RUGBY.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 154, 29 June 1912, Page 17

RUGBY.

(By "Dropkick.") ■ Last Saturday was an off-day for Rugby, and there is really not very much to be said about the matches. On the Park Athletic and Medrose played a hard, bnt featureless forward game, which does nob lend itself to comment or description. The single try eoored by Athletic just about represented the difference in the quality of the sides. Neither was brilliant, but Ath- ! letic happened to have ia Teddy Roberta the right man, and the honours of the day went io him. depidedly. Melrose shone more on the defence than on 1 the attack, and their tackling was particularljr hot and strong. But for this, Athletic -wottld probably have got at least' a conple more tries. Melrose were never actually robbed of a tTy through sheer hard luck, but several times they were dangerous. The charaefcerieti* of the game, however, was the close dogged tussling between the two twenty-fives. It was this that made the play so unentertaining. it was a hard game, hardly fought and deservedly won. Evenson did not shine co much as usual in the Athletic line, but "Ranji"Wilson again excelled on tho line-out, where he stands head and shoulders ! above the rest of the Wellington forwards. Gosling wae not very 6afe at full-back, and he gob out of difficulties with a considerable amount of luck. j On the other eide, W. Marshall played J a sterling game at full-back for ftfelrase, j and Harry of the same family watf. con- j Bpicuous by his fine eaves in going down ' to etop the powerful Athletio forward rushes. Aparb from this there is nothing else to say. The first spell of the WeffingtonPetone game at Petone wae evenly contested, but after tba interval the city men fell away badly, and Petone had no difficulty in running up a big 6core. On paper the Wellington team was good enough for anything, but soon after the ball had been set in motion it was apparent that combination wu a minus quantity. Several^ of the backs failed to keep their positions, with the result that when the Petone forwards beat the opposing vanguard there was usually a clear lan© right through to the full-back. The forwards more than held their own in the first speLL They beat Petone in the scrums and on the lineout, -and their tackling kept the slick suburban rearguard remarkably quiet. After the interval, however, their condition appeared to give oat, and until no-aide sounded the blue vanguard held the upper hand. Paterae's form in the first-half was rather disappointing, but when the teams changed round, the blues gave of their very best. J. Ryan was again the best of the backs, kicking-, fielding, and tackling welL He got a rude shock, however, in the first spell, when he attempted to beat too many nton. Wilkes swept down on him like a. tiger, and diving low, sent him flying. Had the Wellington forwards been handy (as they should have been) a try would have been a certainty. M*Kenzio did nob play co well as usual, but Boyd and Dalby, on the wings, did all that was asked of them. v Ranißden was an absentee, E. Ryan creditably filling the vacancy. W. Ryan and M'Farlane were the pick of the forwards, and Ashton wae responsible for much spoiling work. This young man, however, is rather inclined to play the man boo much, and he will surely strike trouble if he does not alter his tactics. Bridge was the only Wellington back to play good football. It was his day oat. Not once did he make a mistake, his kicking, fielding, taking, and tackling, being first-class. Lambert was the next best, but Grace, M'Kenzi©, and Wilk«s hay© played better games. Wilkes kept far too close to the forwards, and he also kicked too much -when P.otaka sent the ball out to him. Millard could not have helped scoring oil at least two occasions if Wilkes had passed' instead of kicking. Grace made one or two fine dashes, but his kicking was poor. M'Kenzie failed to go down to the rushes, and also failed to Keep his place on the field. In fairness, however, it must be said that in previous games he played at centre three-quarter. Potaka, the halfback, was game enough, but he cannot kick. Cotter was easily the best of the forwards, with Thompson a good second. M'Nab played well on the wing for about sixty minutes, but tired badly. — . c Te Ante v. Wanganui College game at. Palmerston North on Wednesday was a fine contest. Wanganui had the best of matters in the first half, but after the interval the Te Aute boys played' all over I them. Some of their passing rushes were brilliant in the extr<une, every one of the backs joining in. Wanganui won by 5 points, but on the play the victory was hardly deserved. Wellington College will find worthy opponents in the Wanganui team this year. The Wanganui forwards are very heavy, and the backs aro a safe and fast lot. The two. wing three-quarters weigh 12st 131b and 12st 71b respectively. The report in last , Saturday's Sports Edition suggested pretty plainly what was wrong with the St. JameePoneke game, played at Lower Hutt. The best spirit did not obtain throughout, consequent upon a try awarded in ] the first spell, and about which there was considerable dispnte. The report above-mentioned adds : — "A try awarded in the first spell seemed to engender ] a good deal of bad feeling, and the second half was marked by displays of | feeling which could .hardly be char- j acterised as elevating. This was a pity, to say the least, but the control of the game was hardly noteworthy for firm determination and assertion of authority." That need not be repeated hero. At times some of the men got out of hand, and there w«re things done that were not in the Rugby code. What football there was was but mediocre and harmless, and the spongy turf did nothing to assist the few spectators to enjoy the fixture. The spectators at the Victoria- CollegeSouthern game, on Karori Park, were treated to a very much better exhibition than was expected. This was apparently due to the fa£b that both teams (principally college) must have realised their respective positions in the championship running — College being at the bottom of the ladder, with one point to their credit, and their opponents one point ahead of them. Having occupied that conspicuous place long enough, the former fifteen put plenty of determination into the play, which wa& consequently fast and open, and finally they left the field victors by the substantial margin of fifteen points. This match concluding their fixtures for the firstround, Southern are now at the bottom of the list. Southern felt the losa of Campbell, who is invalided. Southern played rather sluggishly at times, and their kicking was not of good quality. A feature of the game was the passing rushes by the green backs, the most prominent of whom were Stainton, Salmond, Ryan, and Faire. Ability was also shown in Rearguard tactics and in straight running. It was in this latter respect that Salmond shone out among the others. Following" up a , luck from green tenitory, ■ he picked up and put the finishing touch -on to a fine run down the line, during which he beat half a dozen of the opposing backs, by scoring the most luilli.int try of tho dny. If "College i:nntjnue on the lines they adopted laaV Saturday they should pxoY«H.c<tumblin2» bluck ton gome of thg othei< t-guu^*. '

The College backs were Superior all round to their opponents. Gray, at fullback, played well, and showed good judgment with his kicking. During the second spell he had the misfortune to receive a severe knock on the bead, and was incapacitated for a short time. Of the remainder of the rearguard. Salmond, Ryan. Faire, and Stainton were of good sarvico, the latter playing neatly and effectively behind the scram, always getting the ball away well. Ryan kicked two splendid goals, one from the touchline, just inside the half-way flag. The forwards all worked willingly, Beard showing to advantage. For the losers Capper (full-hack) wa& far below .representative form, He failed on a number of occasions to find the line with his kicks. Spillane (at half) deserves commendation for his plucky game, and was never wanting when there was solid work to be done. The forwards were heavier than their opponents, and, if anything, had slightly the advantage of play. Houlihan played his usual good game. College football bae always had a strong attraction for the Rugby enthusiast who has only dim memories of his school games to look back upon. To those who have had experience of boarding-school games and inter-hoiwe and inter-collegiate fixtures, such a match always possesses a fascination all its own. To begin wiih the play is usually clean and willing, and the players themselves in good training. On Saturday last, when St. Patrick's College met Wellington College in the annual fixture, the play was certainly not disappointing in this respect, alth'ouc;h the latter team won by the substantial total of nineteen points to nil. Probably if it has been said of one game that the score did not give an idea of the play it has been said of a hundred, hut it js never the less true of. the College game played last Saturday. Wellington had a forward team each man of which was a tower of strength with enter prising ideas, of attack that could not but fail to bring a win against any but a very good team. Their backs, too, played well, and Stainton and Bramwell positively di6tinguished-.themselves. The latter made a brilliant run and scored after cleverly feinting. There is a team in Christcburch that has a phrase which they love to us 65 6 id this connection and they call the giving of, a feint pass "selling a dummy." Anyway, Bramwell soW more than one and thanks to this h© got safely over the line with the balL Beard's place-kicking was also a feature of the gam©, and it may be mentioned without cavilling that a little more boot would improve his "places." It must be remembered that it does not matter how for over the cross-bar the ball goes, but that- somehow a kick which goes to within a yard or two of the post* on the wrong side seems to meet with disfavour In other work Beard also shone and undoubtedly he is going te be just as much a good forward as Bramwell is going to be a good hack. ' On the other side first mention must be made of M'Carthy, the plucky half who played through nil the last spell and part of the first with a broken finger. This did not deter him from niarkW his man well and conscientiously and doing all the hard work that falls io the ni?A r T Iwllo1 wllo ) )la ? 8 » bi& position. Both full-backs, McDonald and Hindmarsh, did excellentiy.and their kickine, especially that of the latter player, was good and at times brilliant. Hindmarsh also converted well on several occasions. Bedmond was another St. Pat's, man who showed rare initiative^ and dash