SPORTING GOSSIP,

Auckland Star, Volume LV, Issue 220, 16 September 1924, Page 9

SPORTING GOSSIP,

RUGBY FOOTBALL. NOTES AND COMMENTS. Plenty of thrills were provided in the '■ Thames—Auckland B match at Eden Park in a tall scoring game. . The Auckland team was a youthful one, but showed promise and had more combination than their opponents. Combination seems ■to be a i fading feature of Rugby and none of the country teams which have played at Eden Park have shown any cohesion in their backs. There is far too much kicking and short punting. Time and time again in i Saturday's same the backs would lose pos- ; session of the ball by experimenting in kicking over their opponents' heads. Almost Invariably the ball went into the arms of i the full-back, and it is his function, as the last line of defence, to clear such attacks. ' If he does not, well he should not be there. ' What the young players want to loam is | the value of possession. It has been shown I that it is Just as easy to score from a i team's own twenty-five as from its oppon- ] ent's. In fact, tho former is often easier ! for once the defence has been penetrated it ' is only a matter of pace. In an opponents' i territory openings jire not so often found. ! Another weakness which Saturday's game ' Illustrated again was tackling. The diving tackls seems a lost art nowadays, and it was this failure to go at a man which ' led to scores. Fancy the fullback standing j up to try ana stop a swerving opponent. And that is what O'Brien did on one occasion. He was thrust out of the way. Of the Individual players. Hook, nt centre for Thames, was the most impressive ' back on the ground. Strong and straight running, speed and evasiveness marked his game. The only other Thames' back worth noting was Buchanan, who distinguished himself as a wing of the dashing type when he got the opportunity. In tho Thames forwards Strange, 31. Hayward, ! and I.opias were the pick, the former shin- ' ing In the open. Sheen was the brightest and nippiest of the Auckland backs', and ' promises well as a "rep" next year, r.oth Jaggs and Pelham gave promise but are awkward and spoilt good work by bad passing and overrunning. I<usk was a moderate half and the other two backs far too slow. The forwards were an even lot, and were led by Peters, Goodacre and Samways. i l'cters and G. Winder were in spleiiflfd ! goal-kicking form, both being consistently accurate. The former converted five tries ' and kicked a penalty; Winder converted i three times and kicked three penalties. A match between the Papakura Civu j Servants and the ICainbow Representatives i was played on the Uailway Reserve, Papa- ' kura on Saturday in splendid weather con- I ditions and the ground in good order, the I attendance being fair. The proceeds are to be handed over to the Beautifyin" I Society. On Saturday, August 30, the Civil : Servants defeated the Raiuhow Reps., this i match being played to determine which j team were to be the holders of the hand- 1 some cup presented "by Mrs. Stevens for competition among the Civil Servants of Tapakura. The Rainbow Heps, again challenged the Civil Servants, with the result that the latter gained a decisive victory over the Reps, by 14 points "to 6. the Civil Servants' pack being much too good for them. ALL BLACKS' FIRST MATCH. The result of the first ntatch in Britain of the 10:!4 All Blacks has come in the nature of a keen disappointment to a large section of the New Zealand public. True, I it was a win. But a win by 11 points to i nil, where the 1005 team had had a win ' by 05 to 4, has raised , an uneasy fueling : in the mind of the man in the street that ' our team has been over-boomed, and is due for a crash. The history of the team to | (late has been that it has always made its worst showing when first called on to meet I new conditions, anil has steadily improved thereafter, as witness the defeat in the first match against New South Wales, and the defeat at Auckland on returning to New Zealand. It is generally conceded that the and among the backs that was a feature of the 1005 side, but most critics are convinced that this derect will work out until the team becomes a combination even as strong as its famous predecessor. So far as the game against Devon is I concerned, it has to be remembered that the | IJIO3 tenni met a. side Quite unprepared for - the class of football that the New Zea- ] landers played. On the other hand, the original All Blacks, informed beforehand that they would have to be at their best to beat the English county teams, hud been ' trained to the minute for the first match of the tour, -with the idea of at lpast winning the first few matches by as much as possible. The result was a mutual surprise, and a score that amazed the Xcw Zealanders as much as it did their opponents. There can be no doubt that the men of Devon this year had made up their minds to return the surprise on this occasion, and that not only was the Devon team as fit,as possible, but it would probably have in its ranks prominent players from other parts of Britain, entitled by the clastic qualifications ruling in Britain to play for counties other than those in which they reside. It may be remembered that when i the orlginnl AH B'-.kx nut up jimazing I scores against the English counties, there 1 were six backs brought from outside (two Irish internationals, two Northampton ' halves and two Gloucestershire players) to | reinforce the Bedford team playing the invaders. So the Devon side that met the latest All Blacks on Saturday was probably a super-Devon team, animated with a desperate determination to wipe out the memory of -the 55-4 debacle of 1905, while • the All Blacks, with a. Handy lead in the first spell, and remembrance of the tour j ahead, probably did not go to the last ' gasp. , I It is unfortunate that we did not have i cabled the personnel of the New Zealand ' team, that keen followers of the game j might have had some guidance as to the ! combination. Mr. 11. Frost, president of the Rugby Union, has communicated with the manager for this information in future ■ matches. As to the press comments, remembering the features of the critics' chorus in 1005, one is not surprised to hear that Porter's style of pliiy is "not j wanted . here." and is rather Surprised to ! learn that the team is "amar.iugly fast." ! It is a perfect echo of what was H«id about , the 1905 team by critics who later modi- I fled their opinions on the former point! when the wing-forward idea was talked ] out. We know that compared with the ! 1005 team the present side is not araaz- I ingly fast, nnd that Porters wing-forward ! game on the whole is much different from ! that played, by Gallaher: so that the com- ' ment may be regarded as a snap criticism made with a more or less superficial knowledge of the game, and conveying the f rothings of home spectators who no doubt , went to the game prepared to find all | kinds of wickedness in the wing forward The result of the game, however, is a tritiute ta tho prowess of Devon. For. when nil is said and done, the game was I that of an international side against a | county" team, and if was a distinctly credit- I nble performance on Devon's part to hold ' the score against them down to 11 points ' The game indicates that Britain is v-ell ' prepared for the All Blacks, and that our boys are in for a hard tour. It is also ; certain that probable international players will use their club, county and 'varsity Qualifications to cet two or three games against the All Blacks for the purpose of finding out their individual strength and weakness before the international games are i played. I On Thursday the All Blacks will play Corn- I ■wall at Cambourne, and on Saturday they will meet Somerset at Taunton. The 1005 team played Cornwall as the second match of the tour, and won by 41 points to nil ■ the game against Somerset was their i eleventh, and was won by 23 to 0. WHANGAREI V. AUCKLAND. | The following team has been selected to I act ns Whangarei senior reps, in the match against Auckland B, which will he played in Whangarei .next Saturday :—Pull-back, B. Hunt; three-quarters, C. Fraser, J | Hamilton, R. Nelson; five-eighths, K. Ridings and E. Meyer; half. R. Cunningham; rover. Tote Finlayson : forwards, front row, 51. Sherriff and O'Shea; second row, t' O'Shea, D. McLeod (lock), Bunny Finlaypon : back row, E. Emerson and A." Sowman Emergencies: Backs. F. Lett nnd A. McKay; forwards, D. Finlayson and A. Dunn, i