FOOTBALL.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 13608, 30 May 1908, Page 7

FOOTBALL.

THU MATCH TO-DAY.

Per Frw Association.

DUNEBIX, May 29. The British team for the match with Otago was picked to-day, but when the "Times" reporter enquired: for the najire* of the plaver* he was informed that the .manager of the team wast bound by the New Zealand Union to give the names ui no one hut those who had acquired! the rights to publish the official programme. It is understood, however, that the team will be as follows; Full back. Griffiths; three-quarters. Gibbs (captain). VassvM. Ponty Jones. Chapman; halves. Morgan, Pavey; forwards (froth the following, one of whom will stand down}: —Dyke, Dibble. Morgan, Oldham. J. F. Williams. Jackson, Smith. Ritson. and Archer. The weather is tine to-night, but a drizzling rain fell to-day. and the ground will prol>ably be heavy. It is understood that the New Zealand Union have decided t«o charge ss, 3a. and 2s for admission to the test match next week.

THE RUGBY UNION. The management committ® of the Sooth Canterbury Rugby Union met last evening, when" Mr T. C. Watson ocupieci the chair. H. Fraser applied for and was granted a transfer from tlw Star Club to Pirates. The referee in the President's match. Zingari v. Temuka, iu the recent tournament. reported having cautioned a Temuka player for xougli play.—lt was decided to sustain the caution against this player and to notify him accordingly. The Temuka Club asked to hav<t their tournament medals by June 6th.—Secretary to reply. Th-s Canterbury Bngby Union wrote rsgretting that they cpnld not send 'a ' tenet to Temuka on June 4th.—Receavjd.

The Star Club applied to c.ave tiiKr third fifteen regraded to fourth grade as, owing to being hopelessly beaten, tley had withdrawn from the competrjcn.— The application to be granted on rendition that no player is over ICfct in weight. It: "was decided to invite quotations for a supply of jerseys for representative players; also that a meeting: of delegates of the Union be held on June sth. The sub-committm appointed to go into the question of sending a representative team on tour this season reported that to •end 21 men to Auckland and back -would cost, at the lowest estimate, £270. —It was decided to aslc the probable 21 if they would subscribe £3 each; if bo the committer would favourably consider the matter. TOUCBLIKE TOPICS. (By C.E.H.) The British team play their third match to-dav in Dunedin, against Otago. On Wednesday they are to meet Southland at Invercargill; and on fcaturday next t i»ke part in the first test at Dunedin. The performances of the Britishers in their opening matches have quite fulfilled expectations. Their easy victory over Wairarapa-Bush was only what might have been expected, as combined teams are only so »n the sense that they are a and '* combination" in the playing sense is nearly always lacking. The display against Wellington, however, was exceedingly creditable, the more so when it is taken into account that the visitor* were compelled to take the field without Harding and Vassal!, anil that they were pitted against one of the vary strongest interprovincial teams when only nine days off the steamer. Their defeat is also minimised by the fact the winning points were obtained while they were playing one man short. When they have had a couple of weeks to strike form and perfect their system 1 , some good football should be A* all events, they 'have given promise enough in their opening essays to ensure ;• keen interest in the tour, for a time at least, and should they prove equal to defeating Otago and Southland, which seems very probable, the first test match will be played before a huge crowd. Th« seven-a-side tournament mii:<t be written down as a pronounced snceesy. and though not many pieces of concerted play were witnessed, some fast open play was shown, with enough brilliancy to provide onlookers with a very good day's ' *port. From the treasurer's point of view the fixture- was more satisfactory than last year. £l3 more being taken at the gates and a few pounds extra corning in in entrance fees. Although no entries were received this year from Christchureh or Oamaru. the reappearance of Temuka compensated for this in some measure, and the wearers of the black and white were prominent throughout the day, ruriing into the finals in all four grades. As usual in the seven-men game, several surprises were sprung on the., .ipectators. and in nearly every case th+» glorious uncertainty of tournament football kep: interest from flagging right up to the sound of the gong. In the senior, grade Pirates A went down before the Timaru B rather unexpectedly, but probably the B team was better than the A entered by Timaru. and this may have had more to do with the defeat of the Blacks than their own lack of pace. The two Ashburton entrants in the junior grade. Southern Cross and Springburn. were «arly sorted out as likely winners, but were put out by Celtic and Fair lie respectively, the latter team pulling the game out of the fire right on the call of time. Temuk* third-graders fulfilled ex-

peetations by annexing the uiedtil* in their class. bat very few could have exju.-cted tine Ttmartt fourth-grade team to so completely outclass their opponent* in the ■ttnal.

The senior competition was Very open, at least thretf teams lieing considered to have good chances of success, ami two of the three fooght out. a great finish at the end of the day. The third. Pirates A. were beaten by one of the few good passing rashes of the contest. The winners. Temuka. had easy victory in the first round, being much too good | tor Pirates B, for whom Kane «nd Mai ben played belter thun I have seen them |do this season. They also proved too j good for Ttnwiru A, though extended more | than in the opening round. In the final they had little the better of the deal ~with Star, and were only returned victors after | a very fast game, through a great run : from a line out by Arthur Scott, -who surprised and delighted Temnka's supporters by the unexpected display of pace lie gave them. G. Spillane played a ciever gamt« for Temuka in each round, and was responsible for most of their points. When he t«\rcis to pass decently he promises to develop into a fine player. D. Sent: was very solid, some of his- kicks being first-class, and hf» proved one of the hardest men on the ground to upset. W. Scott, though waiting once or twice, headed some fine rushes, and at times gotdown on. the opposing backs at a great rate. Sullivan and Hooper gave evidence of more than average pace, a bit of following up by the latter leading tip to the winning score in one game. .organ. if not brilliant, worked hard rightthrough. Star may congratulate themselves on the form exhibited in the linal. and had Roddick not failed with a fairly easy kick at goal the result- might have been different. Grant did some very nice work in the last game, and Mayo played tip to his best form. Scott gave flashes of good play, and Clarke did a vast amount of good work. Budd and Roddick were a tine pair, the latter playing in the unaccustomed position of front ranker. Budd's try against Timaru B was well earned. Star B did not show a very sportsmanlike »<pirit in not turning out to oppose their A team. While nobody expected them to give their clubmattii a very punching game, the least they could have done was to keep faith with the public. Only two of the seven who came out were senior players, "and it is to be hoped that * this will not be taken as a precedent. Though the greater number of the spectators would have been pleased to see Fairlie victorious in the junior grade, after their long run of seconds, the win of Celtic proved very popular. The Celts gave good exhibitions in each game, wueir kicking and following being really creditable. In common with other secondgrade team?, two or three of their men tvere quite up to senior form. Temuka, the runners-up. did not exhibit as much dash in the final as in some of the other games, W. Spillane showing a noticeable foiling off from his tine play earlier in the day. Springbnrn seemed a likely team, and had a good deal the better of their game with Fairlie, who appeared sure losers until O'Dowd upset calculations with a great run, in which he cleverly evaded hi* tacklers by feinting. Green for Springburn and ti'Dowd for Fairlie- were a very warm pair, the Mackenzie player proving thai he possesses scoring ability as well as defensive powers.

Temnka wen v early selected n* likely winners of the president's competition, and in the final they had an easy win from Zingari. T«mukas team were I*if men for third-grade, though not any heavier than some of the other sevens, but they displayed more tnan ordinary ability in kicking. In fact taking the junior ami president's te.-ur,.; together. I ant certain lemuka conid put two formidable teams in the field in the Thursday junior competition. Zingari ran into the final, but were clearly no match for the winners, who were much harder pressed by fleraldine in an earlier game. Timaru were not the biggest team in the fourth grade event, but proved too good for Temuka in the final, much to the surprise of the crowd. However, both the sevens which contested the last contained men who are quite out of place in a class which was promoted for the benefit of " boys" leaving school. More tjian one man in each team, if not over the lOst. limit, certainly appeared nearly old enough to claim- ;i vote in a parliamentary election, and should not be allowed to compete with lads jnst from the primary schools. I believtf I am correct in saying that the charge for admission to die t ;t!edontati tGrounds f.>r the British match will Ik- Is and 2s extra for the grand stand. Star men will be interested to lean that a southern paper credits C. Thomas with being the pick of the forwards in a recent match played by the Cromwell team.

The war-cry of the British team is " Rule Britannia ! Rule Britannia ! L'ymry Ambyth! C'vmry Ambyth' Hip. "hip. Hurrah! Hi|>, hip. Hurrah!" .ue Welsh words mean " Wales for ever." Canterbury nut up the mammoth total of 65 points against Ashburton County on Monday, no less than 17 tries oeing scored. Fryer bagged six. Last year Canterbury won by 29 points. C. Twomey. who played half for Temuka last year, is occupying ,i similar position in the Dunedin University team, and is reported to have given ait exceedingly good account of himself in a recent game. Dr. Crawford, who has been appointed referee for the Otago-British match todav. is a Timaru bov. and, it will lx-

remembered, controlled the AucklandSouth Canterbury ganut Inst season.

Tha Supreme Court at Wellington was adjourned oil Wednesday in order thatthe jurors engaged in a case might witness the British match. Tlk- twelve good men and true evidently did nor regret their afternoon's outing, as -on resuming they acquitted the prisoner under trial. The -playing off the ground" rule is being gradually assimilated by players, but a great many seem still to hug the impression that it is only passing ohf the ground that is illegal; others again appear to think they are in order if they refrain from -Ufing their hands while on the ground, and in this respect make the same mistake tsome referees did in tournament. A free-kick should be gi\en against anv man who "interferes witn the bail in any way" while lying on the ground. One of the All Black team first won his spurs in interprovincial football througli his goal-kicking, making liis first appearance for Canterbury at Temuka. Subsequent improvement in his all-round plav secured him a place in more than one" New Zealand team. Cannot some South Canterbury players follow this example. If one of those ill-used thresquarters showed some aptitude for converting tries he might make some impression on the selectors. But constant practice, is necessary in this as in everything else One. of the fuel things impressed upon the football novice is " Play up to the whistle." It goes without saying that this is* an excellent piece of advice, but I should like to offer the suggestion maton equally valuable instruction would l>e: " Don't- play after the whistle." In time we might "be able to train a generation of players which would be wholly free from the objectionable habit of bum-ping an opjioneht after the whistle has sounded for a mark or for an infringement. Several, playtrs ate addicted to this practice. and alfo to the equally unfair one of 'raking a fall out of a man who has just got in his kick. The stock excuses offered for these offences are two: I didn't hear the whistle." and " I couldn't stop in time." A good many years' experience prompts* me' to say that- the deaf player is too dangerous, anu the man who cannot swerve or reiduce the force of his impact in three or four yards is too clumsy, to participate in what is not necessarily a brutal game.

The trial team chosen for South v. anterbury has given rise £»> quite as much comment as hum to be expected, but it would be obviously out of plate for me to attempt any criticism. Jurouruble or otherwi.se, of the work of tlie selection committee. One of the chief'difficulties which faced the trio was the tilling of tlie three-quarter line, the wings being the knotty point. Of the men who had been playing in the club matches some were plainly not seasoned enough for interprovincial football, and of the others tvho gave promise enough at .the start of the season to entitle Uiem to consideration. at least two have suffered front failure of the club-matea to give them opportunities to justify their selection. The only alternative appeared to ik« to give a trial to player* who.se defence could be depended upon. If the new men do not appear to I*? at home in ihe positions. i» is probable that the committee will fall back upon the players whose form • they are familiar with. Another problem which proved unticult of solution was the front-row of tlie scrum. Of tlit- half-dozen good hookers in club football, most were considered lacking in dash in the open, and one otherwise suitable man was disqualified by the otf-side habit. Whatever fate the terun finally chosen will meet in its engagements, personally I am satisfied that the players are individually a better lot than South Canterbury i was able to place in the field laot year.

'III.-, colonial .-fl.'tiois have, as wa* only to li.- looked fur. come in for a good deal of criticism regarding their choice of players for ilit- Xew Zealand team. A great deal of i lie adverse comment comes from the smaller Unions, whose men have once more paid the penalty for no,, coming nnder the eyes of the selection committee. .Another much-discussed point is the large proportion of old-timeiis in:luded in the fifteen, and it cannot be claimed that much encouragement is being given to the younger players. A leaven of experienced men is desirable in even- team, bin eleven All Blaqjcs is surely overdoing it. Possibly the committee were influenced by the fact that the players haw little time to acquire combination, but most people will think that- brilliancy is more needed in a portion of tlis team, especially in the forward division. One of the most satisfactory things about the composition of the side is the inclusion of Wallace at full back, and ths- New Zealand goal in likely to be defended better than was the case during the last .Australian tour, ihe lloberts. Hunter. Deans trio is guarantee that th*- attack will not be lacking in brilliancy provided the forwards can do their share, and Francis ami Seeling mav be depended upon to crtti tliai Ne-vv Zealand loses nothing on the line-out. Thomson's inclusion was not altogether expected, but. his scoring ability probably outweighed any doubts aboui. his defence. Stead is another man who was not generally expected to secure a place, but though approaching the wteran stage he is saiil t«» be playing as well as ever. Th«- team is undoubtedly a strong one. bni before many more New Zealand fifteens are chosen it is to be hoped the younger generation will not b* entirely overlooked. -