SOUTHLAND RECEIVES A RUGBY HONOUR

Southland Times, Issue 23182, 24 April 1937, Page 19

SOUTHLAND RECEIVES A RUGBY HONOUR

Mr Meredith Elected President Of New Zealand Union

(By

“Onlooker”)

The honour bestowed upon the game in Southland in the election of Mr R. T. Meredith as president of the New Zealand Rugby Football Union is one which will receive the acclaim of Rugby Unions throughout New Zealand. Mr Meredith was elected unopposed. This in itself is sufficient testimony of the esteem in which Southland, through its representatives, is held. It is not long since the Southland Union was a struggling body threatened with relegation to the ranks of the .minor unions. Those of the older generation of Rugby men in Southland will remember that struggle. Just after the war Southland, like many other unions, was faced with problems which threatened the popularity of the game, but Southland, looked upon as the Cinderella union, had the hardest fight of all. Even within the last decade an attempt was made to curtail the province’s activities in the interprovincial field, and but for solid opposition to the proposal the timehonoured home and home games between Southland and Otago would probably have been an event of the past. It is to the everlasting credit of Mr Meredith and members of the Rugby Union’s management committee in past years that the Otago-South-. land games and Southland’s high position in the Rugby world continue. Mr Meredith and the province, through the union, are to be congratulated upon the latest honour. G. Ford for Oamaru The departure of G. Ford for Oamaru will be a loss not easily recovered by the young Marist team. As first five-eighth Ford showed outstanding promise and it is possible that had he remained in Invercargill he would have been again considered by the Southland selectors for representative honours. His play this season was of a good standard and it was not difficult to see that he would do well in good company. Southland’s loss is Oamaru’s gain in this case, and it will cause no surprise to hear of Fords progress in the northern centre. He carries the good wishes of all Southland Rugby men. ' There will be general rejoicing m Southland over the news that Southland is to play the first Ranfurly Shield challenge game of the season. Southland’s representative programme provides for nine matches, but only two will be played at home, the return match against Otago and the game against South Africa. The team goes on tour this season, but in order to curtail the length of leave required by the players the Ranfurly Shield match will not be included in the touring programme. A special visit to Dtmedin will be made on July 31, and before the team leaves for the North Island the return game against Otago will be played at Invercargill, on August 7. The North Island itinerary this season includes a game against Manawatu at Palmerston North. The last time Southland played Manawatu on its home ground was in 1929, the year Southland won the Ranfurly Shield from Wairarapa at Carterton. Following is a list of Southland s fixtures: — July 31— v. Otago, at Dunedin. August 7—v. Otago, at Invercargill. August 11—v. South Canterbury, at Timaru. August 14—v. Manawatu, at Palmerston North. August 19—v. Hawkes Bay, at Napier. x ~ . August 21—v. Wairarapa, at Masterton. , August 25—v. Wellington, at Wei-

lington. . . August 28— v. Canterbury, at Christchurch. September 8-—v. South Africa, at Invercargill. HERE AND THERE The well-known All Black fiveeighth, Lance Johnson, has been transferred from Wellington to Christchurch. Johnson is a member of the firm of Wright, Stephenson, and Co. Ltd. His transfer will be a distinct loss to football in Wellington particularly to the Wellington Club, for whom his services, both as player and coach, have been outstanding. His great work for the club was recognized several years ago by election to the strictly-limited rank of life members. , , Brian Killeen, All Black fiveeighth and captain of last year’s Auckland representative Rugby team, is going all out for a place in the Tests against the Springbok, says a northern critic. He will have plenty of competition. Killeen would be something of a certainty if he produced the form he showed in Wellington in 1933, but, despite reports to the contrary, he has never played the same football since he has been in the north. Maybe this will be his big year. C. C. Gillies, five-eighth of the Otago University Rugby fifteen last season, and an All Black representative in the second Test against the Wallabies, will not be playing Rugby this season. Presumably, as a medical student, he has decided to devote himself to study. His loss will be serious not only to the Varsity team but also to Otago; in Ranfurly Shield matches last season he played fine football, revealing dash and some ability to get off the mark at pace. Heavilyboosted at every possible opportunity by the Press in Dunedin, his performance in the North-South match was not greatly exciting, but in the search for scapegoats after the All Blacks’ display in the first Test at Wellington, B. A. Killeen, of Auckland, suffered, and Gillies was given the job, comments The Sports Post. His retirement will create a problem for the New Zealand selectors, inasmuch as the number of eligible five-eighths for the team to play the Springboks seems to be fining down. The confirmation of the appointment of Harold Masters, former Taranaki, North Island, and All Black Rugby representative, as an advising member of this year’s New Zealand ‘ selection committee brings a curious problem, says The Sports Post Masters will not be speaking to the committee as a selector representative of Taranaki. The other day, at a meeting of the Taranaki management committee, he was dispossessed, by nine votes to four, of his seat as chairman of the selection committee by Arthur Guy, former sole selector for the province, and one of the Big Six vzhich chose the 1924 Invincibles. The action of the Tarhnaki committee is difficult to understand, as Masters, as a comparatively young man—he was an All Black in 1922—had revealed

fine enthusiasm and players of teams he has managed swear by him. Maybe it’s just another instance of the curious Taranaki habit of finding faults with the selectors—and not always the right ones at that. . It would involve considerable research to say which province has contributed most representatives to New Zealand Rugby teams, but there can be no question whi n h centre has captains, says a Wellington writer. Wellington easily holds the record. Other provinces are, as it were, nowhere. Eleven Wellington players have skippered New Zealand teams. They were T. R. Ellison (1893), D. R. Gage (1896/, J. Spencer (1905), F. Roberts (1910), J. T. Tilyard (1920), G. G. Aitken (1921), E. J. Roberts (1921), H. E. Nicholls (1923), C. G. Porter (1924, 1925, 1926, 1928, 1929, 1930,) F. D. Kilby (1932, 1934),. and J. L. Griffiths (1936). Porter, captain in six different seasons, has a personal record which it is safe to say will not be excelled for many years, if ever. ' Apparently experience counts far more than youth with the South Africans in Rugby. Several members of the Springbok team to tour Australia and New Zealand this season played against the 1928 New Zealand team m South Africa, and one or two of them had had a good deal of representative match play before 1928. Ten of the 1937 Springboks were in the team which toured the Home Countries in 1931-32. Those who appeared in Tests against the 1928 All Blacks are P. de Villiers, P. J. Nel, M. M. Louw, and G. Brand. One of this year’s leaders among the Springbok forwards will be F. Bergh, and it was for the Combined Universities that he appeared against the 1928 All Blacks.