RUGBY FOOTBALL.

Auckland Star, Volume LVI, Issue 180, 1 August 1925, Page 25

RUGBY FOOTBALL.

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

Sloan Morpeth, the golfer, is playing as- wing-forward in the King Country Rugby representatives.

Charlie Morissey, a three-quarter in the New South Wales Rugby side picked to tour New Zealand, is one of the select band who have represented the State in both football and cricket.

There have been so many Hawke's Bay men in the last two All Black teams that it has been suggested that tho New Zealand jersey should be embroidered in white. But Hawkes Bay is not wholly pleased. When the next Test match is played, against New South Wales, several Hawke's Bay men are certain to be in the fray. On the same day, Hawke's Bay minus its best players, will be defending the Eanfurly Shield against Wellington on Athletic Park.

If Pickrang, a half-caste Zulu who plays Rugby in Ashburton, doesn't put on "too much weight, he should become a Rugby champion. He played in the sub-unions match and was unlucky not to be picked to represent the Country next week. He .is but 18 years of age, enormous of frame —he weighs 15st — and he is very fast. Last season he played his first game. It was in a second-grade side, and he opened by grabbing the ball and running the wrong way! It took two of his team to drag him down. He was promptly dropped, but this year the first-grade team gave him a trial, with the result that ho already is a southern sub-union representative.

"Dorrie" Leslie, who needs no introduction to Wellington sportsmen, has vivid recollections of playing Soccer 25 years ago. He was then employed by the Wairarapa Farmers, and most of the men employed were Rugby players, but entered the Soccer competition among the business houses on Wednesday afternoons. By force of habit they introduced the Rugby collaring and were penalising many times and often, with the result that the score was 21 goals to nil against them. That same evening the referee gave them a blackboard lecture on the game, and this was followed by others. They did not win a match in the first half of the competition, but in the second half defeated by 3t-2 the team which first defeated them 21 —-0. By the way, "Dorrie" used to play years ago for Pirates and Selwyn.