SPORT IN ENGLAND

Northern Advocate, 5 February 1926, Page 7

SPORT IN ENGLAND

ENGLAND’S RUGBY TEAM. Preparations are now being made to build up the England Rugby team, and the authorities are faced with several gaps to fill. Four of last year’s fifteen— Kittermaster, Massey, Hillard, and Gumming—have gone abroad. One, Brough, the young fisherman who played fullback, has become a professional. And Myers, Smallwood, and Edwards have retired from international football. A first official test of the talent available is to lie made this week-end in a trial match at Carlisle, when Whites, who may De regarded as the basis of the English side, will be opposed by Colours, who are mainly drawn from the North. Indeed, a wholesale sweep has been made of players who have been famous in the past, as though the selectors were determined to give every opportunity to the young men in the game. Chantrill, the Bristol player, comes back at fullback, and, if he has regained his form of two years ago, he should be good enough. In the three-quarter line two players, who appear certainties, are the centres. Hamilton-Wickes and Corbett, though the latter had to stand down from the trial game owing to an injury. On the left wing a strong candidate is Sir T. G. Devitt, the hard-running Cambridge baronet, and H. P. Jacob, the Oxford captain, may, appear in the next trial as the right wing. A. T. Young, the scrumhalf of last season, was hurt in the match against the New Zealanders, and afterwards he was never at his best.

Rowing Blue as Scrum Players. He has, however, now recovered, and he will serve Dr. G. C. Taylor, a Gloucester stand-off half of marked, ability. Indeed, Taylor has been one of the outstanding players of the season, and a great deal ■is expected from him. An alternative serum-half to Young, who is now in the Army, and has played comparatively little, is F. M. T. Bunney, of the Richmond Club, who are about the best side ill London 'bis season. In the Wites pack are five men who played for England a year .go. Thej are led by Wakefield, as great a force as ever, and include Luddington, Voyce, Periton, and Tu.-ker. The most experienced player in the Colours team is Robson, an old international front row forward. He had a serious motor smash some time, ago, but he has made a wonderful recovery, and is said to be playing as well as ever. Another forward is D. T. Raikes, who rowed in the Oxford boat in three successive years, and stroked the crew in the middle vear 1921, J ’

An Oxford Debacle. The night following the ’Varsity Rugger match at Twickenham is always a great and joyous festival. But such festivities as took place to-night at the West End of London, so far as young Oxford was concerned, must have been slightly morose. It is fifteen years since a ’Varsity rugger match was such a onesided affair as to-day. In 1910 an Oxford team, most of whom are now sleeping in France, beat Cambridge by four goals and five tries to a, try, crossing the light blue line nine times to their once. This was precisely what Cambridge did today, though thanks to some very indifferent place-kicking, their score was only three goals and six tries to Oxford’s single try. Practically at all departments of the game—fore and aft in the loose and in the tight—Cambridge were top dogs. The moment the game started ajl the “pep”-* seemed to be inside the light blue jerseys. Their forwards got the ball into the scrums nine times out of ten, and in the loose they proved far more nimble and dashing than the Oxonians. At half-back W. H. Sobey, the old Middle Hill boy, proved his worth, and Sir Thomas Devitt and C. D. Aarvold showed more speed and brilliance than any of the Oxford backs. Devitt got a huge bag' of tries, and Aarvold, whose stalwart form and raking stride, like his flaxen hair and his name, suggest ah ancient Viking strain, demonstrated the value of hard straight running. One of the prettiest bits of in the game was a try scored by T. E. S. Francis, quite a modest little man, who sold the dummy twice, the last time to the formidable Drysdale, Scotland’s famous International full-back, and, suddenly accelerating, sailed away merrily to score between the posts on his own account. But I think the hero of the side was the Cambridge captain. W. E. Tucker was simply übiquitous, dribbling, collaring and generally inspiring his followers to a berserk rage that quite overwhelmed Oxford. Thfe Oxford forwards had their flashes, but the backs were terrible. It was one long tragedy of fumbling and misunderstanding. The game was played in the best ’Varsity tradition of clean ruthless sort, and there was a huge crowd of Old Blues and pretty flappers to exult in all the thrills. The first twenty minutes was as fast and exciting as anything I can remember in classic Rugger. But after that Cambridge rather spolt the game—by being too overwhelmingly superior. HOW TO WIN THE TEST MATCHES. A. C. MacLaren, more familiar with •Australian cricket than perhaps any other Englishman, has given his opinion how we can win the Test matches next, summer. The famous Lancashire captain has always been in the habit of calling a spade a spade, and in his emphatic manner he declares that the county championship next season should he scrapped. By this he does not men n that the counties should suspend opera-, tions, but merely that there should !■« no competition to claim the Interests of . the teams. His contention, of course. I is that tile task of beating the Anstra- I bans should come first, and everyone should concentrate on it. At first one may not see the reason for this, but if the championship is at stake Mr. MacLaren knows that Surrey, for instance, will not want to rest Hobbs; and that Sussex will not be able to give Maurice Tate, the howler on whom we shall have chiefly to depend, an easy time. This is possibly true, and, moreover, ihe county who have a chance of winning the chain pionship will not want to release their players for the Tests, though they will, of course, do so. Mr. MacLaren has described the championship as a “nuisance.” and, as he looks at the position, it undoubtedly is.

Too Expensive. But much as we want to boat the Australians, the authorities will not be prepared to make the sacrifice lie asks'of them. And they could not afl'ord to do go. Most of the county clubs are better off financially than they have been for many years, but if they simply played friendly games their receipts would tumble down, and, of course, their expenses would be as high as ever. Mr, MaeLaren's proposal is, I am afraid, an impractical one, and, besides, it is not in accord wilii the spirit in which the game is played even by the counties. The old Lancashire captain is convinced that we have just as good cricketers as Australia