RUGBY FOOTBALL

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22566, 9 May 1935, Page 4

RUGBY FOOTBALL

i ■ > t By Full-back. 3 ~ ".[PROPOSED ITINERARY OF TRIAL GAMES Wednesday, May 22—North Maoris v. H" South Maoris, at Hamilton. ''Saturdav, May 25.—Canterbury, Ashburs ton and South Canterbury v. North Otago, Otago and Southland, at Duns' edin. ■" . ' _ -iWidnesdav, May 29.—Golden Bay, * Motueka. Nelson and Marlborough v. ■; Buller and West Coast, at Nelson. June 1. —Taranaki, Wanganui, *■ Manawatu and Horowhenua v. Welti lington and Wairarapa, at Wanganui. June 3.—North Auckland and b Auckland v. Waikato. Thames Valley k and King Country, at Auckland. •■Wednesday. Juue s.—East Coast. Bay fi of Plenty and Poverty Bay v. Hawke's Bay and Bush Districts, at Napier. -Saturday, June B.—Possibles v. Probables (South Island), at Christchurch. June 11.—Possibles v. Probables '* (North Island), at Palmerston 1 : North. June 13.—Possibles v. Prob- ;;- ables (New Zealand), at Welling- » ton. ■■Saturday. June 15.—Possibles v. Probables (New Zealand), at Welling- | ton. ' ; OTAGO FIXTURES July 31. —Otago Sub-unions v. North '' Otago, at Dunedin. 3.—Otago Sub-unions v. Southland Sub-unions, at Dunedin. 'August 10. —Southland v. Otago, at InJ vercargill. • . ■August 14. —Otago v. Wanganui, at Dunedin. '".''■*. .<■■'' 'August 17— Otago' v. South Canterbury, \ at Timaru; Otago v. Wairarapa, at Dunedin. August 24.—Southland t. Otago, at Dun4.—Otago t. South Canter- » bury, at Timaru. -.„. , , •September 7.—Otago v. Wellington, at \ ' Wellington. •September 11—Otago v. Waikato, at * ; Hamilton. .September 14.—Otago v. Auckland, at Auckland. . " •September 18—Otago v. Taranaki, at I Taranaki. . • September 21.—Otago v. Canterbury, at I Christchurch. v NOTES V With the holiday on Monday to celebrate the King's silver jubilee the Otago !Rugby Union was enabled to play two rounds of senior flag matches. There 'is, however, no intention to deal with •the 10 matches played on the Saturday •and the Monday -with any detail. The games on Saturday were spoilt to some extent by the heavy south-west rainstorm which swept the city late in the afternoon, and on the Monday the grounds were Very heavy aa the result of rain. b In the Saturday matches four clear-cut Victories were registered. Pirates comfortably beat Alhambra by 22 points to 3 points, Kaikorai vanquished University IB by 26 points to 3 points, University A beat Dunedin 18 points to 6 points (the game was abandoned 10 minutes before time), and Southern won from Taieri by 18 points to nil. In the remaining game Union were beaten on the Caledonian Ground by Zingari-Richmond. by 8 points to nil. Union, with the wind m their favour, had several chances to score in the first half, but they were not seized. In the second opell the gale which swept the. ground enabled Zmgari-Richmond to press hard, and Procter scored two tries by following up ground kicks. - The surprise in the Monday games was !the defeat of Kaikorai by Pirates, and with a score of 16 points to 3 points in their favour there can be no claim of anything like a fluke in the victory of the Blacks. The back and forward, showed much better combination than the opposing side, and tne lighter Black forwards kept close to the ball from start to finish. Kaikorai played the 2—3—2 scrum and a wm£ Sorward, but it seemed to be, taking in mil things, an ineffective experiment. Ben Stuart, Dunstan, and Harkess were * trio of hard-working forwards in the pirates vanguard, and Ttodgers and Dun£an were a pair of solid workers in the Kaikorai pack, whose performance as a tomWtion could hardly have proved Very pleasing to the ot tne an outstanding game at full-back for Pirates, and » *acE to.his best form, and Saxton, Martin, and Manping, the inside backs, were keen on their Way throughout. Bissett's long run when he cut off a pass was the most spectacular event in the Pirates scoring. , - I Kaikorai would seem, on paper, to have a sound rearguard, but the players • do hot maintain a consistency of play. .On paper they have the backs, but it would appear that they have to be suited by the conditions before they produce their best form. In addition some »f the Kaikorai forwards might very well be replaced by juniors who are known to work hard from start, to finish. ■ Congratulations to Mr D. M. Stuart on his appointment as president of the JNew Zealand Rugby Union. Mr Stuart played club football for Alhamora and Pirates and in 1904 he represented Had he been available he would have found a place in the 1905 All Black team. Mr Stuart has played an important part m the administrative side of local football. He has occupied the position of president of the Otago Rugby Union, and has been a member of the Management Committee of the union for many years. 1 Wellington writers claim that FranK Kilby will have solid opposition in Sadler and Tindill for the half-back, position in the trial games this month. Mr M. F. Nicholls has been reappointed sole selector of the Wellington representative teams. I understand that Simon will turn out for Southern in the game against Union on Saturday. .• , , , The Kaikorai senior team played the 2-3-2 scrum formation on Monday against Pirates. This is a breach of the gentleman's agreement between the English Union and the New Zealand Union, under which two men are not to be played in the front of the scrum. , In the first representative trial match of the season, played on the oval at Lancaster Park on Monday afternoon, Possibles beat Probables by.2l points to 5, the score being a fair indication ot the respective merits of the two teams. Conditions were all against back play, but the backs showed enterprise in opening up the game. The ball became greasy immediately, and rain fell for the greater part of the time. These conditions taken into consideration, the standard or play, particularly among the forwards, who had most of the work, was of creditable quality. "HOW, WHERE, OR WHEN!" During discussion on a proposal at the annual meeting of the New Zealand Rugby Union that the number of New Zealand selectors be increased from four to six, Mr M. M'Kenzie (Marlborough) expressed the opinion that better facilities should be given for the studying of the form of players in remote district*. It was claimed by him that Marlborough had at least two very excellent candidates for the New Zealand team. The chairman (Mr S. S. Dean): I might say that the selectors are not restricted in how they go, where they go or when jfr M'Kenzie: I hope, then, that they will take advantage of it and come to see us more often. An increase in the number of selectors was not favoured by most of the delegates. ; CAUSTIC CRITICISM Even though club Rugby has deteriorated, there are certain features of it to-day that are inexcusable and more than 'a little alarming (says the Christchurch Press). The truth often hurts; but the plain truth of Rugby to-day is that it ha* become spoiled by practically all forms of malpractice—obstructionist tactics in line outs, rucks, and scrums (even in the open play), late tackling, punching, tripping and unnecessarily hard play revealed in many forms. Any First Grade match to-day will readily prove the need for a campaign against illegal tactics of all types. The match between Menvale and Old Boys on Lancaster Park Oval on Saturday was an example. In it injury was caused on two occasions by flagrantly late tacking of a player after he had kicked or. passed. There were « dozen other examples when fortunately