BRITISH FOOTBALLERS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 13756, 22 May 1908, Page 8

BRITISH FOOTBALLERS.

«_ . PRACTICE IN WELLINGTON. Till: CAPTAIN .SATISFIED. [try TELEGRAPH.—OWN" r.ORRESPONDENT.] Wellington*, Thursday. Thk Anglo-Welsh footballer*, who are to commence operation*.on Saturday, had an l hour and a-half's practice on the Athletic Park this morning in perfect weather. No j strenuous work was done, but the visitors opened out sufficiently to give the spectators an idea of their calibre. At the end of the i practice it was evident that the Englishman I ar>- not in as good form as they might be, j ; j and the general opinion of the small knot . j <>;' critical spectators, who had gathered to j watch operations was that they are in need of hard work before they will be in ;i fitcondition to stand two hard 4-s>iainute spells ', against the provincial representative teams. The manreuvres were directed by Captain Harding, who can be chariseterijjed as a bustler of the fiivt order, and he _pitve his j ! men plenty'of advice. For a start the whole j ; j team setoff for a gallop up the field, and ! i | after .-i spell the hacks and .forwards were j i j separated and for some time'three halls were 1 j kept, in almost perpetual motion. The for- I j wards were raker, in band by the captain. J . | who =-n;>ei vised line-out play for about a- i quarter of an hour. First the ball was ! thrown in deep, and then the men were bunched, directions and advice being hurled ' at the perspiring Englishmen the whole time. Practising line-out work is not inspiring at any time, and there was certainly no speci- ; ally effective work on the part of any of the visitor* either in taking Use brill or breaking away. I While the forwards were kepi at the line , I the back- wen? oractisintr the more attractive work of kicking and passing. Some excelI lent kicking' was done, noticeably "'.i the I part of Jacket whose drop-kicking was of a . Very high order. The passing runs up and j down the field showed the. lUiiuM to be a I fleet-footed set. but their handling of the 1 j bull was very weak, in some c;;ses the same i men making mistakes repeatedly, Subse- . • qnenlly the whole of the men were formed > | into sides, and various scrums were formed, , ] the ball being let out. several times to the j :' one side, which had its half, live-eight and . four ihreequarters lined out in proper order, j . | The backs streaked away up the field rej peatedly, but, only on two occasions did the 1 i ball reach tho wing-thrceqiiarter without, a mull. On one occasion the routine passing from the half out to tho wing in the stereotyped order was ■ varied. The Injf sent the ball out in the five-eighths, who transferred > to the rem re. Instead of continuing to the M'inu the centre sent the leather in field back to the live-<-iphth*. who after a short. run passed over the head of the centre to ' wine;. The win}? put in his dash and with . a nicely-judged centre kick lauded the bull in the arms of the five-eighths, who was then straight, in front of the posts. It was a. ; pre) fly-executed piece of work, and was doiw so nearly that it made up for previous mistakes in straight out passing, and Rave I tiie impression that, the visitors may have a few things tip their sleeve which they are , not prepared to show in practice games. Tin forwards were afterwards lined tip on the goal line, and a back taking the bait set off up the touch line, the scrnmmers follow- ! ing him and waiting for him at, centre i when near the line, the general idea then being to ground the bull. The first charge. was dashing, and each succeeding dash saw < some of the more weighty ones lag- further , , and further behind. The final brush was a. run round the. park by the forwards, led for the first half by their captain. A noticeable feature of i:iir> kicking of the backs was the facility with which they used both feet. The British forwards strip well and parade a sturdy, heavily-built brigade. Their captain, A. 1". Harding, speaking to a press representative, slated thai, be was very well satisfied with the way tJie men were shaping. It was tnio that; they might possibly bo a little on the green, side as fai its condition was concerned, but. every day would make a. big difference in their form now. Personally from his experience with lirdell-Sievwright*s team he though it augured well that they should bo in this" condition rather than iu the. pink of condition on binding. On the last ioiir the men landed in Australia very fit, but before the tour Was half over most, of them were stale. He lu'd been against, j severe training on the boat, during the run cut,-hut bad no doubt the team would be in good going order when they turned our, against Wairurapa. An any rate, they would nic.ci Wellington ill real good form. A couple of Ihe players were still stiff from minor injuries received on the boar, but. with the exception of \ assail, who injured his shoulder whilst practising on Tuesday morning, there was not a man in the team who could not conic out and play to-morrow if necessary. In answer to a, question the caplain said the team would play halfbacks inside and outside, equivalent; to the' New Zealand half and live-eighths, and four- threequarters. The scrum formation would probably be the English style of _ three-two-(luce, but on occasions they might,' take a man out of the pack and play him on the wing. .MAORI MATCH ARRANGED. j i [itV TKI.KCK.UMI.—OWN - COPatESJONDEXT.] GisltORNE, Thursday. Dr. Wi Re.pa has received a telegram from Dunedin stating that arrangements have been completed for the English team to play a Maori representative team either at Wellington or Auckland. Mr. D. Callaher leaves for Wellington today by. the West Coast steamer to assist in picking the New Zealand team to meet tho Britishers in the first, test, match at Dunedin on June 6. With Mr. Gallfthcr will bo associated Messrs. 11. Harris, 11. W. Kelly, and H. Wilson, and the result of their choosing j will be made known on Monday morning. In reply to an inquiry made this morning as to the qualify of a New 'Zealand team of the present, day as compared with the one of 1904, which met the hist. British team, Mr. Gallaher said it was too early iu the j seaiOii yet to judge, and that he. would pre- ; fer to see some of the big matches, in order J to form an opinion. WELLINGTON " HEPS." [ lIV TKLEGK.vrH. —OWN' CORItESt'ONOKXT. j I Wellington, Thursday. Twenty-three players have been chosen by the selectors of the Wellington representative team (Messrs. Kelly. Meredith, and Hogan) to go into training iu view of the match with the British team, to be played ! on Wednesday next. Tho selection is us follows : — Backs: G. Spencer (Melrose), J. Ryan (Potone), 11. D. Thomson (Oriental), F. Mitchinsou (Poneke), A/Eventon (Athletic), W. Wallace (Poneke), P. Roberts (Oriental), C. Green (Petone). Forwards: W. Ready (Petone), J. Tresizc (Poneke), J. Hamilton (Oriental), I:'. Houlihan (Southern), H. Knight. (Petone), A. Wilson (Wellington), A. Wilson (Athletic), D. Rush (Poneke). W. Alexander (Old Boys), D. Calcinai (Poneke), N. Dewar (.Melrose), C. H. McKay (Wellington). .1. Spencer (Melrose), S. Isaac (Oriental), W. Hardbam (IV- j tone), C. C. King (Oriental). j The back.- are very strong, comprising five, j •All-Black" representatives, bur. the for- j wards are reported to he weak. i