THE RANFURLY SHIELD.

NZ Truth, Issue 873, 19 August 1922, Page 7

THE RANFURLY SHIELD.

Congratulations to Hawke's Bay,

An Unpleasant Incident,

"What", we have we'll hold!" That's how JEiaiivke's Bay are looking upon possession of the Ra'nfurly Shield, and more particularly as far as their present tour is concerned, as they have definitely, made .up their minds that they are going to. take the trophy, back honieV.b.efpre liolflin^. it up.as bait' f;qr • any'.^ther 'unions.' • feuch' an. atiitude.'j •is" auite' reasonable, but the, i-emarks-which" have been made" by one of the officials travelling with the team .are .anything but that. Not satisfied with .having' 'won the shield after a "fair go", witn Wellington,, and after being, piled' lip with all sorts, af compliments about the .'splendid victory achieved, that official referred to had the audacity to get up at the dinner, at which he. was .a. guest with the pjtiyers, of -the Wellington Riigby Union, and'-put the acid on a pheasant function. What he* said won't* bo forgotten. . m a- hurry by. the Wellington .Rugby Union,' and if ever the shield comes back this way and Hawko's Bay want •.another chance to liiit it they will need, •to smooth a path that has been made rocky by the ,-. ILL-CHOSEN REMARKS of an offipial of the Hawko'a Bay Rugby Union. ...-, While. Wellington did not have its I .best team for the shield match, defeat i was '..met" m the -true sporting" spirit, . and ...tjtyere were no regrets that the ' oliiqld liad been won by a province whi.cli I;has1 ;has been so long m the backgrounct. It was refreshing to see sucli.'.'a. .fine display, and the excellent typo ''-of'-" footballers from Hawke's Bay, dvershrtdowing the representatives of Rugby's strohghold. Those big, dashing forwards and fast, nippy backs were worthy aspirants for interprovincial supremacy. They deserved to win, but Wellington could not be said to have deserved the nasty smack m the. eye -which was given m return for the shield. The smack was made at the. Rujjfoy Union, and it amounted to this: that Hawke's Bay had got nothing 1 to thank Wellington for, as* they had not helped Hawke's Bay since 1910. If that statement ' were made on behalf of the Hawke's Bay Union, then Wellington, knows what to do m the future. But those connected, with Rugby m Hawke's Bay, are riot all built that way, and when' they come to hear of the unkind remarks; made when the -shield was be- : ing handed over they will, no doubt, make.it known to the Wellington Union that they take no responsibility for the uncalled foi^ reference. Others with the team took the opportunity of making: apologies f or ' -what. was. ,saicl by their official. They were no doubt better posted with the details of Wellington's part m Rugby and, m particular, what it had done to assist the game m Hawke's Bay. It will be interesting to learn whether on the Hawke's Ba.y team's return home the outspoken official will make .''KNOWN TO HIS UNION what he said at the dinner m Wellington. • , It is' well to know that before the proceedings took an unpleasant turn the chairman of the Wellington Union congratulated the visitors on their success and expressed pleasure at seeing a new union coming m and challenging . the supremacy of the so-, called "big six" (Auckland, Taranaki, Wellington, I Canterbury, Otago and Southland). It was also said" that, next to Southland, it was a pleasure to lose' the shield to Hawke's Bay. ' Furthete than that, it was made clear that Wellington would not "have a go" to get the shield back this season. 'Wellington's -feelings m the matter • were made known m Hawke's Bay by publication m the local papers of the following telegrams: (1^ From Mr J. Prendeville, chair- . man of the Wellington Rugby Union: "Heartiest congratulations on win to-day. Your team played splendid game. Good luck to shield,." (2) From Mr C. Mullany, secretary of the Wellington Rugby Referees' Association: "Heartiest congratulations. Brilliant win. Great team." There was a time when Rugby m Hawke's Bay was very weak, and when Wellington's team met the Bay representatives there was usually a walkover' victory, which did not offer much encouragement. After that Welling- ' tori assisted Hawke's Bay football by pitting- B teams against the Bay. What Wellington has clone since 1910 is a little more than nothing., Apart .from games with Hawke's Bay m Wellington 'teams have been sent to Na-' pier*iri" : 1913, 1914 and 1920. • During the latter season the Bay- easily defeated Wellington, and the win, it was recognised m Hawke's Bay, would do a lot of good and help m the strug,gle against the League game which ■ had 'sprung up there. Between 1914 ■and^.'^O 'Wellington,: it is admitted, Sid nothing much m the way of football , for Hawke's Bay, but there was a' war on then — -the official who had a dig at, "Wellington may have overlook T ed that fact. "Tackier" can find no reasoETfor v ..THE UNJUST HIT at Wellington. / After winning the shield Hawke's Bay..\y:ere defeated by Otago, but they • did ;.n'oE "lose the trophy. Any union Which wants it will have to pay a visit to Hawke's Bay, and rightlj 1 - so. The manner m which the shield came to be -previously lost by Wellington m 1920 while on tour was hot m accord-ance-with the rules governing, the competition, which state that . all. challenge matches shall be played on the ground: of the holders of the shield. Wellington, however, gave another example .of sporting spirit by taking the. 'shield on tour, and Southland last year brought it back with them. That is'hardly a fair thing to the holders, and inthe case of a team like Hawke's •Bay, picking up the trophy on tour it is only. right that they should.be permitted' to take it home with them and defend it on their own ground. To win it m Wellington and lose it a week later at Dunedin would be of little value to Hawke's Bay football. As Wellington were not expected to be. extra strong this season, Taranaki, Otago and : others m the "big six" had hopes of laying hold of the wood ; Otago. particularly, as they have not' yet held the shield, and they have a rattling good side this season. All, hpwevei?, have missed the 'bus, and if

they still want to lay claim to possession they will have to •• gp ; .to Hawke's Bay. There is time yet for challenges to be entered, the closing date being the end of this month. Most of the unions having made their fixtures would not be able to fit m a date. Bay of Plenty have an-oppor-tunity, as they have pencilled m September 2 for a match with Hawke's Bay, and they will no doubt enter a .challenge. A contest between those two unions for the. shield would boost the game along m both districts. -'.- Wellington is wfell behind the other 'centres' m finding thg club dharifpioris lior the season. According- to the Union's'programme the senior champion■shlp was to end last Saturday. For eight of the ten teams competing it y/asthe finish, but Petone and.Poneke •have become all square on points, and a play-off between those two teams will be necessary. This will now be the event for Saturday week, m place of the National Mutual Challenge Cup match, and it is likely to be "some" game.; The senior competition, kicking off m a most interesting manner, then developing- into a series of more or less "dud" games, and finally bringing a return of brighter football and a Keen battl-3 for premier place, could not .have had a more INTERESTING CONCLUSION, plthbiig-h a final between teams other .than' Ponoke ftnd Petono 1 would have been a pleasant change. From the Kugby .Union's point of view things could not have worksd out more r.b.ti-i---i'actorily, as the present position gives that body another harvesting day. What they reaped last Saturday, when a record "gate" was rprristero.l ht Fetone,"is not yet definitely known, but from" the present attitude of the Borough Council it is likely' to be only a small portion of the total takings oi about £230. .The Union has had' a stiff run this season on nccount of bad weather. If the Borough Council will not give a decent return for the best drawing card received from the Union it will only be killing the goose aid will not share m the. 'golden eggs of the future. The Rugby Union will get a nest of its own find it would be ';"!.. long- timo .before the Council could Rnd another sports body to attract the crowds that Rugby does. The game, Poneke v. Petone, was just the reverse of what might' be expected from leading teams m a senior competition. Junior teams' would have given a better display. There was little of the really spectacular side- of Rugby, and an abundance of - BOOSE, RAGGED PLAY with an" overdose of kicking. The keenness of the teams may have accounted to some extent for the unattractive play, and on numerous , occasion's there was/ no doubt that it did — when some playera chose to y\®-y 'the man ' and 'not' tlVe'-bair."" No"' KeerT eye was necessary to detect instances (f the. rough stuff — the use of closed fists and putting- m the boot unnecessarily. The referee, apparently, did not sec it, and m some cas.es he could, not if his eyes were on the ball. The Poneke full-back got a nasty smack early m the r^amo.. Well after he had got .rid of the ball he was struck m the face by an opponent who chargpn dewn upon him. He turned' and. made some remark to the offender, and then fell to the ground. By that time the piny was on the opposite side of the field. That wag one glaring case, but there were others, and the offenders were on both sides. The try that won the match for Petone was a fluke, being obtained from a. long rebound past the Poneke fullback. It was converted, and there 'being no other score, Petone won by five points to nil. Neither team was at full strength, Petone being without M. and "Ginger" Nicholls, Price and Love, and Poneke did not have Calcinai, S- Shearer, Booker, B. Algar, D. -.Aigar and Tunnington. At halftime Cowie (Petone) and C. Tilyard (Poneke) pulled out and later Kennedy (Poneke) had to retire on ac-« count of an injury. Poneke have not. had a weaker team this season. Petone were not so severely handicapped, as "Doc" Nicholls and Udy were a better pair behind the scruni than "Ging-er" and Mark Nicholls (on form before they went to Australia). The Petone forwards exceeded themselves, and success was mainly due to them. The championship table is as follows: Poneke 25 points, Petone 25, Marist 24, University 19, Oriental 18, Berhampore 17, Athletic 16, Selwyn 8, Old Boys 6, Wellington 2. - Answer to Correspondent. — "A.D." ( Wellington) : Scores, first round: Petone 11, Marist 6; second round, Marist 11, Petone nil.