FOOTBALL.

NZ Truth, Issue 78, 15 December 1906, Page 3

FOOTBALL.

;(By "Pakeha.") An Amerioan writer says that things are looking up for Rugby m the East. Tlie University of Pennsylvania students held a meeting recently—that is the Englishmen, Australians, and New Zealander s a,t .the University— and formed .an English Rugby football team. P. V. Nicholson was elected captain. The New Zealand contingent includes m its ranks, Pope, N. S. Hales, G. Haskins, the champion miler of the University, F. C. Tibbs, G-. ]>eschler and Gr. Gunn. Hales is, I understand, a brother of Tom and Billy Hales, of this city, while Haskins hails from Christchurch and Deschler from Invercargill. A special general meeting of the English Rugby Union was. held on November l to consider a resolution to the effect that m the case of regimental matches only no soldier shall be considered a professional on the ground of having signed Northern Union form or having played with or against a Northern Union player. Mr Rowland Hill, president of the Union, explained •' that the Union had some f out months pro- .' yiously^received. %'request; signed by four officers,-? urging the . institution of an Army " Cup competition. Several regiments had Rugby teams, but m various districts "had great trouble m getting on matches. Gn receipt of this application the committee considered it -their duty to make an effort to form an Army union, and institute a cup competition. A subcommittee, after conferring with the officers of various regiments, reported that it would be unwise to start anything of the kind unless the union were prepared to admit those who had played for Northern Union clubs. To have insisted on their own rules would have introduced an apple of discord,, some senior officers not conversant'with, professionalism strongly objecting to distinctions between officers and men. It had been suggested that this proposal was the thin end of the weflge m the matter of professionalism, but the committee had absolute confidence -in the step they were taking, and that they were grappling with the matter m a practical manner. In the discussion which followed, Mr J. F. Byrne (Midlands) said a large amount of veiled professionalism •undoubtedly existed, and that • was worse than actual professionalism. • Strong action ouirht' to be taken m the matter, for although London clubs might be quite clean m: the matter,, that state oi things did not always exist m the provinces. Another speaker asserted that there was not a single club that took a £1,000 gate that was not professional to the core. * It was ruled from the chair that a Northern Union p^ v er, on Leaving the Arm^ would rank as a professional. Tlis' resolution was carried with the following addition :— "This resolution shall not apply to the case ] of any player- who may sign or play after engaging m any regimental match subsequent to October $3, ■lsoe,^ carried' ~witH''only tli'ree"' /dissentients., „. , „. •' .. i •v'i^r^^th^v^-^otjth- -Rugby -ma-teh; j arican<nra Dy.^ine^- English Rugby I Union was to have been played m London on November 24. The contest between England and the Rest was to be played at Coventry on j December 1. i Neil G-aibraith's "innards" have I been tumbling ajbout 'heavily since "Truth" got on h|s tracks. His chief mission m life, nowadays, is to waylay a very popular, member of the fourth estate for the purpose of impressing upon him that he (G-al-braith) was always a zealous guardian of the -nvileges of the Press. The - said scribe, however, isn't taking any- of Gatbraith's story. To tell the honest truth ninety-eight per cent, of the newspaper profession m Wellington have the most supreme contempt for the man who was the arch-conspirator m that dastardly outrage at, the. Athletic Park a few months ago. And who can blame them for their feelings towards the man who went out of his way to heap such an indignity on their calling. We would search the history <rf -Rugby football. in vain (writes Hamish Stuart m the "Daily Chronicle") for two sides who have s.p clearly demonstrated the big part played by pace m defence as the New Zealand team of 1905 ' and the South African side that are how threatening their record, so far as sustained success is concerned. Pace,' per se, would not, he e* plains, prpVail against a preconcerted, %it novel, bit of combined at" tack, which if properly executed, and not marred by an individual error on the part, of any of the participants, was "a try all the way," simply because it was so ingeniously designed that it deceived the defence into an improper direction of iheir powers and was m no way dependent for its success upon anything but mechanical accuracy m its execution, But even iagainat such a movement (and he quotes the movement which yielded ihe try that gave Wales victory over j the "All Blacks" as an instance m point) pace is a valuable a sset m defence (says the English writer). Fast backs, alive to. the value, qf their „ pace m defence, would, by their very h\Wt of usin^ it to good purpose m defence, be better able to, make an effort to retrieve/ the error into which they had been sled than would slow backs who depended upon intelligent | anticipation to make up for their lack of pace. The policy of playing the "nursing game" is emphasised by Hamish .Stuart,, who, writing on the eve of the South African v. Glamorgan match, cites the Scotland v. New Zealand match at Edinburgh as an instftncejn point. In that match ScotI land, 'after a tremendous struggle, | had at length obtained the control i ' ' - ' ■ -iI■ ■ — ito .the number of 5106, making an ! aggregate of 60,923 who paid for adj mission, which is. a record for the j Oval. The proceeds were handed Q ver ;to Walter Lees, th.c Surrey profes- ; sional. who netted £2120. i The Phoenix Club has "bunged in 1 ' i a. bin: strins; of grievances against Urn! pire San-do, who, m its opinion, disi Hayed bias ?nd what rot during the closin apes of the Phoenix=-Midlantl heat- TJje plmivcs. wh/oli cqver n?arlv t' vee sides pf cjosely-typpd foolscap, have been liung up for considf >••• atinn by the Cricket Association, whifh is not likely, m the long run. to take v action.

necessary to playing the "nursing" same, with a view to holding a' point lead. L. M. Macleod ran the risk incidental to attack and Scotland paid the penalty. Marsburg, the Afrikander back, is proclaimed by British experts to be the equal, m every respect, of any player m the All Black ranks. The drawn game between the Springboks and England would imply that the latter were a much improved combination from that encountered by the "All Blacks" last year. The "All Boks" have seven other matches to play before concluding their tour on January 1. As was to be expected the proposal of Harry Mclntyre anent the Ranfurly Shield competitions meets with fierce opposition' from Auckland Rugbyites, and their opinions m the matter are voiced by the"Star" writer, who spits out venomously when discussing the. subject. This is what he has to say :— "lt is to be hoped that the preposterous proposal of the Wellington Rugby Union regarding the Rnnfurlv Shield, will get the short shrift -that- it deserves. No one likes to impute motives, but it seems to me that there is something more than a disinterested regard for the sub-unions behind Mr Mclntyre ,'s proposal that, on beating , the provincial union, the lotmerb6(ly. : sbaU/-hol<l"vtiie-Ranfurly Shield. I' may be wrong, but it strikes me that, having failed to capture the Shield from united Auckland, Mr Mclntyre wants to take us m sections, and m. a less important fixture secure the coveted trophy.The shield was offered for provincial competition, and the New Zealand Rugby Union will be failing m its trust if lit varies the terms m so far-reaching, a manner, unsupported by a single argument save the bald statement that it would be beneficial to football throughout New Zealand." With reference to the foregoing, I must confess that I am opposed' to the regulations submitted by Mr Mclntyre, but not for the reasons $tat- ! ed by the Auckland writer. He hao clearly misunderstood Harry ?s motives m seeking to. amend ( the' conditions at present attached to the playing of Ranfurly Shield matches. "Enlightener" sends along the following .-—Dear Sir,— ln your football notes of last week's issue, you insert a clipping from an English paper about a New Zealander named Heale, playing half-back for London Hospital, and cßcniired his identity. He is Arthur Heale, the son of a deceased Gisborhe' medico, and was educated at Gray's school, Napier, Wanganui Collegiate School (slaving wins-for-ward for its first fifteen), and took a two years' medical course at the Otan-q University. He was m the 'Varsity' fifteen as ' a five-eighths the season before last, P nd participated m its Sydney tour. Heale was looked upon as one of its most promising l-v-ers, being tricky, versatile, and full of resource, and ' is now, ho doubt, ably fulfilling this promise m the Old Country.