Rugby Football.

Free Lance, Volume XIX, Issue 993, 16 July 1919, Page 25

Rugby Football.

.The curtailment of the railway services i s likely to upset all arrangements made for the interprovincial representative matches. Auckland, Wellington, Canterbury and Otago all had big programmes but. outside of the trouble attached to touring just now. the financial trouble is too big to surmount for the management of the various unions.

The Gladstone team is leading for the Wairarapa Rugby Union's championship.

The Wellington Union cannot be accused of being over-patriotic. They have, decided to play senior championship matches next Saturday afternoon, when .everybody else i s ' celebrating Peace at Newtown Park. Surely they do not anticipate a record crowd, because if they do, I hope their disappointment will be as great as their want of patriotism deserves. The University team is at the top of the Otago Rugby Union's championship table, with the Kaikorai and Alhambra teams next in order. ■ They had a game worth while in Auckland on Saturday week —Grammar School and King's College (combined) against a representative team of players under 20. The latter won, after an excellent game, by 9 points to -8. Thames has, prevailed over Auckland yet. once again, the margin in their favour on this occasion being 6 points (tries by R. Smith and Poland) to nil. This reminds me that a Thames enthusiast one time, not so jnany years ago remarked somewhat in " this strain:—Thamesi beat Auckland, Auckland beat Wellington, Wellington beat New Zealand, New Zealand beat England, Ireland, and Scotland, and Wales beat New Zealand. Therefore, Thames and Wales would have to meet to decide the championship of the world. WHere is Thames, does someone ask? If you lived in Auckland at any time you would never want to ask where Quartzopolis is. It is the place where gold was found in abundance, and where fortunes have been made in the" past—both underground and by speculating in mining shares.

' who scored one of the tries in the match above referred to, must be a son of Hugh Poland, member of Parliament for Ohinemuri. "Hughie" himself was n great forward in his day, representing Auckland in the seasons . 1887-88-89-90-91-94. Jim Poland—afterwards well and favourably known in Wellington—was an Auckland representative in 1890 and Jack Poland—the eldest of the too—wore the bluie and white iersey m 1886. They were all fine specimens of the colonial youth—burlv and j&rongj. The latest member of the family to gain distinction at the Rugby game i s a threequarfcer. Hu»h and Jim were forwards, and Jack a halfback.