SPORTS & PASTIMES.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 7212, 22 August 1910, Page 8

SPORTS & PASTIMES.

BRILLIANT RUGBY AUCKLAND v. WELLINGTON great struggle ends in DRAWN GAME. THREE POINTS EACH. SPECIAL TO TUB " TIMES." AUCKLAND. August 20. The Rugby match between Auckland and Wellington for the Ranfuriy shield attracted about fifteen thousand spectators. who wero treated to a splendid exposition of the game. Tho weather was delightful. Tho match was drawn, each side sc or- I ing three points. During the first spell Murray made a brilliant mark near half way and O'Leary kicked a fine goal, Avery, in the second spell, made a great opening, started from his own half, anu then passed to Roberts, who scored. Kinvixr took the kick, but failed. Tho crowd at this stage .was in a condition of excitement, almost indescribable. THE TEAMS.

Auckland—Full-back, O’Leary; threequarters, Stewart, Magee, .Murray; fiveeighths, Wilkes and Lower; hall,Morse; wing forward, Hail; forwards, Soilars, Tyler, Francis, Cunningham, Maguire, Hayward, Wylie. Wellington—Full-back, Ryan; threeEll^tt te in-mV to LcaUy, MoEEatt, Bruce.

BATTLE OE GIANTS. The match throughout was a battle °* ciants —a struggle tor supremacy between two of the finest fifteens -which have ever stepped oa to a Bugby What can there be to wonder at that the enormous crowd uuite to-t its e , for a time became part and parcel of the magnificent contest which was being waged before its eyes by the thirty keen, strong-limbed young men who were the nick of two provinces ? The day was 0110 to be remembered, and the sight on _ to treasure. Enthusiasm was in. tuo a r. oxcitment reigned supreme ib ® of it all is that a moral victoiy does not carry with it the Kanfurly shield. Wellington scored a try to a goal trom a mark, which carries a sound ot superiority, but not the reality'ot it. wmliugton can be satisfied that its boys din their best, and a magnificent best it was. They did not win the coveted trophy, but they went nearer to it than my other fifteen has done for years. WELLINGTON’S BAD LUCK.

Wellington have had hard luck from the start. In the first place the best fifteen in that city was not available lor the trip. This was bad enough, but when one of the players who did travel became unwell in Auckland supporters ot the mon. in black began to nave tears. At the last moment —in fact, after the team had donned its playing clothes—a doctor had to be brought to Alexander at the hotel, and the result was that the Wellington. Old. Boys' forward was forbidden to "take the field. Bruce, of St. James, was a good substitute, but the change at the eleventh haur tas a bad omen. Those who have been brave enough during the last few days to appear in Queen street with the colours of Wellington in their coats have had any number of opportunities of hearing abooit the prowess of the Aucklanders, but onoe declare oneself a Weliingtonian, and there were a dozen Aucklanders to •waylay one with stories of what the mighty northern pack was going to do. Wellington supporters smiled at the story a day or two ago. To-day it is a grim memory. Those forwards could play I Tyler, Cunningham, Franks, Hayward, Maguire —what a team I At times the pick of Wellington were as babies in their hands. They pushed, and lacked, and ran like Titans, and against their onslaught there was only one defence, and that was where Boberts, McLeod, Kinvig, Bvenson and Byan had something to say. In short, the two most lasting impressions one must have are those of magnificent attack of the blue and white forwards and the glorious defence of the black backs. RYAN'S FIEST REPRESENTATIVE MATCH.

Perhaps the man Wellingtonians admired meet on their side was the Victoria College full-back, ■ Eyan. Although playing his first representative game—and a Eaufurly shield battle is a fairly strenuous debut for a boy—he was cool and confident. Time after time he took the ball cleanly and cleverly in the face of a charge which would daunt the bravest, and foDowed with a kick which earned him cheer upon cheer. Should he continue as he has started there should bo no rung on the Eugby ladder too high for Eyan. Then there was Avery-big, solid, and dashing. How he led the Wellington forwards on many a forlorn hope, and many not so forlorn, will be many da 7 s - it is to Avery that credit for the only try of the day is primarily due. Eoberts, McLeod, and Ivin rig, all of the Oriental Club, were a magnificent trio behind the scrum. The famous All Black seemed hardly up to form at the start, but soon warmed to his work, end the way he dodged in and out, kicked, ran. and (when it suited the game), just stood still and did nothing, was beautiful to watch. Why McLeod has not played in every match this year for Wellington no one knows but the selectors. He had a hand in everything, and a useful hand. McLeod should yot be a New Zealand representative, and most certainly a member of this year's North Island team. ICinvig was great. Ho fielded the ball excellently, but his kicking was beyond excellence. He played the game of his life. Evcnson shone on defence, his work in this department vicing of outstanding merit. Mitchinson worked hard, but was having a day off, and made several mistakes. It often pays in a club game to cut in and trust to one's wits nml speed to carry one through the ruck. M itli such deadly tacklers as the Aucklanders the move is often a fatal one U.uvson run well, and kicked itell, but he had few chances. The forwards to a man strained every nerve. What it must nave been in those lost few moments, wiicm Auckland were hurling horso„ foot caul guns at tho Wellington line, no ono but a black forward can say. A more gnm end deliberate battle was never tought, but the Wellington boys fought u well. To pick one out os better than tho others would bo unfair. SOME BOUGH PLAT. Of the Aucklanders, one need say no more than that O’Leary was a magnificent full-back. Hall a fine winger, and Tyler, Francis, Cunningham and the others great forwards, and that Sellars was about tho roughest player that ono could ever wish not to see. Ask little Eyan about it. The Press Association reports that "in one of tho great rushes Eyan wont down, and when the ball had loft him Sell an; wus noticed to deliberately kick tho visiting fnll-baok. Tho action earned the displeasure of the crowd."

INTE E-COLLEGE MATCHES DE-FEAT OF VICTORIA BY CANTERBURY. A DULL GAME. TUo annual fixture CaoterLury Colv. VicUiriu v. a., played oil No- 2 ground at Urn ruik, ana not exciting at any stage, in the- UisC spoil, the Home team liau rutner the belter of the game, but the vl-uUks br:g’aicncd up and took, a larger part, m the J after the interval. 'iue giouud wa-. uamp uu<l heavy towaids tne end, and noitucr team had siitueicut comb-a-atum to do much with the bail. Looked at most chaiila'oly, their scrappy eiiorts could not by any menus be tailed an in-tcie.-»ting c-xporilTou 01 football. The local men the return from 'their kick-oil, and kept play in the confines of the visitors' goal lor a spell, compelling them to Jorce. \\ hen the loams began lo find each other’s strength, Victoria College fell back before their opponeutri, and Man-ell took the bail within a few vaul.s of the scoring line before he was ‘brought down. Victoria Coliege bucks begun Uf show superiority in passing, and the ionvards, puiying a fairly resourceful game, soon returned the ball to the far side of hali-way. Several Umets they were on the point of scoring, Largess, Cur lay no, Staiuiou, Brosna-lian, tuid Bertrand handling the ball on separate ocasions, but the Canterbury tackling was just sufficient to keep the enemy but. The game became brisk, and the visitors wore still kept on , the defensive. Roth Phillips and do la ; Mare took tho ball perilously near tho Canterbury goal lino, but the visitors roused themselves in time, and, when they had taken the ball lialf-way up a ; somewhat disorganised field, Langridge i had iio difficulty in toeing the leather . gently through a feu* stragglers and scor- ; ing almost unopposed in a handy position. Murchison goalcd unerringly. Can- i terbuiry College. 5; Victoria College, nil. Until tho spoil ended, Victoria College . again had the better of the game, and j would probably have scored more than j once, had it not been, for blind and ex- j cited passing just when tho utmost cool- J ne-ss and precision wero needed. A heavy t drizzle came on before tho spell was con- | eluded. At the common com o n fc of the second half the visitors attacked spiritedly, and j found that the defence put up against i them was not of much account. The fleet-footed Rhodes (Canterbury wing three-quarter) darted in dangerously on two occasions, and was stopped only just in time. Canterbury did not persist in their attack, and tho homo team soon escaped from the proximity of their goals, and broke away more or less threateningly. From a fairly distant mark. Curtayne had a shot at goal, but he missed badly. After long minutes of dreary play. Canterbury rallied for a brief spoil, but the home team in turn prevailed, with the result that after a series of scrambles in the vicinity of the quarter lino, Staintern dashed over. Ctirtayne kicker! inaccurately with the heavy wet ball. Canterbury College, 5; Victoria College, 3. Mr W. J. Meredith was the referee. WELLINGTON y. ST. PATRICK'S, EAST WIN FOB THE FORMER. There was some exciting play in this game, and spectators were well repaid for their visit to the Park, the passing rushes of the winners being well executed and refreshing. Dribbling rushes characterised the opening stages of play. Wellington, drawing first blood through a try scored by Capper, which was not converted. The ball was not long in motion again when the WelLingtonians became aggressive. Armstrong being ooliar- , eel just when success seemed assured. St. Patrick's forwards then got busy and gave their ogf-onents plenty of work' to do, but Harris save the situation. St. Patrick's were driven downfield after a spell of quiet play and Armstrong scored the kick at goal being again unsuccessful. Wellington, were much superior to their opponents on resuming, being within an ac© of scoring on several occasions. Then play was suddenly reversed, St. Patrick’s took a hand in attacking, and McCarthy, snapping the ball up from a scrum, transferred to Blake, who enabled Burns to cross the line The try, a well deserved one. was not enhanced. St. Patrick’s kept Wellington on the defensive, McCarthy and Burns doing good work for them, and the Wellingtonians were forced. This was only a temporary reversal, as on resuming Wellington mod© the pace a cracker, and from a scrum near the line Stainton obtained possession and passed to Stewart, who got over. Immediately on resuming Bartholomew touched down as the result of an opening made by Childs, but no goal was kicked. From this out Wellington had mnoh the better of play, Harris and Beard each scoring tries for them, Capper converting one. Wellington won by 20 to 3. Mr G. Butler was referee. STUDENTS AT DINNER, THE UNIVERSITY FIFTEENS, The visiting Canterbury College Rugby fifteen were entertained at dinner on Saturday evening at the Hotels Windsor. Their hosts were the Victoria College players, whom they in the annual match by two points. The evening was spent in jovial good fellowship, and. many happy speeches were made by the representatives of the two university colleges during the evening. In proposing tho toast of the evening, "Canterbury College/’ the chairman, Mr F. A. de la Mare, paid a tribute to the play of the Canterbury men, and said that, when he admired the college team some years ago as ;a Christchurch resident, it was considered, as now, an honour to be chosen as one of the college representatives. (Applause). Mr A. Curtaync (captain of the Victoria College team) said that the annual fixture with the southern college was the match in connection with which they had always the most pleasurable anticipations. He hoped that on meeting next ycdr, tho teams would have reached a higher standard of play. (Applause). In replying, Mr C. Ferguson, (captain of ibe visiting team) endorsed Mr Curtavne's feeling that the inter-college match was always more keenly enjoyed than any club fixture which the teams engaged in, because they knew that their opponents played a clean, fair game. (Applause). The manager of the Canterbury College team, Mr W. Grace, was made the recipient of a useful present by of Tiis team, in recognition of his able control of tho fifteen. Mr C. Butt mode the presentation, and Mr Grace suitably acknowledged the gift. Several other toasts wore honoured during the evening. The southern team left for Christchurch hr the late boat on Saturday night, their hoste giving them an enthusiastic farewell. FIFTH CLASS. Athletic (10) defeated Southern (3). Pf'-ole and Adams scored tries and Robertson potted a goal for the winners. SCHOOLS CHAMPIONSHIP. WON BY THE HUTT. The final match for the championship of the Wellington public schools was played on Saturday morning, the contestants being Hutt and Terrace. The

former proved victorious by 8 points to 5 leaving them winners of the championship with Terrace school up“CASH AMATEURISM.” RUGBY ADMINISTRATION. UNIONS CRITICISED BY STUDENTS. At ihe dinner given in honour of the visiting Canterbury College Rugby team uii Saturday night, a low word* of criticism were directed towards both the New Zealand Rugby Football Union and the Wellington Rugby Football Union.

M L. Short (Victoria College) remarked that true lovers of the Rugby game were inclined lo find tauit with the trace* of “cash amateurism" noticeable in the* policy of the New Zealand/tugby Union, in cun-adoring all proposals that came before it, the union appealed to think more of the financial ; prospect than of putwibk* benefit to tho I game generally, lie instanced two ml- ! mg.- which proved the “cash a mated rj ism" of the union. Early in the year, ; Sydney University had communicated i with the New Zealand students with a. j view to getting a team to play some j univeirity matches In Australia, offer- ! ing. moreover, to pay the passage money :of their visitors. It was arranged that ; the beri men should be sent, but the j New Zealand Union interfered. Another ; Just cause for complaint was that the ; union had declined to allow the Californian Universities’ loam to meet vei presentativos of the* New Zealand Unij ycnsily during their tour of the Dom- ! inion. (Applause). 1 Tho chairman (Mr F. A. do la Mare) I pointed out that Mr Short’s remarks ! must not be considered as expressing | tho unanimous opinion of the gather- | ing. (Voices; “Yes"). They did not de- ; sire to accuse tiro Now Zealand Rugby Union of anything in tho nature of “cash amateurism"; he would call it gross mismanagement. (Cries of i “Guilty"). A subsequent speaker, Mr F. A. Wilson (Victoria College) expressed the emphatic opinion that the Wellington Rugby Union should endeavour more earnestly to put down rough play. When suffering from injury, ho had stood on the bank and watched the College team playing one of the champion fixtures. He noticed a College man on the ground deliberately kicked in the neck by an opponent, who took the precaution to glance round first to make sure that the referee’s eye was not upon him. For (rough play such as this, which # the speaker considered should be punished with a life disqualification, it was not uncommon to see the union disqualify offenders for two or three Saturdays. He had seen a well-known player disqualified foir part of tho season, and when the representative matches began he was able to take his place on the field again. The Wellington Rugby Football Union should consider tho seriousness of the question. (Applause). CANTERBURY BEATS SOUTH CANTERBURY. PRESS ASSOCIATION. CHRISTCHURCH, August 20. Tile representative match between Canterbury and South Canterbury was played this afternoon and was well contested. In tho first spell play wan fairly even. Tho second spell opened with a strong attack by Canterbury, and an equally strong counter attack by the southerners, who displayed better play, but failed to score. Canterbury tacks set up an attack, and a long kick was followed up fait by Shadboit, who scored under the posts. Fuller kicked a goal. Canterbury kept up the attack, and a passing rush begun by Cleary enabled Fuller to cross tho line. His kick at goal failed. Canterbury wero now having the better of the play, and a strong attack was checked by a lino kick by Scott. The relief was but momentary, for the Canterbury backs maintained the pressure, and a long kick by Guiney compelled the greens to force. The kick out was well returned by Doell, and South Canterbury were forced again. Tho kick out was followed by a tine dash by Guiney, who passed to Burns, but the latter was tackled right on the line, and in the scramble that succeeded South Canterbury wore penalised and Shadboit kicked a goal from a difficult angle. The : remaining few minutes were in Canterbury’s favour, but there was no further score, and the game ended —Canterbury 20 points (a goal from a try, two penalty goals and three tries); South Canterbury, D points (a goal from a mark* a penalty goal and a try). - WANGANUI y. HAWKE’S BAY. PRESS ASSOCIATION. WANGANUI, August 21. The representative football match, Wanganui v. Hawke’s Bay, was played yesterday afternoon in fine weather. Wanganui proved victorious by 12 points to 3. Wanganui's score consisted of three unconverted tries and a penalty. Scullin scored a try for Hawke’s Bay. PALMERSTON MATCHES. REFEREES AT PLAY. FEOM OUEr OWN COEEESPONDENT. PALMERSTON, August. 20. Tho Wellington Referees’ Association beat the Manawatu Association to-day after an , entertaining exhibition by 15 points to 11. Jim Manning was Wellington's hero. He crossed Monawatu’s line five times, and was responsible for every point scored. Manning only scored once in the first spell, and Lyaii, the Manawatu full-back, showed his versatility by equalising matters with a try. In the second half, however, the ex-Wellington representative was piranl was his chief opponent, but being essentially a scoring three-quarter his defence was weak, and when Manning came his way ho did not stop him. Manawatu added a goal and a try (scored by Mansford and Duthie). The Abraham cup competition started to-day. Fcilding forfeited to Old Boys and Palmerston defeated Kia Toa by 9 to 3. As tho conditions of play embody tho “sudden death" principle, Palmerston and Old Boys are left to fight out the ownership of tho trophy. High School, holders of the Foote shield, added the Gibbons cup to their list of trophies by defeating Feilding by II to 3 to-day. A MASTERTON MATCH. PEOil OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT. MASTERTON, August 20. The final match for the third-class championship between Red Star and Carterton, played this afternoon, resulted in a draw, there being no soo*?. These teams have now met on four occasions this season, having won on© match each and two having been drawn. There is an appeal to be decided yet. Rod Star having appealed against Carterton, who played a man who had played for another team this season without getting a permit. AUSTRALIAN GAME NEW SOUTH WALES DEFEATS QUEENSLAND. By Telegraph-Press Association— Copyright. (Received August 21, 15.5 p.m.) SYDNEY. August 21. At football (Australian game) NewSouth Wales defeated Queensland # by 10 goals 15 behinds to 6 goals 12 behind©.