Football.

Evening Post, Volume LXIX, Issue 118, 20 May 1905, Page 14

Football.

RUGBY. [By DnorKTCK.] The present season did not promise to bo very interesting nt the commence- ' ment, but now that clubs have got into thorough going order the senior championship is beginning to cause perhaps even more than usual interest, and several exciting games may bo looked for. , Oriental, Old Boys, Poneke, and Melrose ; havo all been tried, and the first throe teams of the list, and possibly Molroso i also, are- expected to put up good per- ' formances against last year's champions— i Petone. The suburban team is practically the same this year as it was last, but there is no reason why any of the above-mentioned teams should not lower the colours of Pctono. ' The win of Oriental over Poneke last Saturday appeared to be a popular one with spectators, and it was certainly deserved. The younger team played a really first-clase game; and the same must be said of their opponents. The pace from the start was a cracker, but both teams were in good form and lasted out to the finish. The tackling of 'tha Oriental b«cka was, on the wholo, nbovo the average. Theio was only one Poneke man who appeared to trouble the blackand'whites, and this was M'Kay,' a strong runner who appeared to fend well. The mistake nude was in tackling such a nun high. It chouid hare been low ertry time. Wallace alto wo» sometimes taken high mrtead of low. A man like Wallace it always a source of troublo iw» long M be v on his feet, and the only way to put him out of action is to tackle low. Robert* wis easily first amongst the Oriental back*, hit all-round play being ala)o*t perfect. There are few players who pUy m hard and a* clean a gamo m the Oriental half-back. Anderson put in Mine fine work in the early part of the g*me, but he wan wounded in tha fight »nd had to retire to full-back for a time. The combination of the Oriental hick* wm »n improvement on anything th*y have shown pr*viwj»ly. CollerUm wa» & !ion in th« fight, and hi* vigorous method* helped hi* Hide considerably. We would again remark on the promiscuous manner in which he swing* hii boot. Bunckenbrg played a Mxuhing wing forward game, and wiui always on the ball. He jthieldid his half' well, and followed up with lbs con»i*tency of a debt-collector. On hi* prevent fOTin ho will run very clow- tot representative honours. Manning put in a lot of good work on the line. As iwuftl, Wallace w*« the bright and particular star on the Poneke *ide, and but for him it would have gone hnrd with the red-and-b'.aclwr. MTCay <il»<i played a good back game, and obtained both the Poneke tries, neither of which were easy ones. His attack in belter than his defence. A serious defect in the play of Hodgson is hia waiting for the \n(\ to bonncu instead of iksbing in und getting it on the full. ToohtlT did not gft mony chnnces, but on the whole acquitted him- 1 self with crrdit. j Of the Poneke vanguard Mnntiplay and Onlbrnith »tood out 'prominently | and put in no* id work (iriffitliß on thfi wing paid too much attention to Ilin men around him instead of watching the ball. P. Harvey, the well-known Canterbury half luck, whs m»nied (i few tlnys ayo. In Pnris, on 9!li April, in a Rugby football mutch between Kent nnd a fifteen representing All France, the English visitors won by 51 points to 8. Tho winning sidt

included sevei.il international plnycis jiul Blues. A Southern paper cays thn ban of div quahficaliim h.i.s been withdrawn by tho New /c.il.uul Ruglty Union in the ciiso of j a pioiniiu'iit .Auckland playor who, it is thmight, will be a certainty for the Now Zenlaml toam. Tho Tai.in.nki Union has formally notified the New Zoahind Rugby Union that the anniinl match between Tnrnnnki mid Wellington on tho Wellington giuund this year will be in tho form of a clmlletififi iniilch lor possession of tho Rnnfurly Shiold. A gie«t deal of intorest attaches to the doing* of G. Smith, the crack three-quar-ter'of tho '97 New Zealand team, who is now playing again with a view of getting away with the New Zealand team. Tho Auckland Herald says : After an nbsence from th« gmnfe of two or three seasons it could not be expected that Smith would show to advantage In tho first match. His quick kicking into touch .wns tV feature of his play last Saturday week, while he took tho ball even when it was passed at his feeb with accuracy. Taken all through, howevor, his play was vory moderate, but a few matches may see an improvement. It is only fair to stnte thnt he wns handicapped by tho piny of his five-eighths, who was moro in tho road than anything else. Referring to the opening championship matches, nn Auckland paper says: — Seeling retains all his last year's form, and hns, if anything, improved. Q. Nicholson, nlso, showed up well in tho opening mat-oli, whilo G. Tyler, the other of tho three Auckland forwards selected for tho New Zealand team, played bub modorately. Tho Melrose-Athletic gamo at Miramar was mostly a forward one, and it is not surprising that the former overpowered their opponents by 14 points, especially when Coady, tho Athletic lock, wns disabled. On tho whole, Athletic put up a good fight. Miller, Mclronc wing three-quarter, showed good kicking and scoring power.% and scored thrco out of Melrose's four tries. There must be good stun" in him, for under the Melroso system a buck hns as a rule few chances in attack. Goodwin, nt centre three-quarter, played well. J3. Claridgo has nob yefc struck form. Jock Spencer and Gilchrist were the best, of , Ik'lro.se forwards. King did well, but is inclined to play too hard. There aro nomo men in Athletic who should troublo tho selector a bit this yenr. One is Sullivan, a young clever nnci energetic wing-forward," who is also n, good dribbler. Another in Wilson, a. Ncmmmer, who shines in tho line-out, and in this respect compared favourably on SittircUy with J. Spencer. He is also good in close work. Another who will certnrnlv trouble the selector is the half, M'Cnrthy. who last year represented Mnnawalu, nnd who is playing well up to form this year, notwithstanding that an Athletic* hnlf-bnck has not tho opportunity to sblnt thnt backs in better teams have. M'Cnrthy can also play a good five-eicrhths gnmo, and scales somewhat heavier than he looks. There was merit in the Ramo bpiween Victoria College nnd Wellington at Ihe Atnlnbic Park lost Saturday, thouoh Mto groat interest taken in the match between Oriental and Poneko fplayod on tho sftine field) resulted in the smaller fixture being jioalected by the public Tho College books kicked with some judgment, enabling thoir fairly flint forward team to put in useful work fchnt greatly handicapped tho efforts oi the Wellington rent-guard. There wan nothing brilliant in tho game of either team, but prospect of great improvement wan evidenced by each. The Wellington bucks are inclined to "go on their own." When they niter this method of procedure they will grently improvo theii effectiveness ,as a .whole. At present Wilsdn stands neglected on tho wing when ho might be doing good for hi« team were he properly fed. The forwards work well together, nnd they improve with each They HTV! ft Well" set, active lot, and Mnnson lm« once more joined thoir ranks. Last Saturday wns the first occasion upon which ho has (inortcd wool since he was injured in tho representative gnme between Auckland and Wellington three or four years ago. On Saturday he wan carrying too much embonpoint to permit of his doing fast work, but he put in a jjood deal of useful work, nnd proved himself to be still a bit above the nick. Buyfield nnd Carey worked hard, but Mansfield wns not up to his usual quod form. The College semmmers are a very useful set, ana when they have played a few moro games together they will give good nhowingt) agtiiu.tt our best teams. In Kitclung and Delamere the Oollogo posses* two men who will achiovo representative- honours if they train on consistently and play up to present form. Ostler gavo a good performance on Saturday, though ho does not now sprint with tho pace that distinguished him in hln days with tho Horowhennn. team. Boglo, who plnys half-back for College, is a clover player whose weakness is to negleot kicking over tho scrum on occasions when to kick would be best. Simpson, a player with good goal-potting capabilities, made a highly creditable shot on Saturday that only failed through wind trickery. Cooper and Kinp; did i good work in the three-quarter line, but the failure of this division to consistently play into each others' hands w«« the cause of quite a number of attacks on Wellington goal being beaten off by the yellow vnnpruara Tho Southern tenm hnn had 97 points I scored Against it in its flint three championship matches. Tim Southerns have scored three times—two hies and one penalty goal.