RUGBY FOOTBALL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 19929, 24 April 1928, Page 16

RUGBY FOOTBALL.

THE SEASON IN AUCKLAND. COMMENCEMENT ON SATURDAY. NEWS FROM VARIOUS SOURCES. The 1923 Rugby season in Auckland will commence in earnest on Saturday next when the first series of senior championship games will be played. The plavers should be in good form as they have been hard at practice since the close of the cricket season. The contest for senior championship honours this season should be much closer than last year, as Grammar Old Boys and University are both fairly confident of their ability to beat Ponsonby, which team has won the honours for three years in succession. Auckland's undefeated record in representative football last season will have the effect of attracting attention to this quarter from all parts of New Zealand during the next few months. The Auckland representative tearr will tonr South this year and a strong side should be got together. Mr. V. R. Meredith, sole selector, will have plenty of good forward material at his disposal, while the acquisition of Macintosh, the Scottish international, and Falwasser, the brilliant Maori representative, should compensate for the loss of Sheen and Lucas. Team for Australia. The question of sending a New Zealand team to Australia this season is one which will occupy attention at the annual meeting of the New Zealand Rugby Union. A great tnanv people will be opposed to such a. proposition on the grounds that it wouid be New Zealand's third team which would cross the Tasman. Such, however, is not the case. There were any number of good footballers left behind after the South African selection was made. Take for instance the Maori players who were not eligible for the South African tour. Some of them arc among our leading players. Then there i.c the possibility of A. E. Cooke being able to make the much briefer trip to Australia. However, it is quite possible New South Wales would prefer to wait for New Zealand's best, more especially after the recerit successful tour of the Waratahs. Messrs. T. Milliken, P. Harvey and R. R. Masters have been appointed selectors by the Canterbury Rugby Union for the present season. The lasVnamed replaces H. E. Davis, who aid .not seek re-election after having held office for five or six years. Masters will be remembered as lock of the 1924 All Black team. Owing to tho ill-health of 1. H. Harvey, Masters playejj; it} "'22 out of the SO games contested in Scotland and Wales. T. Mffiiken and P. Harvey w-ere selectors last season, tho former also being a member of ihc All Blacks selection committee. Old Time All Blacks. '"At the send-off banquet to the All Blacks in Wellington there, were some oldtime New Zealand representatives. Amongst the number were:—W. T. Wynyard, all-round athlete and wing threequarter in the New Zealand Native leam of 1888 and Ail Blacks of 1893; G. H. Dixon, manager of the 1905 All Blacks: W. J. Wallace. F. Glasgow, F. Roberts and H. D. Thomson, members of tb» famous 1905 combination. These former "All Blacks" are almost forgotten theso days, but their deeds, especially those of Wallace and Roberts, will ever live in the memory, says a Wellington writer. Another great plavcr of the past at the table was A. Good, Taranaki three-quarter and New Zealand representative of 1893 He is travelling with the team to South 'Africa. Writing to a friend in Dunedin, a prominent follower of the game, who resides in Johannesburg, states that "it is quite a mistake to say ail our grounds are terribly hard. That is not so. There are turf grounds in Capetown, Port Elizabeth. East London, Durban. Bioemfoutflin, Johannesburg and Pretoria —in fact, the ground of the Wanderers is probably as fine as you will find anywhere in tho world. The German East Kikuya grass tvas planted there with very great success. It is like a big green cushion." Not Optimistic.

Tim writer is far from optimistic regarding the prospects of the South African teams. He says: "I predict we are going to be beaten through the centre by the opportunism of your fast forwards. Please note this and see whether my words do Hot tSome true. Of the 1921 team two members, Mostert and Kruger, still remain our two best forwards. Then we have Dr. Van Druten. of the Harlequins, and Pretorius, of the Diggers. After that there is a big drop. .1 cannot see any of the provinces, outside the Western Province and the Transvaal, providing a Single test player. Our halves (principally the fly-halves) will be mainly kicking, with poor defence. Our centres are treak and our wings fair. Our forwards, except those I have mentioned, are on the slow side."

The team spoken of as likely to win the senior championship in Christchurch this season is Merivale. The last occasion hpon which the club was successful was In 1912, since when it has filled the role bf runner-up several timeii. As four of the other clubs —Christchurch, Old Boys. 'Varsity and Albion —will be weakened *y the absence of players ;n South Africa, it is quite possible the prediction in favour of Merivale will be correct. The team made a good start on Saturday last fcy defeating Albion by 22 points to 9. The regularity with which Otago University wins the senior Rugby championship of that province-has become almost Monotonous of recent years. In former flays such clubs as Kaikorai, Alhambra hnd Pirates were able to more or less hold their own, but since just before the tvar the students have had the lion's Share of .the spoils of victory. Judging from the first round results it appears as though the University A team will be very strong again this season. It defeated Alhambra on Saturday by 24 points to 8. Loss of Players. The University team has lost the services of a number of its prominent players, notably Lindsay, who is away frith the All Blacks; Dunne, Morete, both suffering from injuries; Hindenach, at present in Auckland ; Ross, five-eighth, *vho has joined Kaikorai; and Batchelor. On the other hand, it has gained Mathefeon, of Auckland; Wallis, a centre-three-quarter from Poverty Bay ; Jackson, lock; fcnd Jolly, wing forward. A New Zealander, formerly a patient in a military hospital in Christchurch, writes to a friend in the Southern city to say great alterations are being made to the famous Newlands ground in preparation for the visit of the All Blacks. The improvements are costing something like £25,000. "If any of the army team are coming over they will see a great difference in the field —I'd bet they'd say it was not the same ground they played bn," continues the writer. "They seem to be going mad here trying to find ways iind means of defeating the All Blacks. They a,re doing all sorts of scheming, even talking of forming a tactics committee of the old players who were in New Zealand. Tney intend lo select the South African team to play matches weeks before it meets New Zealand." W. F. Hornig (manager of the All Blacks) and M. J. Brownlie (captain) both at the mayoral reception and the send-off dinner satisfied that they know

how to make a speech, says a Wellington writer. Their earnestness impressed that the team have a capable manager and a. worthy leader. Mr. Hornig's outstatement was:—"We intend to n °nd t * l6 namp ew Zealand both