Rugby Football.

Free Lance, Volume II, Issue 98, 17 May 1902, Page 5

Rugby Football.

EVWtY time the «eaieis ot the red and black jersey meet those of the red and blue \anetv on the football held toemen worthy of each other's steel are found m oombat in other w ords w hen Poneke meet Melrose a great game may always be expected. And the match on Satuiday last was no exception to the mle. In fact, it waiv one of the finest contests seen on the Athletic Park foi a long while. Each team went on the field confident of victory, and, as both were repieseaited by good forward teams, a keen struggle resulted, and, when "no-side" was called, neither side had notched a score . The game was fast the ball travelling from one end of the field to the other in rapid alternation Now , Poneke would be kept busy clearing their lines, and. no sooner was that performed, than Melrose would have their hands full in keeping the red and blacks from crossing the line at their end. Quite a large crow d of spectators put in an. appearance to witness the match, amongst whom the 'barrackei" was greatly in evidence The game, from the commencement, was chiefly confined to the forwards, both sides seeming afraid to make it at all open. When the backs did get the ball they found the touehline m nearly eveirv case instead of tiving a passing rush . Poneke iime without the services ot Wallace. Ins place being taken lv Quee. During the progress of the game Man-

mug had the mistortune to ieceave a kick in the abdomen, and, although lie vstuck to lus place tor tully twenty minutes after the oocunence, was compelled a.t last to letne. Slater, at full-back, was and, but for a, tendency to wait too long in taking the ball, did his woik well. He should aJ»\ays remember that it is a nsk\ game waiting foi the ball to bounce, and it sometimes gives Ins opponents a chance to tackle him behne lie can set lus kick in. Roberts paw us another glimpse of Ins old foini His kicking, collanno, and passing weie splendid, a:id, but foi him. the game would have had a diffeiont ending, ais far as the Red and Blacks we.ie concerned. Slatorv was patchy. He had not man.v chances, but his exhibition was far from repiesentativo form Towards the close of the game, he made an excellent run, but spoilt, a good piece of play by punting into toucli instead of kicking infield towards the goal. Had he done so, there is a possibility that a score would have resulted, as he was being followed up closely bv Robeits and Davis, and. with only the full-back to beat it was odds on one of them crossing the line. Maiming was responsible for .some good work. His line kicking and collarmg were of a high older He had bad luck in getting hurt, and his side missed his services tow ards the close of the game. Davis had a hard afternoon's work a& half-back, and he gave a very creditable dis.pl av. When the ball came to him, his passes to Roberts were well-timed and accurate. Of the foi wards, McAnaJly, Mcßae, and Wilson put in a lot of solid work, and they were ably supported by McColl and Judd. The latter should have a little more lespeot foi his opDonente' limbs when he in the scrum, and dho m the open. Honour spoilt several good chances when throwing in, through not throwing straight, and a little more practice in that direction would be useful. Swee-nev's exhibition in this game, and preceding ones this season, stamps him. as the best exponent of line-out work at present playing here, the waiv he takes the ball being very clean and

neat. Jim's smile, when he gets away ti oiii an opponent is worth going a long waj to see. * • » Spoiice*, at full-back, was. as safe as a rock, and his coolness was m marked contiast to his vis-a-vis. His placekicking was not up to the mark, but he made amends with the effectiveness of his lmc kicking. Dd^ was 1 esponsible foi some good punting, and lie was well backed up in tins particular by Carswell. The two Ciandges put in a lot of woik and, but for one or two instances oi <~cl holiness on the part of the halfbk k then performance was creditable. Pcj^v" is fafet. and had he got the oppoitumt os that he should have, more tha.n one would have lesulted. Wngley wa,s the bnght particular stai of the Melrose backs, and his worth was veiy great. Still, he was mclmed to be a bit selfish on Saturday, which somewhat marred his exhibition, but his collaring and kicking were very effectn c. The t.wo Spencers, Adams, and McInnes w ere most, in evidence in tihe pack, and they tried their hardest to break through the well-sustained defence of their opponents. * * ♦ The Wellington-Oriental game suffered in consequence of the interesting go " on the neighbouring ground, and also because of the distraction caused to the plajyers by the aforesaid barracker," whose admonitions to* his favourite t&am were delivered in such, (stentorian fog-horn tones as to occasionally produce a sudden shock to the players on No. 1 ground. How ever, the game was well fought, out, the Orientals far a long while maintaining a very stubborn defence thiait sta,ved off all scoring. Eventually, however, from a scramble near the line, A Wilson picked up the ball smartly. and dropped over, Bush just being a fi action too late to stop him. The oaily other scone in the game was a goal from a free kick, nicely placed by Meredith. The Wellington backs seemed, for the most part., to" have all thumbs and no fingers at all. Tune and again the foi wards would get possession, and heel out, only to see their good work spoilt bv an lnercepted or faulty pass. The backs, as a whole were capable of much

better woik than they did in this match, and if they axe to have a oliance against Melrose on Saturday they will have to show a deal of improvement. * * * Meredith is not in as good form as last season. His passes are generally good but lie does not appear to be yet in tlha humour to make the opening before the pass. Methinks he misses Wood greatly. Lovatt did all he had to do in good style, and at present his chances of consideration for representative honours are very good. He kicks much stronger than was his wont last season, and his fielding of the ball is good. Mclntvre, S. Wilson, Jacob, and Brodie did not play in anything like their true form. Beird was unfortunate in ncking his knee, and, should it compel his temporary retirement, he will be greatly missed in the Wellington pack. Carey, a promoted junior, did good work on thei wing-forward, and McLachlan was favourably in evidence on the other side of the Wellington scrummage. Gallagher's work on the line-out is very effective, although he has a tendency to get off-side in thait position. A player standing on his opponents' side of the lino-out is liable to be penalised, and "Bernie" should remember this. McMinn and Burnett generally got the better of their vis-a-visi in the front of the pack, but tlie former has acquired a bad habit of "hooking" with hi 6 inside foot. Leversedge is the same honest John, his work being more of the solid than the showy variety. Walsh also put in a lot of heavy work. A. Wilson scored his try like a tradesman, and confirmed the opinion held that he had no right to have been left out of the Wellington team in the match against Poneke. • • • Bush put in an immense amount of work for Oriental — in fact, one cannot help thinking that "Charley" tries to do too much. He is a fine defensive player, and his kicking greatly improved during his short absence' from us in the South.

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F Roberts knows how to stop a 1 usli and gathers* the hall m veiv eftectivelv from the feet of tho opposing vdiieuaid He got a couple ot neat marks Brewer did not impress me as favoiuably as oil the hist time I watched him pla.v , and Can was not asked to do much hut that little he did faithtullv The little full-back, Thomson, got out of tiouble e-eneralh in good style Lowe did some clovei foot work on the win? and Skilton giafted hard and consistently all the ua\ through Milne (an old Athletic player). Wood (a 1 ecru it fiom Canteiburv way) and A. Wv he weie, peihaps t lie best of the remainder ot the pack who all poi formed solid and good woik The thud senioi match was played at Petone and an interesting tussle resulted m tlie Atl))etie s defeating the Old Boys b\ 9 points to o. Repoit hath it that the \ ounger club w ere imfoitunate m losing the match as they had considerably the best of the plav — at any rate, in the earlier stages. Dock! scoied a try foi them, Jordan convertmg with a splendid kick For the Athletics Kelh ciossed the opposing line, X Hales adding the major points, and Mm pin kicked a goal from the field. That coal was a good one, and deserves a paragraph on its own. Murphy and W. Hales were in fiont of an aggress i\ c Athletic drabble with only the opposing full-back to beat. At what he considered the nght time Murphy put in a strong kick to beat his opponent, when lo and behold ' the ball rose in the air and banged into the side of the goal-post, and over the cross bai Tins incident happened within two minutes of time being called thus placing the issue of the match beyond doubt. * * * The break between the time a lad leaves school say at the age of 14 01 l.~> and his being strong enough to ta,ke part m fourth-class football under the Rugby Union is causing those of us who wish the game well some anxiety. \ proposal is to be brought before the Management Committee at its meeting this week— l am writing on Tuesday — to mauguiate. a fifth-class competition, limiting those taking^ part m such to the age of 1(> and under. This is undoubtedh a wise move, and should commend itself to all who have the game at heart A trip out to Miramaa any SaUndav will convince anyone who cares to watch the fourth-class games that it is unfair to ask boys who haye just left school to play against fullgrown men, for theie aie many such playing fourth-cla^- football heie. To deprive iiwm of the pre-ent fourthclass players of their weekly game bv limiting 'the age in that class would, perhaps, be unfan. and so the piopcsal is made to nitioduce a special competition for boys who have just left school Even Saturday morning the various schools in the city play matches amongst themselves, and many of the master give a lot of time and trouble to the teaching of the game to the boys But if. when these boys leave school, no opportunity is afforded them to play the game they have learnt it is not to be woudeied at that they duft into other athletic pui suits on Satmdav afternoons New Zealanders bom and hied aie in mast cases Rugby footballers at heart and every encoui agemont should be given them bv the powers that be to follow the bent of their inclinations. But, if thene is a vacant period of enforced no-play-at-all between the time they leave school and play undei the Rugby Union, it cannot be a matte 1 of surprise to find some of the most proniLsmer nlavers in school clays lost foi f\ er to the game. Nor must it be forgotten that the present-day Wellington schoolboys will have to uphold the honour of the piovince when some of the present-day players are too stiff in the joints to toe the ball or try a spnnt, so the pioposial leferred to must conduce to the lasting good of the Rugby game in Wellington if brought into effect. » * * O'Connell — which one I am not quite suie. but at an^ late one ot the twins — came down fiom Hanke's Bay on Thursday last and intends taking up his residence in Wellington He has been for raanv years one of the supports of repiesentative football in the squatters' country and us still a player. O'Connell has joined the Poneke Club, and will play for its senior team m its engagement on Saturday Thinking things over quietly, I have come to the conclusion that junior footballers w ould appreciate a note on their game* week bv week Of course if "Touchline" were a single individual this would mean the passing by of the senior matches altogether — which of course, would never do. But, there are two of us. and we have decided to spread ourselves— one attending the Atliletio Park every Saturday, and the other taking a different junior game eaoh week, thus giving every team a chance of a notice The practice will be instituted at next week's matches and we nope it will be appreciated.

The senioi games next Sati;ida\ aie --Meliose \ ■ Wellington, Old Boss \ Petone and Poneke Oner.tal. I anticipate the fust-named in e«ch instance w ill \rm It appealed to me that it mu'-t come as suielv as the -spaiks fl\ upwaid^ At a meeting of the Otago Rugb\ Union last week Jimim " Duncan was pioposed as a member of the Match Committee, but h<? declined nomination a.s he might be "playing again" dnecth Coinei, am ex-Poneke junioi is plavmg haJf tor the North Slioie Club (Auckland) this km&ou It is hoped Jimim" will weai a pair of gloves w<hen playing, to pi event the ball sticking to 111" hands, foi he used to love it a, lot m Wellington Parsing is a good featuie in a half-back A mo\ement is on foot to make a piesentatiou to W Robeits toi tho mam imntouous service^ he lias rendered Wellington football, a gold watch and chain being the objectne of the promoter That the scheme may be successful is mv earnest wish, and also that the popular little footballer may long be found olia&ing the leather. W Quee discovered on Monda\ that something more than a knock was tho matter with his leg, and on mteiviewing a doctor, he recen ed the unwelcome intelligence that a small bone in hi sleg had been put out m the PonekeMelrose match on Satuida\ This will mean an enforced rest for a week or two, but we all wish him a speedy leco\ er\ . The Ranfuily Cup is not done with. The smallei unions at the instance of Mr. Goldie (Bush) aie pioposmg at a meeting to be held on the 19th June to make anothei effort to "et travelling expenses foi challenge matches. The whole affan was thoioughh thrashed out at the last meeting of tho Council, and methinks it Mould have geen bettei to let well alone now . ' There appear to be this seasoa in Clmstchurch more than the usual number of playeis who value then OAvn services higher than does then Selection Committee says 'Quid Nunc ' and consequenth , refuse to pla-\ except m certain teams. These unsportsmenhke plaveiN are of no use to any club " I clip this paragraph mainh because it has a local bearing, and could be read 'with interest by a prominent member of the Wellington Club, who was replaced bv lus club's Selection Commitee last week and then declined to fill a vacanc\ when lus team was likely to be short The following is aKo copied fiom • Quid Nunc's" notes, and the particular attention of referees is drawn to it — A ruling which appeals to be altogether overlooked by refeiees at present —and which places all kickeis from place-kicks at a great disadvantage — is a^ follows —'It is illega.l for any side about to charge to have even one foot o\ er the mark , and transgressors should be ordered back and in caise of refusal should not be allowed to charge at all ' It is quite clear that any pla-ser having been ordered behind the mark a second offence must result in a 'no charge' being given Our officials heie put players back whenever they notice any breach, instead of immediateh aw arding the penalt's