easter.

Ponsonby has decided to send a team to Christchurch for the Exhibition tournament from April 6 to April 13, the Exhibition authorities paying £15 towards the cost. Grafton will also probably send a team.

George Gillett came to live in Auckland on Saturday last, and will play for Ponsonby next season, as will Nicholson and Hall, the Thames back who created such a favourable impression last year.

Angus Campbell proceeds to Dunedin as representative of the Auckland Referees' Association at the conference commencing on Good Friday. The Auckland Association has tabled no motions, for the meeting, but some important matters will be discussed.

The annual general meeting of the New Zealand Rugby Union will be held in Wellington on Thursday, May 2. Previous to the meeting a conference of delegates will he held, at which matters of importance relating to the management and control of the game in the various centres will be discussed and dealt with. A proposal will also be brought forward for the arrangement of dates for the various representativegames to be played during the incoming season. The following dates have so far been fixed by the New South Wales Rugby Union for the N.Z. team's visit:—lSiew Zealand v. New South Wales, in Sydney, July 13 and 20; New Zealand v. Australia, in Sydney, July 17; New Zealand v. Queensland, in Brisbane, August 3 and 10; New Zealand v. Australia, in Brisbane, August 17; Australia v. New Zealand, in Sydney, August 24. Writing concerning the low standard of England's internationals since the introduction of the four three-quarter system' Mr Hamish Stuart suggests that the nine forward system should be reverted to. He concludes. "I admit I am raising a problem which prejudice will keep out of the region of practical polities. Yet, if ever there was a question of admitted academic interest which at the same time involved a problem of practical importance, it is the subject which I have been discussing. The facts tell their own story greatly; the real difficulty is to point the best moral of their talc. Last year, the NewZealand game seemed to point a way out; maybe salvation lies in the future in the direction indicated, in spite of the success of the South Africans, in what we are pleased to call "our game."

Reviewing the tour of the South Africans E. H. D. Sewell, the famous international, says: —'"Taking part in 2S encounters, the springboks have gained 25 victories, suffered two defeats, and played one draw, so the undertaking has proved a brilliant success. The reverse sustained in the last match constituted a serious blemish on their record, but on the whole they have more than realised expectations. From the first their great speed, splendid tackling, and clean handling of the ball showed that they would turn out formidable opponents for the best teams in this country, and although on more than one occasion they met their match forward, being, indeed, overpowered in some engagements, the grand defence and smartness of their backs pulled them through. They owed nothing, moreover, ito any .special formation, such as that which undoubtedly contributed to tho success of the New Zealanders, but were content to play the game according to the best traditions of Rugby football, and by the exercise of energy, skill, and intelligence they have enjoyed a genuine and well-de-served triumph. Their visit, following so soon after that of the New Zealanders, naturally led to comparisons with that redoubtable band of footballers. The South Africans lacked, perhaps, something of the bewildering resource which characterised the JSew Zealanders, and were distinctly inferior to those players in controlling the ball in the scrummage, but in other respects their work was quite on a par with that, of the men who so startled the Rugby world 12 months ago. From first to last, too, the South African's earned golden opinions for the manly and generous spirit which marked them, whether hard pressed or winning easily. The records suggest a pronounced superiority on the part of the New Zealanders; but it should not be forgotten that English Rugby football is this season far better than it was a year ago, and that consequently the ordeal through which the South Africans have passed his been appreciably more severe than that of their immediate predecessors. Moreover, the South Africans defeated Wales, an honour which was denied the New Zealanders.

E. ._;. Booth, one of the members of the famous "All Black" team, has received a letter from Mr R. P. Woodward, hon. secretary of the British Columbia Rugby Union, in which the writer says:—"l bad the honour of managing the first team ever sent out of British Columbia, though by the same token we do not intend it to be the last by any means. That 2000 miles' trip to play two games with you has borne abundant fruit, for the two big Universities —Stanford and the University of California—have adopted the game and I think there is no question about their staying with it for keeps. Next season will be the critical one, and only lack of sufficient competition will even then endanger its permanency. Given a greater number of matches there is, to my mind, no question of the permanency of the code on the Pacific Coast, as all the colleges and high schools in Oregon and Washington always follow the lead of Stanford and the University of California. I took another team down to California last November, and played two maXebes with each University. It cost approximately 1500. deUars £v.<_ a_ £-• frater-

nity houses) and at Berkeley they made 300 dollars profit and at Palo Alto (Stanford) 200 dollars. In the big ' interUniversity game, Stanford, v. Berkeley, the gate was in the vicinity of 40,000 dollars, as near as I can learn, 20,000 people being present; lowest charge for admission one dollar. This was the first time in the history of these historic contests that the match was played under the Rugby rules, and although the exhibition the teams put up was naturally crude the great majority of players and spectators agreed that the game was in every way superior to the "battle ball" of the United States Universities. We had Stanford up here during Christmas week, beating them twice and tying with them once. For a green team they play surprisingly good Rugby, their tackling, fielding, and running being beyond reproach, and we fully recognise that in a season or two they will be right in the first flight of organisations, and the same statement applies to the Berkeley men—the University of California.