FOOTBALL.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 592, 21 August 1909, Page 12

FOOTBALL.

RUGBY. i _____ (By AnistonoLva ) Admirable desperadoes ore thosa Welling, ton forwaids who won the laranakl matoh At half-time each had a little diop of sherry in and an «HA and then went straight out like the Prodigal &on wvth,no thought at all as v to what waa com"VSraal, all pre-conceived opinions of the Taranak! team xtw wrong, wero transmitted by the multitddo ot reporters | who collectively constitute the Press Associa-1 tioA,- These young gentlomaii gavo us a great'wealth of detail as to Cameron My--1 nott etc But nono of them cast their thoughts back sufficiently far to ,ba ablo-to 1 'inform us that the Taranakl forwards ought to have had a month's tiaining for contli- , tton" 'before thev blossomed out as an inter- i pro" from at all. Th(v Wellington forwards 1 * (unskilled and unscientific as,they were) ran > TarJwki off its legs And legs, not science, ' won'tie maVh , , Onedqea not need to be a Scptch engineer '. to be interested in tho oidered play of nia- ' chmorv, and a representative team is sup- , posed to be a machine That being so, it w obvious that Cameron, Mynott and all (.hat sort of "descriptive" which engages the'eye of the devotees who bow at the shrine of the Adoration of the Obvious is ' simply calculating ■ tho roathmery without tak&g account of the boilers The steam in tho Tarnnaki gauges had ' run out by half-time. Taranakl forwards had committed the unpardonable pffence With ' respect to machinery wh.ch fas all Amalgamated: Railway Servants of the Second Division know) is visited by their severely .commeroial heads with instant dismissal-they had dropped the ( r '/lead .plug ThisMi a - 4*ep JanH dad, saving.. tyt \k co,ncoa]od moaning is extensively knowledgeable \ Tamu, for instance, w«a a great forward at the beginning of the same He «vo WaMie a dinge that staggeied tho Poneke man for the rpst of the game, But, towards tlie finish) Tamu had staggered njme than Walehe. He had staggered himself lo see' noor ,Tamu rolling about in the exchangci .' toward the finish with his tongue hinging out, seeiuU like some stoi m-boaton lnnue being j; brought in by tho Duco - , P"."" , ' °&)me couching of,a lather primitno kind appears to have been giyen'tno M'"g to » team, They met on the Tuesday and Thursday before the match, and "put* their heads down,!' against 30Hiq jun(or ropiesentaliyes Such as it'was. it was a long way better , than none, and Mr Hurry Roberts, who organised it, is entitled to considerable , credit. ' i ~ j i i . gcotchmon, as has been said, understand ! , niaohinery batter than others, and, turning to the forwards »hioh euppliod tho steam, one nqte3 several eminent ecownwen, among whom may bo notedi llacKellar (and Mac-Ranu , The backs, which are merely the pistons, , cranks, and 'shafts, working m accordance with tho steam supplied, are *a"gleaming white forest of steel rods, standing and working apart They catch tho eye, in every maton, vbut r the eight forwards, who like eight In a steamer's economy drive not. along after all, are worthy of , more than ( a passing mention. I In the first spell, it was truly wonderful i i to note how much spare steam Wellington blew off at>the escapes,.' SQmetjmes, in that iPttd, ppon giiirto against the wind, Oracroft , ' (Wilson ejideavoursd to check the pace of > things by pioking up the ball between his Iftgs in the scrum, and screwing But somewhere in, the Tawnaki team there rnuat have ,been an Intelligence, for, whenever Wilson picked up tho ball, a stentorian Taranakl voice roared, "Drppl All hands fall down!" ''And then,Taranakj fell as oqe man in the 'mud, and 'the sorew was at an end Cameron I Cameron has, been in overyr boqy's mouth since the match At half-time . ' tho band waa playing "The Campbells are Conun , /' jmfc the "Anarch o' the Carpeion , lien" Would have hit tho position, better How the Stratford man got past James Eyan when bo scored his fine trV is really , worth tejling, 'When Pyan and, Cameron canie into conjunctjpil, exaot)y ono jard and a h,a,lf separated the Stratford man from the goal-line. ''James" went low andi threw / arms round the legs of the flier. Before he could tighten up the grip, however, Cameron dragged ono leg free, and got it , _ down once moro on his native heathor. Now, "when Janus Rjan puts his arms round a , man he is not used to seeing any part of that man wag free James is entirely need to seeing tha,t man. come down, §n4 come down hard So, in some astonishment, James paused in ,his tackle—perhaps one- ' hundredth of ft eecond—to look at that astonishing Cameron leg that had got away from" him In that ono-hundrecllh of n second the Taranakl wing pulled his othet ' ' fqot clear I And then, only another onehundredth of a second was suffiaient to com- . plete the marqb of the Cnmeron man 1 lijpeaking of the. "mad mullah" rushes of < tho Wellington forwards in tlia first spellthat astonishing open game- againsfr t)io ' wind—>it w only fair to state that it tvoulcl have b,eou diuloult to make thq game tight Tnranaki weio alivo to the importance of making play open and fast, and they mado it so for ajl Wiey wnro worth, Also Welling, ton had an additional obstacle in the referee.,

Any folding on to' tjio (mil In the tight work was met by a fiec-kick. The referee, ' of course, was right,- but all these littlo - drawbacks made the general struggle a bard one for Wellington, Hut when all excuses are made, it was Slot ooihforfcable for Wellington supporters to sit through, the first spoil and watch the good ' Wellington steam blowing off uselessly. ' Perhaps, if the. truth were- really known, both sitlos were feniin" woa.ry at the beginning of the eeoond fiajf, It wa,s at, this . e'tpge bljn.fr that truly demoralising thmg— , a longivango goal from the field—tell like a bomb in the Taranaki camp, Taranaki * TVas never the eaine team after it. \ Efcn at this late day it seems that the effect of wind on a game of football is not quite understood. An ''old sport" \w framing round the grandstand ' that It did ■ not matter which won t*P toss, for tjip sido ' ' that played against the wind in one spell '. had jt with them tho nest, Wid so it was all tho same Poor "old spart"! It ia very far—very, very far—from being 'vl w>P Although the homo backs jnoluded most of «Je "planets." w the local Rugby firmament, there was practically no concerted ' play Echo asks 'why?- True the . ball was oil the greasy sido, but it was nothing like as hard to handle iw in recent club , matches. As has beep indicated, tho fact vas that part of the machinery upon which most of tho back play must revolve—tho half and' tha five-eighths—was slightly knookctl out pf wty ln * h " S 1 *" 10, i If Walshc had been able to do his best, tvp would have been qniqkor on tho attack— end that would have mado nil the difference. 1 The hero of tl'P trio was liitlo "Cloip" Green, who put in one of his best day's work 'or a long timo—and that is saying 'a jp.ti M'JtfIBBIP J3 sure to benefit fjom his initial oxperionce in big foothill Onlool:«rs were more than satisfied with thq rtjsplny given, by Mitchinson at contra. i In he fielded and kicked in Ilia best style. Without doubt ho is again this iSoason ono of the finest reaiguartT players in the Dominion. There are two opinions with regard to E. Ryan->-tho Ponekc end the un-Poneko view. According to tho former, ho was quite out 1 of his element on the greasy turf, and, if ho is sriected against Auckland, will make amends if the day be fine. •'Out with him" cry his (letraotors, who claim that the reprejeutaive team will have no use for a It a pity that Eveneon did not cot more to do, for what he was oalled upon to do lie did creditablv. Though "Jim' , Ryan doubtless plepsed liw admirers, it cannot bo gainsaid tint be has been see» to better'advantoWi A disappointing feetura of tho EttWo ff»J the line-out pUy? It waa reallj flmoet de-

void of plover woi)>. For this unsatisf ictor atato of affairs the- visiting foiwards wor clriofly to blnnio Their motto ou tho lm sconiod to bo "play tho man mid neve mind about tho ball" Timo and again 1 waa to ba observed that a locnl player \\n was not in possession of tho ball was quit illegally "ployed," ami som.otimos not b any moms half-heartedly Of com so it is no suggested that members of tho homo dm sum did not retaliate in kind—for they did Whilst referring to tho question of line out play, it might bo portincntly asked wh. an attempt ib not mado to unprovo th< standard of local lme-out play lho Auck land team, which will bo here nc\t wool! usually acquit themselves well in this direc turn, And then again it must not ho for gotten that the South Africans, who as tomshd evoryone at Homo with thei clover hnc-out play, will almost for a car tamty tour New Zealand next season er m< following season Of tho local, forwards, "Ranji" Wilsoi was m the fore-front all tho time, rcproduo ing almost his best form. Quito as promi nent was Bruce, who succeeded in spoilinj tho visitors' attack on a uumbei of occ-i sions. Next in order iof merit came Me lar. whilst Gardiner also worked hard al through the. game. A C. Wilson,did splcn didly"m tho scrums, bit otherwise his die play was anything but attraotavo,. with *h< result that several of tho critics are clam ounng for his rep'a?, ement by Ripson. Ready and Houlilian were fairly success ful in the front row, but it is on tho cardi that the latter, good as he undoubtedly u may hue- to give way for a heavier, if ih hotter hooker, in Leahy. Tannahill waa seei at hii best in the second half, when ho shon< out ahead of tho rest of the pack m th« loose, In the first spell few saw him. It waa Rugby that was played when th« two Colleges met on Saturday—Rugby as 11 should be plajed, not the usual club game combining the characteristics of a_ walking race, a wrestling match, and a prize fight Not that 'there- were no faults, for there wore, and they; few. But iho faults or mistakes would be more appropriate, wor« jji details, pot in general principles. JBoth teams recognised the value of the '••ind, and while St. Patrick's endeavoured tc keep tho first half of the game closo, Wellington met this lesolution with one equally determined to open it up and score whilst thej had the opportuuitj A margin of IS points-showed in how far thej succeeded, but though the maigin was large, it does not follow that their was commensurate ivjtb. their opportunities'. They forgot that tho main advantage of a high wind is a positive quantity only when the- ball is kicked high infield. There was little /sf this kicking done, tho backs preferring, oven when piossed, to pass, Certainly they did this >er) cleverly, and not at all in an orthodox manner But their opponents nore unorthodox and equally clever Once I saw a fet. Patrick's baok smother a, pass very neatly by /striking his opponent's arm down. In marking the ball tho boya wore very ckver, and St. Patrick's often turned the tide of attack by this move when they were likelj to bo overwhelmed. Of tho forwards there,is little to be said, but that little, is good They played fauly, but not with kid gloves, and showed that P, gamo may be fast and jet not rough. Tho sorum work was good, and the open play better, Iμ place-Licking both teams have yet a Joti to learn.. • But what mustihave; been most; notice: able .to ill spectators iwas the spirjtJ.of f the game. Though;St.,Patrick's played a losing game; they aid-"not play it ■ down-ljeartedly,' but whan they;h'ad:wie windijn their;favour, Wended, a.s they //should; 1 , with'.'.counter-at-sack, They did-notVdespair'.and/vept their lesnor&tion in : vipionatess,':.' Wellington wore squally generous in.their.,victory.-,:; ( ■■■ ■'-:."■. \ i' More Mere.'"iO. writes:— '.; If ; f-'so' ; hajH sened that my ,; cousin::^'Bob." ■ wras ;.in io\yn last week.. ,on'.'i : his : ,- decadal . ; holiiay, and on Saturday,! 1 after!viewing, the sights qf the- iplacesijwhich' : .'now, stand whore ''npt/so very: long, ago the',seavaves splashed \\ Jhelr'^ lullaby"-tand/,after belting the municipal; , dog; wo decjded x) take jn- th^.'much^fa&rdod>fpotball';fixrare, ■ ''Bob! , ';has lqt seen much big' the piari,imo strike of ;;189Q,:';and,,p,sJh)s,/'last ecollectiou conqerns--Taranaki l B i 'defeat ■ > of Jtoddart's team:'in ? 88-4.whdn.that famous ambulation by-xino \ .-■; (oiie wnxt) —lie' is , "; perhaps -to •; be' 'expueed if ho itill thpughfethafc th«j ,;old-time ■' ..Taranaki ame ; BMlN'ekiste, : -andithat;tli6' butter,.and nilk H province'{'still'.pqliste/: the-.floor : with he/' bthor -atoms. ; pi^^Dooiinion ; football.: su]pgy ■follpwed .--.and ..diaiant tbhieyements , ; heroes Gage, vWarbricks, Taiaoas,::Baylys,; Balch, '[ Bean, -Marshall, .Cress-' rellj^M^Kenzlel'Armit, , : Duncan,V Pauling;: itc.',-',eto;: (vide Rugby football annuals)4-till > began-Ito feel sorry, for ...the, puny .game of o-day,;and' also sorry 'for 'Jiyelliiigton;,; Of foiifse/'boing - of-a :-younj(er!'. generation,.' I. cr.ow-jt'.i/bad'fo'rn! to argue.with'one's;eld-: !i3,-,)ie'»des (as:.the' newsp'apbr n'an : is ,'|one of iUdio .sturdy piprie.ers vlio 1 has'hewn a honie but : of'j tho primeval orcst.';.;and 'argumeiftjiniight-haye 'been unQuiescently abßO.r)}ingV. i .'B.pb'3" lauda-,ipne-'of the 'past,--I waited.Tor-tho preseptr,he assert itself, and ihe %amev vcomnience, • - ButV-;» ; spellr'of: .;the spirit" and apparent mod->ratipn.'of,-ray■ 'unoxpressed;Jyiews .was -in itorfl'-;'|or -ime. I.With' ■• the':; blizzard ag->istiris,'-T»rtaa^i(;'>ndV-Wel!ingtori, r.fprwßids)layi)ig !ari viunbrthnd.W game, ("not accprdng"t» Cocker,' , . :H Boh''\expressed'.:it), the itmqsphe're: ajtex..- Ta'rar)'a|i's v .first-. ';score ieemed .decidedly-colder to:--me;, Wellington !heer'ed;me at first, :but not for long; Taranaki iheljing'the;'horae; : twenty-five ! repeatedly, iM'.'puttingyanotherfthfeieipoints-on: ti •the■ epefl.' -However.. 'we,.;agr?cd—and. it TOs ; .baim'of : Gil«Rd to' the yjsitorß' ead ouebt .to Mve been -.more :■ substantial. 3ut;it wasn't.: Still, there was one ;'other ad reflection— -Wellington's forwards had had l' gruelling,'/and, isaddef -. to ■ relate : (so ' it eemed at.thc time), -they; had by theirown pethoda '"gruelled". themselves..; ("Bob , . lere' , asked about.the; wagers we had: on thp. 'ame, bitt ,r reckoned, that-there time: 'nouglv for-.that'later,)' I. uttered a-silent) >rayor ; that the .Wellington team, was .....in onditioriy and ■ thpy V.were, ■-' and Wellington fith the wind: in return peppered their OPr .oriontfi •■-'with: - lusty kicks, and gradiiaHy rearing' them down, changed ,a■: --.half-time loubt into a'substantial not-too- : Wellington:- forwards,; rah ; a back occasionally, made: . the )aceV. : sQ-- consistent /-.and,, ■ on reumingthat. Taranaki .after : about lialt :n -hour .of the spell had gone wew'/nover ii it" They were tired. And so Taranaki lid'uot'add to its-string of succpsses.^it ras surely the efforts of the forwards that bought Wellington thoir victory. Jorm will ,lways tell, ; and tell it did. As the first pell progressed, the local; suppqrters lopketf or the uppearanco of %an" find his sprints, nd/Byaa was there, but his sprints were lot.'. Two 'of: the -local forwards gained 'Bob's , ' approval by thoir porsistent folloWr ne-up. Tpo butter- province's fronM attaplf s:a heavy pne-r:.iniipli heavier than thaVre»resent«i on'#e programme-rbut pace they infl and'they used-it, too, as tlio Wellmgon' forwards , well know, for soni?, of the atter have expressed the game as tho liard-s'r.-they had ever participated in. ; . Unlike heir opponents; tlie Wellington backs could hake no: Use of their' hhlr'a paeses in tho irst spells and ■ thjs ; is.hard to explsm, opilfforlng'the material,,,V of Taraiaki, was quite the hero' with the crowd-* 'beauty' , ''BoVJ persisted m ca,lling him— ud his try was the result of the best--.work seen ocally for a long time.--i The Taranaki bucks, 'Bob" said, displayed a great deal more iombination • than the homo team b roar, >uard, and I But a torn B«ph as iVellingtonj which had not had a matcli as , combination,: will ajways make ir two. Stohr'i (the sturdy Taranaki back) ;nee weakened as the, game '.-Progressed, ,nd this lessened his' side's place-kicKing ipssibilities, as Stohr hasi earned quite,: a eputfttinn frPm the form he has .been sbowng of late.' Condoling with "Bob," I could iot but .admit that Wellington did have opje. luck jn wal}fl Pjr? uee ( thp elemouts tngn, TBr° nn '" had done.

There is one person whodoserves o wo.rd.-'-the rpforee, of whom "Bob" explained to an inquiring young hidy that, HUo the fed bail In billiards; ho played for up sido in particular, fllr. I'eako—'•who carried the whistle," a? tho hockey. scribes sa.v—struoH those in our vicinity as porforraiug very creditably, quick and early with his decisions, and considering it was his first big -'charge, he. seemed' to miss little. As iisual, the players chcorecl-r-nind subsequently "Bob'..' dispensed .'.hospitality. ' ■ •' . "Ah Onlooker" writes i—Hwsh oorament was hoard in various quarters of tho park oh Saturday on tlio ■ questionable line-out tactics: of somp of. the TaVanaki forwards, but tho visitors, wero hot thp only offenders,, Wollington being, if. anything, a Httlo worse than' their' opponent*,- Good lineroufc piny is- protty, ■• but it is. rarely seen nowo-daya, tho players'apparently paying more attention to oach other than- to tho hall.: Rofeiees would bo doing a service to both, ■ thp gam? amrto! players if they kept'a strict' oyo on fpiil play on tl)o line-out, and one outstanding, .objectionablo feature of the local men's !play to which their; attention' ■ may bo directed 'is tho habit'of vigorously. ;rmshing i an. opponent in tho small or tho back when his 'arms are raised in anticipation of r tlie ~bair.coming his way.;. This is not, sport,; a)id : 'was'noticetly not oncpj but several: times, durjng the course of last, Saturday's iriatoh. ,- j* 0110 ' 10 '■■f* n< ' Petoho are very much ''in tbo air" to-day. Ittis probable that the;gaTOO will bo-won by tho side , with the best and rabat Pudufihg'legs. To cpunteraqt PQJteke'a 'back play it"'is certain that Petpne will throiv. their forwards' into the gaine,for all they'-,are worth. ' •' '■ ':-": :- ; -;. : " : - i/Mr.i-R. Ban-: ("Full-BaoU" in tho "Ofego. Daily Timea'O qcems to be very well with the- book op, the "Bntish. tour, ffhjch ao published jasi, ' yw, . It,:was n good idea at the :time/ for'. ■ the.; history of .-New Zealand , snorts ia stiil very imperfeotly written, and the witnesses of the various events are ali svays,'Vanishing from the scene. But it i : mined-' a: risky thing also, more especially I as the publication .was unavoidably delayed, in tiie press, and several Hundreds of poundp of cold,cash had to be; found before the book cpiilcl. be thought' of at nil, It .was all .the more risky because tip book turned i out by the:two.''-'All; Blacks" .(Messrs. G^llahor. ancl Stead) ffas currently reported to. have-proved a'finanoial-failure. Howqvpr,' Mr.' , Barr's bopk was I very: favourably, received ;by the Er.gljsir' - and Australian pressy and, in addir tion '.to ; &ales in trie- Dominion, /the sales, a,t Horae wore: vory onopuraging—all the more encouraging when it- is" tho publication was carried -'.put;, here; ■ ahd not in. London: ; -:;-A'S .■ ar . ponsequence - of .;■:those ■.successes, Mr. Barr: is now ."'.issuing ■ '.'a second and pheaper edition' of the book. '.''District'.schemes in "Auckland;" do- r)pt seem, to'.bp ve'r? swcessful, judging from' the; i tolegrarfls :recpJTed' from' the .nortpern;city. i -.: In. thp; same; connection; a, -wel]r knpwn ■■ Otago authority 1 fpoyards. iaje follpw, ' ing note toi TfiE DoiiiNios:— "V{e are, catchy •jjig ; a : .bad- attack .of: the.-,district - soheiija'. rhwrobe atf this- end—at least some membet;s of : the ■ local: Eugby; .Union have caught it, and' they are pushing- the insect along jfpr what' it is worth., which, to, my way of ■ think--ing,': is , not innph. 'Arisfcobulus, believe ;me, v we don't - want ; the : djstriot Vsoheme, 'but we do wftnt.more'brailis in our j>layers| who>ro, !'for 1 tlio'. : mpst' part,'•' a - ratfior -.unintelbgenii ! lot■■■'■;' Our: ; c'lub' football this year has been very' 1 b'ad^thiV.owing Ao laok:-/of* pnginality amongsVthe players who are hot in tho same flight, with: those thatused to.bo.'. ,;■; 7 .