THE RUGBY WORLD.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLVIII, Issue 205, 28 July 1928, Page 18 (Supplement)

THE RUGBY WORLD.

So Near and Yet A little more finish and Canterbury would have romped over Wair.arapa, comments the Christchurch Star. Painful. Some of the high tackling, lob passing and aimless punting in rtho AVai-rarapa-Canterbury Shield match was pitiful to watch, comments a southern paper. Breaches Committed. There were 23 free kicks in the Ranfurly Shield match, between Wairarapa and Canterbury, the challengers being awarded 16 as compared with seven to the previous holders. Inter-Union Championship. The Payne Trophy match will be played at Dunedin on Saturday, September 1, and it looks as if the’game will be contested between two ’varsity sides—Canterbury College and Otago University.

Name in Prominence. Mr T. H. McWilliams, who will lie the wireless operator on the coming trans-Tasman flight, is an old Auckland ho}’. Tie is o cousin of R. McWilliams, >!.he All Black footballer.

All Important Point. The best team in the world is impotent if it cannot get the ball from the scrums, and yet some New Zealanders still scream that the ridiculous 2—3 —2 scrum formation is ','lie best, says “Hover” in the N.Z. Referee.’

Lost to the Game. H. B. Godfrey, tlio Canterbury forward who assisted the southerners to wrest the shield from Manawhemm last season, was lost to the red and blacks this year. Ho sustained an injury which necessitated an operation being performed to his knee. While it is stated that it was successful, it is very likely that his- football days are ended. Free Contributors. Bennie Osier is not the only player to score 14 points against the All Blacks in a test. On the 1920 tour of Australia by Moke Beilis’s team, It. G. Stanley, of Sydney University, was awarded a penalty try. He converted it and then added three penalty goals.

Scoring Backs. In the match between Otago University and Pirates, the students’ scoring came solely from £lieir rearguard. Four of the six tries came per medium of a strong-running wing-three-quarter in Wallis, who was replacing Webb for the afternoon. Stevenson kicked three goals. A “Come Back.” Jack Spencer, who was a member of the 1903 New Zealand team, made a surprising “come back” in Wellington on a recent Saturday. He turned out to assist Berhampore and, although on the verge of 50 years, he made a surprisingly good showing while ho could last tho pace. He was a groat inspiration to the Bcrhamporo pack.

A Local Case. The writing of tile above paragraph recalls to the fact that there is at present assisting St. Patrick’s juniors a player in Keilly, who figured in the ranks of the Ki,a Toa juniors when that club won the inter-club and sevenaside champ.ionship as far back as 1904. The following season tho team was promoted to senior grade. Becoming Popular.

The revival of the Rugby Union in Australia is steadily progressing (says a Sydney writer). Bathurst (N.S.W.), once a famous union centre, has decided to take up the old game again. The re-formed Queensland union is har'd at work organising for the next season, and a couple of leading N.S.W. officials are >to go north shortly to confer on the situation. “Willing and Thrilling.

There were some lively doings in the Star-Pirate Rugby match at Invercargill. when Pirates cleaned u[i tlio hitherto unbeaten Star to tho tuno of eight points to ithree. The game all

through was thoroughly “willing.” Thomas (Pirates) received a kick in tho ribs which placed him hors do combat, and Shaw (Star) went ono bettor—or worse, rather—for ho suffered concussion from a kick in the head and was carried off and taken to hospital. Towards the end, Roberts (tho Southland hooker, who plays for Pirates) was ordered off for striking Bell (Star rover). The game was well described by the Invercargill papers as “thrilling.” It was also decidedly “willing,” and very nearly proved to he “killing,” and the evidence shows there was also some “milling.”

Pars and Personalities.

it Home and Abroad.

(BY “CROSS BAR.”)

Rich in Talent

Clash in Dates,

Canterbury is rich in Rugby material, comments a southern paper which, however, adds: “Why go on wasting it when improvement could be so easily obtained by the study of tactics on the blackboard?” Gate Receipts. The gate receipts at the Ranfurly Shield game at Christchurch totalled £ll7O. Allowing for holders of season tickets, it is reckoned that the attendance was just a few hundreds short of 20,000. The Canterbury Union takes three-quarters and the Lancaster Park Board of Control the other fourth. ti 1 A Strong Partisan. ™ Many Palmerston North enthusiast? listened-in to the description of the Ranfurly Shield game broadcast from Christchurch and they could not be struck with the partisanship of the announcer. There may have, nevertheless, been some grounds for his contention that Canterbury had been the most unlucky team in the world. Little Alteration. The team which did duty for Wairarapa against Canterbury differed but slightly from the side which defeated Wellington last year by 36 points to 19 at Wellington. The main difference was that I. H. Harvey assisted the new shield holders on that occasion.

Playing Well. Two cx-Palmcrstonians in the brothers Callander met in opposition when Kaikorai and Alhambra fought it out at Tallinn Park, Dunedin, on a recent Saturday. Roy Callander had been absent from the hill team for some time on account of injuries and, as luck would have it, Ron, who is Alhambra’s mainstay among the backs, had to retire hurt soon after the match had started. They arc both fine players and there are many southerners who emphatically declare that Ron should be one of the first picked for Otago this season. Correct Prediction. A would-be humorist was responsible for a curious coincidence in the Trans-vaal-All Black game (says the Johannesburg Times). When officials arrived at the grounds in the early morning they found that someone had chalked up the score board on the south side of the field giving the Transvaal six points and the All Blacks nil. The unofficial chalk marks were promptly wiped out—only to be replaced officially later on.

It is doubtful now whether the annual Rugby match between Canterbury College and Victoria College (Wellington), duo >lo be played in Christchurch this year, will bo held. Originally it was set down for August 1, but Victoria College finds now that this date does not suit it. It suggests September 5, but that does not suit Canterbury College. Overlooked.

Pickering, who was sorted out early in tho season as ,a centre three-quarter likely to go far in the game, is still playing brilliantly for Berhampore, and those who have seen him in action are wondering how the selector came to pass him over when choosing over

twenty players for training in view of the recent match with Taranaki (says a Wellington writer). Hp has a great scoring record, having notched 73

points to date this season: —Eight tries, twelve goals from tries, seven penalty goals and one potted goal. Manawhenua’s Opponents. Though the standard of club play has not been very high all round, Otago should bo able to place a fairly

strong rep. team in tho field, writes “Dark Blue” in tlio Dunedin • Star. Nearly all tho ’Varsity rearguard should gain rep. honours. Tile following backs would make a fairly strong combination:—Stevenson, Graham, Matlieson. Webb, Bon Callander, J3m<lanovich, Holden, and a good for-

ward pack would bo : —R. Soutcr, D»ouglas, J. Lewis, Sonntagg, Dunno, | Murpliy, Finlayson. and C. Lewis. Just a Shadow!

That Hawke’s Bay Rugby, both senior aiul junior, is but a shadow of its former self was shown again on Saturday, when Wnirarapa juniors boat Hawke’s Bay juniors by _l7 points to nine. Hawke’s Bay juniors in past years have usually been able to overwhelm Wairarapa.