LEAGUE RUGBY.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 116, 22 June 1914, Page 2

LEAGUE RUGBY.

SOME STRAY NOTES. The following table shows the posi: tions of teams engaged in the Thacker Shield Competition: Matches. Points A y A P. W. L. D. for. agst. slild. Sydenham 4 4 0 0 93 22 8 Linwood .5 3 2 ,0 .<>9. . 65 6 Addington 4 22 0 5G 62 4 St. Albans 4 1...,3 0 52 71 2 City 3 0 3 0 10 <io 0

Footballers' luck, as far as weather is concerned for the past two weeks, has been '' right out.'' The rain on Saturday last left the grounds committee no option but to postpone the games, and the previous week one could not have experienced much worse conditions. All we can do, however, is to hope that Jupiter Pluvius will be more kindly disposed this week. Members of the Referees' Association are reminded of the .meeting this evening when several rather important matters will be discussed. t THE ENGLISH TEAM.

The following notes 011 the second game played by the English team against Ncw South Wales at Sydney,, by // The Cynic ." in the Sydney " Referee,should be of interest to local leagueites. The match, which was wpn, by New South Wales ,by eleven points to three,, was, played, on a heavy ground midst downpours of rain CONDITIONS SUIT THE VISITORS. The conditions were, made for England —that is, the wet day, greasy ball; and heavy ground were things Englishmen are more accustomed to than Australians. The English footwork . an,d fielding were superior on the day to that of the Colonials, and yet the visitors were fairly and squarely.,.beateii., They, were eclipsed in the aiwl,. On the whole, surpassed''in. |Open f| by the local forward?. r '^.Ths, English, backs on the day \yerj3 as. the wen against, it was ,not a day for finesse aiid for elegancies, in Rugby which brings , tries to a, side, which; toys with, the ball. t . Eyen iajJx>w- ; ing tliat the jijiore *tQ, the , taste of the visitors. .there,, can be ho shadow of .doubfc -that their football was superior ,to, th&t on the 'ftrst day;., . JThj&y. cpmbinpd all both- (backan4 ■ I# 1 ' \■ certainly :.made ( a ( <ii£fer r ens.q, fp£.,his ;i pwft play, was . first^e^as's/,.s,fld hjs,. jpdgjjient; as captain very sfyarp* . FORWARDS ALL TRTERS. To my mind 'the" New' South' Wales forwards won the match. The backs did. not play badly;,, some, of., them played very but they did .not revel in the mud and rain as the forwards did., Every f,or ward was a trier, .and* Some.,.6^. the. trustiest. ;'bkcss -mide ; errors |qf judgment, but it wiould be folly to be top. critical.in such, ,a| :ganie. ~ Noprian,, the |ive-,eighths, liiade; good use of his feet by kicking in the' second' half' as Should' have inarked his football in the first half. defence and pluek were unquestionied. The two centres, S. Deane.and W. played very finely. 'l'he backs of this team could improve in . combination .quite'"as much as the Englishmen if they could be kept together, which, of course, is not possible. The match, as with Saturday 's, emphasised the fact that there are differences in methods and tactics between English aid Australian Rugby. By the time the Englishmen return to Sydney they inav work themselves into a combination to tax anything Australia can put in against them; But we shali see how far the local men can improve their combination. RECORD, £ATES, /

; The gross gates at tlie two English matches amounted ;tO £5710; the gates being £2797 8A and £2913. The former was a record for Australia for two days only, as on Monday it was eclipsed. The gate on the wet day must be ranked as little less than phenomenal. The attendances were 50,300 and 48,660, or a gross of 98,960' for the two days. It will be seen that While the Monday attendance was smaller the ''gate" was larger, owing to a greater number packing into the stands. . , , ~ \

DIFFERENT COUNTRIES, ENT, CUSTOMS. The two mat&HeM of the English teatn in Sydney- provided two striking illustrations of what one may term the conservatism of English governing bodies in sport, comments the Sj'dney "Referee" of June 10. :

It is the custom in' Australian Rugby under both eodPli to allow a fresh player to take the place of anyone injured and unable to continixe up to lialf-time, though if a player retire injured in the second half his place cahnot be filled. In England, in both Rugby codes, no substitute is permitted to take the place of an injured player under any circumstances.

During a portion of the first half, and throughout the second half, of each match the English team were reduced to 12 men, owing to mishaps. It may be very well to adhere to the customs of one's own country, but it would be more satisfactory to the football public in Sydney if the Englishmen in this matter were to live up to the adage that "when in Rome do as Rome does." The Colonial team in similar circumstances put 011, a fresh player. ; One was pleased to-hear of the English captain voicing the view that his team should adopt the Australian custom while in Australia. This matter, apparently, rests, not with the captain, but with the managers. It is to be hoped tlmt Messrs, Houghton and Clifford will look, upon this matter in future in the same light as Australians do, and not continue to so seriously handicap the side as was their, unfortunate, experience in the two matches already played. ' ' , i