THE ANGLO-AUSSTRALIAN TEAM V. SWINTON.

Otago Witness, Issue 1951, 11 April 1889, Page 26

THE ANGLO-AUSSTRALIAN TEAM V. SWINTON.

This match, the proceeds of which are to be devoted to the maintenance and education of the younger brother of the late R.L. Seddon, < who was drowned in Australia whilst he was captain of the Anglo-Australian team,/ took place on February 2, at Manchester. There were fully 6000 spectators , present, and the teams turned up as advertised with two exceptions, vie., that H. H. Clegg,. of.ißalford. and T. Banks of .Swinton, took the places of Dr H. Brooke and J. P. Clowes respectively, in the visitors' team. Swinton won the toss and played with the wind in their favour, and at 25 minutes past 3 Stoddarfc kicked off for the internationals. The game wa9 of a very fast nature throughout, although Swinton had slightly the w,orst of it, their opponents having hard lines on several occasions in not scoring. Fine passing on the part of Bumby, Stoddart, and Haslam resulted in the latter almost getting in, but he was pushed into touch near the corner flag. Roberts, Valentine, Goulthwaite, , Walker, and Marsh did excellent work for the" home club, whilst Nolan, Haslam, Stoddart, and Paul were prominent for the visitors, but at half time neither side had soored. On change of ends the Anglo-Australians pressed their antagonists, and Kent had hard luck in not gaining a try, the ball rolling dead. This yr&s supplemented by a couple more minors in favour of the Australian team. Stoddart then put in a splendid run, for which he was loudly cheered, when Anderton got possession, and being tackled he passed back, the ball rebounding off a Swinton man into the hands of Kent, who crossed, I the home line and gained a try for the.AngloAustraiians ; but fcha place-kick by Paul proved abortive. An exceedingly well-contested game j thus ended in a victory for the Anglo-Aus-tralians by one try and three minors to Swinlon's one minor. Umpires— Swinfcon, J. H. Murray ; Anglo- Australians, 8. Higson ; referee, T. Button. Teams: . ' Angio-Austbaiians.— A GPanl (back), A E Stoddart' (captain), T Haslam, and J Anderfcoid (fchr'eeauarW backs>. 1 W Bumby and J Nolan (half backs), H Baeles/T Kent, .B Williams,' ,W H,Burnetti'A J' lAingTO Mathers, A P Penketh, H H Olegg.and T Banks. Swihton.— B W Worsley (back), J Valentine, S

Eoberts, and T Ooulthwatte (three-quarter backs), J Mills and G Buxton (half backs), N Hotchkiss, O H Horley, S Pallltt, T Kenyon, W Walker, T Olayton, W Marsh, J Birch, and T Hallam. SCOTLAND v. WALES. This annual international Rugby figure was played at Edinburgh in wretched weather. last February. The snow during the early part of the day made it quite within the bounds of probability that the game would not take place, and it was not settled until shortly before the time appointed for the kick-off that the game would be brought off. Under the circumstances, therefore, considerable allowance, should be made for any shortcomings in the play, which was much below the average. The ground, though, Was very heavy, and necessarily it was difficult to play with any; certainly. The Welsh team was not so strong as it could have been, but still the game was not by any means one-sided, and the Scotchmen were only able to win by two tries to nothing. Of the seven matches played up^ to the present time between the two nationalities, Wales, it may be interesting to footballers to know, has only been successful in one. Of the remaining six, one, too, was undecided, so that the Scotchmen can boast a very considerable majority so far. NORTH V. SOUTH. The executive of the Rugby Union, like the leaders of the Association code, had no reason to Wpss the weather when this match was played last February. As the North had proved themselves to be the better side on the memorable afternoon in December, when several of the players were lost in the fog, it was hoped that fortune might at least have been a little kinder when the time came for the second match of the season. Though the conditions, however, were quite different, the surroundings were in effect, quite as disagreeable, and the game was played under certainly not the most pleasing circumstances, still a piercing cold wind, with an accompaniment of at times heavy snow, was Unable to chill the enthusiasm of the footballloving folk of Bradford, and in spite of all temptations to stay indoors, several thousand turned up at the enclosure of the Bradford Club, Park Avenue to witness what is, in the continued absence of any' international matches, the great contest of the English Rugby year. The Sporting Life says :— " Though every possible application had been made to protect the ground, and every pains taken to make the going passable, the snow had neutralised the efforts of the managers, and the ground was not in a state to favour an exhibition of the most scientific order. No possible exception could be taken to the representation of the respective divisions, as the chosen fifteens turned up without one exception, and so far at least the match was played on its merits. The' Southerners, in winning the toss, secured for the first half the help of the very high' wind, but even with this advantage Are not able to make any impression oo the excpent defence of the Northern team, and when the time to change ends arrived the only points to either side were minors, the South having obtained two of these against one of the Njorth. <" Just at the commencement^ the second half the South, chiefly through the efforts of the three-quarters, for a short time, looked dangerous, but with the gale against them the game soon began to go against them, and the superiority of the Northern fifteen gradually asserted itself beyond all doubt. Towards the last indeed the position offered by the Southerners had lost most of its force, and at most points they were overmatched. Royle had once to touch down for the North, but this proved to be the only advantage of any sort the Southerners were able to claim, and at the end of the game three minors were all that had been placed to their credit. On the other hand, the North in the second half obtained three goals in addition to three minors, so that there was a balance of three goals and four minors in their favour as the result of the match. The success of the Northern team was too decisive to admit of any extenuation, and no one will venture I fancy to urge that the better side was not successful. The Northern forwards were not only well together, but were very fast, and they showed to great advantage directly the ball got loose. On the whole, though, the defence was better sustained than that of their opponents. It was, indeed, a brilliant victory for the North, and their superiority just now at least seems to admit of little doubt."