SPORTS OF ALL KINDS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19202, 19 June 1924, Page 4

SPORTS OF ALL KINDS

RUGBY FOOTBALL.

By Full Back.

intbrfrovincial fixtures, etc August 9.—v. Canterbury (Dunedin-). August 23.—-High Schools’ tournament (Dunedin). August 30.—Payno Trophy match (Dunedin). ... September 6.—v. Southland (Invercargill). September 13. —v. Wellington (Dunedin). September 20.—v. Southland (Dunedin). 'The match "between University A and Pirates at Carisbrook on Saturday amply proved one thing, and that is that there are plenty of footballers in Otago to-day well able to hold their own with any players from the other provinces. Despite the ram which had fallen during the previous two days, and also on Saturday morning, Carisbrook was in remarkably good order, ami the spectators were to a fine game, with a most exciting finish. The Blacks were very sanguine about their prospects, and as tho game wont they bad every right, to bo. Their forwards did their work well, and on to nearly the end of tho first half they more than held their opponents and hooked the ball from the scrums more often than the Blue pack. The Blue forwards did bettor in the second half, but the Blacks had them penned on I,Heir line for the last 10 minutes of the game, and the crowd were roused to great excitement before the whistle went and the Blues left the field victors by 12 points fo 9 points. Of tho Blue hacks the outstanding pair were Webb, wing three-quarter, and Perry, second five-eighth, Webb had the weak ■wing, so far as the opposition was concerned, as owing to Morgan’s absence the Blacfcs had to "bring in a junior, Allan. Webb got two good chances to score, the opposition being light out of position, and, using his speed, and runiung with _ great dash, he scored two fine tries, both in the second half, without a hand being laid on him. Ho made another great dash in the first half, hut went down to a solid tackle bv the full-back, 'Walker. Perry did not get. many chances to make openings, but he made good use of those which came h;s ■way, and he played a big part iiUtho try scored by M'Donald, and was also in the passing rush which enabled Vi ebb to score one of his tries. M'Donakl is _ improving in judgment, and is discovering that there are bettor ways of heating a man than trying to go through him, so to speak, rte tried the side-step two or three times on Saturday, and went past the prospective tackier in good style. M‘Donald took a risk, however, when he ran right across the face of the attack from one side of the field to the other to try to open a passing rush. Gilbert!, first five-eighth, played a sound game, and so did Lamb, who, however, received a kick in the hack early in the game, and suffered from its effects right through. Murray, the popular Blue centre, has not. yet recovered from tho injury he received to his knee when playing with tho New Zealand Uniyersit* team in Sydney last year, but his lei; seems to be getting stronger. He w«loudly apphUioed when he took a mark right off St. George's toes in the spcoix' half when a Blacks’ atlack was looking very dangerous. Johnston, half-back could not handle tho greasy ball, am! he did not seem to relish the atlentiomof the Blacks’ wing forward, Wilson. Dick son and Owen (lock) wore about the best of the tor wards. Walker, full-hack, played a sorvicnat’k game for the Blacks, and the game swim* so quickly across the field thnt_ he couM hardly he blamed for not getting aerm.. when Webb twice dashed along the rigid wing. It was the Blacks’ wing thr>-» quarter who was really out of position Tho run of the play did not favour We*, who saw little of the hall. He mad'no mistake, however, when ho did got, a chance, and went straight for the line to score a well-deserved try. Provan, five eighth, played a good game until ho had to go off hurt in the second half, Jeffs coming on, and ho quite fooled the opposition when he received the ball from St George in the first half and went past the side of the breaking scrum _ tr» scene. Potaka, five-eighth, was erratic, and repeatedly got out of the lino of attack His stopping was also weak. St. George, behind the scrum, did a lot of work in the open play. He did not vary his tactics, however, behind the scrum, and s«M out the hall to his inside hacks wheri thov were crowded and in a worse position than himself. St. George is a good anticipator, and this is a great asset in any footballer The Black forwards played a sterling game Milne and Cameron were in the thick of the solid work right through, and Mimro showed up in the loose. Wilson's play at wing forward did not, meet with the approval of tho referee (Mr G, M’Kenziel and he nenaliscd him several times in the first half. University B put a very weak team in the field against Alhambra on Saturday No fewer than seven of those originally chosen were absentees owing to the vacation, and with so many suns to be tilled it was not surprising to find the Light Blues showing a lack of the cohesion and dash necessary to make a stand against th<’ solid Alhambra team. The game was verv one-sided, iho Red and Blacks having the advantage during praeticallv the whole o f the play. The winners were seldom called upon to defend their line seriously, and (hr attacks that were made by the Univcrsit-' wore of brief duration. The students lacked combination, both in the forward and the hack divisions, and it was noticeable on several occasions that they were not keen to get down, to stoo a rush by their op ponents, the result being that Alhambra gained a lot more ground than they would have got if the defence had been sound The passing of tho University backs was not of a high standard, and rarely resulted in much benefit to' the side. Stevensnr (wing three-quarter) was tho only one who looked like doing much. This player put in a lot of good work, and made several determined runs, taking a lot of stepping when he got into his stride. The Alhambra players formed a verv solid combination, keeping well together and showing plenty of dash and resource. Thov v/ore always close to the ball, and gave the opposition little respite. The forwards were generally successful in hooking the ball in the scrams, and me bucks therefore, go’ many good opportunities. M'Dougall put in a lot of splendid work, and Webber also played well. King showed up well a! limes, ’but spoiled a lot of good play by hanging on to the ball when tho wing threequarter had a nice opening in front d f him. But for King’s fondness for keeping the hall to himself the Alhambra score would probably have been bigger than it. was. Bishopscourt ground was very greasy for the Southern-Union match, and play was chiefly confined to the forwards. Union, playing 16 men nearly all the first spell, had the better of the game till half-time. Thov were unfortunate on two or three occasions, their forwards over-running the ball. Union backs fielded the greasy hall very well, and good kicking by them kept Southern Imsv defending. When Southern got, on a rush Vdrreth was there to stop it. In the second spell the Southern forwards played hotter and tho Union forwards weie hard nut to it to stand up to the heavy rushes. One of tho Southern tries came from a good passing rush, the ball going through tho hands of three forwards and out to Mitchell on tho wing. Union tired half-way through the second spell, and Southern scored three more tries Towards the finish Union were attacking, but could not score. M'Dermid and Vorreth played well for Union, and Judd. Niepier. and Highley for Southern. Tho match between Kaikorai and Zingari was rather one-sided. The hill forwards were too strong for their opponents, and this gave their hacks good opportunities to break through. Dickinson made some good runs for Kaikorai, and Wills played a sound game for Zingari. Williams and T. Sonntag wore solid in the hill forward ranks, and M’Ewan and Johnston put up a good game for Zingari. Had Dickinson’s place-kicking been accurate Kaikorai’s score would have been much larger than 27 points to 6 points. Dunedin and Taieri Rovers played a hard forward game at Tahuna Park on Saturday, and the match ended in a draw (9 points each). Dunedin had the hotter of the first half, but in the second there was little to choose between tho two'sides. Taieri played with 14 -non in tho first half, inchming a fifth grade player, but in tho second they had the assistance of another fifth grade youth, Craigie, who played at full-back. As stated, tho game was mostly a forward one. Butler, Collett, and Murphy shower! un for the Dark Blues, and Pearce, the two FindJays, and Rqmsay were-most prominent for the Greens. NOTES. It is said that the spectators in the grand stand at Carisbrook on Saturday were treated to a study in faces. The fluctuations of the same were faithfully depicted in

the faces of two well-known members of Otago Union, strong supporters of University and Pirates respectively. The competition carried out by the f ree Lance in connection with the selection of the All Black team was won by Mr Ernest Smith, of the railway goods office, Wellington. Mr Smith picked his team on the morning before the North v. South Island match, and put up a remarkable achievement. lie picked only 28 players, and every one was in the team when the selectors made their decision known. Dailey, who was not mentioned by Mr Smith, was the twenty-ninth player. The next largest number was 25. D. Simpson, of (lore, tipped 22 out of the 29 chosen, and P. A. Wilson, Port Chalmers, nominated 21 before any of the trial matches wore played in Wellington. The competitor who had the best claim to a booby prize named only five of the All Blacks. Mr Smith received £ls as the prize. Joyce, the cx-Piralcs forward, who now plays for the Wellington Club, continues to receive favourable press comment for his all-round play. Hickey, the e.x-New Zealand representative wing three-quarter, is now playing for Foneko. He is spoken of as being sure of a place in the Wellington representative team this year. Alan Robson, the English forward, and one of the 15 forwards chosen for the South African tour, was injured in the head and legs through his motor car skidding at C'hester-lc-Street. When the mail left he was lying in the Sunderland Infirmary. He received severe injuries on the head. There were also some minor injuries. At the best several weeks will elapse before ho is fnllv recovered. “Touchline,” of Free Lance, writes as follows:—A dance through' the ages of the backs will convince even the selectors tnemsclves that there are not enouirh experienced players for the tour that is suggested to bo taken. Dr Perry, of Dunedin, who, it is fair to say, did not show bis true form in the try-out matches, should have been included in the team, mainly because, in form, he is a capable five-eighth and a captain of ability. His lapse . from form is only a temporary affair, and by the time the team is ready to start the serious business of the tour he would, In all probability, be as well as any of those selected. H. E. Nicholls’s exclusion is not understandable bv me. Williams, the Otago forward, was reallv one of the best forwards against New South Wales last year, and his exclusion gives noint to the argument that one or two of those who were selectors last year should have been on the committee this time. The more experience he got in the lock position the finer player he would have been, and he would have returned from this tour the equal ot that great lock. W. Cunningham, of the. original “All Blacks.” That is my opinion, at any rate. C. ftonntag expects to be able to take the field again in a few weeks’ time. L. Carnegie, the Southern forward, who was injured early in the season, will act as one of the junior selectors. A peculiar case of disagreement with the age of a bov as given by the Registrar of Firths has been brought under the notice of the Wellington Rugby Union’s Management Committee. According to the birth certificate, the bovs age was’ a year more than that shown in the school roll, and ; u consequence he was over the age limit for the football team of which he was a member. The parents, however, were emphatic in their denial that the age given on the birth certificate was correct. The father was prepared to swear that the bov was not as old as stated, and the mother - ha I offered to produce the family Bible to prove that the hov was a year younger than his birth certificate indicated. [A year or two 1-ack the Otago Union was faced with a similar .puzzle.] ' THE OFFICIAL “GUIDE.” If the official guide is to be of real value to purchasers a serious effort should be made by the authorities to see that players wear jerseys with numbers on them. The programmes issued Inst Saturday were practically valueless as far as the University F team was concerned owing to the fact that at least nine of the players, and Possibly more, had nothing whatever on their jerseys to indicate their identity. REINSTATED LEAGUE PLAYERS, The executive of the Otago Rugby Union is hardlv consistent in its decisions on the question of reinstated League player.-. At it’s meeting a fortnight ago it passed -he following resolution:—“That this union supports the Auckland Union in its endeavour to have reinstated players eligible tor selection for New Zealand teams, and that a copy of the motion be forwarded to the New Zealand Union.” At the meeting of the local union on Monday night a telegram was received from no_ Auckland Union stating that it had decided to convene a special meeting of delegates for the purpose of rescinding the resolution passed at the annual meeting ti reference to the reinstated League olayers not being eligible for the All Flacks, but the executive of the Otago '.'nion on this occasion was unanimously of the opinion that it was too late to discuss the question, as it would serve no good pmqose, and on the motion of Mr Mitchell it was decided to inform the Auckland Union accordingly. T imagine that the first point to be made "tear is whether the English Rugby 'Union would allow anv of its teams to plav against a team which included a reinstated League player. It. is rather significant •hat the motion passed at the annual meeting of delegates this year was practically brought forward at the instigation of the Management Committee of the New Zealand Union. Anyway, there appears no likelihood now that the reinstated League player Ifwerson can bo included in the All Black team to go dome. It has been said, however, that it was only the principle of the qnes'ron that was involved. That being so. the latest decision of the Otago Union is inconsistent.. THE J UNIORR. In the second grade competition the lead■ng teams are' Training College, Pirates, Port Chalmers, and University C. . The following tables show the relative positions of the teams engaged in tile third, fourth, fifth, and president’s grades competitions up to ■ last Saturday. A good •tinny of the teams in the various grades have matches to play later, if necessary, this being due to the vacations of the University and colleges: Third Grade.

To play later if necessary: -Training t'ollege v. Green Island, High School v. Port Chalmers, ITfsdi .School v. Kaikorai. Pirates A v. Training College. Fourth Grade.

Fifth Grade. Alhnmhm ... •*> 5 *— GO 15 30 Pirntc- 5 4 1 05 12 0 Ilun' , di.n 5 4 Southern 5 ■’ - OP 37 fi ZinuMi'i - r > 22 1 25 G 5 Union 4 2 1 1 21 20 5 Taiori Hovers ... 5 1 2 1 18 20 2 High FVrhool O ... 2 1 2 14 22 High School D ... 3 1 2 —2 Port OhalimTS ... 5 1 4 Orfen Island ... 4 Y.M.C.A 4 AIJ matches set down for May 3 to bo played later if necessary ; also Green Island v. High School C; High School C v. High School D; High School D v. Union. Pr esi dent* s Grade. Alhambra 5 4 1 G 7 32 8 I* i rates 5 3 2 33 48 U Souttuim 4 3 1 Technical 4 3 1 HR 32 G Zir.gari 4 2 2 Dunedin 3 2 1 High School F ... 5 2 3 High School E ... 2 1 1 Port Chalmers ... 5 AH matches set down for May 3 to bo played later if necessary; also the following:—Dunedin v. Technical, Dunedin v. High School E, High School E v. Zicgari.

THE WING FORWARD. In view of flip feeling aroused in Britain by the tact ins of the wing forwards in the All Black team of 1905 and the summary treatment they received from referees in the All Black team which went to New South Wales a couple of years ago, it would bo advisable for the Management Committee of the Now Zealand Rugby Union to lay down a definite ruling on the manner in which the All Blacks arc ro form their scrums before they go on their travels this year. In view also of the fact that wing forward play as demonstrated in Now Zealand to-day meets with little favour from followers of the game from one end of the dominion to the other. It is no use waiting for the to\m to reach other lands and then take action to meet any trouble which may arise. The Management. Committee of the New Zealand Rugby Union must, have some opinions on the legality of wing forward play, its demonstrated to-day, and it should lot it be known whether the present system of hacking, shoving, and blocking, withw.it any regard to the whereabouts of the bull, is to continue, or whether the winger is to be placed in the scrum, and make an eight forward pack of it. It may be claimed that the eight forward scrum is an unbalanced scrum, but my old club repeatedly played it, and it proved most effective. Under this system greater responsibility is placed on the side row men to break away if the other side gets the ball, but this system of break away is quite legitimate, and no penalty would ensue for off-side, play or blocking tactics. Of course the Management Committee may argue that the referee is the sole judge of what constitutes off-side play, etc., and so ho is. Many referees in New Zealand, however, appear content to let. a wing forward do most things ho should not, and if a strict referee rules that a wing forward is off-side immediately his side hooks the ball—that is, if ho does not at once drop Rack—and penalises the side, protests from tiro wing forward and the captain are at cnco loudly voiced. Most wing forwards are destructive exponents, of the game, so to speak, not constructive. it appears to mo also tliat the principles of scnirn play are defeated by the "wing forward system. The original intention ot scrum work, I take it, was that the two packs should get down to it, and see what side was the stronger, or the cleverer, and that the stronger or cleverer side should have the benefit of the ball to play with. With the wing forward of to-day any advantage gained by hooking the Nall is nullified, if possible, by the wing forward crashing on to the half-back on the hooking side. Another feature of the system is that it appears to me hardly British. We generally have a small player as a half-back and a big, powerful man a.s a wing forward. After he has been hurled to mother earth a few times the half-back, unless he has the heart of a lion, to use .a common phrase, rightly or wrongly, commences to have one eye on the ball coming out of the scrum and the other on the wing forward. Oldtimers will not. forget an intcrprovincia! match at the Carisbrook Ground many years ago when a burly 6ft wing forward repeatedly reached over the back of the scrum and dealt with Otago’s midget half-back inf a most exasperating manner, 'lhat game created such feeling lhat it is spoken of to this day. and yet we still stick to that principle of play. The saying of another burly wing forward who haded from the Auckland province to the Otago wing forward has become historic. The Aucklander asked the Otago man if he was the wing forward, and on receiving a repjy in the affirmative he told him he had better get on to the oilier side of the scrum—there was only room for him on the side he was on. That is about tho spirit in which tho wing forward takes the field in a. big match nowadays. Incidentally, it has not always been tho visiting forward who has had the advantage in these hard rallies on the side of the rcrum. An Otago winger was receiving more than his fair share of attentions from the other fellow, and proceeded to retaliate in vigorous fashion. So much so that the other fellow entered a protest, and told the Otago man to take it easy. “That’s all right,” coolly said tho Otago winger, “ I haven’t started yet!” These stories by the way, however. Nevertheless, they go to prove my contention that the wing forward is a spoiler pure and simple and is the cause of a lot of had feeling in a game. My opinion is that, if the wing forward were done away with it would not affect tho standard of play. I will go further, and say that it would improve it. SOUTH OTAGO COMPETITIONS. The following table show's tho relative positions of the team in the South Otago banner competitions:—

EASTERN DISTRICT SUB-UNION. With half the matches of the season played, the following are the positions of the teams: — rts. rts. fir.

Southern A P. 7 W. 7 L. D. Pts. PtB. Fig. Fr. Ag. 1’rs. I.1!l 12 M Alhambra A ... 7 8 1 — 15)8 18 12 II ret n .Maml ... 8 5 1 — 104 22 10 I'm ion ... 7 5 2 — 04 40 10 Pirates A f; 4 2 — no 15 H Y.M.C.A. A ... 1 2 — 48 28 8 l*ira B ... 7 3 4 — 35 01 6 Alhambra B 2 2 2 20 82 6 High School ... 4 :i 1 — 74 6 6 Havcnobournc ... 7 3 4 — 55 54 8 Zingnri ... a 3 3 — 33 58 6 ('Diversity K ... 6 2 4 — 33 108 4 fMinHin ... 7 2 r» 40 84 4 K'aikorai ... 2 4 — 32 82 4 V. \f.C. A. B ... 7 I 5 1 44 110 3 Training College 4 1 3 — 20 52 2 Southern B ... 4 — 3 1 0 51 1 Port Chalmers ... G — 8 — 26 HI 0

Port Chalmers ... 5 5 — — 100 13 10 5 5 — — 4fi n 10 Pirates 5 2 2 1 28 23 ft Kjiikorai A ft 2 2 I 10 41 ft A Uinnihra. 4 2 2 — 23 23 4 Ibmodin 4 2 2 — .14 24 4 Zincari 2 1 — 30 11 4 Ko.hoo! B ... 3 1 2 — ftO 0 2 Orf-rn Ts-Piml ft 1 4 — 37 104 2 Kaikorai B 4 — 4 — 0 107 0 Ilashan 2 — 2 — o 30 0

Sonior Grado. Pts. Pt? FI" P. W. L, D. Fr. Ag Pts Toko ... 6 5 1 ~ 80 23 10 Croscont ... r> 5 1 — 27 U 10 Clntha ... 6 4 2 — 40 35 8 Owaka ... 6 2 4 _ 43 43 4 Clinton ... 6 1 5 — 40 64 2 Clntha Vnlloy ...' 6 1 5 — 21 00 2 Owuku defaulted to Crt seont and Clutha. Junior G rado. Orpsrnit. ... 5 4 — 1 s« 15 0 Toko ... 4 2 1 1 32 10 5 Star ... 5 2 — 1 15 3 5 Clntha ... 5 2 n — 35 46 4 Millmrn ... 5 — 4 I G 40 1

Dnnback P. W. ... 4 I,. T>. Fr. 1 20 Ag. Pt* 14 0 Pal morion ... 2 3 — 45 26 6 So;ioliff . ... 5 2 2 i :u '12 5 AVaikouuiH ... 2 3 1 21 .*10 3 Shag Point ... 6 1 4 1 16 28 3