RUGBY FOOTBALL

Auckland Star, Volume LIV, Issue 148, 23 June 1923, Page 21

RUGBY FOOTBALL

I Qi an Athletic player in the team lid, placed a surprise but a merited ■ £/over Mansts it, Wellington a .-'tujrht ago a >"'w Zealand Times , S stated:— "If all the youthful ! '', ~forwards in Wellington could have ■ •-.mbledat the Athletic Park on Salurf v they would have learnt a lesson. . Tie transfer of Porter from live-eighths ■ ~ Trins-fonvard has given him a posiJL to which he is ideally fitted. , Essentially an individualist, rather too ! n "j]l iriving to kicking, speedy and solid, I Porter" more than tilled the bill. As i ne player in a senior match next door lo I tie Athletic-Jlarist contest remarked, lie I ilsved a back game. Porter, on Satur- | Lt showed what the veteran Stead I ° j'nt when he remarked at the last nesting Of the New Zealand Rugby Inion apropos <>f the wing-forward: "He's not a wing-forward at all. he"s a i fir half." Unfortiinntply. the tradition] hs beon lost. The winger to-day is trained aaa forward, taught a forward's , work, and, nineteen times in twenty, gels I tie idea that hi? primary duty is to protest a half, who oujrlit to lie quick enoiifh to protect himself. Thus the cl-tiuctionist game mnraienrcil. P.ut tie iring-forward should not only lie a spoiler, lie should be capable of opening up the game, and that is what Porter did. Hcivas not once on the same side of the arum as Connon, the Marist winger, vrt Warwick did not suffer. And he jmothered McLeary when necessary without a suspicion of being ofT-siclc. The moral ot it all is: if you want a wing forward, get a five-eighth, who is an individualist. Athletics have abolished tie title of wing forward in Porter's case ud substituted for it that of "fly-half."

JUNIOR NOTES.

There was no special interest attaching to Saturday's junior fixture?, none of tie leading teams being in opposition to each other. Grammar Old Boys, howerer, lad a bard came with Suburbs, and it was only in the last quarter that they succeeded in getting the upper hand. Training College, who tie for first place irith Grammar in the A section, maintained their position by beating University. The lenders in the B section, King's Old Boys, had another luuaway victory at the expense of St.. John's. Graf ton, ivho are runners-up, kd a bye. Training College and University had a food tussle on Ihe Domain, and under tie conditions the game was fairly interesting, the scores, 12 to 3, about representing the merits of the teams. There was a lot of loose passing. Xoither lide appeared to make the best use of their opportunities, and many chances we lost through faulty handling- The forward work was slightly in favour of Training College, and tlioir backs got plenty to do, but they failed on numerous occasions. The 'Varsity backs also M their side down, and had their work keen as good as that of the forwards they would have made a closer game of it Black and Clark were the pick of 1k Training College forwards, while in their rear division Lanigan and Craig stood out prominently. Macken and Winter worked hard in the University back division, while Clarke was, if anytlinjr, the outstanding forward. The ground on the Domain on which College Rifles A met and defeated Harloiir Board by 12 to 3 was anything but conducive to a good exhibition. It was «ry soft, aud cut up badly, and consequently the game was jnore or less a mud scramble. The packs were evenly matched, and under the conditions Played fairly well, but the back divisions got very few chances, the greasy tall handicapping them badly. On the Harbour Board side Macartney and Wright were the most prominent, while Wilson, Monasters, Brough and Noakes «re the players in the limelight for College Rifles. College Rifles B defented North Shore f 16 to 0 at Victoria Park after a 'ard tussle. The first spell was very *wnlv contested, and at half-time the tore was Jn]r 3 to 0 in favour of Col'f- In the second spell College Rifles mci much better and rattled on 13 Pjmts, their opponents going all to m. It was in the= second spell that *ge Rifles' forwards got ■ the upper paved the way to victory. Allege Rjfles' score was made up of taes by Miller (2). Walker and Lowe, die Murphy drop-kicked a goal. Airev " rover and Gee and Miller in the ll p-« Tere P. roin ment throughout for * Bifles, while L. Johnson at fullback CiaoS? 7 outstandi "s P la ?« r f ° r J° Urne^d to Avondale and l?f n ! hB ! "*o for three parts of the SV" d ihem ,Mn " their ye "- *«*, M the score was only S to 3 in "favour grammar In the last quarter the whLi "? opene<l '"' tho " amc ana 18 points, winding ,fp winners CuJ°. 3 - In the tight work Suburbs I,Ut W * h . en tllpir opponents Cc l dlff " ent tactk ' s and made play J™ open Suburbs failed to go Ye! Wev! T e badl - v beate »- They, Cml'rT,! , ?rCat fi " ht of H - Fo, - Gould and Ew,, stood, out gmenty, while Seabwok. Cram and | W P r a^ d S oofl S ames fo, ' s «l>»rbs. «*£? Coll °" e Old Boys ' "P S.!S f? aten - botl, I,:,ck and for - w- « re was ■■ pally on,v ° ne I>Z it- ■ r ' ieture throughout the, SotLtT 8 ' 8 have l ,roved a velv fine! Sf Sid, L thisseas on• and in the seven ' 5| B es . a i ct,,a,l r Played have registered , ZTI • Khich mwt wMtltnte! a Sri ~ unior foot, '«'l. King's rear"f" handled the «ret ball well., M fonvards showing as much dusli j apace as the backs, scores fame 1 tl u fre l«ently, and nineteen tries' ."e the result. Place kicking was a '• <W' 1 - v ever >on<! in the team had a 1 , " l « goal, only four of the kickers ' J"? successful, n-itli one npiece. With j " Playing well individual comment is ! tiat ♦\ ssary ' a,lrt jt will s;iflice to say; 5 'i tWm : ' s ;l term, "c combining ViH v n s f ougiit it out to the 1 «« end, and although they never : [ tV lookeil like scoring, stood up to ; « r opponents pluckily. i >fitfSf f ° r Colle g e "..R'flee against' . y I,- flore < Pouter, of the former team, ' Wi , misfortUl "' to have his collar- ; Cnu rf" In the - ,!U,,C Ki »S' s Col ' r O , U ' d 80 - Vs T- St. John's Heard and u»l a- ot Ki "S' s Ol <* Boys' players, % 4 ln J" ries a »<l had to leave' the ind'r d ? ot a naßtv cut on tl,e head W t \ WaS " in^ured '" the stomach and *s«=w taken to thfi hospital, Vlt »f.w el ° kaVe that institution *Aer j

Some interesting reflections on present- i day standards of English Rugby, by that well-known writer, F. J. Sellicks, arc as follows: "It is highly satisfactory to know that Rugby is nourishing exceedingly, and is being played to-day in districts where hitherto it has been Unknown. The quantity is all right, but ! what of the quality? The standard of play generally is not ns high as it was before the war. It is true thnt the England fifteen has, out of the sixteen post-war matches, won thirteen, drawn one, and lost only two. Admittedly that ;is a splendid record, but one fears it :does not represent the strength of English Rugby generally. The national si>ie ' has been blessed with the possession of i several stars, such as \Y. J. A. Davies. at ! jliis best the incomparable. 0. A. Ker- I J sliaw, one of the greatest serum halves j I m the history of Rugby, C. X. Lowe I " . \Y. Wakefield, A. T. Voyec, and one or two others. But the rank and file are of very different clay, and it would ,be a difficult matter to select a second 1 j England fitteen which could hold a candle ' Ito the-one that has so worthily wnn the : crown of the nations." ' |

j PRIMARY SCHOOLS NOTES.!

The worse than football weather, of the pact week has somewhat disorganised the routine of the competitions, and nn additional hardship has now to be faced since Eden Park, till it dries somewhat, will not bo available for school games. The executive, therefore, are faced with very great difficulty in adjusting fixtures, b'u: are doing ail that is possible under the circumstances, Tins week, the ground at Maungawhau School is being used for competition games. The third round in last week's mud, produced some keen struggles, oven though the quality of the football was not high. In the B grade, Dpvonport beat Nortbcote by oto ; >- Richmond Road secured S points to Bayfield's nil. and Newmarket proved much too strong for Ponsonby, who went under by 19 to 0. There were very oven struggles between Te Papapa and Cornwall Park. 8 to 6. and Onehunga and Grey Lynn. 3 to 0. In other C grade matches Epsom beat Xewton AVcst by 10 to nil. Remuera defeated Otahuhu by 12 to 3, and Ellerslie secured a victory over Meadowbank. The only D grade results available is that of the Beresford StreetParnell match, in which the scores were 9 to 3 in favour of Beresford Street. In the junior grade Onehunga bad a six-point margin over Meadowbank, while Ellerslie beat Rcmucra by S to 3. i

J ASSOCIATION.

The local association having decided that the winners of the second round of the League competition should represent Auckland in the contest for the handsome "Chatham" Cup, great interest was. evinced in Saturday's games, and the surprisingly large number of enthusiasts who braved the elements at the Domain j and Victoria Park were fully rewarded j for their fortitude. Unfortunately the conditions at the Dock ground did not permit of the Phildmeil-Thistle match j being played, but as both teams are I being considerably strengthened, this game should serve as a decided tit-bit towards the end of the season. Chief interest was centred in the Pon-sonby-Harbour Board match at Victoria Park, and after their decisive win over Philomel the previous Saturday, popular opinion favoured the chances of the former team. However, a surprise proved to be in store, and to the delight of their numerous supporters, the Harbour Board romped home easy winners oif a splen-didl}'-contested game by four goals to two. Ponsonby seer««d totally unsuited by the conditions, and with the possible exception of Kane, Neesham and Ahem, the team plaj'ed much below their usual j form. Tho attack was very disjointed, and the absence of Lemming was much felt. After Humphries had opened their score sheet with a powerful low drive, the Harbour Board played with great confidence, and another two excellent goals were scored in quick succession, Shergold's effort from 30 yards out being an especially fine one which well deserved the penerous applause it evoked. On the left wing Webster and Hum: phriee made up a splendid combination, and the former had man} - stirring tussles ; with Roberts, the honours at the close being fairly even. Lobban was the pick i of a hard-working trio of halfbacks, while Wallwork at right back for Harbour Board stood out as the best player on the field, bis sure kicking and fearlless tackling being a feature of the game. Covene3 - in goal saved many difficult shots in good style, but 'vas ones extremely lucky to find himself in tiie way of an express drive from Kane. His action in removing the ball after it had j ! been placed on the penalty mark by the ! referee was ludicrous in the extreme, and well merited the caution ildniinisI tered by Mr. Bowie. Tlie latter main- • tamed throughout a firm hold on the game, which, with the exception of tho incident mentioned above, was played in J a fine sporting spirit. I Pushing within the penalty iraa i=; ■ still prevalent, and offenders must note i I that for this ofi'encc the referee has 'no option but to award a penalty kick. INo doubt the punishment may appear too great, as many games have lieen won and lost on this account, but it is as the law stands and players should ; do their utmost to conform to the rules, j J '"The stand taken by the X./.FA. that 1 I visiting teams to Xew Zealand must be i amateur teams will not," writes a Wei- ; ; lington correspondent, ''meet •.'. iili 'gen--1 eral approval from Soccer folldivnr*. I 'am quite in favour of getting amateur , teams, if possible, although th?y arc frei quently the most expensive-, but if they ' are not procurable, then get the profes--1 sional team, if at all possible. The Australian F.A. are at present negotiating with England for a team, and are offer- , ing £100 per man, a percentage of the I profits, and pay all expenses. What will I .Messrs. Mayer and Graves say to this? ' Are we to lose the privilege of seeing an English team in New Zealand because they are pros? if this trip does eventuai/and the N.Z.F.A. turns it down on the ground of professionalism, 1 am certain fhey will find thty are quite oat of touch «if Ii :-upporteiv> of the game. The Queensland members of the Ajstralia'i team vhicb played ; n Xew Zealand last winter each received £100 from the Q.F.A. for J expenses, etc.! And they seemed quite de|cent fellows too!"