FOOTBALL.

NZ Truth, Issue 66, 22 September 1906, Page 2

FOOTBALL.

(By "Pakeha.") "What might have been" is the lament of some Wellington barraokers, if the local combination had been up to its full representative strength, or the ground conditions had been more favorable when the Otago lads engaged m their annual tussle with the blacks last Saturday. To my mind, the fine showing of "the blue wearers iri the face of such, adverse circuhistances as were m evidence on Saturday went, to show that the"homers" were lucky to meet thcsm on such conditions, otherwise they would have been m for a bad mauling. Dunedin people have perhaps underrated the calibre of their forwards, and it would have done their hearts glad to. see the blue vanguard perform so superbly against a combination of such vaunted strength as the blacks were credited with possessing this season. The visitors are to be congratulated not only on the magnificent work of their scrumming : brigade but also on the solid and laudable performance of their backs, who played almost faultlessly from beginning to end. The Otago score was made up of six points, the try-getters m the resjpective spells being Ongley and Abbott. Wellington's points were notched by Ryan who crossed the visitors chalkmark at the corner m the last stages of the game. ; Owing to the, slushy state of the turf, a high-class exposition of back play was out of the question and the issue was fought out amongst the forwards. The blue division beat the Wellington scrummagers pointless m every phase of forward play. Though at a disadvantage m regard to weight the Otago men screwed the scrums beautifully when occasion warranted it and invariably turned the manoeuvre to profitable account.

The scrummaging of the blue forwards was solid and methodical ; m the loose they were expertnes's itself, I being full of vim and "devil," whilst their footwork was the best seen m its way on the Park this season. They worked m perfect unison and had the hall completely under control. Did a man over-run ttie . ball a comrade was at hand to toe it on, and the celerity with whioh they dropped back to relieve the backs when danger happened along was an object lesson to the Wellington forwards, who, up to this, contest, had a tolerably high opinion of their own abilities, but who, m this instance, were made to look small— very small, indeed. . With their quick, pacy and dangerous dribbling tactics the. blue rushers effectually blocked the Wellington backs from getting m any work. The collaring was so certain that a local man within tackling reach was not able to make many feet without being hauled down. On such a "boggy" going the quickrushing movements and superb footwork of. the well-organised blue division was something of a revelation. Their performance was strongly reminiscent of the prowess of Wellington forwards m the eighties and nineties, m which periods the black jersey wearers built up great reputation and fame at the expense of representatives of other Maoriland Riigby Unions. The mechanism was so perfect on Saturday that one pauses to think of what might have fallen to Wellington's lot had the turf been drier. The Otago forwards were apparently "cherry ripe" for an arduous deal, as they hammered away consistently right up to the bitter end. Their systematic back spoiling and fast following up m the heavy going attested to their ripe condition. Great praise is also due to the blue vanguard for its admirable showing. Each man played safely, and cor- j rectly, the taking, .fielding and kick-; ing being practically olemishless. Playing on a treacheroufe ground, which admitted of no decent foothold and manipulating a greasy ball were discomforting conditions for any back division to labor under, yet, despite'

all these great drawbacks, the visitors rose to the occasion and gave an exhibition Which, taken all-round, has never been surpassed on a local ground. The blue backs went down to the opposing . rushes, m great style, m » striking contrast to the "get-out-of- / the-road" policy of the home divi- / sion. Their combination was sharp/ and excellent. No opportunity was/ afforded them of displaying their at/ tacking worth, but m defence they were absolutely reliable. Th^y brought m serviceable plans to nip the work of the black-jerseyed forward brigade. The blue rearguard was, of course, , helped materially by the magnificent exertions of those m / front of it.' . / In getting possession, Otago" cami / out on top, though the slippery nature of the turf made the advantage count for nought. The heeling of the blue vanguard was clean and slick ; on the other hand, when Wellington did get possession, the ball either came out with the velocity of a falling star or hung m the 'middle row. The packing of the Otago forwards was cdhipact, the result beina; an adhesive scrum, while, as regards Wellington's formation it produced a "wobbly" sorum which never did work smoothly, except, perhaps, m a few instances throughout the game. More effective screwing than that engineered by Otago, I do not recollect seeing since the ■ days when ! "Brassy" White, Frank Young and Co. worked the Poneke pack to tht utter discomfiture of their opponents; Two "wheelings" m particular were beautifully executed, and the w"hole pack came away m a body-like rush with the ball at toe, sweeping away all opposition m relentless style rightup to the full, who, lucfcily for hia' side, staked all on a speculator which came off aad put the H»ttt& into touch. The Wellington forwards were cleat;; licked aiid seldom have' they' been given such a thorough trvihg-out. Probably the effects of the "northern tour rendered them stale, but whatever the cause one thing is certain, that a more listless showing from Wellington scrummagers has not been exhibited for the past few seasons. There was a lack of concert m their movements right through , the two spells and no co-operation as between them and the rearguard. A little more fresher blood m their ranks would perhaps have made a difference. There was an absence of ability about any of the homers' work ; no initiative or element of the "devil" m their doings . that was so formidable a factor m the blues' success, and a manifest disinclination to use the feet to some extent at least, with advantage to themselves or their side.

The whole performahqe of the black vanguard, was "rocky." No pace or celerity was shown m the few scrappy rushes which did take place, the line-Out play was remarkable for the inaccuracy of taking and the failure to make instant headway whenever the chances cropped up to obtain ground,. the following up/was marked by slothfulness, and . the snail-like, movements to, drop; back when, d^n- , ger threatened the backs from the j swift and ovejrwhelming rushes of the , blue-rushing forwards, was heart- | breaking to local supporters. \ Beaten all round m the forwards, ■ Wellington backs were, unable to couri- \ ter-balance the weakness of theft van- i guard. They, too, were "dished" by, ' the blue scrummagers, and m a measure by the opposition backs' safeplay tactics. On a few occasions the ball was set going among them, but the checking movements of the blues prevented much ground being covered. Somehow the five-eighth combination, Bogle and Mitchinson, shaped unevenly, the .Victoria College representative again failing to operate quickly when receiving the ball from Green. He stood too deep; the consequence being that the blue forwards were on top of him before Mitchinson' could get a cut m ta make use of, an opening. The catching and fielding were gener* ally uncertain and the line-kicking was mediocre. The advantages of centicing on such a heavy ground ware lost sight of by the Wellington tacks, who, however, had nothing', to thank their forwards for m the matter of assistance when the plah was put it»to execution. George Spencer probably played his worst game to date. His rush-stop-ping was weak and the same remark, applies to his marking and fielding. He "speculated" at random'and shirked the responsibility when, the blu* forwards got to him. The Melross man presented Otago with its second try by his failure to make any effort to grab the ball what time Abbott came racing up at top speed, following on Chambers' thoughtful centreChambers, the Otago wing threequarter, played a very correct game, his taking and kicking being faultless. Davidson, at full, was. as safjr as a house m every phase of defensive play. His work was neat and' sound all- through the pitch. Th« other backs played up to .their forwards splendidly and their judgment was excellent. All the blue rearguard were fearless rush-stoppers when tested. Evenson brought off one or two sparkling tit-bits m the matter ol line-kicking. He, however, lacked sturdy defence and evinced . hesitancy, at critical junctures,. spelt trouble for his side- Evenson should learn the wisdom of getting off th« v mark immediately his five-eighths ar«f making a forward movement.

Though on the light side, Green .played up pluckily against the blue forward crashers, who gave him a bad time m his attempt to stem their fierce charges. Repeatedly, the boy was brushed aside by Porteous, McDonald, Casey, and Co., who gave him no quarter. He got m some • smart work at times, hampered as he waa by the irresistible onslaughts of the opposing forwards and the fa.iure of Hardhamto afford him anything like adequate shielding. Otago had a magnificent set of forwards and McDonald was the champion of the bunch. When Jimmy Duncan returned from England with the "All Blacks" he gave me a glowing account of the prowess of the Dimedin representative, and southern critics have also lauded his abilities iii the, playing arena this season. That there has been no exaggeration m these statements was illustrated by his showing on Saturday. The leader m nigh every Otago charge, McDonald proved himself to be one of the fastest forwards on the ball seen here for many. a long. day, his 'quick following up, sharp tackling, and superb dribbling, disconcerting the other side to an alarming extent. Such a skilful, quick-moving and spirited player does not often come our way, and if there were half-a-dozen of his stamp with the New Zealand team one can ! readily understand how the colonials walked through their adversaries m th* Homeland. Another 'fine forward was Abbott, a powerful, pacy player, who played havoc m the Wellington back division- by his nimhleness on the field.: Abbott ' scored a well-deserved try by making a gun-shot dash up the field after his fellow representative Chambers had ran along the touchline for a dozen yards and then centred. Bowling along with a full head of steam •n, Abbott beat Spencer and Ryan fer. possession and went over the chalkmark: to the time of a big round of anplause. Spencer could easily have" thwarted him, however. Qngley, Casey and Paton also singled themselves out for distinction, though as siated above all the blue scrummagers shaped grandly. Ongley effected a beautiful one-handed "take" from Abb qtt after the latter had received the ball from Echold, ami his reward came m the shape of the much-coveted try. Of the Wellington packmen, Cross, Watkins, Callum and Wright did the most honest toil. Byrne and Manning made occasional dashes, but Jack S>pencer was decidedly off-oolor. There was no good grit about the black forwards, • staleness doubtless accounting for the deficiency. Thomson and Ryan had no opportunities to speak of to show their metal.. Ryan made the most of his pace when Green and Mitchinson got that passing bout under way which ended m. the Petone representative going over the Otago chalkmark. Thomson's kicking was, m judgment and force, below his usual standard. Bogle, whose position demanded coolness, watchfulness, arid skilfulrieSs, did. not cut a brilliant figure. His defence was weak ih the extreme. Mitchinson, was the bright star m an otherwise dim costellation. The lad did some spirited tackling and made good openings, but was practically unsupported. His passing was not altogether accurate br.'Well timed.

rtarry Porteous has a local reputation for roughness, and the fact was served up to him pretty hot by the crowd on Saturday. "Play the game, Perteous," ''None -of, your; dirty tricks," "Put him off the field;, referee," and what not were heard at repeated intervals. Rugby is not played with kid gloves, though some tender-hearted and misguided zealots think it should be, and Porteous certainly 'is no advocate or tutor of 'the "beg pardon" style or game. While condemning the attitude of the spectators on the terraces for piping sa much as regards Porteous 's methods, I think the referee would have been justified m calling the blue winger's attention to the desirableness oi shaping a iree bit gentler. There were times when Porteous handled his victim's rather roughly, though whether *his tactics went beyond the legitimate temnds of Rugby code is .a matter of opinion. In the bout* on the fringe of the scrum Perteous got all over, Hardham, and, m consequence^ little Green was the recipient of much undesirable mauling. Harry was quick on his pins and made effectual use of his feet and he back-smothered time and again. Hardham met his conqueror m the blue winder opposed to him. The Wellington skipper was not so nippy or pacy as i.a other rep matches played' on the Park this season. Bogle's mistake m not marking off a return kick was the fore-runner of Qtaso's first score. In his own ter4 ritorv. and with a fast-rushing; pack swooping down on him, the Wellington man should have accepted no risks, but' obtained the option of /a kick with plenty of intervening spa&e and time. Instead of which he "booted" it up against Spiers jpd Schold and the ilatter grabbing / it made a timely transfer to Abbott, who subsequently passed it to Ongley and that player catching it splendidly with his left "claws" made no race of it m finding the line. The place kicking was execrable, tyen making allowance for the "feasy "ball. Both the tries registered by Otaso were behind the posts, yet Kchold's attempts ,at- goal conversion weie simply ludicrous. Otago had the game all their own fray m the first spell, the ball bein,g with two exception:., on the Wellington side of the half-way flag for that -j period. After the breathing space,! which, by the way, was an aggrayat-j ingly lonrc one owin.r to no ball bein« procurable, Wellington took a hanw m attack for a few minutes, bills thenceforth until the final ten/millwtes of the contest, the blue je'rsejf-s were m its territory.' The Otatto men. just failed to put the finishiif_g touches to the number of attacjks they made on the black's citadel. I A weakness m the Otago fonvdrd jilay was the constant knocking bdLck from the line out. At times jthe blues secured the ball off-side, tut they were sharp-witted enough lto euchre the referee at times and tjake up a position whi'_ch often as /not meant a fair stretch of opposing p-round. I The asinine polic of those/ m -i.authority m electing to play a Icur- 1 tain-raiser to the bie; match desefrves the Yerv strongest -.reprobation. I It

was nothing more nor less than an act of the grossest discourtesy, nay. an insult, to the visitors to ask them' to play on such a ground as was m evidence after the Inter-College con- ' test h?d been brought to a termination. The effect of thirty players rushing about on the turf was to quickly churn it up into liquid mud lakes, and this was the beautiful order of things when the Otago and Wellington men lined but for .their I annual struggle. Whoever was responsible for the playing of the Inter-College-Old Boys' match on the Park that afternoon should 'be. barred from exercising aiw more rugby authority till "Kingdom Come." Altogether the Rugby Union gloriously bungled matters m connection with this match. The similarity . of colours, blue (Otago) and "black (Wellington) would, one would thwik, have influenced thc Rugby Union! m deciding to have its representatives garbed m, say, yellow and black, 'But no the wise-acres of that body 'came to the conclusion that the /White pants would be a guiding beac/tm to friends and opponents. After sploshing about m the Park's mud pools I for about a quarter of an hopr.f the white "knickea-s" were almost indistinguishable from tiiosej worn by the Otago representatives., f What Hardham's game was lint those i short line-out throws ait atilmewhen his side was fighting againstj' time to \ make a draw or snatch a victjory, God only knows. It suited "Ota^'o np to the handle, and small wpnder its players hugged themselves /with delight when the Wellington skipper kept up this wearisome exhibition for ten minutes at a stretch at and about his side's quarterfflag. His correct policy would have) been to •' sling it out well, because j thejre was always the chance of .something happening on that slushy :gr(jlund; to lead up to a Wellington score/ as 'against ; the risk of Otago notching , ! further points. In the circumstances jit was! better that Wellington sjhoulu stake j everything on a long thtc»w-out. Wellington sadly missed, the ser- | vices of Roberts behind ihesCrum, as | •his prowess as a rusli-sjfcopper would have probably meant ,'tti.e nipping of j many of those blue {rushes' m the bud, '. With Roberts, Wallace, and Ramsden on the retirpd list the black rearguard's machinery Jwas completely dislocated. Ramsd en and Kelly were laid up with tlie'/flu" and Jim i Barber was not getatible. Blitchinson Was tlie victim of a broken nose, brought ajbout, 1 so it is alleged, by an opponent's: clenched fist. The nasal organ, yhowever, . had been slightly cracked Yin a, previous encounter. f The "Times" reporter who complained about the partisanship of the crowd had "rats in] bis garret." The visitors were Sheared quite as much as the local combination, and, m some instances, muich more so. ; The Otago men were mbie than sat- I isfied with their repeptilon from the onlookers. r ?' i