FOOTBALL.

Evening Star, Issue 14638, 7 August 1911, Page 3

FOOTBALL.

RUGBY. S.I. CCUXIT*Y~TEAM , S TOUR. OTAGOS POOR PLAY. 'There 'was much disappointmeint among Otago supporters t vcr the poor exhibition given- by the Dark lilues on Saturday, when they played their match of the 3911 season, which was against a solid team of young players representing in; South Island minor unions. After the severe drubbing inflicted o.i. tho. vi«tors by the Canterbury team a few days previously, there were few. if any, who thought that the beys from the smaller onions had much hope of success against what was coceidex&d to be a strong Otago fifteen. But those who saw the game against Canterbury thought m*!** of tha visiti-jw than did these who were Merely going in the result of that match as indicated by the scores. Canterbury played above themselves, especially the forwards, and surprised their (supporters just as much by their line display as did oar boys surprise Dunsd'n people by their poor display. In the opening stages of the game Otago piled on 8 points by taking advantage of the only cwo opportunities they had. but the visitors soon equalised the scores, and from that out they never looked like loring. although at the finish they were actually beaten by 1 point. They made all tho play. Trouble began with the Otago team when Sutherland had to leave tho field owing to having his lip cut inside and outside and his "front teeth loceeu-ed. The score then was: Otago 8. South Island 3. Sutherland bid been playing a heady and clever game- behind the scrum, whipping the ball out quickly and efrrely on the few occasions on which it tame out from the puck. and then never cleanly. The fact of the matter waj> that right through tho game the Otago forwards were beaten by a heavier and" more dashing and keener set of forward*, who packed better ar.d eveiy pound of their weight. They wero alto their superiors on the line-out, but were Twt so clever as tat- Rlues in footwork. Thcv. howeve'.. kept tho homo team so well" in hand that t'nV glimpses of dribbling by the Otago men were few and iar between.

Then, as to the bid-;.-*, the visiters played a better individual game, and were the M-under ar.d surer rearguard. With more combination and a better idea of the liner point* of tht» f.imf» they must have, witii the opportunities they had. completed Severn.! movement* with material advantage to themselves. But what they lacked in at- l tuck as a combination they made up for in their safety. They ridded cleanly, tackled strongly, and were x a!l tin© kicks. They hid weight, too, and they took come stup-f-ing a.-i they ploughed their way through. t was amazing how e-wily they "'fooled - ' the weak Otago back.* by feinting. As a team the visitors played with great dttsh ami determination. They were as hard as rails, and when they came down on their opponents they did s*> quickly and with such determination that there ire.-; no hope for the Blue men. They tcm either completely smothered or suddenly up-ended. The Otago forwards seemed to play with no life at all. The scrums were badly | packed, and there appeared to be very little weight behind the front-row men, its if soaio of them were r.ot pushing. Ihey were a disjointed pack altogether. | They wanted someone who could hold" the scram together. It was a peculiar thing in the "first place to pick two lock forwards, which meant playing one of them in a position quite new to hirn. The line-out play was also very tagged. Alick M"l>oiiald played a dashing game, and did a lot of tackling : but | he got in the way of his backs too much. | Xo doubt he himself would sooner play in ! the back row of the serum instead of I wing forward, a position more suited for i a player of Graham's stamp. Brown was j

a good forward all round. ■ The Otago backs could'not have played ; worse. Their attempts at tackling were , feeble in the extreme, they would not get J into the thick i-tuff, and it was their mis- j takes that left many of the openings lor j ; their opponents. Scott, the full-back, was the only sound tackier on the Blues' sido, and lie had .t° bring down men who should have been collared long before they reached him. He had his hands full, but he made few mistakes. Sutherland, it it, pleasing to learn, will be fit and well for the next rep. match. He is far and away the cleverest scrum half in town, besides being strong in rush-stopping. The fiveeighths line was not a success. was not at home in Xo. 1 position. His ! proper places is in the three-quarter line, j It occasioned gome surprise at the time I when Williams, last jear's live-eighth, was | overlooked, and there can be no doubt 1 now that he is the man for the inside position. He would also have his clubraate behind the scrum. Black made a most successful first appearance for an eighteen- I year-old player. He saved the situation j in the second spell, when he played brii- j liantly. He is, as someone remarked, a j born footballer. Beunet and O'Sullivan j were both failures. They pHt no heart , into their play. Xorr;o. as usual, ran j well, but he, too, was weak on defence. | The game itself was not an interesting ', one. It was a hard-fought and strenuous i struggle, which did not lend to play of a j scientific order. Tfic- visitors played j against the wind, although they won the j toss From a line-out Xorrie threw the j ball clean out to A. M"/)onald on the end of the line, and the Otago skipper scored the first try. going over between the | posts. Xorrie converted, giving Otago 5 j points to start with. Sutherland nest | broke away from a scrum, and a passing , Tush gave O'Sullivan a clear run in. ; Xorrie missed an easy kick in front. R. • Forbes intercepted a pass, and, running j to Scott, he passed to Brown, who went !

over, reducing the Blues' lead to 5 points j again. Then from the ruck in the centre of the field Brown broke away and passed to Hunter, v.-ho, on being tackled by | Scott, passed to O'Brien, who went over I at the corner. Taking the kick himself. I he landed a splendid goal against the ; wind. 8 all. Norrie kicked across to i Christie's wing when in the Colors' 25. and the South Island player, having a clear Tun. raced up the field to Scott, when he passed to Todd, who ran to the line and then transferred to Manning, who scored under the post 3. O'Brien converted, and it was novr the visitors' turn to lead by 5 points. In the second spell Otago did ail the scoring. Black dodged through a bunch of opponents and dashed to the line, where he passed to Brown, who touched down. From a line-out on the corner Casey threw out, and the ball coming oil Brown, Casey fell on it over ! the line and scored. Both kicks missed, I and the final score read : Otago 14 points, South Island 13. Mr J. Duncan had control of the game. It is contended by some that one try scored by the visitors should have been disallowed for a pass forward, and that Brown knocked on when the Blurs got their last try. NORTH ISLAND COUNTRY TEAM. The touring team representing th? North Island minor unions defeated Wanganui on Saturday by 13 points to nil. The game was marred by a Tegrettabie incident. Just before ths third quarter ended Percival followed up a kick to M'Kenzie (Wairarapa), at full-back, and the latter in fending Pereival with his elbow, oauorht him on the point, laying him out. Portion of the crowd for the rest of the afternoon made a demonstration against M'Kenvde. The mat'.-h all through was hard and eiremjous, and several of the visitors were temporarily injured. MAORI TEAM BEAT MAN^UYATU. The Maoris heat a combined ManawUuHorowhenua learn at Palmerston North by 14 pointa to 11. AT OTHER CENTRES. Wellington.—Athletic 4 points beat Pefona 3, "Wellington 5 v. Melrose 3, Oriental 19 v. Southern 7, Poneke 12 v. Victoria College 8, St. James 16 v. Old Boys nil. St. James and Oriental lead tor the chameio&ehip with 26 point?, Athltic 25. . Auckland.—City beat Paraell by 5? ftoints to nil, Marist Brothers Oid Boys ? V. Grafton 3, Poneonbv 34 v. Newton nil. "Cteietchuich. —As the result of Satur4kj'» matches the senior diamcioosbiq

and possession of the D.CL. Challenge Shield for another season are secured by tho Albion Fir*t Fifteen. The Canterbury Rugby Union have decided to drsc tho competition. NEW SOUTH WALES v QUEENSLAND. The football match between New South Wales and Queensland was won by the former by 24 points to 3.. PALMERSTON v. WAIKOUAITI. The last of, a series of six matches be- i {ween Patmerston and Waikouaiti was played at Palmerston on Saturday, the home' team winning by 9 points to nil. Of the six matchss, three have been won by Palmerston and one by Waikouaiti, while two wore drawn. NORTHERN UNION. The first challenge match under Northern Union rules for the cup presented by the English Northern Union for competition among the provinces of the Dominion was played at Auckland on Saturday between the Auckland and Wellington teams. Rain fell steadily from 2 to 3 o'clock, and as a result the ground was very sticky, and prevented fast play. The home team won by 16 points to 8. The Australasian League team have sailed foT England. AUSTRALIAN RULES. Twenty thousand people were present at Adelaide* on Saturday at the football carnival (Australian rules). Victoria defeated Tasmania, and South Australia defeated Westralia. ■ On the Oval on Saturday North Dunedin. with 3 goals 7 behind* (25 points), beat South Dunedin, 2 goals 5 behinds (17 points). _______^____