FOOTBALL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 15047, 17 July 1912, Page 5

FOOTBALL.

THE RUGBY GAME. :'"; NOTES...AND COMMENTS. ' : : ; , The positions of the teams in the Auckland Rugby Union's senior club competition are shown by the following table:-— " /' ■ : ".. '•-■ ! joints Champ. D '" L.. ' Per.' Agst. .Pts. Marist Bros. ~'■. 8 >-... 2 • ® '44 ;, 161 City ... ~,'63 i: .72 Z1 ,'; -IS' j College Hifleia 4 Z 4 53 61 .10 I'arhe'U ... 3 1 6 57; >" 'VD ' ■" \ Ponsonliy . ~..', 2 ~2 ■ 5 49. "77 "6 i ll.iiivMg.ity'' ■' ;.."-±- j]' 4':'v''.s' ■■'36'-'.j.\73 ■■ '.'4 Joiisonby and' University have still:,te play a match. ' ■ ■■'-.'"" ' '■' ■ -■'. ■■;/'•' ' "■'• ■ The City Club's senior team proposes to j play the Rangataua Club' at" Tauranga on | July 27, and it will ask the Auckland Rugby Union to approve of such an arrangement. Having piloted Marist Bros. Old Boys | to victory in the senior championship Com- j .petition, Frank Herring, the well-known Auckland and North Island representative | forward, has retired from active Rugby. i C. Weston, the --capable.'; five-eighths of | tho-College : Rifles team,' is 'Still;, incapacitated by tho effects; of rheumatic f«v«r. Westonat-olaee in the match against;Marist .' Bros. 01-i Boys oh Saturday was filled by King; who went up from the threequartor line; .;)' ■' J '''^ : '"'.., v-' . . ■■: J*- D'Audney was 'also absent, from the College Rifles backs. C. V. Mark and Laxon ■filled the places of King in the threequarter line. Mark showed, much promise.]' '■:.■./■ ■:'■■')"'• '■'••■■, ',':.,: ''■';, > ..'-.;■ v ". j : Maris%': Bros. Old Boys now hold the senior championship,; and they deserve con-, gratulations on the success of the efforts of such a young club. But the incou-iw-tency of their play during the season, and . the wretched exhibition they gave agamst College Rifles on Saturday, when they suffered a heavy reverse, detracts somewhat from the merit o£ their performance. A Division of Honours. In fact, the real honours of the season ft must go to an even younger club, College Rifles. In common 'with all the other olubsj College Bines cannot be absolved altogether of tlie charge of inconsistencywitness their draw with City, and then their defeat by Ponsonby on the following Saturday—but they have been less "inconsistent than ti<© Others. !

On the whole, College Rifles have played with "much more keenness, and—save _ for a tendency to indulge occasionally in kicking that was .a little too free—<with a better spirit than the other teams. They lack experience, as is only to be expected from a: team new to the senior grade, but they play with excellent cohesion, as a rule, .and with no discord in their,ranks.. In short, they have shown that lightness and inexperience may be largely counterbalanced by keenness, grit, and determination. The two matches in the College Rifles have demonstrated best their fine Rugby spirit have 'been those against City and Marist Bros. Old Boys. Undismayed by the reputations of _ the two leading: teams, the Rifles have given in both ckses fine displays of the art of spoliation,* and, in .the. second instance, of capping the spoiling work with excellent and successful scoring methods. ■■, .

The Demoralised Champions. There was only on© team worth watching in the match between the Rifles arid the Tykes on' Saturday, and that was the territorial fifteen. True, ,th© Old Boys were, without the O'Brien brothers and Herring, and they lost Tapsell within the first few minutes. The three players first mentioned certainly were much missed, but the play of the two teams left the impression that Marist Bros. Old Boys would" hay© been beaten even if they had possessed their strongest ■ team.: Nor were; the Rifles quit© at full strength. They were without Weston and D'Audney, although King was, a. jpod Hubstitot© for Weston, at five-eighths, and Mark filled D'Audney's place with credit

Apparently the Marist Bros. Old '■ Boys were well content with having beaten City, and so mad© themselves assured of the senior championship. They played in * a very desultory style," and quit© unlike a. champion team; in fact, as if they did not care whether they won or lost. They seemed demoralised. On the other hand, the Rifles played with commendable keenness and precision, in winning vein -all through. ' Some good work was don© by Marist players, but it was individual and not combined. Walsh© was much the best of the backs, with Olsen and Little next in order of merit. Carroll, Denachy, and Callaghan were the best of the forwards. But the ■work of such players was nullified by the absence of cohesion and by the lack of dash which marked the play of. the Tykes as a team.

Very different was the work of the Rifles. With them the team was first and the individual second. All round, but particularly in fielding, kicking, tackling, and combined play, they were greatly superior to the team which happens to have won the championship. The forwards played as a pack, and it was difficult to sangle out any individuals. Poiintney and Bedford were a little the" best. Nisbet, at wingforward, played splendidly. His try was the result of very nice work. The back division of the Rifles, as a whole, was in excellent form. Ifwcrson played splendidly, and Webb, Gordon, Kingy and Hines were all in good form. A Farcical Game. The match between City and Parnell was played in a very haphazard manner. To begin with, neither side was provided with a football, and the game eventually was played with a second-rate school ball. Both teams indulged in a considerable amount of talk, the City players being the worse offenders in this respect, and with only one or* two exceptions none of the players. seemed to take much interest jn the play. The first spell was one of the tamest played in Auckland this year, but fortunately the second half was slightly brighter—otherwise tho spectators would still have been soundly asleep. One pleasing feature about the match, however, was that the players threw the ball about more than is usually the case. Probably feeling , that the championship would not be affected by tho result of the match, they were wil- ] ling to take more risks in this direction, but the fact remains that the ball travelled I about fairly freely. Many of.the men engaged in the match arc looked upon as players of standing, and yet during the whole game there was only one clean tackle, arid that by *Jomtt. Time and again a wild' grab would be made at a man's neck, followed with, the almost inevitable result that the aggressor was left upon the ground while the man in possession of tho ball continued on his way. Some of the senior players would receive excellent examples of how to collar if they would j condescend to watch some of the matches in the lower grades, where tho art of col- ! laring low down the thighs still, happily, is I in existence. ~ ' I Somo of the, players in the match on I Saturday were affected by one of two things—either they lacked interest in tho game or did not relish possible hard knocks. On several occasions Avhen passing rushes I were in operation a player would hang I back and thereby miss the ball. Many of the rushes, however, wore really good pieces of work, and occasionally the City backs gave some pretty exhibitions, and it was to this fact that Parnell owed their do- < teat. 1 hero wore occasional flashes of good I individual play on the part of the Parnell players, but they lacked combination. CAMBRIDGE UNION. A general meeting of the Cambridge Kugby Union was held on Monday evening. The following fixtures were agreed upon: — July .13, Cambridge West v. Orienta, at Cambridge; July 20, Cambridge West v. Horahora, at Horahora (provided no representative . match is, fixed for that date); July 27, Oriental v. Horahora, at Cambridge. . ."'."■ A proposal that teams representing the combined Hamilton and Waihi Unions should play a team from tho Cambridge and Matamata Unions received the support of the meeting. WAUII UNION. [ST TELEGEAPH.—-OWN CORRESPONDENT.] Waiht, Tuesday. The weekly meeting of the committee of the Waihi Rugby Union was held last evening. Mr. Melndoe was ejected secretary in place of Mr. Colin Campbell (resigned). Arrangements were made for Saturday s matches* ■- ■> ».

UNDER LEAGUE RULES.

NOTES AND COMMENTS. THE TROUBLE IN SYDNEY. ~ ytblo is known; in ' Auckland of the trouble whicli arose'amongst .the- New.Zcalanders prior to the match against New South Wales at Sydney on Saturday. It was,arrange! that the .New Zealand team should leave for Wellington after the match,; in order to play at Wellington, but the .'.manager >of the'. New Zealand team.; cabled stating that his men would not play if they had to leave Sydney immediately after the I match. In order to allow the match to take place, arrangements were made for the New Zeaknders to leave Sydney to-day, and they will arrive in, Auckland .by,'tile; Wimmera on 'Sunday. \ ■..'.-.'... ''/.■. f . New Xealanders only arrived in Sydney .from, Brisbane on Friday, arid no doubt they"; wished to. spend -a lew more days: in. Sydney prior ,;io -.leaving"'.' for. home.. An -agreement was made' to pay each player £3 a ,; week,'.'but has'beeii paid; every week, and thtv balance will be given on the return «f the team to : New'Zealand. However, there, in a prevision in the agreement that if any trouble Occurred during the tour- the league officials, reserved the right not to pay > tlie'extra; £2.pet week due. They may do this, but they may not.

Tho last series of cup matches will, be played on Saturday, but it i% not ■ expected that- the : Newton" Rangers, ; team, which is now at tho top of th© t»ble,: will ha forced to tweupy a secondary position. The league is_ spreading in i\m , South Island, and advice- has been rewivod 1 in Auckland that a branch ef the New- : Zea- | land Association has been formed in I phristoliurch. " ' I The New Zealand team, which has beeh touring ■ Australia, was>to.-play la match against Wellington en Saturday/ but, as .the I team , will return to* Auckland, instead of | Wellington the match will not be' played. r Tho suggestion has been made that a match, Maoris v.. Rafcehas, should ,be arranged: A number of natives play the league game—the fast, open game suits thenv—and they could put • a .Strong combination on the field. '.;'■*. ■■■.'•■: Tho v Auckland representatives will play Hawke's Bay at Auckland on Saturday week, arid !on the following: Saturday a' match; .will, be played against , Rotorua«. Visits are from Wellington and* Taranaki later in the season. _ " •The Australian team • which will play a series of, matches: in:; New Zealand, will leave for the Dominion on August ,17, with Messrs. H. R. Miller and; E. Blue, mana* > gers. The members of the team are to receive £3 per week per man, ija addition to fares and hotel expenses. And if there be any profit oh the tour it will be divided,, among the players.

/ Newton's Brilliant Game. The match 'between; Newton' Rangers and Ponsonby United at Eden Park last Saturday was the .best exhibition that has boon given in club football this season. A fast pace was set early in the match and the game was keenly contested throughout. Much of Newton's success was due to the' brilliant generalship of G. Gillett, who led the team of "colts" in attach, and gave the players a lesson in hard, clean tackling. Newton's defence "was sound, and their tackling took much of the sting otit of Ponsonby'splay. In the early stages of the game 'Gillett did excellent work; but lack ,oi condition reduced his energies as the game proceeded. But he organised his team well, worked willinglv throughout; in short, he played as pf'i'fVwhe'n he was one of the "star" players in the Rugby world. _.0f the other Newton backs," Farrant (half), Blayley (five-eighths), and Tobin (centre; threequarter) plated good games,.. especially on tho attack, these players Were* prominent in several clever passing movements. Hcaly and flush, en the wings, appeared to be nervous, and early in the game they did not play; with confidence. Busih has played several brilliant games . duriilig-th© season, but on Saturday; 100 was "off." ..■■■' Hira, at fullback, was weak, He is not used to playing in (lus position, but towards, the close of the game his play improved. The Newton forward*! were an even lot, and they played with good combination. But the Ponsonby vanguard : was Nino out of ten titties' Ponsonby secured the ball in . the, scrum, and they Were superior in;the loose. . This 1 , may-be partly attributed to the fact that Newton .strengthened their rearguaTd by ]j]avirg one man less m the forwards than Ponson'bT- . Of the Ns*ton forwards iMalcolm,' Brooklet*, Muki, Maokrell, and Cross- were the best, while the most conspicuous players in the Ponsonby forwards were Charters*, Lambert. Pricker, and Stanriaway. Of the Ponsonby backs the best players were Bater, Rowe, and Sheets. The backs, however, were handicapped by the weakness of Roope at five-eighths. North Shore Albions v. Eden Kamblors, . f.K was anticipated that, North Shore Albions would score an easy victory over Eden Ramblers, ; but an \'evenly-contested and at times interesting game resulted. '." Shore were much heavier in the forwards than their opponents, and this accounted in a great measure for their victorv. Shore would invariably secure the ball from tho scrum, and with better passing amongst their backs the score would have been larger. The most prominent players in the Shore pack were Seager, Griffin, and Clark Each of them followed up well, and put plenty of das-h. into his; work. The other forwards did not play up to their usual form. Eden forwards were much lighter than their opponents, but nevertheless put up i( a good fight. The whole pack .played well, Bright in particular being prominent in some good work. This player, howcrer. displays a tendency at times to play with undue roughness. , - ■ ■' The backs on either sido'did not give a good exhibihon. The passing was especial!? weak, and chances to score: by both side's were lost by bad passing. '- For Shore a good display was given bv Jackson, who availed himself of everv chance to set his backs in motion. Gladding gave a fair exhibition. .Hie most prominent amongst the Eden backs were Biggs and Maurice. Bic'ss was the mainstay of his sido, both in atta«k a,nd defence, and lie is a young player who shows great promise. Mam-ice, at fullback dtd much useful! work. He has greatly improved since tho beginning of the season. '

A Well-contested Match. *? i. th u° £J* y Rovers-Manukau Rovers match -Mo City- team was not up to its usual strength, but nevertheless an evenlvcontcsted and at times interesting game was played. ° The City forwards were stronger than tho opposing pack, the most prominent players being Moeki, Stannavvay, Mitchell, and Denize Denize played a hard game, and was not inclined to . play offside so much as usual. . " The back play was not- of a brilliant character. Dufty, at fullback, played ut solid gamewhilst Roebuck, at win"- threequarter and Phillip,, were also «ood. Ohilds mS" glVOas * oodtl ; [; The Manukau forwards all worked hard, i rS° .deserving most credit h*h i? p ,"-„ . n,c Turguse. Both these men hav? JCd well throughout the season. The roost prominent member <>f U c Manukau rearguard was While, whose defensive and attacking work was of a high order. Griffiths and Hughes a so played good ™ meß . woH- l g ; P arhc , ul u a . rI J' Rood cm delensiTO work. Ran played his usual hard game. THE ASSOCIATION GAME. NOTES AND COMMENTS, A largo number of "soccer" enthusiasts assembled at Victoria Park on Saturday atternoon, in anticipation of seeing n, good contest between the two strongest senior teams at present playing—Everton and Oorinthian. They were not disappointed, as for the first time this season the Everton eleven were fully extended. In fact, it was not until about half .an hour of the second spell had gone that Boyne, eluding for once the assiduous attentions of Harrison (the Corinthian right back), put the issue beyond doubt by having'a solo run, and finishinar up with a shot which the Corinthian goalkeeper had absolutely no chance of saving. It is only fair to state that Corinthian mustered three short before the" game began, and had to play their secretary (R.. Barber) and Shepherd, who turned out with both knees bandaged, evidently in no fit condition to play a hard '■ game. It was about half way through the first spell before Holiday came on and completed the eleven. Everton again proved their enthusiasm, by turning out promptly with a full team. From tho very' start of the match it was evident that Everton meant to "make the game a very fast one. They immediately started a fine. combined rush towards the Corinthian goal, which was frustrated by German (Corinthian's centre-half). Now and again Corinthian broke away, but the during the first half was monopolised by Everton, who again and again broke away, and bombarded the Corinthian goal. From iihe kick-off in the second spell Corinthian startled J the '.{;■ spectators • by breaking through the Everton defence^

several times, eventually;'-'scoring' through' j a splendid slip, by Whittle being taken up i.by Shepherd m the centre, who made.no I mistake in putting the ball into the net. Everton here took-aWnd, :but could not \ break through Corinthiah's; defence, which, strerigtheneoTin the--.'se'cqnd spell by Holiday: at loft back, wots now, very solid. Shepherd got away after some good work, arid boating ...Robinson rather badly, scored another splendid goal' for Corinthian. Shortly afterwards 1 : Boyne beat Harrison in a;tussle for the ball, "and made no mistako with the shot. V■' : Shortly: before the"final whistle went thai ball was put through this Corinthian goal; by Shergott, after a sorummage in which the Corinthian goalkeeper was injured. Special remark was made oh Saturday on the play of German, the? Corinthian centrehalf, who was the rmainstay of his team all through the game,: .'and it was mostly ; - due" to his exertions that Corinthian came ; so closie to equalising iri the second half; ! German undoubtedly is the best centre-half playing- this; season. I In the Corinthian team none of the players can be criticised, as one and all played a good game. i Robinson, playing right back for Evcrton, , ; was not up to tho mark on Saturday.. j I Tho combination among tho Everton forwards was excellent, and this was the main factor in their success, for Corinthian's hack i division Was much the stronger and more ' reliable in tho second half. Both Webster, on the left wing for EverI ton, and' Whittle, on the right wing for Corinthian, were practically starved. This was somewhat peculiar, as* both men were the strongest wingers on their respective j sides,-' "•! ; ■ ."- -'.-."'' | -.:., ' Shore- Club's Success. ;; ; 'The North' Shore club-was successful with all its teams on, Saturday.:: W. Purdie made his reappearance. Ho was unfortunately ! injured while practising in the. early:-.- part'■' of laefc season; He prayed his worth as : outside right during the game North Shore v, Brotherhood. The two jissior left wings (wko were included in the senior tep.m tor Saturday) combined well, but their" Shooting was faulty.'' • Samson played a safe arame, but Shore's. .defence-was tooslow attlmes. '; , Craig; at centre forward, did iJot play up to his usual standard. Ho kept'the ball to himself too much. ' I Nunnerley, whose tactics at times wore questionable, was- inclined to consider he held a roving commission. _ > 'Shore's was tha third success this season. One trame.' however, will not bo counted, ns City hnvinp: withdrawn from tho competition, their defeats do net count. -.for--the"oup. They also drew with: Carlton in the first game in the second rbtmd. FIXTURES FOR SATURDAY. The Auckland Football AssoetalToh's competitions vwill be cdntinped on Saturday, except in the third: division. Matches in that division have been postponed dwing to shortage of grounds, The other fixtures aire asi follows:— '■ , , FIBST DIVISION. - Everton y. Oarltdn (Doihain),: referee Mr. IKirkwood.' ■ • Brotherhood v. Cdrinthian (Victoria Park), referee Mr. Topliss. North Shore v. Ponsonby (North Shore),, referee Mr. Dunsford. SECOSD DIVISION. St. John's v. Everton (No. 1 ground, Domain, 2 to 3), referee Mr. Sp'^-d. North Shore v. Mount ■ Albert (Mount Albert), 'referee Mr. Horslpy. Hotspur v. W.Y.M.I. (> T o. 2 g-.-oiiild, Domain, ?. to 3), re'ferco Mr. Guest. Brotherhood v. Gordon (No. 2 ground, Domain, 3 to 5), referee Mr. Wocd. FOURTH DIVISION. City v. Everton (Victoria Park, 2 to 3), referee Mr. Hilford. John's v. Y.M.C.A. (Metropolitan Ground), referee Mr. Blinooe. North Shore v. Tabernacle (North Shore, 3 to 5), referee Mr. Dawson. :■ ■"":' ": i"" 111 ," " iil . l " *'■:."-""' :i' ' ■'»"' : .:. :, -