RUGBY FOOTBALL

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22145, 26 June 1935, Page 18

RUGBY FOOTBALL

SENIOR CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND ENDS ON SATURDAY SHIELD MATCH NEXT WEEK Saturday next will see the completion of the first round of matches in the Auckland Rugby Union's senior championship competition, and thereafter three teams will he relegated to the B division. The four teams lowest on*the list at present are Manukau, Ponsonhy and Technical Old Boys, each with six championship points, and College Rillcs, with four points. College Rifles fleets University this week, and it looks almost certain that the former team will bo relegated. Technical Old Boys plays Marist, and it is faced with 110 easy task. However, Technical is sure to make a big effort to avoid relegation. The two other teams with six points, Manukau and Ponsonhy, wjll oppose one another, and here again will bo a keen struggle for retention of first grade status. If, after Saturday's play, there are still four teams level, the one having the best record so far as points for and against are concerned will be given preference. The remaining senior fixture for this week is that between Grammar and Otahuhu, and it is an important one in that it will have a bearing on the championship. Having played seven matches for five wins and two losses, Otahuhu has 10 championship points and heads the table at present. Grammar has played six matches, for three wins, a loss and two draws, giving it eight championship points. practically Equal

If necessary Grammar will play College Rifles later in the season, and this would bo almost certain to give it another two points. To all intents and purposes, therefore, Grammar ranks equal with Otahuhu at the head of the championship, and so their meeting 011 Saturday will be looked forward to with special interest. After the forthcoming round there will be six teams in the A division and nine in the B division. The points scored by the A teams to date will count for the second round, but the B teams will start anew, and the three highest on the list at the end of the season will be in the A division for the first round next season.

There was a good deal of comment upon the fact that of Auckland's seven All Blacks only two, D. Solomon and McLean, took part in club matches last Saturday. Hadley had somo teeth extracted, and the majority of the others were nursing minor injuries sustained in the scries of All Black trials the previous week. None, however, was at all serious. The first Ranfurly Shield challenge match will bo played at Eden Park against North Auckland next Wednesday afternoon. Mr. J. H. Muir, sole selector to the Auckland Rugby Union, has chosen twenty-one players for practice, and out of that number ho should get a powerful fifteen, including the seven All Blacks. Incidentally, this will be the only occasion upon which Auckland will have the services of these players for a Ranfurly Shield contest, as the next defence of the trophy will be against Canterbury on August' 10. Representative Matches Following is a complete list of Auckland's representative fixtures for the season:— July 3. —V. North Auckland, at Auckland. July 27.—V. Taranaki, at New Plymouth. August 10. —V. Canterbury, at Auckland. August 31.—V. Hawke's Bay, at Auckland. September 7. V. Southland, at Auckland. September 14.—V. Otago, at Auckland. September 21. —V. Wellington, at Auckland. College Day, which is the Auckland Rugby Union's annual charity day, will bo held this year on July 27." The Auckland representative team will be away at New Plymouth on that date.