FOOTBALL.

NZ Truth, Issue 67, 29 September 1906, Page 2

FOOTBALL.

(By „, • •. North v. South. At the Athletic Park on Saturday afternoon the North Island combination came out with a four point victory against its Southern ; adversaries. Everything was conducive to I fast and interesting; rugby, the weather being summer-like and the on the playing area as firm as could be desired. /'..• Between 8,000 and 9,000. popple ! turned out to watch the proceedings, the outcome of which was the notching of three tries (9 points) by the Northerns as against a converted try (five points) to- the credit of. , the j Southern men. O'Suliivan and 'Seeling were the try-getters for this Island's representatives m, th£ first spell, Mitchinson doing the trick, m the succeeding half, Fry or faced over the northern chalk-mark m the first spell, and McGregor added/the major points. . . As a spectacle the game was:; fast and entertaining, though perfection m the matter of systematic combir nation did . not agreeable present iir self. Midway through the second spell both teams set a killing pace for nearly five minutes at a stretch, forwards and backs alternately tak- ! ing a hand, the sequence being; /that the contestants ran themselves to a standstill and Hvere a dog-tired crowd ; until they recovered their second wind. Summing up the merits, of both teams, it might fairly be said, that there was little if anything to choose between the respective combinations , The Southern scrummagers were the sounder, but the white (NorthKrearguard were nippier and cleverer, m attack, though for defensive purposes the black backs were safer and surer as a whole. vji The black scrumming brigade was more compact m formation t|ian the white vanguard, dashier m the loose, executed neater and more concerted; footwork, and tackled m deadlier style and with greater certainty. Every man was quick and resolute, McDonald, who led them, being m particularly brilliant form. In the tight the lighter black division quite held its own until well on towards the closing stages of tb& game, when the Northern fdrwards appeared to out-stay them. By reason of their height, the Northern vanguard showed to great-: er advantage on the line-out from where Francis, O'Suliivan, Watkins and Cross engineered rushes which invariably checked by the opposing, backs before coming into dangerous striking distance. As the Northern front-rankers hook- ■ ed bftener the white rearguard was given opportunities to bring its aggressive tactics into requsition. Hunter and Mynott, however, played ■ on the solo system and the threequarters line was practically neglected by the Taranaki pair. Their sort of play is all very well from the spectacular standpoint, but it is not correct rugby. Had .Hunter transferred after making decent openings, it is fair to assume that the pacier Northern backs would have been troubling their rivals much more frequently than they did. The selfishness of Hunter and Mynott deserves the strongest censure, and after Satturday's performance one no longer marvels at the former cominc out as leading try-getter of the "All-Blacks"

on the British lour. If their methods were on a par with Saturday's the three-quarter line, must have been kaving a very bad time indeed m the way of enforoed idleness. Hunter has been put down as a strategist, the type of resourceful player whose penchant for quickly and cleverly seizins; openings and opportunities lead invariablyi to scorin"- by his side. His showing; against the Southerners marred that reputation. The crowd, of course, yelled with delight when the Taranaki man cork-screwed through half-a-dozen opponents only to be effectually grassed by tbe seventh, and jail the advantage thrown away beoitise of his asinine policy of clinging;* to the leather instead of transferring to the centre-threeciuarter or win.er lying handy to receive it. Mynott's bullocking attempts to pierce the opposine defence were merely wasted efforts on nis part. The effectiveness of the Northern threequarter line was handicapped to a very considerable degree by this pair. It was also noticeable that Hunter and his caliber, Simon, expected their backs, upon getting the ball, m a very few instances, by their superior pace to run around the Southerners. Fryer and Adams and Booth, however, upset their calculations. O'Leary, the South Canterbury representative was a frost .at fiveeighths. In the second half he exchanged positions with McGregor. The change as far 'as O'Leary ' was concerned worked out even worse. Mitchingort ''fooled" him m the simplest manner possible when he scored the-'Northerners third try. Contrary to expectations Jack Spencer worked the Northern scrum well though a noticeable tendency on the nartof the right flanker to break; away before, the push ;lost much- •••in the • way^-of 'adhesiveness. At times the black forward rushers moved splendidly away m bunch-like form and carried everything before them until confronted by Hunter. The whits loose rushes. were meteoric and often the men failed to keep their places •when on the dribble. They broke i strongiv through on occasions, bufr the rush stopping powers of the Southern backs was a counterfoil to I^heir temporary success. The Southerners tackled swiftly andi surely. ' O'Leary's lack of ability spoilt a swift and necessary co-operation as between , the ; five-eighth and threequarters^ His slpwness to move re-peat-edly £ enaibled ■G i iijett, and company to, get iii amongst the Sputher^ backs before Fryor had s show to' bring his threequarter lint into action. . TWatkin.ts speedy ' hustling was primarily' responsible for the, North* erners^fcwo tries m the first spell. Paddy £ot down very quickly 1 on Stevens and Booth m. each instance. The,. Canterbury man had . hard "cheese" m slipping while going for tlie ball with Watkins, Seeling and Francis 'comma:, at' him at top. Before he could A recover himself the bail was rushed down to the goalJine .wfiere o 'Sullivan picked it up and scored the easiest of tries. 'In Booth's, case Me happynintr 1 was akin to sensational ism . ; Puii'ty " kicked off following oh a converted- try registered by the Southerheis. Th£ | Otago man got ' possession,' but his return was smothered by Watkins, who came down, the field; at racehorse speed. Paddy, with Seeling and Jack Spencer m close attendance, dribbled the ball to the line where Seeling got possession and touched down. Fryor scored a beautiful try for the . Southerners. Adams set a passing rush m motion, and at the correct moment gave the leather to McGregor who cut slighty infield made a straight dash up to Dufty, amd'then transferred to Fryor. who showed a -clean pair of heels to lii.n I pursurers and raced over the chalk* mark to the tune of hurricane "plau* dits. ■■;.. ' ■ McGregor m&de several brilliant dashes, two m particular, almost leading up to v tries. Thomson's turn of, foot alone- stopped the fleet-footeJ Southener from crossing his ci^ ponents chalk-mark m the first spell* McGregor had got through the white cordon of defence and when about to te blocked by Mitchinson punted . to the line. "He. was sprinting alone m great style;.' and nothing apparently ,could get near him, but Thomson .set off m hot pUf suit, and heading 'tjfte Sputhener a few yards from the; li'rif. saved the situation by kicking th« ball over tbe epal-lihe, a scrum five yards out resulting. . MoGregor got m another great dash and run later on, and subsequently transferred to Tynne who made a herculean attempt to reach the line, but was hustled into touch by Thomson before he reached the ' covetafl territory Mitchinson 's score was the pern ia the try-getting: line. The Wellington lad had O'Learv and Stevens wet ci shags what time he was essaying tio feat. It was a spirited dash and clever "fooling" - which -brought s*» bout those three points'.-v Stevens gave a very.tfair exhibition and the first try registered by th« Northerners could not 'be put down to his bad play: It was -the result of sheer misfortune. He.;-:- stopped the rushes m good style and marked and fielded accurately. Not infrequently he played up too close ■■ to hi; threequarter line. t , - Booth Save ■ ■■•• really sound defensive exhibition, his catching, kicking and stopping being almost blemishless. His one weak, kick led to cs score by the Northerners. Adams was very aggressive m tho passing rushes. He defended soundly, and repeatedly extricated his side from difficulties. He is a vastly improved • player upon the Adams w«

saw playing m the Wellington Club \ ranks a season ago. His quick and forceful line-kicking served a most useful purpose. Fryor gave a slashing display, the best on the ground, m fact. His sharp and pacy rurinine. 'cut ting-in, quick passing, accurate taking and kicking was faultless m its execution. In attacking after getting possession, Fryor was off the mark like greased lightning. There . was no fcesitatancv about, his movements. Burns had to battle hard to defend himself from the attentions of Gillett, -whose harrassing tactics interfered muchly with his work behind the scrum. The Canterbury man defended solidly and showed plenty of grit. There were, times when he got the backs moving; quickly, though his passing was not always reliable. " played brilliantly.in the black vanguard, his work m; the loose bnd ever sure tackling being m- constant evidence. The Otago man was always on the ball, and his exhibition was out and out the best m • either forward division. Seeling is undeniably a great forward, but on Saturday's game he is not m the same street ,with the Otago boy for all round nlay. Casey and Paton were also prominent ri^ht through, and if the latter retains his form tiext season, nothing can keep him out of a New Zealand rep.' .team. Dennehy, the West, Coaster; played a consistently •h.oncs.t. game, and is a genuine grafter- from start-, to finish. He made several fine bursts, m the open,. . ■."". .. . Gorbett, one; of, the All Blacks, and c, of the West Coast, did' not, sintlQ: himself out -for particular, prominence. He was very much on the slow side. Conbett was one,, of the lucky ones to, set that tripi to the Homeland. ,;,' . On the fringe of the, scrum Tynne was no match for Gillett, who out- j pointed him all through. The Can- ' terbury winger did a fair share of hack spoiling, was pacy on the foljlow up, and made himself conspicuous m dribbling and passing rushes. As a full-back, Dufty' is degrees below New Zealand rep. standard. In the first spell his fielding and catching were uncertain, while his linekicking lacked vigor arid effectiveness. He improved a good • deal after breathing time, but his work m the second period was not always up to the best' t tradesmanlike standard. He lacked himbleness and- faded out of sight m the blocking arid rush-stop-ping tit-bits of the game. His mighty ,fame as a plajce-lcicker caused him to ,be thd cynosure of all eyes, and "give it to , Dufty" was thundered forth very:! soon' after the ball had been put m" motioii. The crowd Wouldn't credit their- sense when hi3 t first shot,. right" m front of the posjiS', was a miss, and a bad ' vne at ,'that., Two other attempts from easjr. angles prpduced ho better results ami the V : spectators simply strained , themsely.^S; .with laughter, the more-, noisy-^jsection firing off Eood-Kumpred „ remarks which the Auckland<j}r. acknowledged with smiles. puftyVwa^ given. a chance of showing his prowefl? from . a penalty kick at a fairly eagy angle, and. again he failed to perform his mission. • Neryousfcess was probably accountable for -tlie Dufty fiasco. The proba-bility-is that had the • northerner got the ball -over the .posts at his 'first itttempt ill would have been plain sailing for the rest of the game, but that unsuccessful shot did the damage. Personally, I felt sorry for Dufty, whom report credits with her dng a most unassuming young fellow and not given to skiting about his past Napoleonic deeds. We know m Wellington that some of the 1 finest goal-converters who ever stepped upon a colonial rugby field have made awful botches when essaying at the simplest of ranges. What about Harry Mclntyre, Jack Campbell, •■ and ..others. ''> •• , ■ ■ • : '■- Harry Kiernan did not exhibit his usual sliclmess or judgment or-, cleverness Behind the northern pack.' His passing as a ru\e was neither accurate nor sharp. He appears to have lost much of his old-time dash.

' Mynott and Hunter frav,e already $en criticised. The Taranaki pair iftade the vbiggest of Vblqomers"' m Starting out to play the blacks', on their "own.! 1 They showed no judgment whatever, m attacking the weakpoints of the opposing combination. Hunter defended solidly. Dive was burdened with little toil thanks to the solo policy of his fiveeighths. His kicking was not particularly forceful. Thomson, was m the same boat as Dive as regards .work. His fleetness was a factor m stopping two possible tries from bursts engineered by McGregor. Mitchinson was idle for most part of the game. His versatility, was m evidence onr, too few. occasions. The Poneke lad's, abilities as a strategist blossomed out. when he snapped that really brilliant. try. WatkinS stppd out m the northern pack for all-cound work. Paddy gave a fine exposition, indeed, of fast forwanLplay. He was active from start to no^s.ide, and- as keen as could be tiesired. Francis, Spencer, and, O'Sullivan were 'moving freely m the two spells and Tom Cross and Seeling came to light pretty often, the latter m the open arid the Welling-■-tonian m both -tight and loose. Dunnine; also shaped solidly. ; Gillett played & great game on the side of the northern scrum. He was full of tricks, which completely baffled Tynne, the southern winger, and troubled Burns sorely. He caught the public eye right enough m this jnatch. Dash and robustness were anarked features of his exhibition, .while his kicking was the best on the ground m its results. Kiernan can work the silly side with any other half m the colony, "but his judgment on Saturday was not UP to his past standard. Sounder defensive or clickier live-eighths on the other side would have settled Mynott. or Hunter before they. 'had got far on their journey. Frydr's backing up of his vanguard/in attack contrasted with .the leisurely movements of others m the two rearguard divisions. • „ In the last fifteen minutes of the r^ame, the black jersey forwards with the exception of McDonald and Den-, nehv, appeared to get a wee bitweary. On the other hand the white vanguard appeared to infuse greater vim and "devil" into its operations.