WORLD OF SPORT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19471, 29 October 1926, Page 8

WORLD OF SPORT.

MAORI RUGBY PLAYERS. FRENCHMAN'S IMPRESSIONS. "COOL AND INDIFFERENT." Some entertaining impressions "f (lie Maori Rugby footballers have been penned by a Frenchman, M. Gonnet, who writes as follows: " Before entering, amid frantic sheering, the playing field at Huveane, I was able to take individual notes.of the Maori team, and these impressions, thrown together pell-mell, in haste, I offer to you before the actual encounter begins. What; strikes one at first sight in these champions from the land of fern ? (1) Their bony limbs: the shoulders bunchy with muscle, enormous arms, huge knees. (2) Their coolness; they betray no emotion, now and then exchanging a few hurried words without a smile. (3) Their ' offhand' manner; they walk slowly like placid oxen, in sombre garb that reminds one of a funeral procession. "Rika is the handsomest—a splendid athlete, force oozing from every pore of him. The ugliest is the astonishing Haupapa, leader of the war-cry, one-eyed, grimacing—a black bogey ! One meets this type in old books of travel and adventure, coral fishers, shark hunters, etc. Their complexions vary from cafe-au-lait to pure black. Bell and Barclay, the two captains, are the whitest.

" One trait will reveal these great children to you. They do not understand a caricature. When they saw a Parisian caricaturist accentuate the nose of this one, exaggerate the lips of that one, elongate the shoulders of another, their astonishment knew no bounds. There was an instant of distressed stupefaction and gestures of protestation ; then they understood, and seizing the artist's notebook, they examined in detail the various sketches. " Quiet, Wild and Shy." "At table they drink only Evian water, but they enjoy French cooking. Manning, a solid brown fellow, displays an appetite to be envied by any of our stoutest fork-wielders. The Maoris do not converse; besides being ignorant of our language, they are wild and shy. A curiosity of the team is the light-weight, Shortland, half-back. Kingi, a native of unmixed race, is an exceptional forward. Matene is long and lean, and melancholy as a prison gate. The manager, Parata, performs two functions to perfection—he bows, and shakes hands, all in silence. The ritual is always the same; hands in pockets, out comes the right, a handshake, and then it returns to his pocket. Tho Maoris certainly have not a chatterbox for a leader! But these details detract not at. all from the fine quality which these men will presently prove to lis." The Maoris play Harlequins to-morrow, Devon on Wednesday, and Cardiff on the following Saturday. Tom Heeney in Britain.

• lack Stanley, who was defeated on points by Tom Heeney, the New Zealand heayy-wei,ght champion, is one of the leading heavy-weights of Great Britain. Stanley is a well-known instructor, and does a lot of tuition work at a number of clubs in London. At the beginning el this year he met Phil Scott, the champion, at the Ring, Rlackfriars, but was beaten bv a knock-out.

Keeney's efforts to arrange another contest with Scott have so far not met with success. The Englishman has shown 110 desire to take up the challenge. The general impression before Heeney's fight with Stanley was that if the New Zealander won. Scott would have to meet him for the third time to defend his title. Heeney suffered defeat in the two earlier matches. He said he was not quite acclimatised when he fough Scott the first time.

The next meeting cf the two came about when Beckett, training to meet Scott at Southampton, broke a tendon in the calf of his leg while shadow-boxing. His place was taken by the ever-ready and ever-fit Heeney. It was one of the most punishing fights ever seen between two heavy-weights. Both men were terribly damaged. The referee gave the decision to Scott, but the audience was far from satisfied. After this Scott promised Heeney that he would give him a third fight if he beat Bartley Madden in Dublin.

"I have obliged by doing this,"' said Heeney to Mr. Eugene Cam, "and I am now waiting to, hear from Scott. My 1 money is up; my backer believes in me; and T believe in myself." Soccer Team's Splendid Record.

The Junior Management Committee of the Auckland Football Association will conclude its work for the season with a presentation evening at the Y.M.C.A. on November 9. when the junior players and their parents have been invited to attend for the presentation of medals and trophies to the winning teams in the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh grades. The fifth grade championship was finalised last week-end. when Mount Albert Grammar School won the B division from Tamaki United by 4 goals to 1. In the play-off between the A and B divisional leaders at Onehuuge, on Labour Day, the North Shore defeated Mount Albert Grammar School by 4 goals to 0, and won the championship for this grade with the remarkable score of 113 goals against one

Sydney's finest schoolboy athlete is J. Carlton, who, as in 1925, won the three senior sprint titles at the annual track and field championships of the great public schools of New South Wales. Carlton equalled the G.P.S. record of 10 3-10s for 100 yds., lowered the 220vds. record from 22 4-5s to Z' 3-ss, and in the 440 yds, ran within l-5s of his record of 51 l-ss. Carlton, in addition to pace and stamina, has acquired much race experience in open company during the past two years. Besides winning the 880 yds. in 2m 4 4-ss, T. F. Cowdroy tied with H. M. Stewart with a running high jump of sft. 6iin. ! Champion Swimmer's Mishap. The sprint races at the next New Zealand swimming championships will he deprived of a great deal of interest through the accident, which has befallen Norman Dowsett, the Dominion 100 yds. champion and record-holder. In the last two seasons Dowsett has improved his pace by leaps and bounds and he was eagerly anticipating the further opportunities he would have this summer of attacking his record. When the Wanganui youth defeated Auckland's representative, A. D. Adamson, in the premier event last January he was able to claim the distinction of being tho first swimmer to better the minute in the 100 yds. New Zealand championship. Shortly afterward Dowsett raced against the Australian champion, R. Grier, at the Tepid Baths at the invitation of the Waitemata Club and was beaten only after putting up the best performance of his career. His time was the present record of 57 2-ss.

Competent judges then considered the champion would break 57s this corning season. However, a motor accident has laid him aside with a broken leg, and the title, which he will forfeit, seems to be divided between Adamson and L. Fairgray. Curiously enough, another Dominion champion swimmer, A. E. Baird, was concerned in a motor accident some months ago at Napier, but was more fortunate than Dowsett and escaped with a severe shaking.

NOT HOW MUCH—BUT HOW GOOD! When buying Eucalyptus it's not the size of the bottle, but the quality of the contents that matters. The bdttle of Eucalyptus iu the dark green banded carton bearing the signature, "Sander and Sons," is pure Volatile Eucalypti Extract—tha very best jratt cm tray.—Advi.