RUGBY FOOTBALL

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21855, 18 July 1934, Page 17

RUGBY FOOTBALL

GRAFTON'S HANDY LEAD SENIOR TEAMS DEPLETED PLAYER FROM WEST COAST Grafton's success over University last Saturday gave it a hand y lead of two points for the Auckland Rugby Union's senior championship. Manukau lost a point through being t mablo to gain a win over Technical (J'ld Boys, while Otahuhu's success over Ponsonby placed the suburban team on level terms with Manukau. The only teams in the A cli vision of the championship which will b<j' affected by the tour of the All Blacks to Aus-. tralia are University and i Grafton, which will lose the services of Caugliey and McLean respectively. Q rammar, which will lose Corner and Kn| ght, and Marist. which will be minus the services of Hadley, are both B division teams. McLean's defection from th<3 Grafton team will bo severely felt, and; his placo will not be filled with the sam s benefit to the side. Next Saturday's; matches should all prove interesting. , Grafton plays Otahuhu, and will not find the latter team easy to dispose ol . Manukau should account for y, while a close contest is likely betwe* m Technical and University, with the> odds in favour of the latter if its battli s secure the ball. Three more matches will se<£. the conclusion of the first round of matches in the A division of the hip. The following week, August 11, tlj e Auckland representatives will plq y North Auckland at Eden Park, whilp the B reps", will meet South Auttlj.land at Pukekohe. Recruiting Ground Recent changes in the senW r A and B divisions, consequent upo/i results during the first round of competitions, have drawn attention tothescop e offered by the B division for recruiting members of Auckland representativl 3 teams. Of the five Aucklanders in tbi's year's All Black team, three of them, W. Hadley, Marist, and M. Corneii and A. Knight, Grammar, are, strangely enough, senior B division players, and in their grade there are also- several men in the present Auckland il earn. Until the reorganisation of i he two senior grades, the selector concentrated mostly upon the A divii lion for obtaining his team, but from 1 tow on, if representatives from the B division, remain with their clubs, he wi 11 have to turn his eyes toward the B q ivision. Otherwise ambitious players wij'l have no alternative but to forsaki their clubs.

Although the purpose in redud ng the number of senior A teams M as to enliven competition and raise th< >' playing standard, not many entl) usiasts would like to haye these objects it aalised at the expense of two or three] clubs that have done much for Rugbjand have been unfortunate in stril* ing a lean season.

Even if their clubs continue ill the B division, such players as Hi tdley, Corner and Knight are certain lto be kept in the representative team while their form justifies selection, andj with the passing of time and the advei it of new players, the position may [right itself. West Coast Jubilation The inclusion of R. King, the 'West Coast representative forward in tlais All Black team to tour Australia., next month has given great satisfacttci n to the sporting community of HolH tika, his native town, according to a letter received in Auckland yesterday. jKing has gained the distinction of beinj* the first Hokitika player to gain All \ Slack honours since 1893-4, when H. Btri;land was chosen as halfback to play in Australia in 1893, and as first five-enjjhths against Australia in New Zealslijtd in 1894.

J. Steel, representative wing against England during the 1924 tour, jj s the only other West Coast player to have gained All Black honours. A natj ve of Kumara, famous as the birth-pl.l .oe of Richard John Seddon, Steel eariied a name for himself as a and speedy wing. The Auckland Grammar Schools first fifteen, which is leading for the. firstgrade Rugby championship o$ the secondary schools, has emulated predecessors of recent, years by gaiii ing a fine points-scoring record. In tfi e six games played, it has been undefeated, has scored 111 points and has only 6 points to opponents, without lj aving a try scored against it. The teani s defeat of King's College last Saturday by 33 points to 0 was the heaviest <J 'rammar has inflicted upon King's since 1917. . : A The Canterbury representative team to defend the Ranfurly Shield aj ;ainst Hawke's Bay next Saturday is ah follows: —Fullback,, G. T. Nolan; Mireequarters, G. F. "Bart, C. G. Q liver, C Tweedie; five-eighths, K. MorMock, R. Hazlehurst: halfback, W. Oliver. Forwards: K. Brown, A. I. Cottrel 1, 0. Hattersley, B. W. Francis, G. Howell, A. Brownlee, J. Manchester, xi. Andrews. This season marks the jubilee year of two old time famous Otago fod tball clubs, Alhambra and clubs set up in business in 1884, M id it is their intention to celebrate the occasion by a series of functions ring the last week in August and the lirst week in September. On Saturday, September 1, both clubs will hoi d a combined "Old Buffers " night for players who chased the leather in 1 or earlier. The secretaries of both cl übs are anxious to get into touch with, all old timo. players.