THE WEEK’S RUGBY.

Timaru Herald, Volume XCVIII, Issue 18084, 25 June 1924, Page 7

THE WEEK’S RUGBY.

NOTES 1 AND COMMENTS. (By “ Touchline.”) EJXTURES. July o— Charity Day. July 17.—S.C. v. Waimate Sub- " Union, at Waimate. July 19.—S.C. v. North Otago, at Oarnaru. . July 19— S.C. v. Ashburton Sub Union, at Ashburton (Junior Representatives). August 16—S.C. v. Canterbury, at Timaru. August .30—Geraldine Tournament September (3.—S.C. v. Marlborough, at Timani. ' September 10—S.C. v. Wellington, at Timaru. THE COMPETITIONS. .SENIOR.

The foregoing tables have been collected from the official results sniSpned to the Rugby Union by referees, in, the junior grade some, teams' have four games to play to complete the first round; in tiie tliird grad© there are five matches outstanding. ihe fourth-graders finished their first round last Saturday, but most fifth-grade teams still have three or four firstround games to play. , Charity Day next Saturday week. Celtic—and possibly South Canter-bury—-sustained a loss by the departure of Mui!an,-who showed promise ot developing into a smart half-back. Wailii have been compelled to withdraw from the junior competition in order to provide substitutes for the senior team. Scott, Priest, StoneWigg, Henderson and Costello wore not available for last week’s game with Star, and E. Mcßride retired at halftime with an injured back. J. Mcßride, owing to a damaged head, left the front of the scrum and played at fiveeighth. Sullivan, n : 20-year-old Irishman, horn in Whiles, and a naturalised Yorkshircman, now in Australia will) 'the Northern League team, is claimed to he the greatest nlace-kick the Rugb> game has produced. It is understood that the introduction of turnstiles at the AtldeUe Grounds proved a huge success. The attendance nnnnvently was a good deal smaller than that of the previous week, hut there was no decrease in the gate receipts.

Fo~>' two or. three years sign's have not boon wanting that the League name bad commenced to tobocrp-ao in Sydney, just os running. cycling, boxing. and every other -nort bad done which bad boon captured by the moneypTubbevs. The five successive defeats inflicted on New South "Wales by Oneensland were ascribed to improvement op tbe part of the Bananal-Tdevs. but- tbo overwhelming win of tbe Rnclisbinpn last Saturday puts tbe position in its true light.

The policy of the Appointment Hoard oi giving even the weakest members of the Iteferees’ Association a rim in tlie .senior grade may conduce to amity in the ranks ot the latter body, but it is not popular with either players or public, who arc loud in then* expressions ot dissatisfaction. The present state of Temuka is ono of the depressing features of the season, and the extreme weakness of the country chib is deplored by all who

have the interests of South Canterbury football at heart. Almost every vestige of the former glory has departed, and on their recent form the once-invineible -Magpies would be more at home in the junior grade. There is no semblance of combination about their play, and the old-time elan of flio forwards" is seldom in evidence. _ The most encouraging part of the business is the strength' of the Club in the lower grades, the third and font tb fifteens being considerably above the average of their class, and it is obvious that there is a wealth of good | material in the "district. The decrease 1 in attendances at "Victoria Park, ho"ever, provide unmistakable evidence that” the public are not keenly interesteed in any but first-grade football, and Temtika cannot afford to live on tbe reputation of its fourth-graders. No team can make bricks without straw and it must be extremely His- ; heartening to a team to have to hue ! up to face heavy defeat week altet < defeat, but if the lassitude displayed by some of the players on No. a ground last week is to continue it I would be fitting for the Club to retire its senior team for the remainder of the season. Quite, early it was obvious that Old Boys, who have made j rapid improvement since the tourna- j ment, and on Saturday looked as it ' thev could do nothing wrong, would

outclass Temuka, but no team could run up over 35 points in the liist spoil , against fifteen triers. The example : sot by the player who deliberately attempted to pot the ball over his onn rronl, or by the one who passed to an opponent near the goal-line, may have expressed their idea of humour, but it had every appearance of an attempt to depreciate the merit of an adversary s success. To put it bluntly, it was not playing the game, and showed none of j ihe old die-hard spirit of Temuka. The half-dozen , juniors who wore pressed into service by Waila last, week, with one exception, i acquitted themselves weil, otherwise Star would have notched more than three tiics. in the second half the country team had two new hookers in action, and ; they secured a. lair share of the ball. . Star were never in danger of defeat, j but they did not show their usual finish. They were usually beaten in the scrum, but they anay several opportunities by indifferent , handling. Bordman, at full, kicked , prodigiously, but lie fails to * make . sufficient use of the line, and does : 1 not nurse his forwards as ho might j do. Burrell and Rowlands were good | ! at three-quarter, and Logan put m a ; 1 hard day’s work at five-eighth, and j I emerged with distinct credit, dhomp- | son. the half, was very sound. The wino-er, T. McVey, is a great stayer, . and°he proved a perpetual nuisance to i the opposing backs. Of the packmen, ; i Clarke; Toneycliife, and O’Connor were always near the ball j Stewart also , went well until lie had to retiie , injured. Eor Waihi, 0. Qtiirke did ani otiier good aiternoon’s work, and usea > the line judiciously. A. Edgeicr. was | the pick of the “three” line, ins tacki ling being especially good. J. Mcßride, in the unaccustomed position of fiveeighth, played quite respectably. O'Neill, at half, gave his best display of the season, lie was favoured with more ball than Thompson, was, and he kicked and taeklql better than usual. ‘ Comer played another sterling game at wilier forward. W. Mcßride and H.

Quirke were the stars of the forward brio-ade, though Robertson showed up well and Reilly locked the scrum in good style. . . Contrary to general .anticipation, the Zingari-Geltic nxture was, to say the least of it, extremely disappointing. The form displayed by each side was , below senior standard, and in comparison with the game on the previous : Saturday, was dun and nionontonous. j A certain amount of diversity was, however, provided by the opposing j captains who constituted themselves advisors to the referee, and paved the way to a good deal of banctinage, or ; ill-natured comment, from the spec- | tators. The five points margin was a fair indication of tlio play, of the superiority of the Zingari forwards. The few attempts made at back play by either side were ineffective, and any that eventuated was usually a result of individual effort. Fail-brother, at full-back, plaved bis usual solid game. Gibb received very few chances and "Weis not as prominent us usual. Storey was disappointing and did not appear to be in his most enthusiastic vein. In the forwards, F. Ward, E. Fail-brother and Hayhurst were brightest in the public vision. Houlihan did his best to infuse life into the game, and was ' always on the alert for an opportunity, Celtic’s try being the result of a good interception on the part of this plnjer. ' Mason, a promoted junior, although on ' the light side for a senior full-back, showed promise. McAllen and Flynn ' were perhaps the pick of an even forward division.

c n c <2 'o fU •6 F* -M >. s It £ ft o O *3 r' P Hi o Old Bovs . Star . . Zingari Celtic . . 7 7 7 7 6 4 . 4 3 1 2 I 1 0 155 1 105 2 S3 3 80 51 32 74 73 13 3 6 9 7 Waihi . . Terauka ... 7 7 1 U 1 U 0 7 30 01 15 15(3 3 0 JUNIOR. Point . Zingari Celtic . 6 7 G 5 5 4 1 1 1 0 1 1 73 36 48 3 17 11 11 11 0 H. School 7 4 U 3 61 8 22 _ 8 49 8 Pareora 3 i 3 36 7 0 6 6 4 Star ... Temuka t> 6 1 3 4 0 1 3 3 16 Old Boys . 7 3 0 4 44 68 Geraldine 6 2 0 -1 23 13 83 Waihi . . 6 1 0 5 (3 26 0 Southern . 6 . t) u 5 68 THIBD GRADE Geraldine Old Boys . 7 6 6 5 1 0 '0 1 70 81 6 26 52 13 10 Temuka . 6 4 1 1 70 0 Point . • 6 3 2 1 44 25 20 8 H School 6 4 0 2 56 Waslidyko Celtic . • V 7 3 3 1 0 4 38 27 58 41 7 6 Star .... 7 2 1 4 15 26 5 Zingari Y.M.C.A. , 6 6 2 I 0 3 4 12 12 40 40 5 4 3 2 Pareora Southern . 7 . 7 1 1 1 0 5 6 22 16 7 2 76 fourth GRADE. Temuka 7 7 0 0 174 3 14 Star . • • 6 5 0 1 54 33 10 Zingari 7 4 1 2 100 44 0 0 4 2 Ola Boys . Waihi . • Wasiidyke 7: 5 .7 4 2 1 1 0 u 2 3 (3 76 52 11 35 58 160 11 School A 5 .1 u 4 30 68 ri. Sciiooi-B 6 U u 15 10 106 0 f FIFTH GRADE. Point . 6 6 0 0 100 6 12 Geraldine 13 4 0 26 33 8 Star A '. (3 4 0 2 134 24 3 Celtic . 5 3 1 3 54 20 V H. School A 4 3 0 1 20 0 4o 6 'Temuka . 5 1 1 3 0 H. School B 4 1 0 3 18 54 3 H. School C 4 1 0 3 10 60 2 Zingari Star B .. . 6 4 1 U 0 0 5 4 29 0 70 70 0