RUGBY

Southland Times, Issue 25359, 10 August 1935, Page 14

RUGBY

SEASON'S ENGAGEMENTS SOUTHLAND’S PROGRAMME. To-day.—Southland v. Otago, at Invercargill. August 17.—Southland v. Wanganui, at Invercargill. August 21.—Southland v. Wairarapa, at Invercargill. August 24.—Southland v. Otago, at Dunedin. August 28.—Southland v. South Canterbury, at Timaru. August 31.—Southland v. Canterbury, at Christchurch. September 4.—Southland v. Wellington, at Wellington. September 7.—Southland v. Auckland, (Shield challenge), at Auckland. September 12.—Southland v. Taranaki, at Stratford. NEWS AND COMMENTS (By “Onlooker.”) The season's toast: “Gentlemen, the STAR!” Southland’s big day to-day. The first of the Otago games at Rugby Park. Last year there were 7500 present. Canterbury play Auckland for the Ranfurly Shield this afternoon. The result means much to Southland. Should Canterbury succeed, the Maroons would be the first challengers, on August 31, at Christchurch. It is just two years ago, August 19 to be correct, since the Southland team, supported by some 2000 enthusiasts, failed to materialize in a shield game at Lancaster Park. There are 11 new caps in the Southland touring team, and 15 of the 22 have not toured with a Southland team. “Everything points to a successful representative season for Otago, for not for some years have the selectors had so much likely material offering for all positions,” observes the Dunedin Star.

The Maoris wind up their Australian tour with a third game against New South Wales to-day. Their record, win or lose to-day, is a splendid one.

Eastern were fortunate in securing a game with Otago University. The match will be played at Gore on Wednesday week, the day of the South-land-Wairarapa game at Invercargill.

Both Messrs A. H. Mitchell and L. R. Lopdell, the joint managers of the Southland touring team, are Southland representatives. Mr Mitchell also represented Otago, from 1908 to 1910.

I. S. Galt (captain), T. Metcalfe and Les George are the only members of the Southland team who toured the North Island in 1929. That year Southland won'the shield at Carterton. There was an epidemic of “missed” goal kicks last Saturday. Southland Sub-Union men failed with nine at Dunedin, and at Christchurch, in the Payne trophy match between Southern (Dunedin) and Old Boys (Christchurch). D. Trevathan found the posts once out of nine attempts. Trevathan had previously scored over 100 points in club games, mainly with goal kicking.

There are plenty of utility men in the Southland team. Purdue, Hamilton, Sharp, Baird, McColl, Metcalfe and Irwin can be used in more than one position on the field. In addition to the Otago-Southland game, the following representative fixtures will be decided to-day: Canterbury v. Auckland; Thames Valley v. Auckland; Taranaki v. Manawatu; King Country v. Waikato.

Southland meet Wanganui at Rugby Park next Saturday. The last time Wanganui played here was in 1930, when Southland held the Ranfurly Shield. Last week's sub-union game at Dunedin did not help the Southland selectors in _ their quest for backs. There were eight good forwards, however.

Before the 1935 All Blacks departed from Wellington they were informed, it is learned' on good authority, that no team would be selected overseas without Manchester and Oliver being consulted by the selector-manager, Mr Meredith.

Another forward who would be of great assistance to a Wellington team is Berry, says a Wellington writer. Berry, a former Athletic and Wellington player, left for the south and won honours for Southland and the South Island. In spite of his status —Berry was thought to have had great chances of winning an All Black jersey this year until an injury threw him out of the trials—he does not appeal as a great forward yet. Berry has a lot of raw edges which still require knocking off and until he matures under expert coaching he cannot expect to take higher. rank in Wellington whose forwards this season show a marked tendency towards efficiency and polish in play.

It must have been “the morning after the night before” for some of the All Blacks who attended a dance in Wellington on the eve of sailing by the Rangitiki. “Many of them embarked soon after the dance concluded,” says Sporting Life, “but the stragglers kept arriving till within a few minutes of the liner casting off. Manchester, the captain, put in an appearance at’ 6.40 a.m., cherishing a champagne bottle, a souvenir of a right royal send-off, and the last man aboard was Russell Page, who arrived just before 7 a.m.” No touring team from New Zealand in recent years has had so much sickness as the' 1935 Maoris. When the Maoris reached Sydney there was an epidemic of influenza raging, and many members of the side were attacked by the germ before they visited Queensland. One person in every ten in Sydney was in bed at that time.

A Wellington writer waxes enthusiastic over the play of A. Galbraith, formerly of Canterbury, now captaining Taranaki. “Galbraith is now playing close to international standard, and - it is more than unfortuate that he was ..not given the opportunity of appearing even once before the All Black selectors,” he declares. “As a former Ail Black remarked, several of his solo efforts against Auckland were reminiscent of A. E. Cooke at his best in his great pace off the mark and dazzling swerving running.” The Otago Sub-unions’ team which defeated North Otago the previous Wednesday registered its second victory last Saturday, when it secured a last-minute win over the Southland Sub-unions’ team by 8 points to 3 points. The game was mostly a stern battle between the forwards, says the Otago Daily Times, but the rearguards on both sides made praiseworthy attempts to open up the play. Southland had the greater number of chances, as, apart from missing several fairly easy shots at goal from penalties, their backs, in the first spell particularly, had a monopoly of the ball. The passing of the Southland backs time and again started off in promising style from the scrums, but it generally went straight across the ground until bad handling or a solid tackle checked the movement.

A feature of the Southern-Varsity match in Dunedin a fortnight ago, was the very fine display of MacFarland, the Varsity full-back, who played with great confidence and did not make a mistake all afternoon. It would not be exaggerating to say, in fact, that no full-back in the Dominion could have performed better on the day, comments “Dark Blue’’ in the Dunedin Star. His tackling, fielding, and rush-stopping were excellent, and his long and sure line kicks got his side out of trouble time and again. It is to be hoped that MacFarland will be available for the northern tour of the Otago team, for which, as the result of his game this year, he must be the certain choice as the last line of defence.

OTAGO-SOUTHLAND CONTESTS RESULTS FOR PAST DECADE. SOUTHLAND’S PROGRESS. Any section, or the whole for that matter, of the Southland-Otago contests, spread over a period of 49 years from 1887 onwards, provides an interesting subject of discussion when the first of the annual games is about to be played. But the past ten years, from 1925 to 1934. (inclusive), stand out as the most successful period as far as Southland’s part in the series is concerned. That the Maroons have made marked progress in the last decade is shown by the results over that period, and in cold print appear to have a good advantage over the Dark Blues. Prior to that, of course, the southerners generally had to play second fiddle to Otago, and largely because of this . were looked upon as a union equal in status only to the minor unions of the Dominion. In Ten Years. The following table sets cut the complete series of games played between Otago and Southland for the tenyear period from 1925 to 1934:— 1925—At Invercargill, Southland won 15- at Dunedin, Southland won, 25-15. 1926. At Dunedin, Otago won, 31-11; at Invercargill, Otago won, 161927. —At Invercargill, Otago won, 27-6; at Dunedin, Southland won, 17-6. 1928. At Invercargill, Southland won 15-11; at Dunedin, Otago won, 32-3. 1929. At Invercargill, Southland won 11-5; at Dunedin, drawn, 9-9. 1930. At Invercargill, Southland won 37-5; at Dunedin, Southland won, 17-11. 1931. —At Invercargill, Southland won, 11-3; at Dunedin, Otago won, 41-3. 1932. At Invercargill, Southland won, 17-14; at Dunedin, Southland won, 11-8. 1933. —At Invercargill, Southland won, 23-5; at Dunedin, Southland I won, 13-12. 1934. At Invercargill, Southland won, 9-7; at Dunedin, Otago won, 17-14. Summary: Played, 20; Southland 13 wins, Otago 6; 1 drawn. Points: Southland 277, Otago 280. Even Break in “Doubles.” Taking the whole of the series into ■ consideration the two provinces have ' broken even in the matter of “double” wins, that is the winning of both matches in the same year by the one province. Otago won the “double” in 1895 1900, 1904, 1919, 1920, 1922, and 1926; Southland in 1897, 1898, 1902, 1925, 1930, 1932, and 1933-seven I “doubles” each. | Some Facts and Figures. Games between the two provinces i commenced in 1887, so (that this year marks the 49th anniversary of the con- | tests. Seventy-nine games have now been J played, Otago winning 39 and South- ■ land 34, while six have been drawn. I With the exception of the drawn ■ game at Dunedin in 1929, when 9 ! points were scored by each side, not one point was scored in any of the drawn games. Of the 40 matches played at Dunedin Otago has won 28, Southland 10, and two have been drawn. Of the 39 games played at Invercargill Southland has won 24, Otago 11, and four have been drawn. Four games have been won by one : point, while five have been won by two : points. i Only on two occasions have victor|ies been obtained by field goals alone, although potted goals have played a part in the results of other games. In all games 1428 points have been scored, Otago’s contribution being 819 and Southland’s 609. Southland’s greatest win (in points) was 37 to 5 at Invercargill in 1930. Prior to that the best victory for the Maroons was 20 to 5 at Invercargill in 1907,. The biggest defeat registered throughout the series was by Otago at Dunedin in 1931, Southland being trounced by 41 points to 3. Previously the biggest defeat was 35 to nil scored by Otago in 1909. Between the years 1906 and 1925 Southland did not win a game at Dunedin. Otago has not been successful at Invercargill since 1927, in which year the Dark Blues triumphed over a strong Southland team by 27 points to 6. A week or two later Southland turned the tables at Dunedin by 17 to 6. From 1887 to 1893 the games were played as annual fixtures, alternately at Dunedin and Invercargill. Home and home games (two each year) were commenced in 1894 and continued until 1908. In 1909 and until 1914 the annual fixture was resorted to. From 1915 to the present time (with the exception of 1916 and 1917 when no games were played) the home and home games have been continued. Up till 1891 a try counted one point, and during 1892 and 1893 tries counted two points. To-day and Yesterday. If a Rugby team were asked to-day to play four matches in a week the repercussion of -the question would be felt right round the Rugby world, comments a Wellington writer. There would be pious exclamations of, impossible, intolerable hardship, and so on. But such a thing, if not common in the old days, was of sufficient frequency to be regarded in no way as remarkable. The record of the 1888 native team, which toured Great Britain, is particularly illuminating in this respect. The team played 74 matches on tour won 49, lost 20, and drew 5, all in six months. This gives an approximate average of twelve matches a month or three a week. But actually on several occasions, it played five games, in seven days. Four a week was common. And there was no such thing as a week’s spell before each international. The Ireland and Welsh tests were treated as ordinary routine games. The week the Maoris met Wales they played four times, and the international was the last of the four. The only respite was a week’s rest prior to the game against England. To-day such a condition is insisted upon, and fulfilled to the leter. But then they don’t breed footballers now as they once did! D. R. Gage played in 68 of the 74 games! THE MAORI TEAM RESULTS TO DATE. The 1935 New Zealand Maoris have new played nine games in Australia with the following results:— v. Warwick.—Won, 32—10. v. Queensland. —Lost, 22—39. v. Toowoomba.—Won, 25—13. v. Queensland. —Won, 15—13. v. Far West.—Won, 35—13. v. New South Wales.—Won, 6—5. v. Central Districts.—Won, 42—8. v. Victoria. —Won, 28—16. v. New South Wales.—Lost, 13 —20. Summary: Played 9, won 7, lost 2; points for 228, against 137. The final game of the Australian tour will be played against New South Wales at Sydney to-day, after which the team catches the boat for Auckland. Next Saturday the Maoris meet Auckland and the following Wednesday (August 21) play their final game, against Wellington, at Wellington. ,

PLAY AND PLAYERS PARS FROM THE TOUCH LINE. Bob Berry in Form. , Bob Berry, the ex-Pirates forward, has struck form in Wellington. Commenting on his play in a recent MaristAthletic game, Sporting Life says: “Individually, there were a few attractive flashes of play, and none more so than the work of Berry in the Athletic pack. He was easily, particularly in the first half, the best forward on the paddock. He produced spasms of football of which few could have suspected him capable, though the calibre. of the opposition probably flattered his display to some extent.”

Wellington and Shield. Wellington’s chances of a match with Auckland for the Ranfurly Shield depend upon whether the holders can defend challenges by Canterbury, Hawkes Bay, Southland, and Otago. It will not be until September 21 that Wellington meet Auckland, at Auckland. Should the Shield have changed hands in the meantime, Wellington will not have a match for the trophy this season unless by special arrangement with Hawkes Bay if they happen to be the successful challengers. Wellington’s match with Hawkes Bay is to be played at Napier - on September 28.

Injured All Blacks. Discussing the departure of the All Blacks from Wellington the Evening Post makes the following observations:—“One or two of the players were suffering from injuries when they left, and the hope is that they will soon be able to join with the others in all the exercising on board the Rangitiki. It seemed, however, that Corner (one of the half-backs) was handicapped by a leg injury from which it would take a good deal of time to recover. However, should the necessity arise, the team can use Tindill as a half-back, in which capacity he would be of even greater service than as a five-eighth.” * ♦ ♦ ♦ The Reserve Full-Back? It is anticipated that at some stages of the New Zealand Rugby team’s tour of the Home countries and Canada, •’the full-back (Gilbert) will be spelled. Some discussion has arisen as to which of the players is best fitted to deputize at full-back, and in view of this the following letter written by Jack O’Brien, who made a great name for himself as full-back in the New Zealand Army Services team, to Mr V. R. Meredith, manager of the New Zealand team now en route to England, is of interest:—“l saw a game of football at Morrinsville last year between Morrinsville and Matamata for the Peace Cup. These games are as hard as you would see anywhere. The forwards, especially the local lads, hunt in a pack and they are merciless on the weaknesses of opposing backs. A back in the Matamata team suffered a shoulder injury in the first few minutes and dropped to full-back. A tricky diagonal wind blew across the field, making conditions difficult for even an experienced man in that position. But this player turned on an exhibition that was a delight to behold. His positional play was an object lesson, his line-finding into the wind exact, his rush-stopping, collaring, and anticipation superb—-in fact, to sum up. he gave a display of full-back play against odds that was perfect. His name was D. Solomon. I made up my mind to tell you one day, and I can do so now that Solomon has won his way into the team through merit in another position. You can take this for what it is worth, that some time during the long tour in front of you you may find it necessary or expedient to try out a new man in the position, and maybe Solomon will pull you through.”

No Cliques in All Blacks. Concerning the accommodation of the All Blacks on the Rangitiki; “The manager had evidently given the quartering of the players a good deal of thought,” says a Wellington writer. “The team was roomed in two-berth cabins, and generally the scheme was to pair an old and experienced traveller with one of the new All Blacks, while there was an entire absence of provincial grouping. Cliques grow quickly enough even on provincial tours, but the Rangitiki’s trip to England will not encourage anything of that nature. In the case of Auckland and Wellington, with strong numerical , representation, each individual from these two cities was paired up with a player from another province, with the object of stimulating community interest and team spirit. Mr Meredith was quartered in a very comfortable suite with every convenience to assist him in his managerial duties.”

Auckland’s Strength. After a match abounding in spectacular highlights and bright incidents, Taranaki continued on its winning way by defeating Auckland by 31 pbint,s to 29 at New Plymouth last Saturday week. Following rather a quiet opening spell, champagne Rugby was turned on with a vengeance

all through the concluding spell, in which points were rattled on at a hectic rate. Considering that for a period in the final spell Taranaki played inspired Rugby, the paramount impression left by Auckland is that, despite the absence of its seven All Blacks, the northerners will field a team which should be capable of making a bold fight to hold the Ranfurly Shield during the absence of its All Blacks Caughcy, Corner, Solomon, McLean, Hadley and Pepper.—Sporting Life. JUNIOR NOTES. AROUND THE GRADES (By “Searchlight.”) The second round of the second grade was concluded last Saturday, leaving the competition in a very interesting position. Marist and Bluff are leading, "with 16 championship points each. Pirates are three points behind, so that it seems certain that the two teams equal in the lead are the only ones to be considered for the championship. The third grade is also at an interesting stage. Blues are leading with 16 championship points. Clifton are r. point behind, while High School and Pirates were level with 13 points each. Some of the teams have played three games and others two in the second round.

Two teams are also level in the lead in the fourth grade. Blues and Marist have each 18 points, and as they are five points ahead of the next team (Pirates) they will fight out the championship. Clifton have now withdrawn from the competition. Though High School defeated Blues in a fifth grade match last Saturday, that competition has not yet been decided as the teams are now level. High School and Blues will now play-off as a curtain-raiser to (he SouthlandWanganui representative game on August 17. There will be no junior matches played to-day or next Saturday, and it is possible that none will be played the following Saturday, when Southland play Otago in Dunedin. It will rest largely with the clubs themselves whether or not they want to continue the games very long after the break of two or three Saturdays, but it will be necessary to play a lew games to decide the competitions. The second grade game between Pirates and Marist on Rugby Park was interesting and keenly contested. The teams were too evenly matched to allow of a great deal of spectacular play, for neither side intended to take chances. Pirates led early in the game by 6 to nil, but at half-time the score was only 9—6. Marist had improved, and during the second spell launched several attacks which looked like ending in scores. It says much for the Pirates defence that they did not have that result.

Marist were if anything the bettei - allround combination, their backs being the more dangerous attacking unit. They handled very well and, Grace functioning exceptionally well as second five-eighth, were always dangerous.

The Pirates forwards really won the game, for they worked hard both in the loose and in the tight. Marist hooked well from many of the scrums, however.

Star fielded a much weakened team, which went on to the field considerably late, and fell an easy victim to Bluff. Two penalty goals in the first half actually saw Star leading by 6 points to 3 at the interval (they had had the wind behind them). During the rest of the game, however, Bluff attacked continuously and gave the town team no quarter. West, Ballantyne and the two Calders are playing well for Bluff just now.

Woodlands showed stout opposition to High School in the third grade, but School produced their best form for some weeks and scored a handsome win. The School backs handled very well (a good augury for their engagements ahead), while the forwards packed in good style. A dispute,* doubly unfortunate because both the result of a game and the third grade competition hang upon it, has occurred over an incident in the Blues-Clifton game at Biggar street last Saturday. Briefly the facts are: A Blues player kicked the ball out, close to Clifton’s line. The line-umpire signalled in favour of Blues, it is stated, and the Blue wing threw the ball in to a quick line-out. One of his team-mates secured the ball and broke over the line to score. Before this Clifton had been leading by 4 points to 3, but as it was Invercargill turned out winners of the game by 6 points to 4. On the other hand, had the try not been awarded, Clifton would now have topped the third grade ladder with 17 points, against Invercargill’s 14. As the two teams will probably not meet again, Clifton would almost certainly have emerged with the championship. Through that one disputed try, however, Blues are now one point ahead of Clifton on the ladder!