Rugby Football.

Free Lance, Volume II, Issue 99, 24 May 1902, Page 5

Rugby Football.

FOOTBALLKRS in Wellington lme to put up with mai^ disadvantage*, but the worst oiip of all is „ ..u.tbeiV bnsto, " What Imh-« a splendid exhibition ot the game on Saturday last, when Melrose and tile keen «md that as blowingBack nlav was at a discount, as passes ffiSlh •• atl ; *Sf from th, coveted line. and this tame, with a hue effo t u thiew himself o^ ci the chalk lino a. (I coined amy meritorious t^ . ~ The lemaimWi oi the hist half w«*, for the most p«ut. fought out m neiitial !n?iy the Melro^e having if anyThing the bc-ttei of th< play • * * When ends were dialled the £arne passed either t\\ent\-hve Hag. Within fne minutes ot time a Rioat nish of Mel rose tonvards ended m a nlik b«n X obtained within sconns d«tmce 6. Spencer took the kick our ll £ in the face of the «md V.mWellington supporters breathed heeh t >'SS b«n RSR S splomlullv frustrated b> • • * For the winner was^oiv p^oimnent. his game on Saturday being of the kind that brings a plavei f <u oiuaWy under the eve of the selec tor d the representative teams His try was a fi?e effoi- ami the pa 5 s iurt P^-ous v to McLaohlaw worthy of the liest tiachhon® of the game The two full-backs- GSpencei and Lovatt-had a heavy day work and both came out of the ordeal ve^ well indeed, the former perhaps being slightly t,he better of the two. Wriglev was solid, and his kicking and stopping were fhst-cla.s&. Brodies lett foot kicking in tho -econd half, was a ereat source of strong to the Wellington team He stopped one rush in the first spell in &<** ™X iust when a crowd of Melrose forwaitH 11 ere galloping over the opposition Jacobs has vet to show us the (,ualitv t3iat won him a place in the New Zealand representative team and -Ueaedith is below his last season & toim too But stall Saturday not a fair (lav to judge of the attacking powers of a back, for defence— not defiance— was the watchword S Wilson has been given that centie three-duarter position I talked so much about earlier in the season, and he lias ret to pi^e the force of my contentaon His style of pla* is afte, Row's, and if he can only roach the same excellence as that plavei did his team will be more than pleased. Bv the way mam w ill 1 egret to hear that, Row le'ceived a nasty krock on the head olavrne in a match on a recent Saturday in Sydney which necessitated his lea,ving the field. The wish that Banger" ma,y by this time be h* o, n good Irif acadn is I know Tf-eclioed. bv the many friends he made m Wellington.

Mel nt .Me seems to h.uc last a lot of his dash" but Ins kicking was \eiy good on Stit in (la^ ■\_mong the toiwa.ids, McMinn was al«,wsm cMcknce, as, besides playing a o-ood game, lie managed to lose the best part of hi,s clothing. When his ieis<>\ was pulled oft him, theie appealed to me to be no necessity foi such a pioeecluie as he did not ha\e the ball at the time One otthe Mehose wmgeis" - a new position for him too- -discovered p'enh ot u<.t> for Ins hands. Whethei an opponent had the ball 01 not, he was diagged down and a free kick liere and then' against him would ha\ c embed Ins nirlination a lot In fairness to the ich'iee, though, it w a.s generalh done on tlie opoosite side of the pack to the one he was on A pecuha,i thing about the WeiiiJiiton sciummage was the wav in which the sciew" was effected. Tradition &a\s that the pivot is the man who should pick the ball up w ith Ins knee&, but the man on his left was doing it on Saturday Honest John was entrusted with the duty, and in his hands — 01 rather nether limbs- the new no\ c was a decided success. It is haidU fan to inch\ lduahse between the lemamdei of the Wellington foi n aids, but one thing that impioftsed me \en favourably was the wav the\ endcvnouicd to keep within the fom comeis of the rules,. Last week the-\ weie continualh off -side," but in this match free kicks against them foi tins bieach weie \eiv rare. It aiwa,vs pa\s to pla* the game in its tiue son it, and if for no other reason, I congiatulate tlie Wellington team for its win — the few wauls paiticularh - for the\ boie tlie brunt of the work A t'Undge's woik was paiticularly noticeable foi the> neat \\a\ in which he took marks, from knocks-on on the Inioout This is ever a paMng game, aaid the more marks there are obtained the tendency to knock-on will pioportionateK be checked. Day and X Clandge did not break <\n\ bones getting tlnough the afteinoon'swork but the\ did then best to keen defeat away fiom then team Pegcj\" one time had the Me! rose bai1 ackers" straining their necks and then tin oats at tlie same time but tlie sroie u rus not to be Foi w aid Mehose luue thiee new men -Kine Ha.ulham and Osboi ne Tliex <ue all solid giafteis, and woith then places The latter has a habit of going for an opponent lound the neck o\en afteiUie has lost the ball, and the boonei he gets nd of it the better Jack Spencei was piominent in the loose and W Spencer on the wing did ,i lot of cle\er footwoik but at the same time I think he would be bettor off back in the sciummage Foothead, a piomoted minor, showed that the confidence placed in him is tull\ justified Oswm plays the eonect game on the wing foi ward and he and Mansoii appeal ed to get on vei\ comfortably together. Refeie-e Beck had a heavy afternoon's woik and got through it cieditabh • * * The Old Bo\s had a picnic on No 1 aimmd Reports sa,id that Pet one had Sot together a team that was going to shake things up, but it was onU a rumour Oi else the selected team had o-one to see the trotting laces aiivl f-ent substitutes in their places For the\

ne\er e\ en haxl a Look-m on Saturday, the boys" piactically galloping right over them, the score at the finish showing 33 points to nil. Fiank Johnson made his first appearance on the Park this season although he placed against Athletic at Petone the pie\ 10' us week. Five tries wa>s Ins contnbution. One of them I noticed very particularly, and it was a good lun. In the course of it he bumped off no less than fno of his opponents one after the other and then lan m without opposition Watkms was decidedly in evidence in the foi u aid dnision, but Dodd is another player who is not vet showing the form that won him a nlaco in the New Zealand team last year. Stout lan well along the toiichline, and usualK manaeed to gain a. lot of giouiid. G'eneralK speaking, though, the fame was so one-Mcled that the players on the Old Bo\s' side weie at diffeient periods nearh all pioimneut and their opponents seemed to be plaviiT- all "lone hands " and when one of them looked at all dangerous lie had onl\ to be hi ought dow n for the play to veer right lound the other way, theie was no cohesion or combination in their play. Refeiee Giant followed the game in a \ei\ desultory fashion, the play at times being too fast for him. Hi& decisions, howevei, were, in the main, correct, although in one instance he could ha,ve disaJlowed a tiy by the Old Boys without being unjust to them * * * The Poneke-Onental match was played at Mnaanar, and there the southerly was gieatly m evidence. It blew stiaight up and down the field, and invanabh managed to conveit what appeal ed to be a gentle kick into a huge effort The hist spell i\av mainly a series, of foieo-downs and kicks out bv the Onontal team and the second half was neailv the leveise, the Poneke team having to do the fore no; and kicking Tom Blown ,i jumoi, piomoted to hll Manning's place scored a meiitoiious tiv foi Poneke winch Wallace con - vetted, and SI ait ten v was successful in toicins; his way across the line Parkei — which leads like a new name 1o me m (lie Onental fiist fifteen —^coi(d his team's onh tiv Wilke-s converting it with a fine kick * * * The New South Wales Rugby Union h,n<> adopted the lecommendation of the Tntci national Board to lemstate the penalt\ foi lifting the toot in the scrummage befoie the ball is put in This is <i most sensible decision and one that could be well followed bv the New Zealand Rugby Unaon. Tnio the lecommendation has not \et been adopted bv the English Rugby Union It comes up foi confiimation ,it the annual meeting of that body in September next, but anyone who cares t. lead with a thoughtful mind will agiee with me that the International Boaid contiols the Knglish Rugby Union and any lecommendation made b\ it will for amoral certainty, become law Win then in the name of a,ll that is fair will the New Zealand Union toice oui pla\ers to be one whole season behind the players in New South W ales 9 Theßefeiees Association are not content with things as they stand, and [Continued on page 6.)

ba\u decided to appioach the Appeal Council ot the New Zealand Union on tho mattt'i That- body is composed ot men who, tiom piactical expeiioneo ot the \\ ol king c>t the mle complained ot will son that the le-mtroduction ot the penalt\ is uigontk needed and is in tlie best lntoiosts ot the game Thoic aio a tew coincidences m tootball and in the one I am about to mention a ceitain pla\ei has had moie than Ins share ot good luck In a senioi game, plavecl at Mnamai laisl season the ic force (uid occa'ion to caution a particular pla\ei twice The hist caution was gn en caih in tiho game and the second within h'\e minutes ot its conclusion the first one hems h>i gotten In the loforee w hen gn - ma the second La-t in a junioi match a pla\ < 1 was cautioned twice bv the lefoiei and has not to make his bow to the Management Committee of the R«"b\ Union to answei for his- lapses Tho couKidence is that both games weio pla\ed befweven Mehosc and Athletic roams and the plavei cautioned was the same one in both oa^os # * • An mtoimal gathering, held in the Caledonian Hotel last Fnda\ night to piesent a gold watch to Mr W Roberts- -\clopt Cock\"— was yon- euiovabLe Mi T. R Ellison was deputed to make the presentation and he did it in a happy speech Among other things lie lefeircd to the fact that ' Cocky" was the fiist pi aver who taught him how to suoeo-sfulh collar a bumper " He had been of the opinion pieviouslv that it was moio ilncFugh good luck than an\thmg eke that a fii«t-class ' bumnei " of the stamp of James the redoubtable Hawko'sßat player of a few roars- back was collared Bia<-ser" White told us how Roberta was found m the da\s of his- schooling in Mount Cook Bo\s' School, an institution which has pioduced amone others such names clcai to the boys of Wellington as Bilh" Wallace and l Fiodd\" Midlnne Jack" Kwmg took us back to the da\s when tho Poneke Club was hist formed in 1882 as the Oui Boys' Club. Tlk name was changed su m iho next roar partly because the schoonei Poneko in which I had an interest was w locked about that time Mi I 'l wing lemmiscenced 'I w a^t not of much } aluo to the Poneke Club .sir foi during the fifteen veais in which T plavod for tho club T was cmh successful in scoring one ti\ " And then lie told us how he scored that try - how theciowd \ollod a<ul how he nut all Ins eneigies into the effoit when tbie hue appealed within measuiablo distance. Mi Beck hied back as fai as 188"") but Han\ McCaidell w a.s thoie too and avta\ back into the Daik Ages of 1878 lie earned us in oidei to leeale oui minds with some of tho dou:?ht\ deed*, ot the mi2ht\ |)la\eis of that da\ Theie were many more .speeches — Me^.^l^ Xoni'- McXonzie Wnen and Coffee anionsrst the number of tho^e ■who held h)ith on diffeient ts but Roboits's spoecli na' the neatest of them all 'Mr Flhson and gentlemen T thank \ou foi your unexpected piesent I don't think T desei re it It i^ handsome and T thank you miiceieh I don't think T can si\ any moie Cock\" ha.s ropiosented Wellington on 47 occasions, plavecl for New Zealand in its 18% and 1897 team*, and lemesentod the North Island in 1894 and 18°7 His first lepiesentatne match waf, against Wairarapa in 1889 Tiuh a gjeat lccoid ,\nd one of which am pLuei might justh be proud And when it i^ remembeied that he is tln^ season showing smulai foim to that which won him his representatn c cap in pinions seasons is thei c not cilice to man el at his .staMng powei 0 Not (|iute such a maivel though as the Post " in its hist edition la^t Fi lda\ made Cock\ ' out to be when it mentioned that his first repi esentatn c match was phu eel so fai back as the \ear 889' The Otago l e|)i e^entati\ c team will not \ l^it the Wanaiapa on its Noithein toui Quidnunc" sa\s Wood the Cluistchuich captain was an absentee on Satuida\ Ins mimed Unee not ha^ mg recoveied sumcieutl\ to ponnit of 11 1 if-, plawng A coi lespondent tiom Hastwell has sent mo the names and occupations of two teams ot plajois who pla\ecl a match in that district a week or two ago but I would like some points on the game itself befoie attempting a desci lption ot it Jacobs the New Zealand repiesentatne w nig thiee-quai tei who phueel in, In\ eicaigill last season but who has been m Wellington toi a few weeks has roiturned to Southland " This is copied f lorn a Canterbuiv jjapei of last Sa,turda\ 's date and as Jacobs was placing on the Athletic Pa,rk on th<it clato tho mfonnation is pcihaps a bit promatuie.

The Oiiontal Club is the hist to cuaal itself of tho Roteiees Associationotter to M.Micl a menibei of its sub-com-mittee to gnc a talk on the mles ot the game at the club's gunnaMUm -Ml Noms the ohanman ot tin- Association ha.s been deputed to meet the Onental pla\eis Fied Murra\ lias been le-elected sole selectm ot Auckland's repiosentatn (> teams Doctoi" eas>il\ Mlcnced all his critics last season b\ the teams he put on pa.pei to lepiesent the -\oirhoin cit\ and ho haft pio\ed a successful follow ci oi tho polic\ ot all «in<» nifrfcitutecHiN !ms ptedecc^o/ 31 1 J Amen Preventb the ball yomg tanK into tho .c.ummage" Theie is a tiontrankor m Wellington uho hooks with the wrong foot and neail\ e\ ci \ time the ball 1= put into the scrummage tiom his side a free-kick could be en en against Inf. team Referees should see that this section 1- earned out in its entiiietv Tin minor championship is assuming, an inteiefetu.- stase St Pll tnol [ s Colleo-e Athletic. Old Bo\s and Poneke ha\e so fai a;ot tlnous;li their enaaoomente without a defeat and the matchos when rather of these teams get tosetohei should be awarded a place on the Athletic Park. To tip the wmnei of this competition mst now is a hit difficult but -hould St Patuck's College return fiom vacation with as strong a team as they lu-uo now the% ou?ht to pio\e the liarrlest to beat \ team made up of icpi'-f nt.itn (- ot the combined banks of V.r-lhn<rton met a team from then bis; hrotliei t.ie Bank of New Zealand on Satuida-i on the battlefield of Mnamar arc! beat them bv 11 points (two ti.es one converted and a penalty p;oan to (> points (two tries). For the combination Ralph and Finn scored tries and Ja^o kicked the penalty sroal Ti c Bamc ot New Zealand men Williams aid UcCra<> scored one tr\ each l.alph, Le^el^edee Mason and Finch pla\ed good football foi tie combination and at least half-a-do/en of the Brim; of New- Zealand men ,ipnioa<-hed biilliano occasional] \ This paia,graph is dipned moie especialU toi the encoui ag( nie.it ot n-tei-oes An oxtraoidmai \ .scene wa- witimssed m Kngland on SatuuUu . Maich 8 at the conclusion ot the football match between Dewsbm% and Sal ford at l)ewsbui\ The match wa& a Nortliern Union Cup-tie and the lattei club won h\ two points The spectator who weie imxsth fiom I>wsouin wengioath excited. Tlioa endeavouied to aot at the lefeiee, and pelted him with Ctones and clumps of eaith He was punided with a guard, rousting ot a body of police, but the ciowd to take him at a clinch antaee before he loft the station Thousands lined the road to the station but they weie disappointed The refeiee wa- taken to Woodknk. two miles aw a\ and ?ot a««u in safct% " that occuned m the home of Rueh\ football too- deal old Enaland