RUGBY.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 136, 8 June 1907, Page 12

RUGBY.

The second round of the championship matches commences to-day. The one topic of interest in football circles is the professional tour, and the subject is discussed daily from every point of view. i The conclusion of the first round has left City in the lead, with Ponsor/jy second. Parnell occupies a better position than for many years, and their success -— grudged by no one. They turned out Saturday after Saturday and season after season to receive a 'Tiiding," and took theu- defeats in a sportsmanlike ! manner. Now they are beginning to reap the reward of their persistency. With a little more weight all through, the team would be a really good combination. Saturday's matches did not promise well, and with the ra.ees as a counterattraction, the attendance was counted in hundreds, the grandstand not being one-fourth fulL Parnell had the better of the deal against Newton from the whistle, and very early in the game it was evident that the question was not wh"> would win, but how much Parnell would win by. The forwards were fairly evenly matched, but Parnell had a bit in hand, being generally quicker on the ball. In the back division the game was all in favour of the maroons, who were cleverer in every way, and who beat their opponents "out of sight." In the forward division Kinder was again the best of the maroons, and he was ably seconded by Rhodes and Walsh, : who did good work in the open and on the line. Tbe maroons beat their opponents badly in working the scrum, and both in hooking and wheeling had things their own way. Fox gave by far his best display he-1 hind the serum, and played a really good game. He bandied the ball with ■ certainty, kicked well, and passed cleanly, while he mixed Iris play a good, deal, and started a number of firsT-class runs. These runs were the feature of the ■ match, and were certainly far ahead of anything so far seen this year. The jplayers, generally speaking, ran fairly straight, and the ball going from man to man at the right moment. Several times it went from half to wing without a m-stake. Ptuekey was in good form at fiveeigbths, and did a rare lot of work both in attack and defence. He has the height, weight, and speed to make an ideal man for the position, and I shall not be surprised to see him called upon to represent his province this year. He gets under way quickly, cuts in well, and tackles in a determined manner. He takes a pass well, but would do better by steadying himseif a little before sending the ball on. Todd played a rattling game, and his dodging was worth watching, especially his try when he ran through tbe middle of the opposition and beat half a dozen men. Twiname, Hogan, and Smith did good work in the three-quarter tow, and Cleave was very safe at fullback, doing all that was asked of him in a workmanlike manner. Trevarthen was the pick of the Newton forwards. He kept on the ball well, and was hard at it all through. The support accorded him, however, was not of the best. Dittle can be said of the red and white hack division. The handling of the ball was faulty, very faulty, the tackbng was not good, and the line-kick-ing, on the whole, was below par". Crawford let his side down badly several times, and once be gave a try away to Todd by not going after the ball at full speetfe when it was over the line. V. Meredith, the Wellington rep. half, who was here a couple of seasons back, and who has since, been in Dunedin, bus been re-transferred by the Customs Department to Wellington. The New South Wales Rugby Union, which decided to abandon tbe tour of the Great Public Schools team to New Zealand, will endeavour to arrange for the tour next year. The Tamworth match in the programme of the New South Wales team oji their way back from Queensland to meet New Zealand was deleted by the. N.S.W. Rugby Union. Frank Glasgow, the "All Bl"ack." who is now resident in Invereargill, has only played in one match this season, a sprained leg in his first game having kept him out since. The Buller Rugby Union have, challenged Auckland for the Ranfurly Shield o.nd Marlborough for the Seddon Shield. From present •appearances (says the "Westport News") the Buller should be able to put in a combination 3trong enough to gi%-e tbe best provincial team in the colony a hard run for honours. It should have a powerful lot of forwards and a speedy back combination. The old New Zealand lock, B. Fanning, is still on the scene. Says '"Dropkick" in the "Press" : —"B. Fanning appeared in the Linwood team against Christchurch. I think his presence accounted for the whole reversal of form by the Linwood forwards. Besides the : effect of Farming's presence, tbe burly ! forward was in good form, and led .many j Green charges into the Christchurch back department. It was impressing to witness the dash that Fanning showed. I as one expected to see him outclassed | for pace in a fast, forward game. With the present backs in tbe province, if a ; few Farmings could be found for the vanI guard, the .success- of Canterbury in representative games would be assured," 1 Tbe English Rugby Union County

Championship remains undetermined for the first time in the history of tbe competition. ]>urham and Devon, having emerged victorious in the north and south respectively, have met twice on successive Saturdays and failed to con- ; quer each other, a try each being the result of the first match, whilst in the second, not a single point was scored. i This is an exceptional occurrence, and both sides feel they have had enough of it, what with railway journeys of 700 miles and two gruelling games at tne fag- ; end of the season, when the players' powers are on the wane, so the rivals ; unanimously 'agreed to shake hands and ■ share the honour of the championship, expressing a hope that fate would bring them together next season to renew the friendly battle. The Bradford Football Club, Yorkshire, recently withdrew from the Northern Union Football, and a meeting of the guinea members (there are fruinea and half-guinea members) decided to have English Rugby Union Football next season. The. majority of the guinea members support tbe Rugby Union, the majority of the half-guinea subscribers are clearly in favour of the Northern Union, while the present committee, with a moderate amount of support from both factions, are in favour of giving up the ghost altogether and promoting the other code. In the meantime the professional Rutrby stalwarts are working bard to secure, "another enclosure. Ponsonby had a runaway win of 56 points to nothing against Grafton on Saturday. Tlie black and whites, however, could only muster a team of thirteen players, many of whom were juniors. Even although they are playing with indifferent success, it is a j regrettable thing to see support dwindling away from a senior combination in - this manner. The forwards, speakinsr generally, are a hardworking lot, but they receive practically no support from the backs with the exception of Suther- j land. The blue and blacks, of course, ' had a very easy time, but lost many ! points through wretched place-kicking and at times faulty passing. ° ; W. Maekreil, who, up to this season, ' had not struck form since the All Black tour, played a splendid came for City against the Shore on - Saturday last. His only fault was his dribbling—the ! I ball seemed to get tangled between his feet, with the result that he invariably got in front of it. He played a very! 1 hard game all through, and there was not a more useful man on the side. Shore played three sailors from the warships on Saturday. It seems that j an old rule entitles them to this con- ! cession i Mr. Wynyard donned the jersey for I Shore on Saturday,; Tiuß had not been. . playing many minutes before be de- | j ceived a nasty cut on the head, which' ■ necessitated his retiring. Tin's player 'has been very unfortunate, having been hurt in the three matches he has played ' , in this season. The match at the Shore on Saturday was very tame, neither side placing its full team in the field. Through a transposition in a paragraph in these columns, last week, it was made to appear that Parnell's third grade team 'had defeated the Grafton. This should have been the other way round, Grafton having given the match to Parnell by failing to turn out. Parnell have, not defaulted in any of their grades or matches, but have turned out to meet every engagement whether with hope of success or without. •I Shore 11. arc now leading for the second grade championship, their defeat of , City on Saturday last entitling them to ; '■ this position. ' AUCKLAND WEDNESDAY UNION. I : With the conclusion of last Wednes- ■ day's matches the teams stand as fol- ' lows:— j Played. Lost. Won. J Post, Telegraph, and •! Railway 3 3 [ Bakerts 2 2 Diapers' Combined Team 3 2 1 • Grocers and Milkmen.. 2 2 I Butchers . 2 2 ! There are two more fixtures to be J played before tbe end of the first round | is reached, but, as the Bakers and the 1 Post, Telegraph and Railway have al- ' ready shown th.cir superiority over the ' -other clubs the meeting between the two ha.s already aroused interest. They ' play next Wednesday, and in tbe event : of the fine weather being maintained j patrons of Wednesday football should ' I be treated to an excellent exhibition. ■ j The Civil Servants have made an exI celtenr. impression this season, due to ■ the brilliant and dashing play of their I backs, and in the two contests in which they have played (last week's win was : by default) they have run up 17 points in each case—the backs scoring practically all the points. At a pinch they I can muster together a strong forward team, and should they be able to place ; Traue and Connel in the front row next j Wednesday, with Parker as lock and ; Armstrong in the pack also, this depart-Im-ent would be very difficuli to cope with. 1 On the whole, their prospects of victory I are very good. As a contrast to the Civil Servants, j the Bakers rely entirely on their for I wards, their vanguard being a very solid , one, and undoubtedly the strongest lai the Union. They are playing with good combination—which the Civil Servants will lack — and with two such beady generals .as Savoury and Pierce, they will be able to mix their play better than their opponents, whilst the force and vim of their rushes will be a feature of ■ the game. Behind the scrum they are weak in attack, but if they are able to secure tbe services of Stubbing at fiveeighths, the defence of the rearguard should be well up to the mark. Stubbing is the best five-eighths the Wedaesday Union ever possessed, but he can haTdly be expected to reproduce his very best form. With Greenwood in his best nick the Bakers will be better served in tbe rear tban .would be imagined, and it will not surprise their supporters to 1 , see them victorious next week. The last match—Bakers v. Drapers' Combined team—was not a brilliant exhibition of football, the former out-class-ing their opponents at all points. The ■ form of the winners, though good,-could ha-dly ba taken seriously, as the team as a \vhole never put forward its greatest exertions, and it was apparent t&at

1 they could have added to the points had they wished. A noticeable feature of the game was the improvement iv the play of the Bakers' backs. Greenwood showed up in his old form, and was ably assisted by Parks and Bunting, whilst Hunt at five-eighths made "few mistakes. The Drapers were disorganised from tbe start, and did not show even a glimpse of their opening form. Batkins, in the ba-ck-s, was the bright particular star, and did more work than any ■two players on his side.