RUGBY FOOTBALL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 19953, 23 May 1928, Page 16

RUGBY FOOTBALL.

'AUCKLAND REPRESENTATIVES >/ERY STRONG FORWARD SIDE. [THE STANDARD OF REFEREEING. The moro one sees of senior Rugby matches in Auckland the more is one convinced of the fact, that the representative side is going to be a particularly solid one so far as the forwards are concerned. The following have represented Auckland ir. previous seasons:— 'Palmer, McCarthny (Ponsonby), Keene, iAnderson (University), Wanoa, Finlayson (Grafton), B. Fletcher, C. Fletcher .'(City), Batty, Knight, Cathcart (Gram•mar Old Boys). All the above are playing at the top of their form, and so are these players, all of whom must have great chances cf inclusion in the representative side:—Howard (Marist), Hindenach, Linton, Biack (University), (North Shore), Fell (City). -Solomon and Fell have acted as emergencies for Auckland teams in past ryears, and Hindenach has played for ,Ot.ago. It, will be seen from the above lists 'what a great forward division Auckland iwill have, and, at the same time, it shows uhow unlucky those forwards will be who -are omitted from the side. C Keene looks to hold a mortgage on !:the position of wing-forward; though he has serious opposition in Howard and ' Solomon. A Wealtli of Fullbacks. ■I There is a wealth of talent so far as • fullbacks are concerned. l"or instance both Paewai and Butler have represented ; the province in previous years. Then custodians of distinct promise are Bush ■i (University), Harris (Manukau), Jacobs '/{City) and Fraser (Ponsonby). h McManus should retain his position behind the scrum, but there are two other ' halves playing fine football. They are 'Carter (University) and W~eir (Grammar Old Boys). 1 The five-eighths positions and that of •! centre-threequarter will give the selec- ■ tor most trouble. The five-eighths showi ing best form so far are Badeley (Grammar Old -Boys), Jenkin (University), Berridge (Ponsonby), Paewai (Grafton) > and Jeffries (Marist). Badeley and Berridge have played for Auckland pre- \ viously, Jenkin has acted as emergency, \ Paewai has filled the role as represent- • ative fullback, and Jeffries has played ■i for Taranaki. L, There is also anv amount of talent !fo far as wing-threequarters are concerned. L. Hook (Ponsonbv) and Ruru - have represented their province. Falwasser has'played for Hawke's , Bav, Taranaki and the North Island, and was the star scoring man of the Maori Rugbv team which toured the Old Country and France two seasons ago. Macintosh is the Scottish international, ■who irfecentlv took np his residence in 'Auckland. He and Minns are playing good football for Unirersitv. Centre-Threequarter Position. It will be observed that no mention has been made of a -centre-threequarter, because of the fact that there is not an outstanding placer in this position. Cammick, of Ponsonby, has been playing the best football, but his physique is against him. Howftycr, he is a clever and qpeedy hack. It will not be surprising to find one of the surplus wing-threequarters or ono of the five-eighths filling the position of centra-threequarter. Summing up the task of the selector, it cannot be said that Mr. V. R. Meredith has easy work ahead of him. Seeing that Auckland is due to play Waikato on June 4, the personnel of the team is likely to be made known after next Saturday's games. It was refreshing to see the Grammar Old Boys' backs showing unmistakable signs of developing combination on Saturday. Only a few years ago, when Grammar held the championship for two years in succession, the club fielded a brilliant set of backs, including K. Ifwersen, V. and C. Badeley, D. Wright and G. Goodacre. Of these, only C. Badeley is now playing. Grammar's backs fell off to a marked extent and the club seemed to concentrate on its pack. This has paid to a certain extent, as Grammar's pack this year is as good as any in the competition, but the club now seems to have the backs who can put the finishing touches on the work of the forwards. Badeley, on Saturday, played as well as ever, and an ex-Mount Albert Grammar player, P. P. Skelton, made an excellent impression by his fine work at second • five-eighths. The team that had the better of a drawn game with University was immeasurably superior to that which went down to Ponsonby in the first match of the season. A School's Good Record. Incidentally, Mount Albert Grammar School, in its short career, has given some promising footballers to Auckland Rugby. Outstanding is V. C. Butler, the Auckland representative fullback, who was prevented by illness from doing bis best in the All Black trials last season. He is playing fine football for Training College this year. Then there are N. C. Jenkin, University's first five-eighth, and a representative candidate this season, iiis brother, J. H. Jenkin, who locks the 6crum, and R. G. Bush, who played a great game in Butler's old position on Saturday. Ponsonby has a Mount Albert old boy in R. Hook, the young wing-threequarter, and Grammar Old Boys have four in G. Li. Weir, P. P. and G. R. Skelton, and J. F. Wilson. C. Palmer, the North Shore half, also .played for the school fifteen. A weak link between second five-eighth and centre-threequarter is still holding back the University rearguard. Play in these positions will need to be considerably smartened ii University is to check Ponsonby's victorious career. It would be asking for trouble also if the players were to send out the passes they did on Saturday against a team which contains such an irresistible opportunist as L. Hook. Use ol the Whistle. The crowds which have attended Eden Park this seaspn have not been particularly pleased with the standard of refereeing in the big games. Mr. F. E. Sutherland has given the greatest satisfaction. In last Saturday's game between Ponsonby and Grafton the referee was much too hasty with his whistle in the first spell but some vhat the opposite in the second half. For instance, on one occasion, he allowed the forwards to wrestle for the ball for several seconds before blowing his thistle. There was a great deal of off side play which went unobserved, much to the annoyance of the spectators. Rather a good story is related in connection with the brief stay in Sydney of the AH Blacks while on their way to South Africa. Among the entertainment provided for them was d visit to the pony races at Randwick. A member of the team, whose father is well known in the sporting world of New Zealand, could not resist the temptation of having a little bit on the various races. This particular race was fairly late in tho afternoon, and the All Black sauntered into the bookmakers' ring and inquired the price about "that white nag." The bookmaker replied: "A hundred to one y 9 / * "Pll take that," said the. Now wander, withdrawing a pound note rom his pocket. The joke, of course, All Black when the book- • ZOth r i J* üßhi u B hin 8 1 y returned the. pound, - b«W^\- rem ?K rk: ."That white neddy - digger;" °f <ho course,