NOTES BY FORWARD.

Otago Witness, Issue 2205, 4 June 1896, Page 35

NOTES BY FORWARD.

* . • It is not improbable that the match between the New Zealand and Queensland teams wil), after all, be, played in Duuedin and not in Wellington. The New Ze.a'and Union is anxions to get as good t, " gate" as possible, and the'ehauces are that a much bettor gate would be obtained in Dunedin thau iv Wellington. • . • Although the Referees' Conference hsd two sittings in Wellington in a room in a hotel, for the use of which the delegates had themselves 'to ' pay in the unsatiafaefcory way the payment for the use of rooms in hotels is frequently made, the result does not setm to throw very much light on the knotty points that in match after match crop up, and in one or two cases the decisions arrived at appear to me, upon a cursory glance at them, to Jje distinctly untenable. To these decisions I fthall probably take occasion to refer on some later date. • . • It will be observed that a referee has reported to the Rugby Union two players belonging to the Btar Club, and the first fifteen of the club generally, tor misconduct on the field on Saturday last. Ido not know what action the Rngby Union may take iv reference to this case, but I should like to take this opportunity of impressing strongly on referees that it is as much their duty to report misconduct on the part of play cis to the union as it is thiir duty to see that the laws of the game nro observed in the course of a match, liy object iv pointing this out is that I am aware that some referees are apt to deal too leniently with offenders, and their leniency eucourages players, who are iuolir.ed to be disorderly, to misbehave themselves in ctll matches. • . * The Management Committee ©2 the^ Zealand Ragby Uuiori has arranged the fol'owing itinerary for the Qaeen»l»nd football team:— They ttill loare Sydney on Monday, August 3, by the Alameda, reach Auckland on August 7, and play there next day ; leave on August 10, and p)»y Taranski on Tuesday, the 11th ; arrive in Wellington on the 12th and play next; day and on' the 15th, placing the New Zealand Match there; play Gnn?etbury on the 20th, Dunsdin on the 22nd, Southland on the 25sh, mud leave the Bluff en the same day. The committee .decided that the date and place for 1 the North aud South Island Match ■hould bo contingent on the travelling arrangements of the different unions, *.. • A meeting cf the Committee of the Otago Rugby Union was held on Monday afternoon, and attended by Messrs. Gallaway (president), Chiahohn, D/nnisfcon, Campbell, Duno*n, E^quilant, Montgomery, Strong, and Hutchison. A sab-committee was appointed to endeavour to arrange for a .costume match, with a view of raising funds to assist the union inxarrjing ontdta programme for this season. , A 'letter waa received from -the New Zealand Union stating tbe by-law under which the "Wellington Union's diiqual'ification of a player, now in Danedin, for the non-payment of his subscription to bia club, was endorsed, and the secretary was instructed to reply pointing out the ambiguities .in the New Zealand Union's bylaws. A sum of JES was voted to the Referee*' Association. Mr R. D. Isaacs tendered his reiigustion as a member of the committee in consf qaence of hia removal to Balolutha. The committee placed on reoord their appreciation of the services tendered by Mr Isaacs, <&nd appointed Mr H. M'Earlano to fill the VKC&noy in their number. T,he Alhambra Ciub wrote claiming by default their match on \ Saturday with the Caveriham Olub, buh x as it appeared that tbe Caledonian ground, far which .the match wu .originally Arranged, -waa not available, the committee decided that they could .not interfere in the matter. . Mt P. Hi Campbell, referee in the matoh 'between the High School and Sfcxr Clubs, reported th*t .he had been compelled to order "Ro <vlntt and Healey, two \ members of the latter club, off the Held for their insulting behaviour, and he charged the Star team generally with misconduot. . ' It was , resolved to suspend the -First Fifteen of the Star Club pending the jreoeipb of an explanation from the club, aud from Rowl&tt and Henley in -particular, of their conduct in the match. Attention was drawn ±0 tbe faot that two ou three matches had on Saturday last been allowed to go by default, and the opinion was expressed that -the union would require to deal ■everely with defaulting clubs. •-."At a meeting of the council of the New Zealand Rugby Unioo on Saturday last the T&rauaki, Wellington, Poverty Bay, 'Southland, -Msrlborough, AuckUnd, Man&w&tu, H&nke's Bay, and the Canterbury Unions were represented. It waß xe*olved that a committee of management be appointed, consisting of seven members, to be elected' ab tbe annual meeting of the council, with officers ex *ojficio. A motion th&t rales as to prot'es leioualism and the delegation of powers which may from time to 'time bs made applicable to the English Rugby Union «h&U mutatis mutandis "apply to the Now Zealand Rugby -Union, was substituted by the suggestion that rale 2 of the New Zealand Union's bj-laws should include the words " and rules as to professionalism," and agreed to. A, long discusiion took place *s to whether the :New Zealand Union had power to delegate its ipow&B to distinct unions in .the colony to enable them .to deal with •uipecttd oases of professionalism under the English Rugby Union role?, and it wai ulfcimately decided to write to the BDglish Rugby Union suggesting that the name of the New Zealand XMon be omitted from the lisb of governing bodies which have ,power to deal with cues *>f .inspected profesuonalism under ruin 11, and that .the New .Zealand Union be given jpawer .to delegate such powers to the provincial unions under its jurisdiction. .It was resolved to urge the English Union to relax the ' provision Mto professionalism where teams of

less than 15 Reside take part in a contest at which gate money is- collected, also that the opinfon of the English Union be obtained as to ■whether the payment of a salary or bonus to an officer of a uuion would render the recipient a professional.

• . ■ The Danedin Club had a somewhat lucky win over the Pirates on Saturday — a win for which it would ba hard to assign a precise cs-uee. The Pirates were the stronger in the '■ forward ranks, where Priest was *a tower of strength to them while Burb and Macdonald also did good service, the best forwards on the Dunedin fide probably being C. Martin and Gillan, and though the Blueß had the hotter back team their superiority in that, division was not sufficiently pronounced to account for their eide'B success. StephensoD, cerbaiuly, played a iafe game, but Mackenzie performed disappointngly, and centre threa-quarttr Soes not seem to be his place, jprumm was a reliable full back, and Stohr did good work. On the Pirates' side Matheaon was the most setvioo&ble of the bucks, but when he found that his passes were not bsing t*ken by Grindley, who was playing as substitute for Shand, he should faavu kicked, instead of passed, and used the touchline. Wiih the ti^m of forwards that he had in fronb of him he would have foand it more proatablo to have kicked high and put them on-side, leaving them then" to play the kirk-and-follow game, at which they are most Effective. In connection with this match, a word of warning may be given to referees generally, and th*b is that they should ba very firm with players who make use of foul language. On Saturday aftsrnoon, one of the Duuedin backs, being tackled on the touchline, turned angrily to the opposing player, and uatd a grossly obsoene expression which can hardly have failed to be heard in the grand stand, where there were a number of ladies. * . • From a spectator's poiut of view KaikoraiUnion match was disappointing. Tne back divisions of both teams watched each other so olosely that play was mostly eonfioed to the forwards. Now and again some really good kicking relieved the Monotony of scrum work and line oub play. Without doubt the Kaikorai team had the best of the game, and in the second epell they pressed their opponents very sorely indeed. That spoil had hardly commenced when Duncan shot out, and eluding two or three backs was across the bne in a twinkling. The thing was done bo quickly that he was crossing the line before some of the men seemed to realise where the ball was. The run, however, waß a brilliant one, aud evoked a he&rby cheer. Ib was, all the more praiseworthy as Dnnoan throughout was vtry clcsely watched. Tbe Union forwards certainly plajed a capital game, but thay appeared to be over-excited, and more than once gave an advantaga to the other side by -hard kicking. As beJore atated the game was very oloae, and "it was no'; till within live minutes or »o of the call of time that auy looue play waa indulged in at all. All the Kaikorai backs played well, and the three- quarters were specially good in their return i>ick<j. Duncan, worked very hard, bat the opposing backs were too alert to allow him to get many chances. Atoongst the forwards Torrance, Wilkinson, and Kinvig showed up. Atmstrong, the Uuion half back, played a capital game, while Smith also put in a lot of useful work. Dredge was tbe best of the threequarters, »nd, white M'Lannan did good service, ho also made several mistakes. Peake, the. other .three-quarter, vf as not seen to advantage. Of the forward division Stewart, Beadle, and H'Donald were prominent. Harris played a brilliant g&me, and was especially good on the line out, but Minn did not appear to be in his usual form. • . •In the laatoh ab Tahuna'Pnrk between the 'Varsity and Ziogan-Riohmo»d Cluba Sfcaphens and Maodonald made brilliant runs for the foiiaer, but were prevented from scoring by the good collaring of the opposing btoks. M'Ara was conspicuous for hia good play, and started m»cy passing rushes, in which he was ably assisted by O.She*. Cran did good work, his tackling and kicking being of a high order, but he several times failed to puss quickly enough. O'Neill and Sale played a sound game. Gregg waa one of the most prominent forwards, being very often on the ball ; and Foote and Sale were foremost in scrum work. _ ' . ' For Zingarj, Marks at fall back was safe, and Pollock was iprobabljr the pick of the threequarter backs, his kicking and collaring being, quite up to the roa<~k. Reid proved himself to bo fa»t, and it h a pUy the other backs did not get the ball oat oftener to him. Gcay, the other wing, made his firsb appearance in senior matches in Dunedin, and proved himself a strong runner and a good fcckler, bat at times showed a want of jknowledgd of the .game. He is very difficult to stop when under "way. Foresee, behind the scrum, was perhaps tho pi ok of the backs. Ha was the means of gaining a lot of ground for h<s fide by his short puuta. Williamson did not play up to his usual form, but at times did good work, and M'Farlane made »ome fine runs, The forwards jail .played a hard game, and showed themselves -a very even lot, more than holding itheir own in the scrums. ' . " The match Zingari-Richraond v. Athletics, ' played at Oam&ru on the Queen's Birthday, resnlted in -a .win for the former by 9 points .to S. Reid, Isi&c, aad Williamson each scored a try ior the victors. * . ' Afa Milton on the 25th ult. the game Milton v. Fort Chalmers ended in a draw, neither side scoring. • . • The Pacific Club defeated the Excelsior (Oimatu) on the 25th nit. by 12 points to nothing. • . * The Star journeyed to "Waikouaiti on the 25 h ult., and after an enjoyable game succeeded in defeating the .local team by 18 poiuts to nothing. W. Elder (2), T. Elder, and Wyllie scored tries for the Star ; Bennet converting two .and Walker one. • . •In the senior matches ab Christchuroh on Saturday, Linwor>d fcuffored their firsb defeat this season, being beaton by Ohristcaurch by 5 points to 3 .points ; Morivale were defeated byJ^'tu Ahuriri by 16 'points to 5 points ; .and Sydenbam won against East Christchurch by ~8 paints to nothing. The match Kaiapoi v. Canterbury .College went to the former by default. ' ■ . • . • A Wellington telegram Beys tbab in the senior matches on Saturday the Athletics defeated Pelone by 9 poiuts to 3 and the Taelrcae beat the Wellington Club by 6 points to nothing.