FOOTBALL.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 223, 13 June 1908, Page 9

FOOTBALL.

RUGBY. (By Aiustobulcs.) TOUR OF THE BRITISHERS. RESULTS.

. ; REMAINING FIXTURES. . To-day— Canterbury Union, at Christ church. Wednesdayj, June 17—West Coast and Bulkier Unions, at Greymouth. v Saturday, Juno 20.—Nolson. and- Marlborough. Unions,, at Nelson, v' Saturday,, June 27—Second: Test Match, at ' Wellington. .. j : Wednesday, July I—Hawko's Bay Union, at Napier. . | ■ " Saturday, July 4—Poverty Bay Union, at Gisborne. Wednesday; July' B—Manawatu and SHorowheriua Unions, at Palmerston Saturday, July . 11—Warigahui . Union, at, Wanganui. .: • >' . . Wednesday, July 15—Taranaki , Union, at New Plymouth. ■ : • Saturday, July ' 18—Auckland Union, at ■ Auckland. ,• •' Saturday, July 25—Third Test' Match, at • ' Auckland. Wednesday, . August s—New South Wales, at • Sydney.' .. . , Saturday, August B—Team for England, at Sydney. • Wednesday, Aoigust 12—Western at Bathuist; ; . . ; Saturday; August 15—Metropolitan Union, at ■ Sydney. ' i .Wednesday, August 19—Northern District, at . Nowcastle. Saturday, August, 22—New South' Wales, at bydnev. Wednesday, August 26—Queensland, at Bris- ). • bane. ■ ; ' Saturday,- August 29;— Queensland, at' Bris- ■ bane. ' Wednesday, September 2—Queensland, at ; - Brisbane. . .

: P r obablie that the Ponsonby team which is paying a visit'to Sydney next month! will play one or moro matches in Queensland. 'V 0? 1 ®. 3 of tho official guide were not distributed at Miramar last Saturday. Spectators ' are hoping that the publication > of the valuable leaflet has.not been discontinued . A -young man named Walter Barthelsoh died as a result of colliding with an opponent m going up for a mark in a football match, Einley v. Leniston (N.S.W.), at latter placo, on the Saturday- before .. Ryan, who. injured his shoulder during the course of . the retone-Melrose game, will probably bo unablo to play, again for about a month.'

• Goodbehere, of the Victoria College team. will_ be unablo to play to-day on account of an injury, received- last Saturday. Air Englishman who rcferecd the recent inteiTiational-contest between Holland and Belgium at Rotterdam was; greeted with tho strains of "God Save the King" from the band on entering the arena! . The toam to:represent Canterbury against th<s Britishers to-day is as'- follows Fullback, A. E. Doell • three-quarters. F. C. Fryer, R. G. Deans, W.'.B. Fuller; fiveeighths, G. D. Gray, E;'B. M'Donald; halfback, P. Burns; forwards,. J. Ma'honev, T.' Bond,- W. Menzies, J> Bakor, B. Hopkins, C. Evans, - T. Bairi, and D.'M'Phail (wing). Why was the attendance at 'Miramar l'ark so smalljon Saturday? .This question must necessarily be_ agitating the minds of' the Rugby authorities. ' !No one could possibly cai'9 at the state of the woather. Then, igain, in each of the four games hard, if cos highly scientific, tussles- were anticipated., Yet'there was only a mere handful ef, spectators in attendance. . Thus the Sydney "lleferee"-"H. Messenger's collection of Rugby League jerseys, were, he inclined to keep -them, would comprise a widely varied lot. .'The playing of Messonger by the New Zealanders,' against New Zealanders, by Now South Wales and by, Queensland, makes the representative side of Tiugby-League football a burlesque, and brings football down, from the , eminence of a national game to the prosaic levol'of a showmail's' business."

: "The .Southland men played cleaner football than any team we have met to date. This impression is with mo a'strong on©. Neither our men nor Southland made U3e of ultra-vigorous play, and the game, hard as it was,'has proved conclusively that our grand winter game can be played successfully without resorting to such methods."— Dr. M'Evedy, vice-captain of the' British team.

Interviewed upon .bis return to' Christchurch, the professional."All Black" "Jirni". ■Turiill, said, inter alia,' that all the N.U. players received payment, the backs averaging 50s.- a.woek and the forwards about 355. In addition most clubs gave 10s. extra for a win and half that sum for a drawn game. Tho leading clubs were sound financially, and wero nearly all limited companies, which engaged tho players. Tho Clubs' preferred thoir players to,'find regular,, .employment during the weok, : 'and /often; assisted in that direction. ■ Ho met many/retired players who had : • been able to save several hundreds of pounds by working at their respcctivo trades in ad-,-dition to getting 50s.' weekly as footballers. On the trip'from Dunedin to Invercargill, "Ponty" Jones, the Welsh reserve threequarter back; was tho popular idol, an 3 at every station tliero wero cries for "Ponty Jones." But "Ponty" is, while one of the most popular members of a popular team, the most reserved,' and ho could not bo induced to show himself.' "We want Ponty," was tho cry at tho various railway stations, but "Ponty" only buried himself deeper in his rug, and refused to bo lionised. The prices'.for admission to the provincial matches against /the Anglo-Welsh team have been fixed by the New Zealand Rugby "Union at Is., 35., and ss. These high prices havo doubtless been made in order that .the heavy financial undertaking may bo a success. The;? are mado possible by tho wonderful enthusiasm shown by the public. Nevertheless, in view of the programmo of matches arranged for .the Anglo-Welsh team in Australia,which ■ must bring in a substantial sum to the Now Zealand Union, and of the fact that tho New Zealand Union is a wealthy body, their prices for admission was exorbitant, hnd scarcely in tho interests of the gamo,which, happily, is a -game, and not a.dividend-earning business.—Sydney "Referee.". ■'Referring to H.H. Vassall (of tho. British team) ; / Mr.' G. V. Portus, the well-known Colonial-Oxford player, recently .wrote:— ".Oxford's threo-quurter lino i 3 very good, also, both in attack or defence. The main pky is always'to H. H. Vassall, the contro, the host man in England' in that position. He is clever, heady, and; fast, and makes with his.wing, Martin (a Scotch cap), a very dangerous attacking formation. It is pretty' to-see VasGall sailing round his vis-a-vis and nursing bis wing right up to a wide scoring position, giving him a clean, swift pass and letting the Scotchman's great pace do the r&st. -The other wing, Milton and Torr, is a valuable asset, but is rather overshadowed this year by the brilliancy of tho two beforejaentioned men." MELROSE—PETONE. The Melrose team disappointed its supporters, in the. match against Petono last Saturday. The town team's forwards played a fine game, and it was no fault of thoirs that victory did not rest with their side. The Melrose backs have played somo very good games durin« the season, ami it was antici-patc-d that they would be a big help to the

tcamwhen it camo to'a hard-fought game. On' Saturday, however, they were on-their trial, and fell a long way short of the mark. As an attacking forco thnir efforts were practically nil. They certainly saw very. little of tho ball direct from tho scrum, but when they did they quickly threw tho opportunities away. Tho dcfcnce of tho- town backs was not as sound as it might have been, although somo occasional smart kicking was dono.' Tho'Petbne.forwards gave a good exhibition, and ' lasted out a strenuously-fought game well. Tho suburban backs could have made luoro of their chances of attacking, but nothing could be said against'their showing on tho defence. Lino kicking and sure handling of tho ball were features of tho play of tho Petone rearguard. M. Ryan, tho suburban team's full back, had a busy afternoon's work, but was not up to his best form, the Melrose men catching him napping on several occasions. House played a fine defensive game, and kicked beautifully, and. Instone and the two Ryans also stood out for exoallent defence. Jim llyan had'iho misfortune to injure his collarbone towards the end of the game, and had to leave the field. Green was . easily the' best back on the ground.. Ho got the ball away cleverly, put in sereral pretty' dashes right through the Melrose pack, and made no mistakes in his dcfcnce. ' There was very little to choose between the Petono sorummors, every man putting in his bit. _ ; George Spencer had a good deal tojdo, but had a day off. His place kicking was also off. .1

None of the Melrose three-quarters was up to the mark. Bcavis was decidedly weak, Murphy in the-centre mixed good and bad play equally, and Marshall was neglected. The latter made the most of his few opportunities, and made no mistakes. He ended a_ couple of fast follows up with very convincing . tackles. . I

• Church, five-eighths, and Greeks, half, havo both ; played better games. la fact, neither have been seen to less advantage since the championship started. | Of tho Melrose forwards, King oai tho wing I put in- sotno cleror footwork, and more than onco' piloted tho : ball past several opponents. Of tho pack forwards J. Spencer was out by himself. He broke away from the lino out in tho . style which mado his name in 'tho Rugby world, and showed an eagerness such as ho has rarely displayed of late. Cameron put in some excellent work,., and Da Blois appeared to glory in the solid toil. Paddy" Murphy waa also prominent." ORLENTAL-PONEKE. ; . ■ In the contest between tho Oriental and Potaeke seniors' brilliant play was conspicuously absent. This was only what might have 'been - expected when it is remembered that Paul, . Wallace, Mitchinson (backs), ®ush, Mentiplay 'and Calcinai (forwards) were missing from the ranks of the Poneke team, and that Orientals were .without 1 tho services of their best backs, Mona Thompson and :F. Roberts. Under the circumstances Orientals (who had won all their previous matches) wore hot favourites. That the Black and Whites were not allowed to add to their- laurels , therefore reflects great credit on the. Poneke team, composed as it was of nino seniors and sis juniors. < The scrum work was below tho usual standard owing t6 the disparity in tho aggregate weights or tho respective packs. Rarely did the ball come out of the scrum cleaiily, and when s it was heeled out it rarely got past the five-eighths. . Vascoe, the Oriental full-back, got his side into'trouble early in the game through dillydallying m putting in his kick, which was spoiled by a PoneEe forward. He was very 'lucky in finding the' lino 1 on 'several subsequent occasions.

The Oriental rearguard did little in tho way of attack, and their defence was at timos anything but 30und. Matheson gave by far the best display. Both Gibbons and H'ighet missed opportunities to score, i The forwards workod hard, but-their play finish. Hamilton/ Gillespie, and M Coll were tho pick, _On the whole, Morris at full-back for rcncke gave, a good account of himself Aaoro than once lie, was heartily applauded for the manner m which he fielded and found tho line, i _Twohill, Magee, and Tilyard worked asBiduously throughout tho game. It was owing to their good defence that Oriental were prevented from breaking through time after time. •; forwards Dennohy shone most prominently. A loose rush led by.him was a feature of the second, spoil. Next to him Iresize was tho-best. . WELLINGTON v. VICTORIA COLLEGE, j - Tho - Wellington- ,v. Victoria Colwas productive of some pretty, open play. In. view of the fight that the Greens put up against Oriental, ,it was expcctcd that they would keep Wellington well on- •' but few. anticipated tho decisive victory that resulted.

Save for a little want of weight in tho scrums, tho College team wassuperior' in all departments. The forwards worked well together, and showed plenty of dash' in the loose. \) llson, at wing-forward, was especially prominent, and gained much ground for his team by prompt and speedy following up. Do la Mare and Fathers also were "well if®' iter's place-kicking added well-earned points to tho score. Bat it was in-tho back division that Victoria College shone. Certainly the backs opposed to them could not be called briland that made their display the more effective by comparison. Their passing was well up to standard, and it was a good rush that could break down their defence. Hitchings and Prendeville both tackled safely, and Bogle and Macmorran were not wanting in that respect. Ludhopo took the place of O'Leary at fulback, .and gave a creditable exhibition. His line-kicking was a strong link in the Collect) chain of dofenco. . . ° The attack was lod chiefly by Boglo and Hitchings, both of whom put in some very neat passing and. kicking. Prendeville .secured a try after some pretty passing, and a dashing run., Goodbehero had few chances of using his speed, but what chances came his way wero put to tho best advantaged Goodbohere had his kneo twisted during tho game, and IE 11, of Wellington, was forced to retire with a broken collarbone. Tho forwards were the mainstay of the Yellow team, and should have made a better showing, possessing superior weight as they did. As it was, they wero not prominent in the 10050 play, which formod the bulk of the game. . At times, rushes in which M'Eay, Wilson, MUellar, and. Smyth figured wero set going, but those occasions wero few a;nd far between. Caroy played a dashing game, aiid helped tho backs considerably.. Tho rearguard was not by any means strong and the passing rush which culminated in the first try for Wellington, was practically an oasis of brilliancy in a desert of patchyplay; Sollars and Abercrombie set a good example, and played consistently, but their pattern was not followed, and for their efforts to bo backed tip was the excoption rather than the rule. , ' SOUTHERN-OLD BOYS. Southern had the best of tho garao against Old Boys. Tho score—Old Boys 13, Southern 11—was certainly in favour of Old Boys, but Southern lost a suro scoro through an error 011 tho part of tho referee. - Hay was confined throughout to the forwards, and at times good dribbling rushes were indulged in. Avery's try for Old Boys in tho latter stages of tho gamo was a most creditable picco of play. Getting tho ball at his feet hn dribbled from over half way, and beating all opposition scored behind tho posts. Tho place-kicking by both sides wa3 also good, Marcbant for Old Boys, and Tcmploton for Southern, being prompinent in this respect. A detracting feature of tho game, however, was the way the Southern "screwed", tho Bcrutn, bofore' tho ball was put in; they were all bunched on 0110 side t and oonaegueotly

their, opponents had tho advantago, which was generally made uso of. Southern feels tho loss of Gollan (their centre-three-quarter), who is still suffering, from tho effccts of tho kick ho received in the match with Victoria College a few Saturdays ago. Gollan was always of great assistance to Southern's rearguard, and it is a pity that ho will bp unable to tako part in matches for somo time to come.. Bamford, Houlihan, and Templeton were a tower of strength to tho Southern vanguard, and of tho, backs, Organ, at half, and Pope, Hunt, and' Condlilfe, tnree-quarters, wero tho most noticeable. For Old Boys, Avery was the most promi-. nent forward, while Patterson and Dawson displayed good form among tho rear division. ATHLETICS—ST. JAMES. 1 ' After Athletics had beaten Poneko the previous week it was rathor a surprise to seo them defeated by St. James last Saturday, but on the day's play the better team won, and tho victory of 5 points to nil was about a fair indication of the merits of tho teams. Clark, ail Athletic three-quarter, was unable to play owing to an injured knee, and E. 0. Hales filled the vacancy by playing at full back. Tho vetoran did very well throughout the match, some of his line kicking being especially good. 5 Evenson, at centre, gave a' feoblb display. To many it is a puzzler how ho got into tho Wellington representative team. On Saturday's play ho was much below senior form. On several occasions when ho had openings ho scorned to take advantage of them, and ran into the thick of his opponents when there was no necessity for it. Richardson, tho Blues' half-back, seoms to bo improving every match, but ho was not' well supported ou Saturday. He made one or two nice runs against St. James, and his passing was fairly good, but he allowed tho ball to beat him on at least one occasion as it camo out of the scram. Gordon, at wing three-quarter, was fairly safo on defence, and he made one or two smart runs, which deserved better luck than that with which they were attended. Among the Athletic forwards, F. J. Wilson and J. Cunninghame did good work on tho line out, and were prominent in most of the rushes. E. Orsborn followed up well; and did some very useful work in the second spell. But the pack seemed to be weakened considerably by the ahsenco of Wilson. Tho St. James forwards workeS well individually, but did not appear to have a proper, understanding with one another. Wighton's try was tho'result of good following up. Sutherland, Bruce, and Owen were hard triers (luring tho game, but too much of their work was accomplished in haphazard fashion.

Thomas did well at full back for his side. Ho is a. fine kick, and what little amount-of collaring he had to do on Saturday was well attended to. He is, however, inclined to put rather muoh energy' into his tackling on certain occasions, especially if his opponent is of small physique, and has already got rid of tho ball. Tho Roberts Bros., at half and five-eighths, played , good football. Both toss tho ball about in finished style, and it was not their fault that the many passing rushes started by the St. James backs ended without score. G. Warwick, outside five-eighths, was a useful back, though some of his'passing was a trifle erratic:. ... Tho three-quarter line, Crewos, Ferguson, and Neilson, appeared to lack finish. 1 " Tho former attempted tho right stylo of plav, but tlioro was always something wanting in tho elocution. < Neither of the lino umpires in this match up_ to his business; and consequently the decisions given did not always meet with the approval of players. . NOTES ON WEDNESDAY'S MATCHES. As the season progresses tho Wednesday teams improve both m combination and individual play. This week's games were up to the usual standard, despite the fact that two weeks had passed without any matches having been played. Strenuous play was the order in tho Bakers-Tramways fixture. That the Bakers managed to draw with a team such as tho Tramways is sufficient indication of the improvemenfcthey havo effected in their play. ; , Speculative ■ kicking is 'still rifo in . somo teams, due, it is said, to tho fact that some of tho players havo been recruited from Association ranks. Butohers presonted a. straggling front to tho attack of tho Oriental team. In tho scrum 3 the Blues had tho advantage, but when Oriental made the play open, "tho brunt of the work was thrown on Silicon. That player, however, did net shirk, and, in addition to defending tho Butchers' goal-lino,'-managed to mako things hot for tho Black and Whites. ■ 'In attack his right-hand man was Levy, lately transferred from wing-forward to the -throe-quarter lino. Now and again he showeda tondoncy to leave his place and join tho pack, but, otherwise, ho was seen to advantage. ...

Kelly, a heavy wing-forward, pot in some fcolid work for Oriental, but should cultivate a little more hustle in the loose. , , Camoron and Bartlett were the most consistent in the Oriental rearguard, the former in defence and the latter in attack. The match between Stars and Artillery was looked forward to with interest as its result was expected -to give some criterion of how the championship will go. Both teams fought hard for supremacy, but Stars really l "PP er hand from the start, and should have won by something more than three points. > _ Several easy goals wore missed by the Victors. Brown was the chief offender in this respect. Ho only had two shots. Both were under the posts, and both were failures. Taylor, who plays at full-back for Artillery did some excellent line kicking, but he 'is rather, slow at getting rid of the ball. •Mowat s score illustrates a method in which a full-back may score a try in" orthodox fashion. He followed up his own kick, charged tho opposing full, and as the ball rebounded over tho line he fell on it. The Stars backs were much faster than their opponents, but the tatter's dofenco was fairly sound, and resulted in tho score beinp kept down. DISTRICT NEWS; Following is tho position of tho various Wairarapa football teams after last Saturday':) championship' matches Senior.

-p § • bl • ' . rt O "8 10 oi • ■ ■ -.- P i-l Pi " •v. Wairarapa' and Bush... 1 0 17 8 ; v. Wellington- ... ... 0 1 13 10 v. Otago •... ... ... 0 1 6 9 v. Southland; .-,. ... ... 1 0 '14 8 v. New Zealand ... . ... 0 1 5 32. V. South Canterbury ... 1 0 12 6 Total... ... ...3 3 67 77

. _ Tts. Pts. Won. Lost. For. Agst. Carterton ... 5 0 76 I4 Masterton ... 3 2 43 27 Red Star ... 1 4 21 81 Greytown ... 1 14 24 45 Junior, . ™ T , Pts - Pts - t> i Won. Lost. Dr'n. For. Agst. Bod Star ...5 0 0 57 Sn Dalefield ...4 1 0' 5S 22 To Ore Ore ... 3 2 0 - 47 34 Carterton „ 2 2 1 37 23 Martinboro' 2 2 1 34 34 Greytown ... 1 4 0 15 54' Masterton ... 0 6 0 H 67 Third-Class. ' T T Pts. Pts. T> 1 C4- i • L ? St - For - Agst. I?«d Star ... 1 0 jg b g Masterton ... 1 .0 q n Dalefield ... 0 2 • 3 94