RUGBY FOOTBALL.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 110, 15 June 1914, Page 2

RUGBY FOOTBALL.

I SOME STRAY NOTE^ As jthe only Rugby football played in Christeliurch on Saturday ■consisted of the two , matches comprised in the '' benefit" to 3. T. M. Piki, and they ■were sufficiently commented upon in the sports edition of THE SUN on Saturday evening, I do not propose to make many more remarks concerning them. The "old-timers' game ended just as it ought to have ended —in a draw. As for the Canterbury Maoris-Merivale match, it was only to be expected that a strong club team sueli as Merivale should beat, by means of its greater combination and skill, fifteen men who had had very little, if any, opportunity of acquiring cohesion. The Maoris put up a plucky fight, and their tackling was excellent. Their spoiling work, too, was very good, and the way in which (they frequently "blanketed" the Merivale half and five-eighths was very effective. But, of course,- Merivale, carried too many guns. ; ;

In evening the Meirivale Club entertained J. T. M. Piki, the old-timers, and Maoris at a smoke concert in the elub rooms. There \tfas a large gathering, under the presidency of Mr •P. T.-.{Evans. The toast list was as follow*?:—"The King"; f'Mr.sJ. T. M. Piki,') proposed by Mr -F. Cleary and Mr Piki; "The Canterbury Ru&by Union,'' proposed by Mr P. Menzies, response by Mr L. Corbett; *' Soufh Sydney Rugby 5 Union Football Club,Lj proposed by Mr W. G. Garrard, response by Mr W. Fuller; "The Old Timers,'' proposed by '■ Mr W. Fuller and responded to by Messrs A. E. P. Mfenziea, A. E. Phillips," and L. Cprbet't} "The Canterbury Maori Team, ?' proposed by Mr W. # Maxwell and rfeisponded to by Messrs W. D. Barrett ajnd T. Pitamh; "The Referees' Association," proposed by jMr ;E. Hasell and responded to by Mr W.' G. Garrard; *' The. jMerivale Club,'' proposed by Mr J. T. ;M,. Piki, response by Mr A. Duggan. 'During the evening Mr Garrard presented to Mr Piki the letter from the South Sydney Club—referred to previously in THE SUN —and the colours' which that elub had sent across to be affixed to reserved seats at Satur-

day's * 1 benefit.'' ' Contributions to the harmony of the evening were made by Messrs F. C. Atkinson, Cocks, Hanna, F. Dickie, Eobinson, Kodda, Tiktfo, and C. Dickie. THE VETERANS' MATCH, It is safe td say that the citowd on Lancaster Park on Saturday afternoon was well satisfied with its afternoon's, fun. Anything more consistently amusing than the Old .Timers' match would be hard to imagine. In the first place a world of real praise is'due to the veterans who turned out to play. The weather was very bad,, aud must have daunted even the regular players of the present day, so that it must have required some effort for men who have not* worn a jersey for years to take the jleld as they did." They took the game very seriously indeed, aiid there was no slacking from beginning to \end. The whole thirty-one (for f 'Bill'' Garrard must be included) entered into the business of the day With:a night good mil, and the match was a cgreai success. r The result —a six-points' draw—fairly represents the strength of the two teams. There was. not a person on the field who was not pleased with the reds (the combined.tea. lll )"-secured their second try and thus equalised the scores. All four tries were gdod enough to pass muster in a senior team, but the attempts at place-kicking— : —! It is perhaps rather invidious to single out any particular players for special praise Avheu all did so well, but the two most conspicuous may be men-

tioned. They were both in the combined team, and have both represented New Zealand—Eric Harper and Bernard Fanning. Some of Harper's runs showed glimpses of his All-Black form, but in most cases he ran away from friends as from foes, and had no one to pass the ball to when stopped. Especially in the second half, Fanning led some great forward rushes, many a time breaking clean away with the ball at his toe, and taking it nearly the whole of the field. ROUGH RUGBY.

Although complaints have been made lately of the presence of an undue amount of rough and foul play in Christchurch Rugby, and these complaints have been endorsed by'the pi'esittent'of the Referees' Association and by the former secretary of the Canterbury Rugby Union, the managing committee of the C.R.U. has failed in its duty to take steps to check the trouble. Iftdeed, the committee seems to think that, it is not worth bothering about. At its meeting-last Tuesday evening the committee had an excellent opportunity of formulating a policy of dealing with foul football, but it did not take it. All the committee did was merely to reprimand a fourth-class player for kicking an opponent. The points raised in favour of leuiency were that the player had received pro-vo-cation, that he was only a fourth-grade player, and that it was the.first case before the committee this season. That the young fellow had received provocation is not disputed. It certainly was not a case for severe punishment. But a reprimand for deliberately kicking an opponent is far too light.

Too much is often made of the fact that some offenders are players in the lower grades. A boy should not be punished as severely as a man. But Rugby Unions are inclined to go to the other extreme and Sverlook the fact that what is bred in a boy comes out in the man. If third and fourth-class players are not properly dealt with when they transgress the bounds of sportsmanship they become habitual offenders by the time that they get into senior football. Firmness in dealing with them at the beginning saves a lot of trouble later on. As it is, leniency lias allowed too much' roughness to creep into the lower grades. Mr E. E. Crawshaw remarked at the C.R.U. Commitee's meeting that . the fourth grade was a rough one. Yet the committee merely reprimanded the player who came before it. The fact that it was. the first case of the season should not have weighed with the committee, especially as there had been public complaints of rOugli football. "The committee missed a very good" opportunity to set an example that would help to deter players from siuniug against the canons of sport.

THE 'VARSITY MATCH. The match between Otago University and Canterbury College, played at Lancaster Park last Tuesday, was not as good an exposition of the ganie as was expected. Certainly there had been nothing in the' play of the Canterbury College team this season to justify expectations of bright Rugby. But emphasis; had been .laid oh the fact —or alleged fact—that. .Canterbury : College usually plays a game '' out of the box'' when it meets otago University, and there was also the fact that the Otago University team occupies a relatively higher position in the Otago R.U. senior competition than Canterbury College does in the C.R.U. Club contest. Hence the expectations that were not fulfilled. The, Otago men played Rugby superior to that' of their: opponents, but it was not of the best. lii the early portion of the game their passing was good; later it was poor. The forwards were not a particularly imposing lot. Cuthill and Wilson were the best of the Otago backs, and Fisher was the pick of the forwards.

The faults of the Canterbury College team have been so often pointed out in these columns that I do not feel disposed to write of them'again. But just a few words concerning C. Young, fiveeighths, and his partiality foi* punting when Canterbury College was attacking. I have beeii informed since the match that Young acted —at least in the first spell—under instructions from his caj}tain. If that be so, it ijs time that the Canterbury College captain began to study football tactics.

SHORT PASSES. "Dick" Roberts, the Taranaki and New Zealand representative back, who so impressed the Oalifornian»s, is reported to be showing a decided disinclination to part with the ball nowadays. This is given as one of the reasons why the Taranaki backs did not do better in the recent match with Wanganui. E. Baxter, tlie former Ohristchurch High School, Old Boys and Canterbury forward, captained the Ilawke's Bay representative team against Wairarapa on .June .'i, and is reported to have made a fine showing. Apparently Baxter has not taken long to make good in Hawke's Bay. C. Hegarty, the ex-Merivale hooker, also played for Hawke's Bay in that match, and was commended for good solid work. "Lock," of the "Dominion," criticises the selection of Cotter, a Wellington forward hitherto unheard of outside the capital city, as a member of the North Island team, and opines that Wellington has at least three forwards — Francis, Miller and Beard—who are quite as well, if not better, entitled to selection. There is some likely material amongst the Maoris who played against the Merivale Club on Saturday. Particularly promising is Kini, a small but, strong wing three-quarter who should develop into a really good player if he could get some experience in City Rugby. A. L. C.