THE WELLINGTON-TARANAKI MATCH.

NZ Truth, Issue 116, 7 September 1907, Page 2

THE WELLINGTON-TARANAKI MATCH.

{: JVliy the Game Was Abandoned. : The Rugby Union's Position. Notes by "Substitute." Last Saturday's contest h'etwee)! the Wellington and Taranaki repire* septatives was looked forward l > td with considerable interest; as it was expected to he the match of the season. . The fact that both teams had conquered the Aucklanders .pointed „to ;a kqen struggle, enthusiasm.' being raised when it was seen what 'a strong team, of hacks the Wellington, men faouid have to face. At the,; Seventh hour, however, "the jise|ui,vtrouble of the? rain" appeared, tp, damp the ardor of barrack?rs,; and blight the prospects of the' play.- Up till one o'clock the weather jwas nothing more than doubtful,' arid as it was expected that the acround would be m playable condition, the Rugby Union decided t0.,,g0..:;-pn with the fixture, though the "curtain raiser" was abandoned;./- two o'clock the weather' had.^changed for the worse, and! a, heavy-rain came on' and continued" throughout the afternoon. Some : three tKouSand barrackers were. undaunted •by the elements, and the match commenced twenty iriiriutes i after- time, before a fuil grandstand of spectators. The ground was m a very bad condition, and. the •'ame was. strangely like water polo. Tar- - anafeil playing against the severesoutherly gale, put up a great fight and though Wellington registered ; three points to nil during the play, ', the ; advantage was with the visittors. At half-time the placers dashed inftq, ;.the pavilion, and ..tha*. was the v^,kst' the crowd saw of them. When - the Union officials went to the -dressing-shed 'some minutes later : they •' discovered the referee starting •forx.hpme, -^ and the players preparing for a similar journey There was practical^ no option but to aqgiries|b.' ih the prcceediiigs " * As -isobtf as the crowd grasped thfe _PQ§ition, a great number hied them homewards with despatch, but a .l^Tge fegtion were dissatisfied witfc the show, and explanations and re"fffffds of gate money were demanded, ;the demands, .being .strengthened .br chefefS^for the professionals, groans for the amateurs,, and hoots and ichissg^.for all and.sundry The dis* tturhance gradually subsided, and tht cifcuitii.ude dispersed ■■ discontented. It has'*Beep.suggested by one or two that; the Rugby Union merely wished to _et the game going for a few

minutes to derive what they could .from the gate, but it is out of reason to imagine they would adopt such a short-sighted policy. Of course the committee ■ loath to postpone such an importaat -fixture, and it was considered too late to abandon it when the rain actually came on, hut, had. the latter course been, followed, it would have avoided the unpleasantness which arose. When tthe Rugby Union realised the unfavorable light m which they were placed, they endeavored to get the match replayed, with the intention of giving a free gate, but the Taranajki team, were unable to fall m with fthe suggestion. Probably by the [time this appears m print the Un- j lon's share of the gate will have been voted to some charitable pur-! pose, and there the matter will end, bo far as they are concerned. But there .are -some points which they should not overlook. It is stated fthat the ground was m tho worst condition it has ever been m on account of some defect m the drainage system. Then the match seems to have been stopped without any notification or reference to the Union. Why ? The referee states that as soon as he stepped on the field he decided that it was unplayable, and he made up his mind to stop the game at half-time, .if the scores were even. JThe scores were not even, and the game was very much m favor of Taranaki. He admits - that -m the circumstances he was m a dilemma, and allowed the captains to decide what to do. Roberts, the Wellington captain, has been blamed for initiating the stoppage of play, as he smelt defeat and funked it. Officially, however, both captains agreed .to desist from hostilities, and the referee concurred. It is freely whispered, though, that Roberts wished to abandon the match at the start, as the '.veather \was so bad, but either he and Hunter were unable to agree on this point, or else they thought better of it. Had they refused to play at the start, no one could have blamed them, but having started they should have gone on ; and m the same way the Rugby Union should have insisted on the match being completed. It was rather hard on spectators who suually frequent th n . hill, and who, .sooner than miss the match, payed ud their florin to sit m the grandstand, but the question of actual refund was impractible. Spectators who journeyed to Atheletic Park on Saturday m such boisterous weather, laid themselves open to be hoodwinked, end they should seriously consider the question of having their brains shifted.