RUGBY FOOTBALL.

Auckland Star, Volume LIV, Issue 130, 2 June 1923, Page 21

RUGBY FOOTBALL.

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

I fl, o te who expected a hard, even .trawl" in Marist-College Rifles match I ia Saturday were frankly disappointed. Scspt in the third quarter (despite tho la the dark blues were outclassed, ltd, hack and forward. The Tyke lookers secured from the serum almost nntinuouslv till half time and their teks threw the ball about in good style. Marshall was quick behind tlie pack, and Griffin, Ilott n,,f l Malloy stood out trominentlv in attack while the whole jearmiard was sound in defence. Among He forwards McDonald played his best jjme of the season, aml was the best toward on the ground. lie was well ported by Casey MeGinley and Anderson, though the latter brought several wn'alties on his side. The Rilles' hacks ircrenot so certain in handling and picking up the greasy ball. V. Wilson, however, gave a line display, hi* try being the result of a splendid effort. Grierson .imported and fed him well, while the YOUUger Wilson made quite a creditable ihowin" for a debut in senior football. Gillespie played soundly nt full-back till lalf-time, when he had to retire. The pack were a disappointment both in light trork and in the loose. Mtiir however, was an exception, and gave a rattling exMbition of keen forward play, marked by sure tackling and tireless following up. fo"arty, Gallagher and Lane were his principal supporters. H. Paton, A. Wilson, and H. Buck have been appointed to select the Wellington representative teams. Timaru Eugby Union has bought the fouth Canterbury Sports Ground Company's area for a "price which is stated to be £2600, JUNIOR FOOTBALL. Grammar journeyed to Swanson. and succeeded in beating the local team by 58 points to 5, after a game which was somewhat uninteresting and only relieved by occasional flashes of somewhat brilliant play. The try gained by Kayes for Swanson was a fine effort, as was that of E. Singleton for Grammar, and these -were the outstanding features of the play. Although Grammar won by Buch a margin of points, they did not show their true form, and their combination was somewhat ragged. SwanEon likewise did not play up to expectations, and really failed to profit by mistakes made by their opponents. A noticeable incident in the game was the scoring of a try by B. Badeley in the closing stages of the game, for although playing consistently and kicking numbers of goals, this is the first time this player has crossed Ms opponents' lino Eince he left the Grammar School two years ago. In addition to Badeley, Darby, E. Singleton, McLean and Gould were tie most prominent on the Grammar side, while for Swanson Kayes and Thompson were the pick of r£ fairly feven lot. GrammarVpoints were secured by Eady 4 tries, E. Singleton, Badtfe.y, McCoy and McLean one each, w-hi'le Badeley converted two. For Swanson, Kayes scored, and Thompson converted. Training College met College Rifles on Kb. 2 pleying area on the Domain, tbe ground being very heavy. Trainiug College succeeded in winning by 17 points to 0. College Rifles were minus some of their original team, but while ihe two packs of forwards were fairly evenly matched in the loose, Training College managed to secure the ball from the scrum on nearly every occasion. This gave their rearguard plenty of opportunities, and they outclassed their opponents, whose combination was very weak. Brown, Clark and Russell were the pick of the students' forwards, and Ohlson, Craig and Broomfield were the outstanding backs, although Harrison played a Very safe game at, full-back. Jroomfield, Prosser and Stretton were the try-getters for Training College, hatvson converting one. Hockin was tlie °% player who stood out prominently ior College Rifles, and it was unfortunate that he received a nasty .knock on the knee, which will keep him out of the game for ieveral weeks. King's College Old Boys and Grafton tried conclusions on No. 1 Ground, Eden Park, as a curtain-raiser to the Pon-HHifiy-University game. The ground ""■"■ on the heavy side, and the game <M not come up to expectations. King's "Wed throwing the ball about in the «any stages, and it looked as if a fast 1 "] open game would result, but Grafton wen adopted spoiling tactics, which had |J" effect of cramping the play. Al-j though King's were opening iip the Pne, their passing was very wild, and! there was a tendency of off-side play through players getting in front of the •nan with the ball. King's, would do ]"«1 to check this tendency if they want ''develop into a decent side. Grafton *«c beaten for tlie ball for the most Part in the .serum and their backs as a frequence did not get many chances, tot what few that did come their way *«re not made the most use of. One Jfeakneas of the King's attack was the tendency to cross-kick, and several «ores were lost through this failing. wafton'B only score came from wild P a ß6ing among the King's backs in their """n twenty-five, which enabled Christian ».intercept and run through unopposed. *&p were the superior side, both wcks and forwards, and their score Mould have been larger. Grafton were 'ft- a most part on the defence, and in ■BJ department they were fairly sound. i featllr « of the game was the' number "stoppages for injuries to plavcrs. alWgb- play was not very hard'or fast. ™ the individual players. Sheen and SJPBH were most noticeable for King's, ""hough the latter should curb a ten--W to over-do the cross kick. Heard, WTa?' SOt throu ? h a lnt of good work, B " the forwards ns a whole were an , ( e " «*■ On the Grafton side. Liddlc « toll-back, Christian and Sharland did * 'ot of good work.

After making a poor showing on the! s§"« Saturday against King's Old ys, Eilerslie showed a return to form to iSfS Colle S e Riflf,s B by S points nm; , victo, T was all 'the more «n» , rthy in that their team was ■ Bposed of five of their third grade Ml ' X >o had i ust flnished a hard fSI College Bifies in their recent SWttes have been showing goo<l comtW ' and full . v expected to continue eir successiui career, and perhaps they W ' tal over-confident, and this, aidW rk on the I" 11 "* of Eilerslie. W!n\ al]out their defeat. Eilerslie M l , better of t,ll; exchanges, and XlLt, an i fonv ards showed to most «tage. College Rifles' combination «ie £„ gOOd ' and tht '- v we re lucky that IS. Bin gainst them was not larger. *""■ M full-back, and Colgan were

ldMsZ S \r; OI T ent in El *erslie's back division, and of a good, even lot of foiEablv' ?"• W ! Ute ™ X MackW were probably the pick. G ungon and Reed \ma- th 6 °, tSt , a "- din " ers for College Rifles. Eilerslie s points were a try by Colgan, which Somerfield converted, and j the same player also landed a penalty S Rifles SC ° red the ° nly try for Coi " The Junior Advisory Board had before them the question of a .player, who had already played for Ponsonby iuniors, playing tor College Rifles against Suburbs without being transferred, and, after a lengthy consideration, decided to award tlie match to Suburbs. It would he well for clubs to note the rules bearing on the question of transfers, for the getting of permission of tho captain of the op™ posing side is not sullicient to give a player the necessary qualifications, hut in each instance a transfer must be granted by the Junior Advisory Board It was hard luck for College Rifles to lose the match which they had won so easily, but the rules are there and must be observed. - Eden has withdrawn from the second grade, and the stronger members of the side have been promoted, in an endeavour to strengthen the club's senior fifteen. North Shore scored their first win of the season when they heat Harbour Board, who have only recently come into the competition, by 10 to 12, after a very close, even game. University triumphed over Ponsonbv by 19 to 0, after a game which was fast, but scrappy. Ponsonbv lucked combination, and the University backs played their best game this season, and bad" all the better of the exchanges. Tries were scored hy Dickson (2), Entrican and Kwen one each. Macken and Maingay converted one each, and Mellsop kicked a penalty goal. On the 'Varsity side. Ewen and Inglis were the pick of thp forwards. Their rover, Mellsop. made several fine openings, which greatly assisted the backs. ~"ln this department, Macken and "Winter were the outstanding players. Ponsonby's team played more of the individual game, and Boss and Kelly, in the back division, and McPherson, in 'the forwards, were the most prominent. Although Suburbs have only scored three points this season in the secondgrade competition, they have won three matches, two being hy default and the other awarded to them for a breach of the rules. The following table shows fthe position of the teams in the 6econd-grade competition:— SECOND GRADE. A SECTION. Points. Ch. P. W. _~ D. For. Agst. Its. Grammar 0.3. S ". — — ins 13 10 Training Col. 5 5 — — (12 25 10 Col. Kifles AD 3 2 — TO 83 (i Suburbs 5 3 2 — 3 47, t! University ..5 2 3 — A:\ 33 I Ponsonby ... 5 1 4 — 11 .17 2 Swanson .... 3 1 4 — _|4 94 Eden 5 "O 5 — 5 22 0 SECOND GRADE. B SECTION. Points. Ch. P. W. L. D. For. Agst. Pts. King's 0.b... 3 s — — :as IS 10 Col. Rifles B 5 3 3 — 45 56 6 Eilerslie 6 .1" 2 — 34 53 15 Grafton . 3 8 2 — 45 40 G North Shore.. 5 1 4 — 11 62 2 St. John's ... 5 0 5 — 5 19 0 PRIMARY SCHOOLS' NOTES. The 1923 season, later in starting than it was last year, opened this week. Already several teams have been in action and on Saturday at Eden Park, Richmond Road beat Vermont Street by 3 to nil. The arrangements for this year's games will involve a minimum of travelling, with the result that most of the contests will eventuate on Thursday afternoons. By a system of grouping the schools, teams will play, until the final games, on the grounds nearest their schools, Eden, Victoria, and Grey Lynn'Parks and the Domain being used. It is hoped that teams will forward results of the week's games in time for publication in Saturday afternoon's "Star." There promises this year to be keen competition in all of the grades, but particularly in the lightweight section, ■who will play for the Rupert Moore Shield. LEAGUE FOOTBAIiI. Sharp, a young player from Auckland, played wing-three-quarter for Newtown in Wellington last week. "With a little more experience he should develop into a top-notcher," is the Wellington comment on his play. Mr. C. T. White (secretary of the Wellington Rugby League) -has received a lette*. from' Mr. S. J. Keegan (late chairman of the AVellington Centre), Who did a great deal for the game in Wellington, to the effect that he is endeavouring to arrange with the New South Wales Rugby League to send a club team to Wellington and the South Island. Let ns hope he is successful. C ■>". Munro and J. Dawson, two of the New South Wale; Union reprcsenta- | tives last year to play against the All, Black", are now playing League. Munro, j who is only IS years of age, is close on I six feet in height, and weighs over 13 stone. He is playing with conspicuous success for University. Dawson is also a young player. and has thrown in his lot with Eastern Suburbs. He is very fast. ASSOCIATION. Does the fact of a team declining to" take advantage of a penalty kick, because, in their opinion, the referee has given a wrong decision, show a spirit of true sportsmanship? The following items from tlie "Leeds Sports Post" puts the position very clearly:—"A resolution of the council of the Football Association should put a stop to the foolish display of superiority which a few amateurs have adopted in the matter of the penalty kick. Being foreign to their ideas of sportsmanship, they have declined to take a penalty kick against opponents, or have taken it in such a w-ay as to make 'the proceedings absurd. That this in itself is an unsportsmanlike reflection on the referee does not appear to have occurred to them. However, the F.A. council has now ruled that, 'unless the penalty kick is taken in accordance with the law, the referee must order the ball back until it is properly 'taken.' In addition, the player who disregards his instructions has to be reported. The practice recently invented by professionals— : not to their credit-of lining up on the ' penalty line to impede the player taking i the penalty kick ie also vetoed. Any referee who has permitted this impeding i dodge is not worth hie football salt."