NOTES BY FORWARD. OTAGO RUGBY UNION.

Otago Witness, Issue 2252, 29 April 1897, Page 35

NOTES BY FORWARD.

OTAGO RUGBY UNION.

. On Eister Monday the Roslyn (Association) Club aeut a team to try conclusions with the Kaitangata Club, and after an enjoyable game won by 4- goals to 1. The senior inter-club matches in Dunedin will commsnc« on Saturday, when the Union will play the Dunedtn and Alharn'orn. meet Caversham I look to the former to win in each case. - • . • A Cantral Otago Rugby Union is again spoken of. The St. Bathans Club is taking the initiative on this occasion, and a meeting of delegates is to be held at Alexandra on May 24 to consider the matter. I fancy the proj« ct is impracticable on acciunt of the widespread area covered by the clubs. ■ ' The Wellington Rugby Union has decided to send teams this season to play South and, Otago, Cauterbury, Wa'rarapa, and Hawke's Bay, and arrange a match with South Canterbury. As the Taranaki Union proposes to send a team south this year, and the Cauterbury and Southland teami will visit Dunedin, there is, what with matches with the above-mentioned trams in view, and the country matches in prospect a cettairity of the season bftiug an exceptionally busy one. ■ . * A meeting of the Otago Football Afsociation was fceld last Thursday evenicK, when ther* were present — Meisrs Moncrieff (chiuvman), Keninitz, Spraggon, White, Ciclanri, Ashtou, and the secretary. A lt'tter <vas received from the Kaitangata Glob intimating that they intended chaDgiug their pi»y:tig colour*. Mr S. S. Myers wao elected a vict-prtsident of the association. It was decided that matches commence the teooud Saturday in May, and the 'secretary was instructed to get the fixtures arranged. The following were elected a Match Committee : — Messrs J. L. Saimond, J. A. Findlay, and the Rev. A. North. Mes6ra A. White, J. Nicholson, and G. Pollock were appointed by the committee ta form & referees' club. * . • What looked very much like a cage of professionalism was brought to light in the following innocent paragraph in the Bay of Plenty Times : — " AlbPrt Asher, second son of Mr D. Asher, of the Tauranga Hotel, received a letter by last mail from the Parnell Football Club, askiog him to go to Auckland and reside there, so that he might play for their team. If ha should decide to go to Auckland a situation would bs found for him. As will be retnembersd j Albert' received great kudos from the Auckland ' papers for hiß play in the Auckland and Wainm matches, and it speaks well for the Tauranga youths to find that outside teams desire their joining. It is not prohibit 1 , towever, thai Asher will accept the offer, as he is at present working on his father's claim (The Sisters) at To Puke. He is now busy in his spare time iv coaching a Maori team to play bllcomerfl." ' . • The matter apparently caused some slir in Auckland, and the football contributor of the New Zealand Herald writes thus on the 19th inst:— "On instituting inquiries into the alleged action of the Paraell Football Club iv writing to youug Asber, ofTauranga, and offering him a situation >f he would come rtown Htid play for the cinb. I find that the (statement is entirely withouh fuiincation. 'The secretary of tho Parnell Club kuow nothing of the uia'.ter, which emanated Irom Mr Tappor. oi: Parutll, himself an old Taur&nga resident and a frieiid of A.sher'r». He commu: icafced privateiy with j Asber, without tho sanction or knowledge of the | Paruell CJub, informing him that he could obtain a situation in PacneJl district p.nd be able to play for the club. Asaer being away from home when the letter reached Taurauga, his father opened it, read the contents, and thinkiug that the letter was an officia\ one from tke Parnell Club, he not being acquainted with the officers, hastened with it to the Bay of Pleuiy ' limes, hence Us publication. Thus is the j alleged profesaicrifcH<i2, which on first sight looked rather ugb lor Paniell, disposed of." ; • . • The annual meeting of the University | □lub was held last week. Professor Sa!e (presi- | dent) occupied the chair, and there were about j 10 members present. The annual report having { been adopted the following office-bearers were i ?kcled :— P.'t sidenl, Pcofwssor Sale (re-elected); i — Dim P-irker, Scott, Shand, j Blsck, Baruefct, Brown, A Steubouse. Anderson, • and Don, Professor Gilr*y, Messrs Stephens, T. ( D. Pearce, J. R. Montgomery, aud F. H. Camp- j bell ; captain, Mr C. ,L. Gregg ; depaty-capt»in, Mr J. G. Macdonald : secretary acd treasurer, ' Mr E. J. O'Nbill (re-elected) ; practice captain, j Sir A. Spence; Match Commifctee — Messrs! Gregg, J. G. M-icdonald, and G. Sale ; General j Oommittes — Mrssrs Cran, Bray, G. Baie, and J. B. Macdonald; delegates to the 0.R.F.U., Messrs Cran and O'Neill ; auditor, Mr O. M. Mouat (re-elected). Tbe following resolution , was carried unanimously :— '• As the University j Football Club had no connection with any of She articlsß which appefvrnd in the ' Otago Univcr.-ity Review' re the match wilh the Star Football Club, they wieh it to be publicly under■tcod tbab they took no part in the apology subsequently tendered to the Star Club." • . • Pressure of Easter matter thut out any jomments last week on the matches which were played in Danedin during the holidays by visitng tesms. Of these, the most interesting was ice contest between the Linwcod and [Jnion jlubs, in which a superior set of baoks on the fide of the visiting team was crushed by a jowetful forward division in the Union team, fhe visitors held the upper hand in tho early aart of the match, but that was only while the Union were attempting to compete with them \t their own game. From the time the local jeam made the game a forward one the visitors j ,vere beaten. The O'Briene, Orchard, and { Srlennia worked hard— J. O'Brien showing some sf his best form — but there was simply no denyng the Union forwards, whose rushes were irresistible. Harris, Beadlo, Stewart, and Logan vere in fine form, and others in the forward ankß also did well. The backs on the local side ?yere comparatively weak, although Lumb, the ' ull back, tackled splendidly ; Doig played well it centre three-quarter back, and Armstrong vas a clever acrum half back. If their forwards inly keep up their form the Union Club may •easonably anticipate being at the head of the :ree at the clo3e of the year, formidable though he Kaikorai may be, aud I shall not be sur>rised if they contribute a large proportion of or wards — amorjg them young Logan — to the epresentative fifteen of the province. ■ . The match between the Britannia and J Dunedtn clubs was peculiar in tfie respect that he latter seemed beaten at half-time, and yet | : Qiifc on lop at the end. their winning score

being attributable to Sfophenson's 'cuteness in ■ cutting across the field and chipping in in c. passing rush on Mackenzie's wing, so that the "Brit?." had an extra, man to contend with on that side,- with the result that when "ourt George " passed to Mackenzie the latter had ndc ' one to stop him. The match did nob furnish r.i good exposition of football, and there was a lof> of grumbling on both sides. The visitors arei a youDg lot — last year they played as seniors for the first time—and they will prove a formid* able combination in a year or two — possibly evens this year. The " Brits." were, with the exception of "Jock" Best, all strangers to me, and i\ 8m consequently unable to particularise. As for the Dunedin, Druram and Eagles were the pick of the backs. The former must be cautioned against the tepetition of such an objection able expression as he employed on one occasiou on the touch-line, otherwise ho may be called upon to play the part of a spectator for some portion of the year. Isaacs — the same old •' Dickson" — and Williams were most prominent, among the forwards. The match between tbe Alhambra. and Merivale o'.ubs was uninteresting nod monotonous. Neither aide played well,, - and there was no member of either team who j showed reasonably good form. i ' . ' Tee Pirates cent a team to Naseby a'". J Easter to play the Naseby Prospectors' Club. The | match took place on the Saturday afternoon ii> { the presence of a large and interested crowd o<! spectators, many having come from Alexandra and other districts to see the gtme. Naseby kicked off, and E. Y. Prieer, who was playing full back for the Pirates, mulling tho ball, it, I was at once carried over the line, and Hor« | scored in a good position, but the kick at goal | was resultless. This score, so soon after - ' commencing, woke the Pirates up, sud ' from a good dribbling rush by their for- , wards Percy Priest picked up cleverly and crossed the line, but taking the kieL: himself failed to improve. Marslin, Hor:;, Inder, and the Marshall brothers were showinff: gcod form for Naseby, but the.Pirates' forward.) repeatedly got tbe ball from them in the scruo,\ and though the opposing back 1 ? played with grea -• determination, they had again to put up with J a score. From a loose scrum about tho half ■ I way flig Fitrquharson picked up, and tho hrl\. ! pa«siug through the hands of Johnson, Bay, and Matheson, the latter ran up to the line and then pasfed to Pcrtecus, who scored at tbe. corner nag. Mathenon's kick failed, and time was called shortly afterwards. Mr J. Duncan, of the Kaikorai Club officiated as referee, aud the game was played in capital spirit, Mid proved a thoroughly enjoyable one. The Pirates were entertained at a dinner iv the evening, and a dance was held afterwards ia the Town Hall, which -»afl crowded. • . • A team from the Caveraham Clufc v'mitcd Owaku at Easter to play the annutd fixture with the local club. The match waß played on the Saturday afternoon, and a large number of people -wet'e present to witness tbft game, including *;he me-mbers of the Citizeor.' Baud, who were ramped out in the district. ! Strengthened as ibey were by the inclusion of the Kaikorai half back, B. Davis, tha j country club pioved themselves quite a match j for tbe visitors, who, howeTer, managed I to secure victory by the narrow margin of oao j goal to nil. The try was tho result of a . i dribbling rush from uiidfleld, in which Spence, Wfaelir,, and O*vanagh weie principally cou- [ cerned, the lant-uamed scoring ami Spenco , kicking the goal. The game throughout ! was mainly confined to the forwardt, and the ' j Owaka set held the advantage, frequently j pinning down their opponents in their twenty-five ; but although they invarif-'oly got; the ball in tho ssrum, tie Owaka. backs wera , t.ot up to the mark iv making use of the oppori tuuiti^s afforded them. Vial and Meder were ■ ! pu'h&ps tho pick of tho country forwards, wlto j iirft a fast heavy «efc, and plcy a hard gamo. j With practice and the coaching they are now i likely to get thoy should develop into a really good combination. Davis played in quite his best form, and did a tremendou* amount oi v»ork for his eide, and so did Simpson, his op- , posing half back. Bennett, playing full back for tbe Oaversham, kicked remarkably welJ, I and M'Keraey, Olreu. Spence, and Cavanagh were prominent, throughout. Mr Briggs acted as referee, aud bin office was certainly no sinecure. In the evening the Cavershaua team was , entertained at a dinner and smoke concert. On Sundiy the visitors were rowed across the viver and conducted to that wonderful freak o£ nature, the Blowhole, the walk through the ' buch bting a most delightful or.c. I ■ . •At last: week's meeting of the Canterbury Rugby Union Committee, the appeal of th« . | OUfco Union ogaiript tbe decision of the Appeal , I Committee of the New Zealand Uuion was di«cu*s«d *t length, when it was resolved—" That t.hn committee regret the action of the Otago Uniau in forwarding to the English Rugby Union a stitemsnt that had not been subi niitted in any «ay to the New Zealand Rugby Union," and "Tl-afc tho New Zealand Rugby Uiiion be askp.d to communicate with the Eog- - liuh Union and ascertain on what gronnds tha decision of the English Union was arrived «v, and if the unofficial communication forwarded | by th« secretary of the Otago Rugby Union had [ any tffect on this deoision, or was it given on i the referee's statement alone." The Cantet- ! bury Committee appear to be unaware of the • fact th&t hhe appeal was sent through th« Nev^ Zealand Union. How the covering letter frora the Otago Union can bo called " unofficial" iis difficult to couceive. • . • I should ha the last person in the Trorit! to suggest that the committee of tha Canter,' bury ltugby Union were taViug leave of theiv senses, but the fact that they have solemn!" arrived sA «uch a childish resolution as tli« latter of those quoted above indicates that the* were, at the time of the meeting, at any ratt, in a •' parlous state." However much weight, the English committee might attach to th« view of the case presented in the allege. "unofficial" but really official letter from tbe Otago Union, surely no one claiming to bay.» any knowledge at all of the laws of the gam? would dream of supposing that the framer« 0.. the law which states that " the referee shall b<? [ sole judge in all matter* of fact" would look further than the referee's report for the st»fc2meat of the facts upon which they were asked to give a finding. The Ofcago Union iv it? letter did not profess to state the facts— it was bound to accept the referee's statement, however much members of the committee who saw the match might have questioned its accur&cv in some points, but it merely suggested where, even on the facts as stated by tfce referee, that official erred. The referee's statement itself proved, notwithstanding the opinion of th» Canterbury Union's committee and of the New Zealand Union's Appeal Committee, that tho Otago team were wrongfully kept out of a try. •. ' At the annual meeting of the Otago Rugby Union some reference was made to the Appeal Committee of the New Zealand Union. Mr Gallaway, who presided and who is now president of the New Zealand Union, said in referring to the appeal in the Canterbury- Otago match :— II He did not think he was too severe on the Appeal Committee of the New Zealand Union when he suggested that when this appe*!, the first which had ever gone Home from a decision of that committee, was given by the English committee— unanimously, as Dtiv»te

information stated — in favour of the appellants, it behoved the New Zealand Union to consider carefully how they should strengthen the Appeal Committee. The affiliated unions in New Zealand had a right to expect that the best men in New Zealand should be on that committee." Regarding this the Daily Times observes : " The council have adopted a strange method of strengthening the Appeal Committee : they have left out the gentleman who repreeented Ofcsgo on the committee, and, as is well known, the only member of the committee who, according to the decision of the EDglish Union, took the correct view of the law in the matter in dispute." * . •As was remarked by me in these columns a fortnight ago, I am not inclined to attach much importance to the Appeal Committee, whose work is performed in a manntr that renders it necessarily unsatisfactory ; bub if the practice is to be persevered in of appointing members to that committee from different parts of the colony, then it does seem advisable that, duo regard being had to the fitneus of tho members, there should be as even a representation as possible of different parts of the colony. What, however, has been the prinoipleon which the committee was selected ? In 1892 and 1893 the committee consisted of three member?, all of whom belonged to the North Island ; in 1894there were five members on the committee, and four of them belonged to the North Island, one only being a resident of the South Island ; in 1895 the claims of the South Island received more consideration, and ifc had two representatives as against three from the North Island ; tho same proportion was preserved Use year ; but this year the New Zealand Union h»a reverted to the proportion observed in 1894, for of the five members of the committee four sire residents of the North Island, while the South is represented by one only (Mr W. J. Cotterill). •.• This last statement — that of the five members of this year's committee four belong to the North Island — is not borne out by tho report of the annual meetiDg of the New Zenland Union, which appears in another column ; but that report is misleading— and I have no doubt purposely misleading. It is there made to appear that Mr Firth represents Nelson, and consequently is a South Island member. That is merely an attempt, a miserably thin attempt, to make ib seem that the South Island has secured an equitable ahare of representation on the Appeal Committee. The fact is tbat Mr Firth, who is the principal of Wellington College, has resided in Wellington for at least 15 yeari, and though he hns been a member ot the Appeal Committee for tho last three years, he has on no previous occasion been described as being of Nelson, bub always as bsiug of Wellington. A« hai frequently beeopointed oub by me it is a necessary evil attendant upon the establishment of a New Zealand Rugby Union iv Wellington that the union must be "run" by Wellington residents, and, with the possible exception of Mr Morrison, everyone of the delegates at last Saturday night* meeting resides in Wellington. Why it should be sought to be made out that Mr Firth belongs to Nelicn, unless to falsely suggest that he is a South Island representative, \ "do not see. I raise no objec- j tion, I should explain, to the personnel of the j committee. The *hole of the members may possets all the qualifications necessary, but I do protect against the implication that of the five men in the colony best fitted to act as an appeal committee four reside jn the North Island. The invincible anti-Otago bias on the part of the majority of the .delegates is sufficient to account for the exclusion of any Otago resident from the committee, but surely there is some qualified person in Otngo and Southland. • . • At Belfast on March 6 the international match under Association rules between Ireland and Wales was won by the home team by four goals to three. • . • The annual match under Rugby rules between England and Scotland was played at Manchester on March 13. An exceedingly vigorous and keenly-contested game took pl*ce, and resulted in a well-deserved and gratifying fictory for England by two goals (one dropped) aod a try to a try, or 12 points to 3. While there existed (the Field Say*) a very general opinion that the England Fifteen would show themselves stronger than the sides whioh opposed Wales and Ireland, the victory of Scotland over Ireland suggested that the Scotchmen were quite as powerful as in the previous season, and, as the English forwards had been «o regularly beaten by the Scottish sornmmagers during the four previous seasons, it cannot be said that the result of Saturday's encounter was anticipated with any great degree of confidence in English football circles. That the combination amongst the English backs would prove more skilful seemed likely, bub the ability of the front rank to hold their own against the redoubtable Scotch pack was the point upon which the issue of the match depended. The game had not been long in progress before ib could be teen this question ot the forwards might be answered in the affirmative. If not quite so prominent in the loose, the English pack were quite able to hold their own in the scrummage, and certainly controlled the ball more skilfully, coming through with it at times, and on other occasions heeling out ■with «■ promptitude which enab'.ed Woils aod Taylor to make seme capital openings for their Bide. For a time, however, as was natural after the experience of the past four years, the Englishmen worked steadily, rather than brilliantly, but the long and arduous battle with the Scottish forwards ended well in the second half in a distinct victory for England, and then the home team playedaconapicuously open game, th« ball beicg passed out to the backs bo repeatedly and the combination being so good that, with le-:i skilful and vigorous tackling on the part of the Scottish backs, Englaud nrght easily have crossed the line five or six times instead of twice. While the English forwards by dint of Bheer headwork wore down their rivals, it musb not be supposed that there was any marked falling off in the football of the Scottish front rank. It was simply that the north countrymen met a band who were rather better than themselves. But the disparity between the two sets was by no means marked until well into the cecond half of the game. It was at three-quarter that the great difference between the two sides existed. ' . * Several of the local clubs held their final practices on Saturday, when an improvement in form was noticeable all round. There is every prospect of the season being a very interesting one so far as inter- club matches are concerned. • . • I have to acknowledge receipt of the Canterbury Rugby Union Annual for 1897. Ib is well arranged, and its compilation generally reflects credit on Mr W. G. Uarrard, the editor.

A meeting of the committee of the Obsgo Rugby Union' was held on Monday afternoon, and attended by Messrs Gallaway (president), (Chisholm, Jowitt, Wilson, Campbell, Duncan, Harris, Isaacs, Strong, and Hutchison. The Canterbury Rugby Union wrote forXvardicg copies of resolutions (already published) passed by its committee with reference

to the appeal to the English Union in the matter of the C&nterbury-Otago match last year. — It was unanimously resolved to inform tha Cwiterbury Union (1) that the O.R F.U. did not forward to the Euglish Union any statement which was not in the possession of the New Zealand Union, and (2) that no unofficis.l omtnunication whoever was forwarded by the secretary of the O R.F.U. to th 3 English Union. The secretary was instructed to forward copies of these resolutions to the New Zealand Union. It was resolved, «t the request of the Uppsr Cluth* Club, to hold a special general meeting of the union to enable that club to become affiliated to the union. It was decided to inform tho Alexandra Club thst the matter of the goldfislds teim was under the consideration of the committee. Messrs Strong and Hutchison were appointed a sub-committee to make recommendations as ta matches for country teams. Messrs Campbell, Strong, and Torrance were appointed a Ground Sub-comtnibteo to decide each Saturday, in term? of the by-law, a3 to the * fitness of grouuds for the playing of matcfaps. Mr Gallaway, who hid been nominated as vice-president of tin New. Zealand Union, having been appointed president of that body, and the Otago Uoion being thus entitled to another vice-president, it was unanimously refolved to noaiinafca Mr J. Hutchison.