RUGBY FOOTBALL

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 4 October 1924, Page 11

RUGBY FOOTBALL

GYMNASIUM FOR HA AYER A. A MUCH-NEEDED BUILDING. The provision of a gymnasium at the show ground or any place handy to that ground is an excellent scheme. It is a. want which has been felt for many years, and is a feature that makes for a great handicap as against the city teams, where each club practically has its own gymnasium and members train and practise twice a week regularly. When it is considered what advantages the city men have, the wonder is that | country union teams do so well, and i their success is a tribute to the. men themselves for their training and keep-) ing fit individually. The founding of •the gymnasium will be a valuable help to the game in Hawera. A T isitors to New Plymouth will have noticed the fine rooms at Pukekura Park recently erected. Their erection is a tribute to the leaders in the game in the nor-' them town. HISTORICAL. It is curious how history repeats itself in the annals of .the colonial tours of Britain, says a southern critic. The original All Blacks suffered onlyone defeat in AVales, in the international match, the following Springboks beat AA r ales, but were beaten 17-0 . by Cardiff Club (having been beaten previously 6-0 by Scotland); the A\allabies, 1907-8, were beaten in AVales by AVales 9-6, by Llanelly 8-3, by Cardiff 24-8, and bv Swansea 6-0, their only other defeat being that by Midlands, 16-5; and the second Springbok team was beaten 9-3 by Newport and 3-0 by Newport, their third loss being against London, 10-8. 1924 ALL BLACKS. Says a Home paper: “But the great innovation in their game is the winging forward. As a matter of fact, he is not a fonvard, and is a wolf in sheep’s clothing.” Although eagerness has lieen shown to condemn the wingforward once more, Porter may convince some of the critics ere the tour is over that it is possible for a player to fill the wing-forward position without being, an obstructionist. As for the wing-forward, it was expected that he would come in for abuse, even though a wing-forward is played byteams in the Old Country; in fact, some teams have tried two wing-for-wards. No time was lost in branding Cliff Porter as an obstructionist, but it was only what was said of the late Dave Gallaher in 1905. There was an outcry against the wing-forward, and it lias been heard ever since. It is interesting to recall what was said in 1905. The London Daily Chronicle: “The winger showed a fine scorn of sections i and j of Rule xi., and, if he had met with his deserts, would have been penalised into ineffectiveness. He may be described as a scrum c half who claims the privileges of a forward in the scrum; his part is that of a passive and active obstructionist.” The people who think the All Blacks should win 30-nil every time will get more rude shocks yet, says a southern paper. For ourselves we -shall be quite satisfied if win by any margin, remembering some of the very narrow escaoes the 1905 All Blacks had. A Wellington writer pays a generous ‘ tribute to a Canterbury- man: The suc-

cess of Parker, wlio took Porter’s place as wing-forward, and scored three tries against Cornwall, came as no surprise to those who knew the capabilities of this tall, fleet-footed Canterbury: rover. Parker is one of the fastest men playing Rugby to-day. In a race at Christchurch, while the South Island trials were in progress, he heat Steel in a sprint over 100 yards. The man who can do this must be a great runner, as Steel has proved - himself one of the fleetest sprinters in the Dominion on the running track. Parker is an ideal rover. He does not mar his play by getting continually offside, as do so many wing-forwards. His pace enables him to dart upon the opposing backs without cribbing the advantage of a flying start. (It seems a pity we cannot find room for both.)

THE 1905 TOUR. BARENTS RECALLED. The team reached Home on September 9, eight days later in the year than the present team. They had a somewhat quiet reception, having not a previous, tour to herald them as did the tourists of 1924. On the other hand they had not a famous reputation to live up to and maintain, although there were some famous teams from New Zealand prior to 1905. Still, none had the glamour of the latter. It was only; when they started their wonderful series of huge scores that they suddenly jumped into the limelight and stayed there throughout, even when they sustained that, narrow and much-debated loss on December 16 against'the AVelsh internationals. And wliat a marvellous run of scoring it] was! —double figures in every matcli until AArales met them, 731 noints as against 22, and 19 matches in which their line was uncrossed. The total, of the whole tour was 829 points for and 39 points against: Comparing the matenes played so far by- the present team with, the scores in the same matches played in 1905, the total is largely in favour of the latter, but as against that the present team have struck ati'oeiously wet weather, and consequently- had small scores for two fixtures in which the 1905 team piled up very large totals. Ilie place-kiekipg of to-day’s team has been adversely criticised, ‘but it is worth notice that the records show that AA’allace, despite his huge total of conversions, had quite a number of days on which he was decidedly off. For idstance, against Oxford the team scored 13 tries, and only four were converted; Richmond, five tries, one converted; Bedford, 10 tries, four converted; Blackheath, seven tries, four convertd; Ireland, ; five tries, none converted ; Cheltenham, 10 tries, two converted; Yorkshire, 10 tries, five converted.

The narrow escapes from defeat which the 1905 team had are shown very pointedly, first by the match against Scotland, when the latter had a lead of a point, 7 to 6, two tries: haying been scored ghd not converted, while Scotland had a try and a potted goal. This position obtained until 10 minutes from time, when George Smith finished a brilliant passing rush by beatnig the opposing backs and ing, .while McDonald, said by many to have been- the finest forward of the bunch, scored from a forward *rush. Th© Scottish team was led by BedellSivright, and was said to have been “one of the fastest teams for Scotland for five y-ea'rs.” It included, besides

i the skipper, L. McLeod, K. McLeod, Alunro, \V. P. Scott, Dr. AVest, and Kyle. Fell, of New Zealand, was chosen, but would not play against his own countrymen. The report says that “the ground was hard after a frost, and Scotland attacked from the outset.” In the match against Newport only one try was scored, by- Harper, and Wallace for New Zealand and Griffiths for Newport kicked penalty goals. The Cardiff matcli was noted as “a close shave,” the . AVe.lshmen playing Bush, Gabe and Nieholls, the last-named scoring a try- and Thomson equalising for New Zealand, both being converted. In the second spell Nicholson scored again and AVallace converted. New Zealand led till close on time, when Thomas scored and the kick failed, giving the visitors an extremely narrow win. During the match O’Sullivan collided with an opponent, and broke a collarbone. In the last match, of the tour in Britain the team met Swansea. The latter scored in the first spell, and it is recorded that the All Blacks’ were on the defensive nearly the whole of the game, and only towards the end Wallace potted a brilliant goal, giving his side victory by the smallest margin. It was certainly unfortunae for them that all these hard matches were crowded into the last week or two, when, as is recorded, the team were sore and some of their best players unable to take the field. George Smith, described by one of the Home papers as “the outstanding genius,” was unable to play in any of the AVelsh. fixtures, and undoubtedly- his absence in the bi'g match was sorelv felt. . The first Britisher to cross the All Black line was Clarkson, of Durham t in the seventh matcli of the tour, and this did not happen again until thematch against Midlands, the thirteenth, when a try- was secured and converted. < The recording of these events will serve to show what the 1905 team were up against, and also to recall to old players many of the outstanding events of the famous tour. Many of the occurrences will probably have slipped from the memory. They will perhaps enable enthusiasts to better compare the two teams, and cause those who are inclined to depreciate this year’s team to realise how close the former were to defeat on more than one occasion. In any- case they will be of more than passing interest, even to the casual reader who has perhaps not the extreme keenness of interest in the game. 1905 ALL BLACKS. The following extracts from reports comment on the doings of the 1905 All Blacks, culled from the Star files of that year, will prove good reading : “It is said that Premier Dick Seddon cabled to know who was knocking on the earth of New Zealand, and when President Dixon cabled back and informed the Boss it was onh- Ireland and New Zealand playing their international match, he replied that he would he quite satisfied so long as his brunette boys won.” New version of the “Dear little Shamrock” (written after the defeat of Ireland): The bucked little shamrock, The licked little shamrock. The smashed little Bashed little 1 Shamrock of Ireland. The hacked little shamrock, The whacked little shamrock, The bumped little j Thumped little Shamrock of Ireland.

“The first half of the Munster game might be called Glasgow’s match (says the Daily Mail). He failed to convert a try by Abbott, but in a few minutes lie crossed over himself and goalcd. Then Roberts was flagrantly tripped, and Glasgow put the penalty to excellent effect. He also picked up in the loose and again crossed.” “Greased lightnin’ isn’t in it,” said an enthusiastic Irishman of Hunter, and the crowd simply rose at the brilliant little live-eighths. It was the main topic of conversation in Dublin that night. “It was only now that the crowd bad the first glimpse of what Hunter was like at his best. Picking up about half-wav he threaded a dazzling diagonal course through at least half-a-dozen opponents without a check, and it was only a supreme effort by Lauders that threw him and Smith into touch.”

HUNTER. (From Athletic News of 1905.) AVhen British backs His strong attacks Try hard to circumvent ’em, He’ll simply- grin Like ancient sin And easily prevent ’em. AA r ith bursts so great And eel-like gait, Towards the line zig-zagging, And tacklers keen Look on in spleen AViiile he the tries is bagging. Oh! don’t the days seem.drear and dun AVhen lie don’t score with corkserew run ? And isn’t his life a dreadful bore AA T hen there ain’t a goal line to tumble o’er ? The critics stare "With baleful glare— Their wits gone all a-flutter — To see our teams Like men in dreams A-huntiug of this Hunter.He’s like a rayOf light in play, A hurricane, a blizzard, A streak of grease No hand can seize A veritable wizard. In short, this aggravating “fern” Is clipper-built from stem to stern; And it’s sad to think, ere he leaves our shore, The number of lines he’ll tumble o’er. A, Hawera correspondent writes: It is understood that an urgent , message has been received from the All Blacks requesting that a clergyman be sent to convert the tries. ' RUGBY IN CALIFORNIA. AN ENTHUIASTIC ADA^OCATE. ; INTERAHEAYED IN AUCKLAND. (Taranaki Herald Correspondent.) AUCKLAND, Sept. 29. The visit of the All Black team to California in 1913 gave a tremendous impetus to the Rugby game in that State and led to a thrilling series of games between the Universities of Stanford and California. The latest advices, however, are to the effect that in recent years the game has received a set-back,- having been replaced to a large extent by tlie American game. A hope of the revival of the British code on the Pacific Coast, particularly at. Stanford, was expressed to-day- byMr Harry B. Maloney, associate director of -physical education at Stanford, who is a passenger on. the Makura, as manager of the Stanford tennis team. This team has just concluded a successful tour of Australia and is now on its way back to the United States.

Mr Maloney is a keen Rugby enthusiast. and left no duobt as to his feelings when lie said: “Rugby is a game, and American football, as now played, is a business.” Mr Maloney said that, as the result of the games played by the All Blacks in California students of the universities had been left with the impression that from the standpoint of amateur sport the only thing worth while was to play the game. That, impression had been handed down as a tradition from one generation of students to another, and had done much to raise the standard of university athletic activities. This spirit had been greatly assisted by the visits of two Australian teams, the Wallabies and the Waratahs.

People on the west coast of America felt that the Australians and New Zealanders were their natural rivals in sport and that they should have many tilings in common. Purther to cement that, desirable relationship it had beer proved that one very real link war forged in fostering international intercollegiate athletic relationships between people at both ends of the Pacific. Stanford felt closer to Australia and New Zealand than any of the other universities of the West, for they had housed# men from Sydney, Melbourne, and Auckland, and all had made good. The possibility of a. Stanford Rugby team visiting these countries in t near future was mentioned by Mr Maloney, who said ho was expecting an invitation to. be sent to Stanford by the New South Wales Rugby Union, asking that a team be sent south next season or the following year. lie mentioned that Stanford had eleven men in the American Rugby team which took part in the Olympic Games, and they had a sufficient nucleus to make possible a continuation of the game in the university. Ho hoped there would be sufficient stimulus and backing to make it worth while that Australia and New Zealand should help in this direction. The young men were keen enough on the game, but it was necessary to capture the interest of graduates.

“I am convinced this tour of the tennis team to Australia is the equivalent of two years in college.’'' said Mr Maloney. “In the few months away from home they have acquired a practical experience of the world" not possible from their book studies. In Australia they have found a country larger than their own, inhabited by a people who speak and look like, themselves and with ideals and ambitions similar to their own. Situated as we are at the other end of the Pacific wc do not hear enough of what is going on at this end. International contests should do much to cement the very real friendship that exists, and the visit of the tennis team is only a start. There i 3 a prospect of a boxing team being sent down next year, as well as a track team of four. If we add to this the visit of the Stanford football team within the next two years you will have one university doing its sharp towards this very valuable understanding. The football team would certainly play in New Zealand, as we regard ibis country as the home of Rugby.” Lady: “But why, my good man, are your clothes so frightfully torn?” Trarnp (trying to impress): “This, madam, ig thro’ playing Rugby when I was well orf,”